Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are ________ the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we decided to ________ a costume party（化妆舞会）instead.

While we were writing the ________, my mum came in and asked, “Why not invite John?” John had been in our class for only ________ months, but be was already getting better grades in Maths than anyone ________ in class. I wrinkled（皱起）my nose, “Mum, he wears the same clothes to school every day. A costume will ________ him too much money.” Mum said nothing.

The next day, mum gave me a(n) ________ with a shopping certificate（凭证）in it “I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John,” Mum said. But how? We didn’t want to make John embarrassed（尴尬的）. We ________ it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good ________.

On the day of our party, kids ________, dressed differently. John came in the same clothes as usual.

We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud ________, “Now it’s time for the great prize game. It’s the following riddle（谜语）……” It was a Maths game. None of us was ________ when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope. He got the prize with pride.

________ went on well as we planned. The next week John wore a new pair of trousers and a new shirt. He felt ________. So did we.

When we help others, we need to find a proper way, ________ we may hurt them in another way.

One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, “Look! There is a horseshoe（马掌钉）. Pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn’t worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but picked it up himself.

When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with a few pennies（美分）he bought some cherries（樱桃）. The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky. And there wasn’t a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth. And they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up.

When Thomas had eaten all the cherries, his father said to him, “My dear son, if you had bent（弯曲）down earlier to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things.”

Are you shy? If you are, you are not alone. In fact, close to 50 percent of people are shy. Almost 80 percent of people feel shy at some point in their lives. These days, shyness is becoming more and more common. Now, scientists are trying to understand shyness. They have some interesting ideas about why people are shy.

Is it possible to be born shy? Many scientists say yes. They say 15 to 20 percent of babies behave shyly. These babies are a little quieter and more watchful than other babies. Interestingly, these shy babies usually have shy parents. As a result, scientists think that some shyness is genetic.

Family size might cause people to be shy as well. Scientists at Harvard（哈佛）University studied shy children. They found that 66 percent of them had older brothers and sisters. The scientists said that these children were often bullied（欺负）by their older brothers and sisters. As a result, they became shy. At the same time, children with no brothers and sisters may be shy as well. Growing up alone, they often play by themselves. They are not able to learn the same social skills as children from big families.

You may also be shy because of where you were born. When scientists studied shyness in different countries, they found surprising differences. In Japan, most people said they were shy. But in Isral, only one of three people say so. What explains the difference? One scientist says the Japanese and Israelis have different opinions（观点）about failure（失败）. In Japan, when people do not succeed, they feel bad about themselves. They blame（责备）themselves for their failure. In Israel, the opposite is true. Israelis often blame failure on outside reasons, such as family, teachers, friends or bad luck. In Israel, freedom of opinion and risk taking are strongly supported. This may by why Israelis worry less about failure and are less shy.

For shy people, it can be difficult to make friends, speak in class, and even get a good job. But scientists say you can get over your shyness. They suggest trying new things and practicing conversations. And don’t forget—if you are shy, you are not the only one.

He looked in every room, and shouted “Happy New Year” to every one of his family. Then he ran into the street to repeat it to those he met. When he came back, his father gave him two new dollars. His face lighted up as he took them. He had wished for a long time to buy some nice books.

As he ran down the street with a light heart to the bookshop, he saw a poor German family—the father, mother and three children walking in the cold wind.

“I wish you a happy New Year,” said Edward, as he was happily passing on. The man shook his head. “You do not belong to this country?” asked Edward. The man shook his head again, because he could not understand or speak English. But he pointed to his mouth, and to the children, he seemed to say, “These little ones have had nothing to eat for a long time.”

Edward quickly understood that these people were poor and in trouble. He took out his dollars and gave one to the man, and the other to his wife. They said something in their language, which meant, “Thank you very much, and we will remember you forever.”

A peaceful mind is very important for our effectiveness（效率）. It keeps us calm and allows us to stay happy during the day, no matter（无论）what the situation（情况）is. So, here, I would like to share the ways to have a “mind like water”, a state of mind that is as peaceful as calm water. Pick the ones that work for you:

Your heart tells you what is the right thing to do. It is where your deepest values（价值）live. Following what your heart says helps you be true to yourself, and that helps you get a peaceful mind. So learn to listen more to your heart, and do what it tells you to do.

Getting more information often means introducing more noise into your mind. That’s why limiting（限制）your information intake is important for calm and peaceful mind. You shouldn’t take in more information than necessary（必要的）.

Whatever you do, you do not need to be in a hurry. Doing so will only take you faster in the wrong direction. Slow down so that you can clearly hear the voice of your heart.

We usually think about our own needs and problems most of the time. But self-centered（以自我为中心的）thoughts can’t bring peace into our mind. Instead, it may make us feel stressed. So don’t think too much about yourself.

76. 临近期末，学校将在学习小组内开展年终自评和组评活动，假如你是Sunshine小组的组长，请根据下面表格中的提示，用英语写一篇短文，对你的组员Daniel进行评价。

   2. 句子结构紧凑，要点齐全，内容合理，篇章结构连贯。

Daniel is a member of my team called Sunshine.