The Seven Wonders

Susan was a 12-year-old girl from a small village. She finished elementary school and was accepted to a very good school in a city nearby. She was very happy and     16     her new school life.

Today was the first day of her new school and she was waiting for her school bus. Once the bus came, she got on it quickly. She was very excited.

When the bus reached her school, all the students got off and headed for their classrooms. Susan also made it to her classroom after asking fellow students for     17    . Upon seeing her simple clothing and knowing that she was from a small village, other students started making fun of her. The teacher soon arrived and she asked everyone to keep quiet. She     18     Susan to the class and said that she would be studying with them from that day on.

“We will have a surprise test in this class. Get     19    , everybody!” the teacher said. She told everyone to write down the Seven Wonders of the World. The students started writing the answers quickly. Susan, holding her pen in her hand, seemed to have no idea what to write on the paper.

Everyone had handed in their answer sheets     20     Susan. The teacher came and asked Susan, “What happened, dear? Don’t worry. Just write down what you know as the other students have learned about the wonders just a couple of days.”

Susan replied, “I was thinking that there were so many things which I could     21     to write down!” A few moments later, she handed in her answer sheet to the teacher. The teacher started reading everyone’s answers. Most of the students had the     22     answers: the Great Wall of China, Chichén Itzá, Petra, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Colosseum and Taj Mahal.

The teacher was happy as the students had remembered what she had taught them. At last, the teacher started reading Susan’s answers.

“The seven wonders are: To Be Able to See, To Be Able to Hear, To Be Able to Feel, To Laugh, To Think, To Be Kind, To Love!”

The teacher stood stunned(惊愕的) and the whole class was silent. Today, a girl from a small village had     23     them about the most precious gifts that every one of us had, which are truly wonders.

The Elephant and the Rope

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp. He suddenly stopped. He realized that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains(链条). Each of the giant animals was held by only a small rope tied to its front leg.

The man felt confused. It was c    51     that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds and run away. But, for some reason, they did not. In fact, they didn’t try to escape at all.

He saw a trainer nearby. Curious and wanting to know the answer, he went up and asked, “Excuse me, but I want to know why the elephants are just standing there. Why do they never try to run away?”

The trainer replied, “When the elephants are very young and much smaller, we use ropes of the same size to tie them. At a young a    52    , the elephants are not strong enough to break free from the ropes. They try and try, but fail each time. As they grow up, they are conditioned to(习惯于) believe they cannot break away. They believe the ropes can still hold them, so they n    53     try to break free ever again.”

L    54     the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? I think every one of us can relate to this story and the feeling of having failed at something or another over the years. Over time, we might begin to think that we are not able to do a particular(特定的) thing and we a    55     this as the truth and never try again. We think to ourselves, “I tried that before and it didn’t work out. What is the point in trying it again and w    56     my time? I don’t want to look like a fool!” And this is how we start to settle for a life that is “safe” and “less exciting”. However, we could regard all the so-called “failures” in our lives as just stepping stones along our path, and decide to respond in a way that is positive. Say to yourself, “Ah, well, at least I tied. Now I know a wrong way to do it, so it makes my next attempt(尝试) clearer!”

So, don’t limit yourself to a small world. Stay f    57     on what you want to achieve and keep trying until you succeed. You will never know how far you can go until you have the courage to do it. And if you fall, just get up and try again!

64. Write at least 60 words on the topic “How I Went From Hating __________ to Loving it”

成长过程中，总会经历很多的变化。你是否有过对一样事物或者一种活动由讨厌转变为享受的经历呢？请以“How I Went From Hating __________ to Loving it”为题，写一篇不少于60词的短文。