A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.

Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”

“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”

“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”

The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.

It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!

Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.

Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.

She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”

Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.

As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The “Ugly” Christmas Doll

The sidewalk was filled with shoppers as my mother and I hurried to the department store. I raised my neck to look at the holiday window show, but at the age of six, I was too small to see it. When at last we reached the store, I stood with my eyes wide. “Look, Mother,” I shouted, pressing my hands against the glass, “Bobbi (芭比)”. Before my eyes was the most beautiful doll I had ever seen! She wore a fairy princess suit, a pair of crystal shoes, with a shining crown (皇冠) on her golden hair.

“If only (要是……该多好) she were mine,” I dreamed. “We would have tea parties, share secrets and dance with a handsome prince.” But to my disappointment, my mother guided me away from the window, explaining that she and my father could not afford such an expensive doll. “But there will be a very special gift under the tree for you on Christmas morning, Maggie,” she said, “I promise.”

Later that week I stood by Mother’s sewing machine (缝纫机), watching the needle flash up and down. “You don’t know what this is, do you?” She joked, holding up the doth for me to see.

“My Christmas doll!” I shouted, “So much to my surprise!”. It was still in the early stages but I could make out its head, neck and body. Mother laughed as I danced around the room pretending Bobbi and I were at the ball.

My excitement grew with each passing day. Mother continued to work on the doll, and whenever I walked into the room she would hide it under a pillow. I could tell by her smile that she was satisfied with her work. On Christmas morning I jumped out of bed, ran down the hall and quickly arrived at the living room where the Christmas tree was placed.

There, under the tree, was a beautifully packed gift box.

But I could see Mother watching me, with a hopeful look on her face.

7 . In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the specialist tested him again. To my _________ , it was the same score.

Later that evening, I_________ told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agree that we knew our_________ much better than an IQ (智商)test. We _________ that Michael’s score must have been a _________ and we should treat him _________ as usual.

We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got _________ grades in the school, especially in biology and chemistry, which was a great comfort.

Michael _________ Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than_________. In 1968, he was __________ by the School of Medicine, Yale University.

On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I __________ the ceremony(典礼) at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the __________ IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say __________, “My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!” It is his special way of thanking us for the __________ we had in him.

Interestingly, Michael then __________ another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had __________ the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be __________.

Children often do as __________ as what adults, particularly parents and teachers, __________ of them. That is, tell a child he is “__________”, and he may play the role of a foolish child.

9 . When I was 24, I moved into an apartment and the couple next door were loud all the time. After putting up with it for a couple of weeks, I decided to ___________ them and politely ask them to be ___________ after noon, as I had to work at midnight, so I ___________ went to bed around noon.

I went next door and knocked on the door and an old woman answered. I ___________ myself and she asked if I came over to complain about the ___________, and I said yes. She ___________ both she and her husband were going ___________ and that they needed to speak loudly to hear each other. She ___________ me in and offered me a coffee and we started talking. ___________, we heard a loud bang in the kitchen. Then we found her husband had fallen onto the ground. Immediately, we rushed him to the ________________.

When I came home from work the next day, there was a ________________ on the door from the lady asking me to come over. When I reached her ________________, she asked if I'd drive her, to the hospital, to which I said no ________________. When we got to the hospital, I ________________ her to his room, where he thanked me. Soon I ended up being friends with this couple ________________ they moved away a year later.

One day after ten years, I got a ________________ from a lawyer. I was ________________ what was going on, so I went down and when I arrived at his office, the lawyer asked me if i knew a ________________by their names and I said yes. He told me that the couple had died and he was ________________ by their children to find me. They wanted to thank me personally. I________________ the family and then we became friends!

You can never know when, where or how you are next going to make new friends. Life is full of surprises. Whatever happens, try to treat others exactly as you would like to be treated.

10 . When I was a young man I had much ego(自负). I though I ________ everything. I looked forward to fame and success. I can even remember once in college _________ telling one of my friends: “ If only everyone listened to me, then they would all be happy.” I ________ left school, ready to take on the world. Little did I know the world was about to take on me.

In the _________ following college, instead of success, I found struggles. I had _________ in finding work. My jobs were either temporary or were ________ badly. When my wife and I had children, we were ________ to learn that both of our sons had Autism(自闭症) and would need to be ________ for the rest of their lives. I had no ________ why this had happened to us.

In time, however, I began to ________. My ego was decreasing fast. Instead of success, I found my ________ in moments of love. Playing and ________ with my sons brought me so much happiness. My boys ________ me more about peace, patience, joy and love than I could have ever learned on my own. I began to share the ________ I learned through my writings and my life. I finally realized that my ________ in this world had nothing to do with fame or success. _______, it had everything to do with allowing love and light into my life and ________ it with everyone I could.

You may not be happy 100% of the time. ________ can be in this world. Yet, you will find a joy no earthly(世俗的) ________ could ever give. Put all of your moments, days and years to good use then. ________ them with love.