2 . Confucius (孔子) was a great thinker and educationalist. He was born in 551 BCE in Shandong Province of China. His beliefs ______ the importance of showing kindness and goodwill. They have a great ______ on the majority of Chinese Culture.

Confucius has left many ______ sayings, which are still remembered and followed ______. For example, his quotes, “He who learns but does not think is lost.” “He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger,” are well known to all.

Although Confucius is ______ for his great thoughts do you know that he is also known for his sense of ______? There is evidence that he was very humorous. His ______ were very amusing and uplifting and he often used humor to make his students ______ and take interest in the teachings.

One time Confucius was ______ with his students when they came across a man who was ______ in the river. His students were hesitating but Confucius jumped into the river without ______ and saved the man in time. Then, he ______ to his students and joked, “I suppose none of you ______ that he was wearing a valuable jade (玉) ring!”

This story serves as a reminder that even the most serious figures (人物) in history ______ their share of lighthearted moments. It is possible that wisdom and humor both ______ hand in hand with joy!

5 . It was 4 o’clock in the morning when I received the phone call.

“This is the emergency room calling and your son was just ______ in with serious burns on his face, neck and arms.” The doctor described the ______ , which caused the burns. At 6 am, our son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. Unfortunately, the charcoal (木炭) burst into flames because they had sprayed too much petrol. The flames ______ my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.

______ , one of the boys was quick-minded, grasped my son, and ______ him on the grass. While it saved his life, there was not enough ______ to save him from fearful burns and the terrible scars (伤疤).

After he recovered from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery (整形手术) for 6 months ______ it took that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling. So he had to return to college with typical scars of burns.

When I was a child, my mother told my sister who had a very ______ 10-inch scar on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not ______ it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”

I ______ this wisdom on to my son. He took my advice to heart and returned to school with his head held high — glad he was alive. By the end of the six-month waiting period, he decided that the scars did not ______ , so he made the ______ to give up any plastic surgery.

We all have “scars” that we believe will ______ people to keep away from us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if we looked differently, or dressed differently, people would like us better. But you see, people will only judge you by your looks, or your clothes, if you are judging yourself by these same ______ standards. Put your imperfections out of your mind and concentrate on what you value ______ yourself, and your beauty will shine through.

6 . It’s 5:15 pm. Traffic comes to a full stop. I’m _________ before getting on the bridge. Looking at the rows of cars and trucks in the sun, I start to _________ —1, 2, 3, …299, 300, 301—and I give up.

At the time I’m one of the _________ and impatient drivers because of heavy traffic, but I stay _________. When the cars do move, I move carefully, making sure not to hit other vehicles. Finally, I _________ it onto the bridge. The traffic is still moving at a snail’s pace. Tired and hungry, I become very _________.

Just then, I hear a small sound in the distance. The sound _________ becomes louder, until I can see an ambulance（救护车） _________ from behind. What do we do? The bridge is packed. There’s no _________ for us to move.

But I’m wrong. Every single car quickly, yet carefully, __________ to the side. Without thinking, I follow suit. The lane remains __________ for a few seconds during which the ambulance flashes through.

How did we do that? Although we were tired, we collectively decided to help the __________ who needed the time more desperately than we did. We did because of our pity and wisdom, __________ no order. __________ I may seem alone stuck on the bridge, I’m connected to all the other __________. Together we could make the impossible possible.

A man was really worried about his son, who was sixteen years old     1     had no courage at all. So the father decided to call on a Buddhist monk     2    (train) his child.

The Buddhist monk asked the boy’s father to leave his son in the temple and     3    (say) that he would make him a man of     4    (brave) within three months. However, you can’t come to see him during that period.

Three months later, the boy’s father returned. The Buddhist monk arranged a boxing match between the child and a     5    (profession) boxer (拳击手).

Each time the boxer hit the boy, he     6    (fall) down, but at once the boy stood up.

Several times later, the Buddhist monk asked, “How do you like your child?”

“What     7     shame!” the boy’s father said. “I never thought he could be so     8    (easy) knocked down. I shouldn’t have left him here at all.”

“I’m sorry that’s what you see. Don’t you see that each time he falls down, he stands up again instead of     9    (cry)? That’s the kind of courage you wanted him to have.”

If each time you are knocked down and you have the courage to stand up again, then you can be proud     10     yourself.

8 . Afraid to have a start, I was walking slowly into my first school in America. I had ______ a long way from India in order to join my parents. My father decided that I would go to school here, so I ______ a local high school in my new town.

With ______ and fear, I arrived at the classroom. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the classroom. I went straight to the ______ and asked him if it was the right class. With a ______ voice, he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. Then he asked me to ______ where I would sit. I chose the ______ closest to the door. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the ______ produced by the overhead projector (投影仪).

______ it was my first day, I was confused about which hallway to use, but I ______ to get to my classroom without asking anyone. I wasn’t quite sure when I would have ______. It was noon when I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the ______ process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. Feeling surprised, she said, “That is the lunch bell.” I felt a little ______. Without another word, I headed for the cafeteria.

I realized that all the confusion on my first day was like the difficulty I had to ______to reach my goal. When I got on my bus and sat down inside ______, I said to myself, “Today isn’t so bad.”

A Great Monday

Monday started out well. I woke up on time, ate breakfast and did some last minute studying for my math test later that morning. I was confident of getting good grades. I left my house and ten minutes later, I sat with my friends on the school bus. We were busy chatting about how we spent our weekend. At the next stop, a student named Ryan got on the bus. He was in a rush and tripped (绊倒) over someone’s foot. There was a loud noise as he fell to the floor.

Every one of us on the bus laughed. Ryan got up, brushed his jacket and went to an empty seat. He tried to laugh with us, but his face was red with embarrassment. The rest of the morning went by quickly. I did well in my math test. I read two more chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird in English class. Soon we heard the lunch bell. I met my friends from the cheerleading team in the dining hall. I noticed Ryan a few tables away, sitting by himself. He caught me looking at him. I smiled at him quickly and looked away.

When we finished eating, we went to the courtyard to practice a cheer we would do at that night’s football game. After much practice, we finally managed to do the cheer perfectly. We decided to practice it again one last time. Just like the rest of my day so far, the cheer was going great. I raised my leg for one last toe touch. That was when I felt my jeans (牛仔裤) split (裂开) down the middle of my backside.

I froze. I had no idea what to do. I heard people burst out laughing and I saw them pointing at my torn jeans. I tried to cover myself with my hands, I tried to laugh too, but I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes.

Then I saw Ryan running towards me.

That night, after the cheer at the football game, I found Ryan.