2 . My local supermarket is always busy. The first parking space I found was convenient, but I’d noticed a woman in a blue car _________ for a while. As I was _________, I let her have it. On the _________ of the car park I backed into the next available spot — it was a tight fit.

Pretty soon, I’d made my way through the supermarket and was back in the fresh air. Feeling good, I _________ my purse change into the hands of a homeless man and helped a _________ woman reverse park (倒车).

Just as I _________ my car, I saw the woman I’d let have my car space _________. She was giving a mean odd _________— half puzzled, half intent (热切的). I smiled and wished her a pleasant day. As I squeezed back into my car, I _________ the same lady looking in at me. “Hello,” she said, hesitantly. “This might sound crazy but I was on my way to ____________ some of my mother’s things off at the charity bins.” “You are just so much like her. You helped those people, I noticed, and you seemed so happy.” She looked at me meaningfully and passed a box in through the ____________, “I think she would like you to have it.” Shocked, I took it from her ____________. She smiled and walked away.

After a pause, I opened the box. ____________ was a beautiful gold necklace with a large grey pearl. It was the nicest gift I’d ever received, and it was from a complete ____________. The necklace was around my neck, a warm ____________ of human kindness.

It was our turn to open our presents this particular Christmas morning. The living room was already covered with torn wrapping paper. Obviously, the children could hardly wait to discover the hidden treasures, which they had expected for nearly a month. Now we adults sat around the room with our presents at our feet, slowly removing the paper, trying to maintain our dignity in front of the children.

My wife, Brenda, and her family have a tradition of getting each other gag (恶作剧) gifts. This always makes me a bit uneasy at Christmas or my birthday, never knowing what form of embarrassment lies waiting for me under the thin borders of the wrapping paper.

Recently, my six-year-old daughter Christy seemed to busy herself with something while I was playing computer video flight games. Now she was standing directly in front of me. The excitement of the moment just beamed across her face. It was everything she could do to keep herself from helping me rip the paper from each present. Finally, I came to the last gift and with my natural Sherlock Holmes ability, I concluded that this had to be the gag gift. With everyone looking on, I decided to go ahead and get it over with—just let them have their laugh—and I tore the paper and there it was a toy airplane about two inches long. Our holiday guests started giggling to themselves as I looked up to my wife with an unpleasant smile on my face and blurted out (脱口而出), “A toy airplane? Are you kidding me?”

Brenda gave me the look—that look that always tells me I have just said something wrong and should have given it a second thought. I had failed to look at the name tag before I opened the present to see who it was from. As I picked up the paper from the floor and read the name tag, my heart sank.

I love to play the piano and I greatly enjoy performing my songs, so when the annual winter recital (音乐演奏会) was canceled, I was disappointed. I had looked forward to it for a long time and had already prepared two of my best songs.

My mom had a wonderful idea, however, to turn this disappointing thing into something worthwhile. “You can perform your songs at Carriage House Senior Living,” my mom suggested brightly. “I’m sure the seniors there who do not have families to visit them that often, would really appreciate the music and you could play more than just two songs.”

I immediately thought this was a great idea. One of the things I did not like about the recitals was that I was limited to playing just a couple of songs. Playing the piano at Carriage House seemed like a win-win situation because not only could I play more songs, but I would also have the chance to cheer up the residents there with some lively tunes.

My mom called Carriage House and made arrangements for me to perform. In the coming including many old classics.

When the exciting day finally arrived, my family and I drove to Carriage House. Walking through the enormous double doors, we stepped into an entryway that overlooked the spacious grand dining room. Right at the entrance to the dining room stood the piano as if it were just waiting to make some music to liven the place up a bit. At nearly every table several gray-haired women or men were seated enjoying their dinner and the company that the crowded room provided. Despite the conversations going on at various tables, isolation hung like a dark cloud in the room.

Almost immediately, we were greeted by an old woman with a walker who introduced herself as Phyllis in charge of Carriage House. She welcomed me and led me to the stage.

As I sat down on the bench, I pressed a key on the piano and was surprised to hear no sound.

Nervousness melted away and I started to enjoy the performance with the old.

