Every time I passed boys who were playing basketball, I stopped to watch them silently.  But as a girl, I once thought that I could 1 play basketball.

    I like playing basketball though I'm not good at it. I've had a basketball 2 I was a child. At first, I could play freely because no one 3 when I was just a kid. But as I 4it seemed harder and harder for me to enjoy basketball. My parents did not 5 me play basketball at home.6when I went to play basketball with my friends, boys stared (盯着) at me as if I were7

    I was feeling 8 and had lost hope of playing basketball.9 something changed the first day of high school. I made some friends who also10playing basketball. One of them told me with a smile, “Go your own11 let others talk.” This girl would always play basketball with me. Even the boy who sat next to me in class talked about 12 with me almost every day.

    I was encouraged by them. Confidence (信心)13to my heart. I am ready to stand up and play. Basketball has become an important part of my 14. Through basketball, not only do I feel happy and confident, but also 15a lot from others.

    I've heard the NBA star Tracy McGrady say, “Nothing is impossible.” It is from an advertisement on TV. I have 16to realize that life is just 17 playing basketball. You should have an aim (目标). After that, just be confident and 18 going. Never give up and you'll 19it sooner or later.

    I love the motto of the NBA. It can20my strong feelings for basketball, “I love this game!”

    I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn't like attention drawn to myself.And1 otherwise assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher,I always2to sit at the back of the classroom.

    All this3after I joined a sports team.It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team.At first I thought it was a crazy4because I didn't have a good sense of balance,nor did I have the5to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me.But for the teacher who kept insisting on my 6for it", I wouldn't have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts（选拔）was only the7of it!When I first started8the practice sessions,I didn't even know the rules of the game,much9what I was doing.Sometimes I'd get10and take a shot at the wrong direction which made me feel really stupid11I wasn't the only one "new" at the game,so I decided to12on learning the game,do my best at each practice session,and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn't13"just yet".

    I practiced and practiced.Soon I knew the14and the "moves".Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive15in me was winning over my lack of confidence.With time,I learned how to play and made friends in the16—friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!

    With my17self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates.I have gone from 18 in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself19raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn't and not 100 percent20I had the right answer.Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

    Hundreds of people have formed impressions of you through that little device (装置) on your desk. And they've never actually 1you. Everything they know about you2 through this device, sometimes from hundreds of miles away3they feel they can know you 4 from the sound of your voice. That's how powerful the5 is.

    Powerful, yes, but not always 6. For years I dealt with my travel agent only by phone. Rani, my faceless agent whom I'd never met7got me rock-bottom prices on airfares, cars, and hotels. But her cold voice really 8 me. I sometimes wished to9 another agent.

    One morning, I had to 10 an immediate flight home for a family emergency. I ran into Rani's office 11. The woman sitting at the desk12 my madness, sympathetically jumped up. She gave me a 13 smile, nodded while listening patiently, and then printed out the 14 immediately. “What a wonderful lady!” I thought.

    Rushing out 15 I called out over my shoulder, “By the way, what's your name?” “I'm Rani,” she said. I turned around and saw a 16 woman with a big smile on her face waving to wish me a safe trip. I was 17! Why had I thought she was cold? Rani was, well, so 18.

Sitting back in the car on the way to the airport, I figured it all out. Rani's 19—her warm smile, her nods, her 'I'm here for you'20—were all silent signals that didn't travel through wires.

    Many years ago, I was working in an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had large 1 that look out over a busy street. I was standing by one of those windows one day when a woman in a 2 car looked up and made eye contact. Naturally I 3 as she turned and tried to identify me, a quiet laugh 4 my lips. My co-workers began taking an interest, and stood back watching the 5 I received, and laughing happily. Then the stress of work was 6 away.

    Christmas approached, and job 7 were announced. Several of my co-workers were losing their jobs, and everyone was 8. While I was working a night shift, a red jacket, a box of foam (泡沫橡胶) packing and strips of tape in the corner attracted my 9. They could be Santa's jacket and beard! Then I folded a red file into a hat and tied the 10 to it. With the red jacket, a Santa's Costume appeared.

    The next day I walked 11 down into the office in the costume. My co-workers 12 around me and laughed for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, my boss came to me, 13, shook his head and then left. I feared 14. Then the phone rang.

    With a bead of sweat 15 my forehead, I entered the boss' office. 16, he laughed: "Thanks, Mike! It's been hard to enjoy the Christmas season. Thanks for the laugh. I 17 it."

    That evening, I stood 18 by the window and waved at my fans, with my heart 19 with joy. For a few minutes of that day, we'd been able to forget our 20.

Hawthorne worked as a clerk in a small company. He suffered a heavy blow when he lost his job. His boss had spoken 1, "Your services are no longer needed." Hawthorne left the building filled with despair. By the time he reached home, he was in deep 2. When he entered his house, he blurted out(脱口而出)to his wife Sophia, "I lost my job. I am a complete failure." A tense silence followed. 3, a smile crept across Sophia's face. "What great news!" she responded, "Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write."

"But I have no job and no prospect of a job," he objected completely without hope. "If I 4 to be an author, then what will we 5? Where will the money come from?"

Sophia took her husband by the hand and 6 him to the kitchen. Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of 7. "Where on earth did you get this?" Hawthorne asked. "To whom does it 8?"

"It's ours!" Sophia replied. "I always knew that one day you would become a great writer 9 you were given the chance. From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have 10 as much as I could so you would have your chance. Now there is enough to 11 us a whole year. "

What a(n) 12! What a wife! The 13 husband did concentrate on writing that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary masterpiece. The book is The Scarlet Letter. Sophia had an even greater 14,—she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous 15.

A little girl created the perfect Mother's Day gift.It was a drawing of a 1 on white paper with the words "For mom: love, love, love" decorated in hearts.She folded(折叠) her letter,2 then she lost it.

For most people, that would be the 3 of this story,but this story has a different result:James Carrell 4 the letter.He had just 5 his mother, wishing her a happy Mother's Day.After he got off the phone,Carrell saw the 6 on the ground outside of a hardware(五金器具) store in Manvel in Texas, United States."I 7 it was a note" said Carrell."I 8 it and saw the flower and hearts.It 9 .

moved me." Carrell thought the letter would 10 someone's day and maybe he could find the 11 , so he posted it in the Talk of Alvin Facebook group.The message 12 a lot of people, especially one man.

"I was sitting at my friend's house and saw a man 13 ,"said Carrell.

His Facebook comments(评论) included a message from Roberto Alvarado.He wrote, "I can't 14 you found my baby's letter."Carrell reached out to Alvarado to 15 the letter.It took a few days, but the men finally 16 on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado's daughter Natalie celebrated her seventh birthday." 

17 the letter made it home," said Alvarado." We are 18 for what James Carrell did." 

We often forget the power of 19 things,but for this family from Alvin, Carrell's small act left a(n)20 impression(影响).