1 . There once was a very wealthy and curious king. This king had a huge rock _________in the middle of a road. Then he _________nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the gigantic rock from the road.

The first group of people to pass by were some of the _________merchants and the king's officials. Rather than moving it, they simply walked _________ it. Though they had made a tidy fortune, these _________merchants and officials never thought of making any contribution. A few even loudly_________the king for the inconvenience caused by not _________the roads. Not one of them tried to move the rock.

Finally, a peasant _________. His arms were full of vegetables and farm tools. When he got near the rock, rather than simply going around it, the peasant put down his _________and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. It took a lot of effort but he __________succeeded.

The peasant gathered up his load and was ready to go on his way when he saw a purse lying on the __________where the rock had been. The peasant __________the purse. The purse was stuffed full of gold coins and a note from the king. The king's note __________the gold was a __________for him, because he moved the rock from the road. Then, the king walked out from where he had hidden to meet the peasant.

The king__________the peasant what many of us never understand: every obstacle gives an opportunity to improve our condition.

2 . My life as a tax-paying employed person began in middle school, when, for three whole days, I worked in a baking factory.

My best friend Betsy’s father was a manager at Hough Bakeries, which, at Easter time, _________ little bunny (兔子) cakes for all its _________throughout Cleveland. It happened that the plant downtown needed eight kids for _________ help during our spring break, for which I had no_________ beyond listening to my favorite records. I’d _________ minimum wage. I’d see how a factory_________. My parents thought all of this was a grand idea and called Betsy’s dad with their _________.

Our_________in the factory were simple: Place cakes on a moving belt. Attach icing (糖霜) ears. Apply icing eyes and nose._________ bunny from the belt. This was ____________ than it sounds.____________ a bit and the cakes pile up. As I told my parents at dinner that first night, it was all a little more high-pressure than I’d   ____________ .

Dad __________. The son of a grocer, he’d spent the summers of his childhood____________ food in Benardsville, New Jersey. This was the sort of work that made you____________ the dollars you earned and respect those who did the work, he told me.

3 . My two kids and I were at Dunkin' Donuts, meeting my grandfather for a cup of coffee. My boys were 2 and 4 then. When the naughty little kid ________ his ice cream in the middle of the store, I turned to my grandfather for ________. I was surprised to find him laughing. When I tried to talk to him about how ________ life with two young boys is, his reply was short, “Little kids，________ problems.”

At the time, I felt a little angry. The ________ of raising my two boys didn't feel little. I sometimes felt overwhelmed (不知所措的) by their problems and needs. Still, I knew how to ________ them. I could calm my elder son down with his favorite CD and smiled at him in the rear­view mirror (后视镜). Back then, “fixing their problems” seemed like my ________. I did it every day. And, in general, I could fix most things that annoy them.

Those boys are 24 and 22 now. And, ________ my grandfather said, their problems are bigger than they were 20 years ago. And one thing I'm ________ at this stage of parenting is how to be a mom who doesn't help them. Worried about my elder son recently, I repeated my ________ to him, but he told me to stop—told me that I wasn't being ________ and that I needed to let him be.

Honestly, I miss the days when I felt so helpful. But I also feel ________ that I've raised an adult healthy enough to ________ his own life. And so, in a ________ reversal(互换), it is my son who now calms me down，________ me and then smiles at me from his rear­view mirror.

4 . A woman is volunteering in ashelter. It all started because she missed her own _________ .

Sandy was at a loss when her beloved Angus died last year — terribly lonely, yet not quite______for a new dog in her life. ________, she decided to volunteer at the local animal shelter and spend some quality time with furry friends who, like her, were ________ their old buddies (伙伴).

Remembering that her dog had loved being read to, she brought along a ________   there.

It's now been 18 months sinceSandy first began ________ her chair beside the dog house. Shelter workers say it really calms down the dogs, but Sandy says it does more ________ to her than it does to the dogs.

Sandy was ________ that photos of her reading to dogs were spreading on the Internet until the media started calling. Kathleen, a fellow shelter volunteer was so touched by the sight of her     ____ to an old dog that she took a photo and posted it on the Internet. She was so ______ with the dogs — I watched her read to several — and they just loved being ________ by her, "Kathleen said.

Inspired by Sandy's style of _________, the shelter has announced that a reading marathon is being ________ for next September. The plan is to get kids in the neighborhood ______ in reading to the animals, with the added benefit of reading practice for the two-leggers, along with plenty of friendly _______ for the four-leggers.