1 . I was recently invited to dinner by a friend. During the meal, the _______ of the restaurant came over and said our meal was free. I was _______. He stood there smiling at me and there was an air of _______. Finally I asked him if he knew me. He said I had _______ forgotten him, but I had _______ his life. My friend was quite _______ and asked him how I had done this.

He said twelve years ago I was teaching a stress management class and he was one of the _______. I asked the group what their number one _______ was and most of them said it was from their bosses.

I listened to everyone, then _______ a chair and invited everyone to stand on it. I wanted them to look at the room from ________ there. After that, I asked the group to think about how the room looked ________ when they changed their perspective (角度).

Then I asked them to ________ their bosses. Was this the same person who had ________their good qualities and hired them? Do they remember how ________ they were to be chosen for the job?

He said I looked at him and asked if he had ever thanked his boss for the ________ to earn a living and ________him new skills and to be a better employee.

He said he went back to work the next day with a thank-you card to his ________. He learned to ________ stress in a smart way. Now he has been the manager of the restaurant for eight years. He said I had taught him to ________life from different perspectives and to express ________.

2 . A Welcome Gift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them _______ side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud _______ filled the room and made them feel very happy.

The next morning, _______, their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a _______ under their door during the night. One of their neighbors had written to complain about the sound of the piano. Dario’s mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all _______ people and he couldn’t imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their _______ and apologize for their playing.

“Maybe we could go and _______ everyone in person.” his mother said.

“What if we invited them to come here for a _______ instead?” Dario asked.

They both loved the _______. Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts __________ their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

Finally, the day of the party __________. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to __________. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, __________ Dario’s mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I __________ that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don’t think I disliked the playing.”

Dario’s mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we __________ you an apology.” she said. “I didn’t __________ how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.”

“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such __________ music.”

“These songs are beautiful music.” Dario’s mother said. “We will be __________ to play them in the evening.”

“And we won’t play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to __________ the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother’s face. It gave him a feeling of __________ and made him feel that they were home at last.