2 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a ___________ on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she ___________ it.

For most people, that would be the ___________of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell found the letter. He had just___________ his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the___________ on the ground outside of a hardware store in Manvel. “I___________ it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I opened it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really___________ me.” Carrell thought the letter would___________someone’s day and that maybe he could find the owner, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people,___________one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s______________,” said Carrell. The comments (评论) included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t ______________you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to______________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally met on Thursday night.

“Eventually the letter made it home,” said Alvarado. “We are______________ for what James Carrell did. We often forget the power of ______________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a(n) ______________ impression.”

When Marco was a boy, he tried everything to get his father’s love and attention. He worked hard to earn exceptional marks and always tried to behave well. But he was so sensitive and shy that he always hid behind his hair, which he wore long around his face. To make it worse, Marco was naturally shorter than the other kids. This added to his already low self-confidence.

At 14, he and his younger sister Sandra moved in with their dad and his new wife. His father was busy and their communication was nonexistent. The only time his dad ever spoke to him was to be demanding or critical. He began to fear coming home from school every day, feeling desperately alone and isolated.

One day his father, tripped over Marco’s bike in the garage. The angry reaction left Marco in despair, thus crying out, “That’s it! I’m going to kill myself.”

“You don’t even have the guts!” replied his father.

For two days, all Marco could think of was wanting to die, but he didn’t want to prove his father was right. Angry and sad, Marco was stuck.

Two days later, his aunt called him. This seemed like a miracle. Aunt Ginette usually only called on his birthday. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest and she thought about him. She told him she firmly believed he could perform on stage like those kids, since she had seen him do skits (幽默短剧) for the family at Christmas.

Marco was shocked. Him? In a public speaking contest, which was contrary to his shy personality? But Aunt Ginette was sure it was something he could do. Feeling her strong belief, Marco agreed.

All that winter, twice a week after dinner, he took three different buses in each direction for the three-hour round-trip to practice in the place where the competition would take place. Marco was taken by a feeling he never felt before. The hours and the obstacles no longer counted. The criticism from his father around his absence for after-dinner chores didn’t matter.

Four months later, the big night arrived.

With the championship, Marco’s new life started.

A Little Boy

A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.

The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.

Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”

The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.

“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”

The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.

The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.

From that day on something changed inside the old man.

7 . Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to (属于) a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed (服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant (仆人) took him to the room where the rich man was sitting. “I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for,” he said. “But why have you brought a half-empty basket?” the rich man asked. “I met your children outside, and they stole (偷) some of the apples.”

9 . A professor entered the classroom and told the students about a surprise test. All students were ______ and waited for the test to begin. The professor gave the test papers to all students with text facing down at the desk.______ he was done with handing out the test to all students, he asked them to ______ the test paper and begin.

Students were confused (迷惑) to see that there was just a black ______ in the center of the page. The professor told them, “I want you to ______ about what you see there.” The students were still confused but got started with the test. ______ the end of the class, the professor collected all answer sheets and started reading each answer from each sheet in front of all students. ______of them described about the black dot and tried to explain its position.

Now, professor began to explain, “Here everyone concentrated on the black dot and wrote about it ______ no one wrote about the white paper. The same is ______ our lives. The white paper stands for our whole life and the black dot ______ problems in our life.

Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate -- our friends around us, the job that provides us with everything we need.______, we just focus on day to day problems like health issues, lack of money, problems in relationships, but we ______ see that these problems are very ______ compared to everything we have in our lives.”

We should try to take eyes off our problems and enjoy each moment ______ life gives us. Be happy and ______ your life positively.

10 . The sky began to show red in the early morning as we drove across the Minnesota state line to New York for my new PhD program. The move was good for me professionally, but I worried about my husband and daughters. I also feared that I wouldn’t be able to give my kids the childhood they deserved.

Anne, our first daughter, came into the world when I was a junior majoring in biology in college. It was challenging to balance classes, work schedules, and being a mom. But I got through it, finding moments of joy along the way. On the nights when I was home, I’d read my class notes out loud with my daughter. She’d respond by asking questions, such as “Mom, what are bacteria (细菌)?” It helped us both learn.

After I graduated, I knew that I would need a PhD to land the kind of job I wanted. I arrived in New York feeling more than the usual new-graduate-student anxiety. I also suffered from a more personal fear that I was being selfish—that my decision to invigorate my career was going to have long- term bad impacts on my kids. So, I made a rule to never be visibly upset about my work in front of my children.

Over the past year, though, I’ve started to let go of some of this worry. I’ve realized that we have not only adapted to our new situation, but things are getting better. My husband landed a job that he is happy with. Anne dreams of becoming a biologist. Recently, while driving past the cancer institute I work at, Anne said, “Thinking about people having cancer is so sad, but I feel better knowing that you are researching it to help.”

Pursuing academic career as a young mother is hard, but it’s also rewarding. My kids are learning to look at the world through science, and watching their mom succeed inspires them. I look forward to seeing them follow my footsteps, whatever path they choose.