Special Talent (才能)

Tom sat at his desk, looking out of the window for a long time. His class project (课题) had to be done tomorrow. Everyone in his class had to write about their own special talent. His friends ______ theirs, but Tom still had a problem with what to write about. Earlier that month, Tom helped his friends with their ______ .     

Betty came to ask for help and enjoyed Tom’s wonderful ______. Tom advised that she should write about drawing because Betty drew wonderful pictures. Betty went home ______.

A few days ago when Tom ______ with Scott in the library, Scott was worried about his project. Tom advised him to write about swimming because he was a very good ______. Scott hurried home to work on his project.

Tom still couldn’t find out what his ______ talent was. He thought about his friend Ellie. Last week when they were on their way to school, she danced along beside him. Suddenly, Ellie stopped because she was ______ about her project. Tom told her to write about dancing. Ellie was so happy that she jumped into the air and danced the rest of the ______.

However, Tom still couldn’t decide in his special talent. ______, he had an idea.

The next day, everyone including Tom presented (呈现) their projects.

“It ______ me a long time to decide, so I started to think I didn’t have one.”

“But… I do have a special talent.”

“I’m good at ______ my friends,” he said, “All of the things I do are great ______ because I do them with my friends.”

The whole class clapped (鼓掌). His friends clapped ______ than everyone else.

“You forgot something ______, Tom,” said Betty, “You make the best drinks.”

“Thank you,” said Tom.

Read the instruction of the medicine before you take it.

（tablespoonful 汤匙 teaspoonful 茶匙 dose 剂量）

Repeat above dose every 1/2 to 1 hour if needed. If you do not get better, see a doctor please.

Warning:

1. Put in a cool, dry and clean place. Keep away from sunlight and the reach of children.

2. Don’t overdose. If overdose, get medical help as soon as possible.

3.Don’t take if you are going to give a birth.

An old carpenter（木匠）was ready to leave his job. He told his boss about his plans to leave the house-building business. He wanted to live a more comfortable life with his wife. The boss was sorry to see his good worker go. He asked the carpenter to build one last house for him.

The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. Soon the carpenter finished his work. The boss came to check the house, then he handed the front door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.” What a shock! The carpenter couldn’t believe his ears. Also, what a shame（羞愧）!

If he could build the house one more time, he would do it all so differently. Now he had to live in the house he built carelessly.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a careless way. Sometimes we do not give the job our best work. Then we look at the situation and find that we are now living in the house we built. If we knew that, we would do it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Build it carefully. It is the only life you will ever build.

Someone says, “Life is a do-it-yourself job.” That is to say, the choices（选择）you made in the past decide your life today and the choices you make today decide your life tomorrow.

When Jenny of California was still a little girl, her parents let her pick out an American Girl doll. She picked one that had the same hair color and style as her.

“She looked like me and I felt there was a piece of me in her,” Jenny, 17, said. “You see yourself in a doll and it’s really special to have that connection.”

But what about children with rare medical conditions who don’t look like anyone else? One day in January this year, Jenny read a story about doll designer Amy Jandrisevits. Her “A Doll Like Me” project makes look-alike dolls for children with disabilities（残疾）. Pacheco wanted to make similar dolls.

Over the past several months, Jenny has designed and sewn（缝制）cloth dolls for four local   kids who have birthmarks, surgical scars（手术疤痕）, or other physical features（特征）. Jenny asked the kids about their favorite sports and hobbies. She also watched doll-making videos and attended sewing camp.

After she got her own sewing machine, she taught herself to sew blankets, skirts and clothes for the dolls. She designed her own patterns（图案）and figured out how to recreate the children’s appearances. It was important to her that the children recognize themselves in the dolls. However, their differences were not the most noticeable feature.

“I really value（重视）the beauty in little things,” Jenny said. “ Each of these kids is so special. I hope through these dolls they can see themselves in a new light and really enjoy their beauty. ‘Dolls’ can be different.”

When we are trying to get to any personal purpose（目标）, one of the biggest problems is that we always put them off till tomorrow.     31     If you want to finish a purpose, you have to start on it today. So what can you do to find the time for your personal purposes?

One purpose at a time.

Often the problem is that we try to take on too many purposes. We have a list of things we want to achieve, reading a book, learning French and many other difficult things. Maybe we are interested in them, but because of that, we never start.     32     It’s difficult to keep the attention（注意力）and energy on too many purposes at once.

    33    

It’s not enough to say, “It would be nice to learn French”or”It would be cool to go running every morning”. It has to be something you really want. Ask yourself why you want to get to this purpose, and how much you want it. That’s important to do early on, or you won’t make time for it.

Keep it easy.

    34     You don’t want to have many things to do to achieve your purpose. Pay attention to a smaller purpose that will lend you to your bigger purpose.

Stay focused（集中的）.

    35     It’s easy to become crazy about something else, and when we lose focus, we suddenly stop making time for the purpose. Instead, find ways to keep the attention.

At the     51     (begin) of the 20th century, there was a successful American shoe-making company. Due to market changes, the sales of the company went down     52     (quick). The boss was worried about this, so he     53     (hold) a meeting to discuss this problem. A new business strategy (策略) was planned—opening new markets abroad. He decided to send the two best salesmen in his company to Africa to do a survey first.

Both salesmen left for Africa     54     boat, but they went to different countries. Within a month, the first salesman finished his survey of the African market. He made a call     55     the boss, telling     56     (he) that the African market for shoe sales was null (空白的). He said, “Boss, it is bad news. The weather here is so hot. People all go barefoot. No one wears any shoes. There is no market for us here! We are not going to be able to sell a single pair of     57     in Africa!” The salesman sounded pretty sad.

After a few days, the second salesman called the boss. He was quite     58     (excite) and said, “Boss, good news. It’s a fantastic place and a great business opportunity (商机) for us. No one here wears shoes. No one sells shoes. There is a huge potential (潜力的) market for us. We are going to sell     59     (thousand) of pairs and make a lot of money. All we need to do is to educate them on the advantages and     60     (important) of wearing shoes on the hot road.”

One beautiful winter morning, a little boy of 10 years old or so went to a grocery shop to make a telephone call. Clearly, he changed his tone（语气）of voice when speaking over the phone. When all this was happening, the store owner noticed and listened with great interest to the conversation that followed:

“Madam, I am a poor boy. Can you give me a job cutting grass on your lawn（草坪）?” the little boy asked.

“Sorry, I already have someone to cut my lawn,” the woman at the other end of the phone line replied.

“Madam, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now. ”

“I’m very happy with the person who is presently cutting my lawn. He is doing a good job. ”

“Madam, I’ll even sweep your curb（清扫路边）, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach, Florida. ”

“No, thank you. ”

Instead of getting angry, the little boy smiled and put back the receiver gently.

The store owner, who was listening to the conversation, walked over to the boy and said, ” Son, I like your attitude and I would like to offer you a job.”

“No, thanks. But I appreciate your offer.”

“But you were really pleading（恳求）for a job when you were talking to the lady over the phone.”

“No sir, I was just checking my performance on the job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!” the little boy replied.