1 . In the corner of my desk is a note, slowly yellowing from time. It is a card from my mother, containing only four sentences, but with enough impact to _________ my life forever.

In the card, she praises my abilities as a writer. The word “but” never appears; _________, the word “and” is there almost a half dozen times.

Every time I read it, I am _________ to ask myself how many times I’ve “but-ted” my own daughters. Although our eldest daughter usually got all A’s on her report card, teachers would always suggest that she talked too much in class. I would come home and _________ her with, “Congratulations! Your Dad and I are very _________ of your accomplishment, but could you try to _________ in class?”

The same was _________ of our younger daughter. She treats the floor of her room as a closet, which has often caused me to say, “Yes, that project is great, but _________ your room!”

I’ve noticed that other _________ do the same thing. “Our whole family was together for Christmas, but Kyle skipped out early to play his new computer game.” “The hockey team won, but Mike should have made that last __________.”

But, but, but.

Instead, what I have learned from my mother is to start thinking “and, and, and”. __________, “The hockey team won, and Mike did his best the whole game.”

Now, I am firmly __________ that “but” feels bad, “and” feels good. This is not to say that children don’t need or won’t respond to their parents’ __________. They do and they will. When those expectations are consistently __________, amazing things happen.

“No more buts!” is a call for __________. And if I ever forget, I have my mother’s note to remind me.

3 . Camel Conversation

A mother and a baby camel were lying around under a tree.

Then the baby camel asked, “Mom, _______ do camels have humps (驼峰)?”

The mother camel considered this and said, “We are desert animals and we have the humps to _______ water so we can survive with very _______ water.”

The baby camel _______ for a moment and then said, “Okay, why are our _______ long and our feet rounded?”

The mama _______, “They are meant for walking in the _______.”

The baby paused, and then asked, “Why are our eyelashes (睫毛) _______? Sometimes they get in my way.”

The mama responded, “Those long thick eyelashes _______ your eyes from the desert sand ________ the strong wind blows in the desert.”

The baby camel thought and thought. Then he said, “I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for ________ through the desert and these eyelashes protect my eyes from the desert sand. Then why are we in the ________?”

We were given all ________ skills and abilities. These special gifts are to bring about the satisfaction we all ________. That satisfaction comes in helping others.

Don’t sit around in a zoo. Use your gifts and talents to help ________. You’ll be glad of what you did.

4 . Sometimes the people who give you warmth are strangers. They brighten your day or your life. Snow makes everything white. But a ________ on a cold winter morning made my heart ________.

For several days snow fell heavily. It lay many inches thick on the ground. My home is not far from the Hill Park station. Every morning I ________ to the station and caught the eight o’clock train. When I got out of the train, I was about to ________ out of the railway station when my eyes got ________ on one old guy. The morning cold winter ________ were piercing (刺入) through my woolen ________. I felt it cutting through my flesh and bones．

I was walking quickly when I ________ the old man wasn’t wearing anything on his ________ nor scarf around his neck, ________he was sitting in freezing winds. I don’t know how he was going to ________ those cold winters.

I went to him and asked the reason for not wearing any hat. He gave me a strange ________ and said nothing. I got the sign that probably he felt embarrassed about the question that I asked him. So I ________off my woolen hat and handed it to him. I told him to keep wearing it. He then smiled. I smiled ________ and left. Actually, after you do a favor or offer a convenience, you will be deeply ________ by others. We said nothing, but we all enjoyed the warmth, friendship and generosity from each other.

7 . It has been heard for years: technology is ruining our lives. We are often told that it weakens our eyes light and productivity. I don’t buy into that mindset(心态) because we all have free will and can limit our technology intakes responsibly. However, one of the strongest bad effects of the technological age has been the downfall of reading books.

Before we had phones, books were sources of entertainment. I know I’m not the only one who spent nights as a child with a flashlight hidden under my covers so that I could finish a book when I was supposed to be sleeping. I still remember one of my favorite novels was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, from which I learned about the value of friendship.

