A Brick in Life

A young and successful manager was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was _______ kids rushing out from _______ parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

_______ his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed into the Jaguar's side door. He slammed on the _______and turned the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.

He jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and _________ him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what _______ are you doing？” Then he went on, “Didn't you know that brick you threw is going to _______ a lot of money. Why did you do it？”

“Please, sir. Please, I'm sorry. I didn't know _______ else to do！” begged the youngster.

“_________ my brother，” he said. “He rolled off the sidewalk and fell out of his __________ and I can't lift him up.”

Sobbing, the boy asked the manager, “Would you please help me get him __________into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too ________ for me.”

Moved __________ words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and __________ his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see ________ everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you, sir. And God bless you，” the ________ child said to him. The man then ________ the little boy push his brother to the sidewalk toward __________ home.

It was a long ______________ back to his Jaguar — a long, slow walk. He never did repair the side door. He kept the dent (凹痕) ________ him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.

【推荐2】I used to walk around the store with my parents and beg them for something. I remember the_________of all the bright bags of chips and candies. I asked my mom to_________for me. I had no real knowledge about the value of _________.

When I was about twelve years old, my dad always_________my begging and told me, “You can waste all the money you want when you have a job.” I_________him when he said that and_________I was going to get a job as soon as I was_________enough. But before I could legally (合法地) get a_________, I babysat to make some money. I remember the feeling of getting new money in my pocket.

A few years later when I was in high school, I got a job information. I started to think about the money I could make, so I_________. Soon I got an email, inside which I was__________to a meeting the following night and learned all about the__________.

After being trained for several months, I__________started the job and made some money. The more money I made, the less I wanted to__________. Instead of wasting my money on useless things, I started saving up. I finally came to the__________that money meant so much more to me because I was the one working for it. Because I__________my money, I now have 3, 300 dollars in the bank.

【推荐3】I was at the post office early that morning, hoping to be in and out in a short while. Yet, I ________ myself standing in a queue that went all the way into the hallway. I had never seen so many people there on a weekday. It seemed someone might have made an announcement, welcoming customers to carry as many ________ as they could and bring them in when I needed to have my own package _________. The queue moved very slowly. My patience ran out and I got ________. The longer it took,  the angrier I became. When I got to the counter finally, I finished my __________ quickly and briefly, and then walked past the queue that was now extending past the front door.

"Excuse me," I said, trying not to be too pushy. Several people had to move _________ to make room for me to get to the __________.

I stepped out, complaining about the ________ conditions. Thinking I was going to be late for my dentist appointment, I headed into the parking lot．

A woman was coming across the lot in my ________. She was walking with determination, and each step sounded very heavy. I _________that she looked as if she could breathe fire. It stopped me in my tracks. I  _______  myself and it wasn't pretty. Had I looked like that? Her body language said that she was having a ______  day. My anger melted away. I wished I could wrap her in a hug but I was a ________. So I did what I could in a minute_________she hurried past me ----I smiled. In a second everything changed. She was astonished, then somewhat _________.Then her face softened and her shoulders ________. I saw her take a deep breath. Her pace slowed and she smiled back at me as we passed each other．       

I continued to smile all the way to my ______. Wow, it's amazing what a simple smile can do.        

From then on, I became aware of people's _________and my own, the way we show our feelings. Now I use that _______ every day to let it_________me that when facing the world, I can try a smile.

【推荐1】The summer after my first year of college, I got my first job as a waiter in a restaurant. For me, it was a step moving from a_______ child to a more independent adult. I had never_______a day in my life when I was in high school because my_________wanted me to focus on study.

I printed out a recently updated resume(简历 )I first_______in my senior year and filled out dozens of applications. I sent applications_________to get my first couple of choices. I got no calls or emails back._________, halfway through the third week, I finally got a call back from one of the places I applied to. We had_________a meeting time, and after my_______, I was more than ready to start working the following Monday.

When working, it was very_______that I was the new guy. My parents__________that I would not last the first two weeks, and that I would be____________looking for more jobs.   However, I stuck with it.I made sure to put a__________on my face every day no matter what__________. At times, some customers were always asking to speak with my____________. Every time I heard that, I thought if I had a dollar, I would __________work a day in my life. However, I____________to get the hang of things after a couple of weeks. I always suggested the suitable__________for customers.