Grandpa’s Old Chair

It was the annual cleaning day for the family. John and his mom were busy cleaning the house. They cleaned upstairs, downstairs, inside and outside until everything was spotless. Exhausted, they sank into the couch. Just then, John’s mom noticed an old chair that was faded and worn. That chair was for John’s grandpa, who had lived with them since John’s grandma had died.

“John, come and help me.” John’s mom sprang to her feet. “We’ll take the chair to the curb (路边). The garbage truck is picking up on our block tomorrow.”

As they attempted to move the chair, John’s grandpa made his way through the door. Seeing what was happening, he quickly tried to stop them. “No!” he protested. “You can’t take my chair.”

“But it’s so old...” John’s mom argued. “We’ll buy you a new one.”

“No,” he persisted, trying to push his chair back into place.

John’s mom finally let go of the chair and left the room. With a sigh of relief, the old man sank into his chair and closed his eyes.

“Grandpa, why won’t you let us get rid of the chair?” John asked.

“You don’t understand, John.” His grandpa shook his head and said, “I sat in this chair with your grandma right here when I asked her to marry me. And I sat in this chair the night your father was born. Many years later,” Grandpa’s voice broke, “I sat in this chair when the doctor called and told me that your grandma was ill. I was lost without her, but the chair gave me comfort and warmth.” The old man’s sadness seemed to grow as he recalled that fateful day.

“I understand now.” John looked at his grandpa and said, “This is not just any old chair. It is more like a friend.”

“Yes,” he nodded. “We’ve gone through a lot together.”

However, that night, when John and his grandpa were asleep, John’s mom and dad carried the chair outside. It was a starless night. Snow fell silently from the black sky and covered Grandpa’s chair in a blanket of white.

The next morning, John was woken by the garbage truck pulling up to the house.

Hearing this, John’s mom looked at his grandpa and slowly walked towards him.

8 . In a national spelling contest in America, an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her ________ voice, the judges were not sure whether she spelled the right word. They talked it over and ________ decided to simply ask her what she had said. By then, the girl knew she had misspelled the word. Instead of lying, she told the truth that she had said the ________ letter—so she lost the contest.

As the girl walked off the ________, the entire audience stood，clapping to applaud her honesty. Later, dozens of newspaper reporters wrote about this ________, even though it cost the girl the contest. But the fact is that she ________ the biggest contest that day: the contest of her character.

Probably the biggest test of our character and honesty is what we would do if we knew we would never get ________. This young girl could easily have ________ and nobody would have known it but herself. But it’s been said, “If you ________, you make yourself cheap.” This young girl was ________ enough to prize her own character more than the prize from a spelling contest. She knew the ________ she made in that moment will have a long-lasting influence in her future.

Should the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or ________ to the policeman? Should the ________ change received at the store be forgotten or ________ ? Nobody will know. But we have to live with ourselves, and it is always better to live with someone we ________.

9 . When my daughter was in grade school, she brought home four tiny branches one day. They were small _________ given to the students to plant. None of them looked very strong, but with a _________ for the future, I planted them in our backyard. Over the years the _________ soil brought an end to three of them.

All that was _________ was a single evergreen. It never got very tall and _________ to one side. Then, I noticed that it was starting to _________. The lower branches were becoming brown. Only the top ones of the tree were still _________.

I did my best to _________ it by feeding it a lot of fertilizer (肥料), but it seemed hopeless. One morning I went out and looked at it again, _________ if it would be better to just cut it down. As I walked over to take a closer look at it, __________, I noticed something moving among the branches. It was a bird __________ building a nest (巢) in the topmost branches. I smiled and __________ that maybe this old tree had some life and usefulness left in it yet. It may not be healthy or pretty, but it was still giving a bird a __________.

This tree __________ me that all of our lives have a purpose. It doesn’t matter if we are young and strong, or old and sick. Until our last __________ we still have things to do: love for us to give, and joy for us to share. We can help to make this world a better and lovelier place.

I grew up in a small town where the primary school was a ten-minute walk from my house. When the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me.

One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed (排练) my lines so hard with me. But no matter how easily I acted at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s (旁白的) part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her words, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.

It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine (藤蔓) was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass in bunch, as if a painter had touched our landscape with gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.”

“But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions.”

My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” She asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.” Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled.

“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, encouraging and comforting me as usual.       

After the play, I took home the flower.