【推荐1】Once upon a time, there was a rich man who lived in a big town. He had a lovely son ________ together with his son, they loved collecting valuable paintings painted by some famous ________ such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet as well.

Some years later, the son left home and ________ the Army. But after a few months, the old man received a letter ________ that his son had died. The old man became very ________ and lonely. One day, a solider came to the man and gave him a painting—it was a portrait（肖像）of his ________. He told his neighbour it was the greatest gift he had ever received. ________, the old man died.

All of the old man’s paintings would be sold at an auction（拍卖会）. The auction ________ the painting of the old man’s son. “Who will pay $100 ________it?” the auctioneer asked. Moments passed and nobody spoke or raised ________ hands. Someone said, “Who cares about that painting? Let’s get on the good ones.” “No, we ________sell this one first.”   replied the auctioneer.

________, a good friend of the old man spoke. “Ten dollars!” “Going once...going twice...sold!” called the auctioneer. He then announced ________ the whole auction was over. “According to the father’s will（遗嘱）, ________ takes the son’s portrait gets the whole collection.” the auc-tioneer said.

Together with the father’s ________, whoever took the son got it all.

Cassie, the cassowary (食火鸡) lived a _________ life. She would walk through the forest, eating fallen fruit, while other birds flew among the trees.

“Why can’t you _________?” they would ask.

“Your little wings (翅膀) can’t _________ lift you off the ground!” they would laugh at her. “You’re a _________ to birds,” they would speak in a high voice until they flew away. Cassie was feeling more and more lonely and _________ so she decided to _________ the forest. As she walked free from the trees, she heard a deep voice from behind. Cassie turned around. A large tree signed to her to come back into the forest, “We need you here,” said the tree, “We _________ you to eat our fruit and spread our seeds (种子). The other birds may think that you’re useless, but you are actually the most useful bird in the forest. Please don’t go, you are irreplaceable (不可替代).”

Cassie smiled for the first time in many weeks and returned home to the forest. The fruit had never _________ so good.

It’s easy to compare your skills to the abilities of others and feel ashamed (惭愧). It’s easy to listen to the voices of others and believe _________. But know this—You are useful, you are __________, and you are irreplaceable!

【推荐3】One day, a teacher went into her classroom with a glass of water. She wanted to teach her students how to deal with stress. First, she asked her students, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

They gave many different _______. Some students said it weighed 200 grams, ______ simply said they didn’t know. She smiled and replied, "Actually, the weight of the glass doesn’t matter. It depends on _______ I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour. I'll have an ache in my ________. If I hold it for a day, I'll have to call an ambulance (救护车). In each case, it’s the same weight, but the   _______I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She _______, “That’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens(负担) all the time, sooner or later, as they becomes increasing heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”

"Just like ______ this glass of water, you have to lay your stress down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with our burdens — holding them more _______ each time.”

As this teacher said, we shouldn't carry our burdens around all the time. _______   them today and pick them up tomorrow. No matter what burdens you're carrying now, put them down for a moment and get some_______. Your mind will thank you for it.