1 . I was at a crowded grocery store not long ago. It was a weekday evening, cold and tense. People were carelessly _________ aisles (过道) and at one point, two women_________ for several minutes after running into each other.

Things got _________ at the checkout line. The cashier scanned a man’s discount card, but he misread the savings on her screen as an additional _________. He decided she was acting _________ and began to argue. The cashier tried in vain (徒劳地) to reason with him. She _________ a manager, who accompanied him to customer service, and moved to the next _________ in line.

We’ ve all witnessed (目击)_________ scenes like this in public places. My reaction when I see them is both personal and _________. I am a sociologist who studies how and why people communicate with one another-or why they __________ not to. To me, the grocery scene was another example of how our __________ in others has declined. But it was also a teachable __________ on how we can rebuild our faith- __________ with just one person.

I __________ the nervous cashier. I got a bottle of water from a nearby cooler and handed it to her. “I felt__________ about how that man treated you and wanted to buy this for you, ” I said. Her face lit up, and we __________ as she scanned our items. She told me she had been __________ that evening through severe foot pain and would be having an operation later that week. I wished her well in her __________ and she thanked me as I left.

Those are the balancing __________ that will add up to restore (重建) trust between people. You can start that pattern in someone else’s life, even in a __________ as ordinary as the neighbourhood grocery store.

2 . One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her _________ it was nothing more than a little branch and several years later it started to _________ towards the sky at an amazing speed. Soon it blessed her with cooling _________ in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.

When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow _________ the tree’s branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the _________. It was so sad seeing half of it _________ on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the _________ tree would have to be cut down. _________, she had saved a few seedlings from it that she hoped to _________ in the future.

Still, it was a shock to drive by her house the other day and see __________ but a stump (树桩) in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its branches, its leaves __________ in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs (树枝) reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad __________ of its loss for a long time to come.

My wonderful neighbor had another plan, __________. When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its __________. It was such an affirmation (肯定) of life. It was such a joy to __________. I could feel my heart __________.

Life by its very nature is a __________ bag. It hands us both beauty and tragedy, love and loss, __________ and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it __________ us in two, or we can use even its hardest times to make our __________ stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can use it to help others.

3 . The United States seems to have become extremely enthusiastic about competition. The famous Scripps National Spelling Bee—an annual spelling contest—now allows kids who last in regional competitions but whose parents agree to pay an entry fee (费用) along with their own food and accommodation to compete. And while some kids are working for what they call a spelling “career”, others are approaching chess competitions, dance competitions, cooking or other passions that previous generations developed somewhat later in life.

I’m disturbed by the phenomenon (现象), which seems to be getting worse and more intense.

My teacher always warned us that competition is a destructive quality; that the goal is never to beat anyone else. I think he’ll be cheered by author Peggy Noonan’s idea that a lot of us are running our own races, trying to rise to the occasion and beat some past and limited conception of ourselves by doing something great.

I heartily agree. Instead of paying attention to the accomplishments or possessions of others, we need to focus on our own potential, our own growth and take pleasure in our own particular set of circumstances. The battle for life is not against anyone else but against the darkness inside that tries to bring us down. I wish you only well. Your good doesn’t reduce mine. Your bad gives me no pleasure

Ms. Noonan also suggests that “you’re running your own race alongside others running theirs, and in the same direction. You’re doing something great together.” If we stop worrying about what our neighbor is earning or driving, the size of his house, the success of his marriage, the accomplishments of his children, we can sit back and enjoy our own lives. And if we all focus on what we each can achieve, regardless of anyone else, we have a chance of working as one, of actually being united.

Competition divides us. There are winners and losers. But that’s a very limited picture of reality. It may apply to spelling bees and soccer matches and even in some college classes, but life isn’t about triumphing (战胜) over someone else; it’s about triumphing over ourselves. The only acceptable competition is one where we encourage each other to be the best human being possible, and that’s the only game where “everyone is a winner”.

5 . Joshua williams was five years old when something came into his heart that would change his life and the lives of thousands of others. His journey began with a $20 birthday gift from his grandmother. She said he could use it any way he wanted.

On his way to the mall that morning, the five-year-old began thinking about all the things he could buy with the money. Then, looking out of the car window, Joshua noticed a homeless man standing on the street corner. That moment changed his life forever. Joshua instantly gave the man his $20 bill in the hope that it would make a small difference.

With this gesture, Joshua discovered his life’s calling to help the needy. At just five years old, Joshua knew he would need help in order to make his dream — to wipe out hunger — a reality. He enlisted his family, and soon they were delivering meals to the homeless every Saturday. Joshua began to realize, however, that he needed a “bigger, better and easier way to distribute food.” He and his family came up with the idea to have the homeless community come to a centralized distribution point. On their first distribution day, Joshua and his team of helpers provided more than 300 families with food. They continued distributing groceries this way every month for two years.

With the success of his work, Joshua eventually created the Joshua’s Heart Foundation to continue his mission of feeding the homeless. Now, several years later, his foundation continues to provide food and cooking classes for needy families.

Joshua and his team have helped feed over 20,000 people over the past eight years and they’re still working to increase that number. Each bag of groceries represents a brighter day in the lives of these individuals and families, and it all began with one young person who saw a need and decided to make a difference.

8 . How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.

Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved, whatever he may do. It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In addition, life is always presenting new things to the child — things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-known. But a child has his parents, he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things or being punished for what he has done wrong.

When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.