Robby was 11 when he took his first piano lesson. I1students begin at an earlier age,2I explained to Robby. Robby said it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.

Much3Robby tried, he4the sense of tone and basic rhythm. But be dutifully reviewed his lessons.

    Over the months he tried and tried, and he'd always say, “My mom's going to hear me play someday. ”But it seemed5 He just did not have any inborn ability.

    Then one day Robby stopped coming. I was glad, as he was a bad6for my teaching!I7he had decided to pursue something else.

    Several weeks later, my students were to have a recital（演奏会）. To my surprise, Robby came, asking to play in the recital.

     “It is for8pupils, but you dropped.

     “My mom was sick. But I have been practicing. I've just got to play!” he insisted and I agreed.

    The night for the recital came. I put Robby up last in the program9I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought I could save his poor performance through my "curtain closer".

    The recital10well. Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked dirty. “How could his Mom?”I thought.

    Robby began and it was Mozart's work. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers even11on the keys. After six and a half minutes he ended and people were all on their feet in wild12

    13and in tears I ran up and put my arms around Robby in joy. "I've never heard you play like that, Robby! How did you do it?"

    Through the microphone Robby explained :"Well , Miss Hondorf, remember I told you my mom was sick? Well.14she had cancer and15this morning. And well. . . She was born deaf, so tonight was the16time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it17"

    There wasn't a18eye that evening. I thought to myself how much19my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. However, he was the teacher, for it is he that showed me the meaning of20and love and believing in oneself.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried 1 for hours as the farmer tried to figure out 2 to do. Finally he decided the animal was 3and the well needed to be 4 up anyway, so it just wasn't 5 it to rescue the donkey.

He invited all his 6to come over and help him. They all grabbed (握起) a shovel (铁铲) and began to shovel 7into the well. At first, the donkey 8what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's9, he was quiet.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked 10 the well and was 11 at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that12his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would 13 it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors 14 to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another 15 up. Pretty soon, everyone was surprised as the donkey stepped up over the 16 of the well and ran off.

    Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The best way of 17 out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our18is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest 19 just by not stopping, never20! Shake it off and take a step upward!

    Yesterday, I posted a story and afterwards donated a little money after I read others' sad stories. Later, as I got into bed and completed my1 and self-examination on the day, I came to the realization that I was 2money. Wow! It was just a  3  to see this in myself.

    It is 4 enough that in the real world I have money in the bank but don't give away  5 . I don't have a lot of money,6 enough to pay my bills and help my daughters. Also I save some money for a 7 day. I know I could give more but 8  and fed some comfort in a little pile of money. I'm quite 9 to see in myself that it is hard to practice the beautiful 10 in the real world. The belief is that the needs of people 11 are more important than having a little pile of money to feel 12 with.

    So here I was doing the same 13  thing-saving but not giving away much money! With so many people waiting to be helped, it was pretty terrible for me to 14 how much I 15  seeing that little pile of money in my hands. I have already16 today that even if it is hard to give it all away in the real world, I am going to guarantee more17will come my way.

    There will always be enough money for me. I am not going to let 18 pile up anymore. I am going to give it away when I19 it because love is  20  what makes the world go round.

    I come from one of those families where you have to yell at the dinner table to get in a word. Everyone has a strong1 and talks at the same time, and no one has a2leading to heated arguments. We often talk or even debate with each other on different topics.

    3 a family like mine has made me more 4 about the world around me, making me tend to 5 anything any one tells me. But it has also made me realize that I'm not a good listener. And when I say “listening”, I'm not 6 to the nodding-your-head-and-politely-answering-Uh-huh-or-Ooh-I-see variety. I mean the kind of listening where you find yourself deeply 7 with the person you're speaking with, when his story becomes so 8that your world becomes less about you and more about him. No, I was never very good at that.

    I spent summer in South Africa two years ago. I worked for a good non-profit 9 called Noah, which works 10 on behalf of children affected by AIDS. But 11 you asked me what I really did in South Africa, I'd tell you one thing: I listened, and I listened. Sometimes I 12 but mostly I listened.

    And had I not spent two months 13, I might have missed the 14moment when a quiet little girl at one of Noah's community centers, orphaned（孤儿）at the age of three, whispered after a long 15 “I love you.”16 that summer, I knew how to hear. I could sit down with anyone and hear their 17 and nod and respond at the18 time—but most of the time I was 19 about the next words out of my own month. Ever since my summer in South Africa, I have noticed that it's in those moments when my mouth is closed and my20 is wide open that I've learned the most about other people, and perhaps about myself.

There is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} lovely panda. She lives with her parents and they lead a happy life in the forest. One day the panda {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (pick) a huge pumpkin and wanted to take it home. But the pumpkin was too big for her {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (take) it home on her own. She could do nothing but sit beside the pumpkin. She thought {#blank#}4{#/blank#} if she waited there, she might turn to a passerby for help.

Suddenly, she saw a bear {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (ride) a bike towards her. She watched the bike and suddenly, she jumped and shouted {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (happy), "I know! I have a good idea—I can roll (滚动) the pumpkin. It's just like a wheel!" Therefore, she rolled the pumpkin to {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (she) house. When her mother saw the big pumpkin, which was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (big) than her little daughter, she was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (surprise), "Oh, my God! How can you get it home?" The little panda answered proudly, "I can't lift it, but I can roll it." Her mother smiled and said, "{#blank#}10{#/blank#} a clever girl you are!"

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. My husband was taking care of our baby girl so that my six-year-old and I could do some yard work, just the two of us. It was sure to be 1 . But soon, the clouds of mosquitos seemed 2 to our bug spray (喷雾). I was sweating, itchy (痒的), and arguing with my son about how to 3 weeds. I had told him the "right" way—getting those weeds out from the bottom, by the roots, 4 them entirely.

However, my son went about things in his own way. He pulled the 5 of the weeds off, moving quickly down the line as he left the remaining part still in the soil. Somehow, I found this to be incredibly 6 . Why couldn't he do it in my way and save me the time of having to 7 his share? Why did he do it at all if he wasn't going to do it properly?

"If you would do as told, we'd be done earlier and promised a longer period 8 we would have to return and pull weeds next time," I said, trying to keep my tone 9 .

"But people do things…10 , Mom," he said innocently.

My fire soon faded, replaced by the 11 realization that I'd just received a valuable 12 from the person that I was supposed to be teaching. While trying to 13 my baby girl, my kindergartener, and the yard work, 14 was a lifeline for me. But my way was, perhaps, not the best way after all. His time shouldn't be 15 . His job was to be a kid and take his time, for as long as he was able.