A couple of weeks later, I had been told by the manager that I had received the____________employee of the month. At that moment, I felt like I had truly__________it, and this was the first of many achievements I would receive while working. It taught me a lot about responsibility and the____________of insisting on the work.

【推荐2】A mother who worked as a dinner lady at a primary school to make ends meet is celebrating after being admitted as a headmistress. Rosalind Brotherton took a job serving_________to children following the breakdown of her marriage, but just nine years later she is_________a school of her own.

While_________as a dinner lady at Swan Lane First School, she also studied for an Open University_________in History. After graduating in 2005, Ms Brotherton studied_________her teaching qualification before joining a_________as a trainee teacher. She moved to another school where she_________the headmistress.

Ms. Brotherton said, "My marriage_________when I was 30 and I wanted to help provide for my children and do something for_________. I started doing my degree at the Open University. I worked as a dinner____________and a learning assistant (助手) at a school,____________I was working with children and that inspired (启发) me to become a teacher."

It took Ms. Brotherton five years to____________a degree and in the following year she was trained to be a teacher at Swan Lane First School with the University of Worcester. Ms. Brotherton added. "The higher I went the____________ I felt I could make things: better for children. I think that that has____________me to love learning and enjoy learning. There are more____________and strains as a teacher but it's____________. As a dinner lady you can____________relationships. As a head teacher I____________have those but I have to work hard to make sure that I don't____________myself in the office. I have to walk in the playground and be____________to the children."

【推荐1】A mother and a daughter living in my community are two of the most unfriendly people I have ever come across in my life. They are totally separated, mixing with   __________. As they drive past       ________   they keep their eyes looking away. The only fame they have is making a nuisance (讨厌的人) of themselves to the local police station by __________ music played too loud, dogs barking more than once a day and any other ___________ annoyance.

On moving into this neighborhood, I was _________ of these two but decided I would make up my own mind. This proved quite a ___________   to me as more than once either the mother or the daughter would knock on my door and blast (猛烈抨击) me with some _________ or other.

I   _________   answered politely and made sure I __________ as they went past my place and also made the effort now and then to make a kind remark about their garden or pets.

Time passed and in October, as part of the kindness rock give ( 送 爱 心 石 活 动 ), Maureen and I __________   to place a kindness rock in their garden. Their ___________ remained unchanged, however, and I continued to be as friendly as possible. During the Easter give, we decided once again to ___________ these two unhappy ladies to our list and left a packet of cookies on their ________ . Imagine my ________   when two days later they_________   at my gate and jokingly said they were considering hanging their Christmas stocking on their gate, and they ________ me a bunch of flowers!

So, my fellow gifters, do not _______ on your random gifts of kindness. You may never know just what this ___________   to others, nor how many broken or ________   hearts you may just change with a simple act of ________.

【推荐3】I've never been the biggest fan of musicals. They often seemed _______ to me, and I would constantly _______ the time while watching one.

So when my friend suggested that we go to see the _______ You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown last weekend, I wasn't particularly _______. I figured I was about to _______ the familiar cycle of half-hearted attention to the plot and characters, _______ my phone during the performance. With nothing else to do, I finally _______ to go with him-it was something to get me out of the house.

Shortly after the musical began, Charlie Brown took the _______, sitting down with a sandwich. At the beginning, he was portrayed（描绘）as a（n）_______ boy with nobody eating with during lunches. Then he ________ a girl also having lunch alone and decided to go over and start a ________. But quickly he got into a ________ of over-thinking that the girl might hardly look at him. As the performance ________. I was shocked to see Charlie’s courage and the pair chatting ________. One of my favorite scenes was that Charlie sang a song feeling sorry for his ________ of talent. But he realized that despite this, he was still “the ________ and remarkable Charlie Brown.” “I’m ME!” he ________ declared.

We often assess ourselves by our achievements rather than ________ our basic worth as individuals. However, everybody loves Charlie Brown because he’s Charlie Brown—the clumsy, self-doubt, insecure, but lovable four-year-old. To see Charlie ________ himself was eye-opening.

Actually, musicals aren’t always so ________.