1 . Now that we have briefly explored the history of the short story and heard from a few of its creators, let us consider the role of the reader. Readers are not empty vessels that wait, _______ raised, to receive a teacher’s or a critic’s interpretation. They bring their unique life experiences to the story. With these_______ , the best readers also bring their attention, their reading skills, and most importantly, their_______ to a reading of a story.

My students always_______ me to discuss, analyze, interpret, and evaluate the stories we read without destroying the excitement of being beamed up into another world. For years I _______with one response after the other to this challenge. Then one day I read an article by a botanist who had explored the beauty of flowers by x-raying them. His illustrations showed the rose and the lily in their_______ beauty, and his x-rays_______the wonders of their construction. I brought the article to class, where we discussed the benefits of examining the internal structure of flowers, relationships, current events, and short stories.

A short story, _______ , is not a fossil to admire. Readers must ask questions, guess at the answers,_______what will happen next, then read to discover. They and the author form a partnership that brings the story to life. Awareness of this partnership keeps the original excitement alive through discussion, analysis, interpretation, and ________. Literary explorations allow the reader to admire the authors’________ as well as their artistry. In fact, original appreciation may be enhanced by this x-ray vision. The final step is to appreciate once again the story________— to put the pieces back together.

Now it is your turn. Form a partnership with your author. During your________in reading, enter into a dialogue with the published scholars featured in Short Stories for Students. Through this________with experts you will revise, enrich, or________your original observations and interpretations.

During this adventure, I hope you will feel the same as the listeners that surround the neck of my Pueblo storyteller.

2 . “Yes, that’s fine.” But what if it isn’t? What if the minute you said those words, you started to feel ________, and knew you should be saying no?

This happens to a lot of us. Maybe we were________to be nice and kind and think that means we should always do what someone ________of us. Or maybe we are worried that the person will ________us, if it is a personal relationship, or not give us any more work if it’s a(n)________one.

But saying no does not make you a(n) ________or unhelpful person. ________ work, any employer would rather you say no than________to take on something that you don’t really have time to do well.

If you find yourself agreeing almost against your________, get into the habit of always asking for time to think about it. This will give you the opportunity to really________ if it is something you want or need to do. If you are worried about________ someone, question how realistic those thoughts really are. Nine times out of ten, they are about your own________. If you think there really is a ________ in saying no, then you could try making an offer “I really can’t help you with X, but I could do Y.”

Sometimes people advise you not to give any reasons for a(n) ________, but I personally don’t feel very comfortable with that. ________ , be careful about making up excuses ________what you really mean is that you don’t want to do something. The other person might counter by asking if you can do the________at a different time.

Remember that you are probably ________near as indispensable (不可缺少的) as you think you are. It is nice to feel ________, but is it worth________ yourself and feeling stressed and even ill?