Mrs. Hammond was an old and blind woman. Although life was difficult, she was independent and _______ to do things by herself. She would go for a long walk _______ every day, and was able to find her way back by using her guiding stick. She had never lost her way until that day.

That day when she was out for a walk, she found the trees on her way _______ because some villagers had cut them down. So she couldn’t find her way back. _______ she knew what to do, she had heard the sound of water near her feet. “Water?” she said aloud to _______. “I must be on a bridge. I’ve been told that there’s a _______ nearby, but I don’t know its exact location (位置). How can I get back from here?”

At that time she heard a man’s friendly voice near her. It said, “Excuse me, can I help you?”

“How _______ of you!” Mrs. Hammond answered. “Yes, please. I’m afraid I’ve got lost. Can you please help me get home?”

“Certainly, the man answered. And they began _______. The man took Mrs. Hammond to her house, and she invited him in and told the man _______ grateful (感激的) she was that she had met him.

“Don’t thank me,” he answered. “I want to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Mrs. Hammond said. “What ________?”

“Well,” the man answered. “I was trying to throw myself into the river. But I’m not going to do it now.”

A long time ago, trees in forests kept their leaves year round.

Summer or winter, it didn’t matter. That’s just the way it was. But one winter, things changed, and would never be the same again.

The cold winter winds were blowing, and the birds were flying south where it was warm. All the birds, that is, except for one small bird with a broken wing.

As the injured (受伤的) bird watched its friends going south, it stood thinking, “I will be dead before you come back next summer. I will not survive this coming winter.”

The little bird walked along, its broken wing hanging uselessly at its side. It came to a huge oak tree (橡树). “Please, Mr. Oak,” said the bird. “May I take shelter (住所) on your branches (树枝) for the winter?” The oak tree was angry. “Move on, bird,” said the oak tree. “I am the king of the forest. I will never accept you on my branches.”

The winter was coming. The injured little bird finally came to a big spruce tree (云杉树). “May I take shelter in your branches?” asked the bird. To its surprise, the spruce tree agreed. “Come, little bird. You may rest with me and I will do my best to keep you warm.”

A pine tree (松树) noticed this and said, “I will stand here all winter, little bird. My branches will keep the wind from you. Do not worry. You will be safe with us.”

Later, the cold north wind came to blow in the forest. It blew so hard that it knocked all the leaves from the oak. It was going to blow the leaves off the spruce and pine, too, but its father said no, for he had seen the good work of these trees in helping the bird.

One day a teacher entered the classroom and gave the students a surprise test. He gave out the paper and asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone's surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot in the center of the page.

The teacher saw the expression on everyone’s face and said, "I want you to write what you see there. The confused students got started on the hard task. At the end of the class, the teacher took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them. All of them described the black dot and tried to explain where it was on the paper.

After all had been read, the classroom was quiet. The teacher began to explain, "I am not going to grade you according to this. I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot (点). The same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a gift filled with love and care. We always have reasons to celebrate—friends that help us or jobs that support our lives."

"However, we keep focusing only on the dark spots, the health problems, the lack of money or the bad relationship with a family member. The dark spots are really annoying, but they are very small. Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. Enjoy each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a positive life!"