4 . To this day her kindness brings tears to my eyes.

It was from more than 15 years ago and I felt like I’d always been too embarrassed to _________ her properly. I hope to share this so that there’ll be more _________ in the office. I was the “idiot (白痴)” in the office and my _________ was annoyed by my inability. I watched secretly from the corner as my manager _________ to the CFO (财务总监) about how I wasn’t _________, and that I was extremely slow to learn, before actually calling me an idiot. I believed what she said and felt _________.

However, Teresa who was my manager’s assistant was so _________ to my trouble, and she would stay back each day to teach me ever so patiently. She knew of my personal _________, and would call me to make sure I didn’t _________ to my bad habit (which I’m not yet ready to share here). She never wanted attention, always __________ me when no one is watching, and she had no agenda.

With her help and the confidence she __________ in me, I finally advanced and doubled my salary after just over a year. Actually, I was __________ after my manager’s complaint but got promoted a few times in the next company. However, her biggest __________ to me was simply that she cared for me. So I had to believe in myself.

Kindness is a gift. I hope to return the __________ to Teresa one day, and to __________ the same opportunity to others.

I watched my dad scowl (绷着脸) as he listened to the voice coming through the telephone receiver. I heard him say, “Yes, Miss Beisner,” and “I understand what you’re saying, Miss Beisner. I appreciate you sharing this information. We’ll see what we can do about the situation. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”

Miss Beisner was my first-grade teacher, and I loved her. I thought she felt the same about me, but now I was beginning to wonder. The tone of Dad’s voice, the redness in his cheeks, and his repeated clenching. And unclenching of fists made it pretty clear. This was not a warm and fuzzy good news-from-the-teacher call.

As I was deciding whether I should lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of my life or run away from home, Dad hung up the phone. “Jacquie, come here and sit down. We need to talk.”

Uh-oh. When Dad said, “We need to talk,” it meant he needed to talk, and I needed to listen.

I shuffled (拖着脚走) over to the well-worn brown chair in the corner of the living room, plopped down, and waited to hear the nature of my crime.

Dad told me that Miss Beisner thought I was bright but not working up to my ability. She said I had strong verbal skills but weak study habits. Translation: I never closed my mouth, and I seldom opened a book. Apparently, my failure to memorize the addition facts, or even attempt to, was more than she was willing to put up with. Hence, the telephone call.

Dad ended our one-way conversation with a verbal outline for his plan of attack. Bubbles, our Toy Manchester Terrier, was going to teach me math. Silently, I thought, No way is any dumb dog going to teach me how to add, not even our beloved Bubbles. Out loud, I said, “How?”

Dad summoned Bubbles from her bed near the stove and commanded her to sit. “Bubbles,” Dad said, “how much is five plus three?” Bubbles let out eight loud, crisp barks.

I was incredulous (满腹狐疑的). I couldn’t understand how a dog could add, and I was more than a little embarrassed by the fact that the family dog was smarter than me.

Paragraph 1: After that, I threw myself into math with newfound determination.

Paragraph 2: One day, I asked Dad whether Bubbles really knew how to add.

7 . The United States you may not know

The United States is the only superpower in the world, and it is far more advanced than any other country. However, we can’t simply owe its _________ and prosperity to its lucky escape from the destruction of the two world wars. What other nations should _________ is the American spirit and its social system.

The most obvious features of the American spirit are _________ and pragmatism (务实思想). Nearly 70% of the important inventions have been made in the US since the first industrial revolution. Since the US occupies such an important position in science and technology, naturally it has become the first superpower in the world.

Americans are always _________ with what they have achieved, and they have an appetite for adventure over the love of _________. European countries have been pursuing a reformist policy of “high tax and high welfare” since the 1960s, while only the US _________ the policy of “high risk and high return”. _________ , the US has become the leader of the third industrial revolution (in technology of information, materials and biology).

High salary is not the only _________ that the talents from other countries find in the United States. Some characteristics of American society should not be _________. Family backgrounds and great wisdom in building connections and playing up to the boss, to which great importance is attached in other countries, are not so important to __________ development in the US. Most people are on the same starting line, and whether one can succeed or not depends on his own ability and hard work.

However, the American character is full of paradoxes (矛盾). The American people are both extremely romantic and pragmatic. The American is a(n) __________ people, but in every field there are workaholics. The Americans are open-minded but they are very conservative on certain matters. Since China’s reform and opening-up to the outside world, many media in Western countries have greatly __________ their attitudes towards China. However, the American media are singing the same old tune against China as they were in the Cold War period. The Americans __________ freedom, but their government is very fond of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs. What’s most puzzling is that the Americans __________ authority, but they highly respect the laws and regulations of the society. Therefore, in such a nation that values personal liberty, the society can still be kept in good order and operate with high __________ . Is it odd? No one can provide a satisfactory answer.

10 . BEIJING — The Chinese economy has shown positive signs of stabilizing (稳定), but it’s hard to judge what it will be next year, governor of China’s central bank said on Thursday.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, made the remarks on a panel discussion with delegates from the financial field to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opened here on Thursday morning.

China’s economic momentum (推进力) will depend on not only domestic conditions, but also changes brought by the global financial crisis, said Zhou, who is also a CPC delegate to the national congress.

“It has become increasingly clear that the Chinese economy is now moving towards a better direction,” he said.

Due to the impact of the debt crisis in Europe, China’s economy began slowing this year. The Chinese economy expanded only 7. 4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012, marking a downturn for seven straight quarters, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said.

As the government adopted a series of fiscal (财政的) and monetary measures and speeded up the approvals of investment projects to spur the slowing economy, the domestic economy has stabilized since September with better indicators, Zhou said.

He said it’s hard to judge how the global financial crisis will continue to affect the Chinese economy because the spreading of the European debt crisis and the so-called fiscal cliff problem in the United States have increased uncertainties of the world economy.

“We need to monitor the effect on our economy of the monetary, easing policies launched recently by the United States and the European Union,” he said.

China is likely to maintain the policy continuity to some extent in 2013, but will leave enough room to make the policy targeted and flexible.