2 . A businessman had two sons. While he gave the younger son a lot of love and gifts, he neglected(忽视) the elder son. It was completely puzzling (令人费解) and no one knew why.

When the boys ______, they were asked to manage the father's business. The elder son was ______ about the business. From morning till late in the evening, he was busy working. Within a few years, he ran the business very well and ______ expanded (扩大) it. What about the younger son? He didn't have much to do ______ having a good time every day. But the father______ that his favorite son would be a success. If the elder son could be a ______ businessman, surely the younger one, with a higher education, would do much better.

A few years later, the ______ of his decision became clear. Uninterested in business, the younger son continued spending his time enjoying ______. And he went out of business. But the elder son's far smaller share (份额) of business had expanded and he had shown everyone that he was a good decision maker. Being ashamed (羞愧的) at the end of the event, the father met the elder son and was angry with the younger one. The elder son, who was ______ to all this quietly, suddenly said he wanted to set up an independent business and live on his own. “Why?” asked the father. “I blame (责备) one person for my brother's failure, ______ it's not him. You can't blame children for the faults (过失) of their parent, can you? ” asked the elder son.

3 . We came back to the classroom after lunch while our classmates were playing outside．

"Look at ______ I found in Ms． Lee's office．" Karen， a friend of mine， held up a small box filled with pieces of chalk in every color of the rainbow．

"Wow! What fun it would be to write on the ______， " Judy's eyes shone with joy． "But Ms． Lee doesn't let us do so，" I responded． "Don't be ______， Janet． No one will ever know，" said Karen， ______ into the box and drawing out some chalk． At first I______ joined my friends， however， gradually I found it was fun．

Then it struck Judy that we should______ each other to write names with our left hands． Picking up their chalk， they started． I ______ a white piece…

"Better get this board cleaned off now，" said Judy， ______ what I wrote on the board． Everything came off ______ my name! I was sweating in______ and I felt my knees were getting______． It wasn't chalk at all， but a white piece of crayon（蜡笔）． Mom had a______： "Fools' names and faces always______ in public．" I never understood ______ what it meant before． Now I did!

I rushed to the toilet to get a can of cleanser and Judy______ with paper towels． After rubbing hard， my name was ______， but an abrasion（磨损处） remained on the board．

Hearing ______ coming， we remove every trace of wetness as ______ as possible． We were just slipping into our desks ______ the teacher walked in． Perhaps Ms． Lee never ______ the abrasion． But I did． I learned that day： "No one will ever know" is never true．