Reading a book often feels even more pleasant than watching a movie. We create our own worlds, pictures of the characters and views of the events described. Reading requires complete focus, so it pulls us out of our daily lives, our fears and our problems. Reading a book brings us into a state of peace and adventure, letting us dive into others’ worlds.

Reading a book takes time and requires attentions, which is almost impossible in a world in which plenty of distractions(使人分心的事) exist at the mere opening of a phone lock screen. Many people even report feeling distracted by their phones while watching TV. If people are feeling distracted when watching TV shows, how can they focus on reading a novel, a task that requires complete attention?

I was recently on vacation and found myself on an eight-hour plane ride with no Internet access. At first, this seemed unbearable, but then I remembered I had packed a book in my bag. I started the book, and within minutes, I was totally absorbed. I spent the rest of my journey reading it.

I advise anyone wanting to rediscover the joys of reading, to simulate(模拟) the environment I was forced to enter into by getting on the airplane. Turn your phone off and find a quiet space. Pickup an old favorite book from childhood or a new one. Then, sit down and begin to create your own world.

8 . Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They bring with them lots of waste. The_________ might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers (冰川) are disappearing, changing the_________ of Kilimanjaro.

Hearing these stories, I’m_________ about the place — other destinations are described as “purer” natural experiences.

However, I soon discovered that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of_________ among tons of rubbish. I find a clean mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are_________ but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be_________ .

The best of a Kilimanjaro_________ , in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are regarded as spiritual places by many cultures. This_________ is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as climbers go through five ecosystems (生态系统) in the space of a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends abruptly at 3, 000 meters,_________ lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather__________ — low clouds envelope the mountainsides, which are covered with thick grass. I __________ twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4, 000 meters is the highland __________ : gravel (砾石), stones and rocks. __________ you climb into an arctic-like zone with__________ snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.

Does Kilimanjaro deserve its__________ as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ruining the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.

9 . I remember as a young child bringing a bunch of brilliant yellow flowers to my mother. It didn’t matter that the stems felt sticky or that both my parents cursed the presence of these flowers in the lawn. I thought they were beautiful!

And there were so many of them! We spent hours picking the flowers and then popping the blossoms off with a snap of our fingers. But the supply of dandelions (蒲公英) never ran out. My father or brothers would chop off all the heads with the lawnmower at least once a week, but that didn’t stop these hardy wonders.

And for those flowers that escaped the honor of being hand-delivered to my mother or the sharp blades of the lawnmower, there was another level of existence. The soft roundness of a dandelion gone to seed caused endless laughter of delight as we unconsciously spread this flower across the yard.

As I worked in my garden last week, pulling unwanted weeds out of the space that would become a haven for tomatoes, corn, peas and sunflowers, I again marveled at the flower that some call a weed.

And I thought, if only I had the staying power of a dandelion. If only I could stretch my roots so deep and straight that something tugging on my stem couldn’t separate me completely from the source that feeds me life. If only I could come back to face the world with a bright, sunshiny face after someone has run me over with a lawnmower or worse, purposely attacked me in an attempt to destroy me. If only I could spread love and encouragement as freely and fully as this flower spreads seeds of itself.

The lawns at my parents’ home are now beautiful green blankets. The only patches of color come from well-placed, well-controlled flowerbeds. Chemicals have managed to kill what human interference couldn’t. Still, I hope you and I can be different. I hope that we can stretch our roots deep enough that the strongest poison can’t reach our souls. I hope that we can overcome the poisons of anger, fear, hate, criticism and competitiveness.

10 . As a child, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me.

Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never agree because the walls were so old that some stones were loose and falling. However, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.

“I want to climb the stone walls.” I said. “Heavens, no! You’ll hurt yourself!” The response was just as I’d expected. But before I left the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s loud voice. “Now hold on just a minute.” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”

“Go,” he said to me, “and come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls — and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, smiling, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”

Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids will hear me say, “and people can like you exactly as you are.”