Last summer, I had unforgettable experience. I didn’t go to the seaside as I usual do because my friend David invited me to spending two weeks on his grandparents’ farm. I thought that it would be a new experience for him as a city boy. David’s parents drove us there on a Saturday afternoon. We arrived at very late at night. The next morning I wake up to the smell of fresh bread and cakes. Every day we milked the cows, watered the vegetables and fed the animal on the farm. For people which live in a big city these were very excited activities. Beside, the pure air and the quietness of the countryside also impressed me a lot.

6 . Go. Stop. Go. Stop. The travel signals in my head were conflicting. “Are you sure you want to head to Greece this November with Kathleen?” asked my husband. “The weather could be unpleasant.”

“You must go,” said my friend Larry, who talked about having spent Thanksgiving on Santorini. “It’s a wonderland. ”

With his encouraging words, I booked our flights to Athens and included two Greek islands: Santorini and Grete.

A sunny Saturday afternoon welcomed us to Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens. During the next few days Kathleen and I tried a lot of unknown-to-us foods. No annoying lines of tourists either as we saw sights on the Athens “A” list.

And then came Wednesday. The flight to Santorini was yo-yoed by wind gusts of up to 40 miles an hour. Fira, usually a much-photographed tourist destination, was chilly, rainy... empty. With rain beating our faces, Kathleen and I headed for our hotel and checked in for a three-night stay.

“This isn’t how I want to spend my holiday,” said Kathleen. “Maybe Crete isn’t experiencing the same storm. Can we fly out later today? ”

Her question mirrored my own thoughts. But we couldn’t leave. We’d just arrived. Payments for the hotel and rental car would be lost, and costly last-minute plane reservations needed. “Let’s not decide right now,” I suggested.

During the next few days, we drove around despite the showers. At a restaurant named Poseidon, on our third night, we waited and waited for dinner. “Your dinner will be out shortly. The chef was busy studying something beautiful,” our waiter explained.

Seeing our puzzled look, the waiter then said, “He went out for a smoke, saw a beautiful girl and began to chat…”

Suddenly, Kathleen laughed. Instead of complaining, she leaned back and out came a loud, happy sound.

An attitude adjustment into grace, I realized, had been happening since our arrival. “You know, Mum, you can’t live a positive life with a negative mind,” she said.

Grace surrounds us. The challenge is to let go of anxieties and worries, the tendency to complain. A sunny attitude can let grace shine.

7 . A couple of weeks ago, my grandfather was explaining his favorite expression, “Nothing is ever easy.” The following day, as I tried to complete my clay’s work, I happened to _______a bumblebee (大黄蜂) on the skylight (天窗). The skylight was particularly high up, but I thought _______ the bee would take no more than five minutes. An hour later, the bee still remained. All that had _______was that the living room was a mess and that I was dizzy from _______ into the sunlight. I did not expect to waste an hour on an insect so _______but by doing so, I understood what my grandfather meant.

It is not only time that we tend to underestimate…we don’t account for unexpected costs. We often imagine what can work in our _______ but we seldom think of all the _______ things that could affect us. However, it is important to remember that your day or week or year might not go as _______ and that is completely normal. It is _______ acceptable to feel challenged — even at a ______________ that you thought was simple — because that is part of life.

If you can ______________ that nothing will ever be easy, then ______________ might seem slightly more manageable. In middle school, I thought high school might be easier because I could choose the classes I wanted to ______________. In high school, I thought ______________ might be easier because I could have a schedule best suited for myself. Yet each time, I was both wrong and disappointed. After accepting that school wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be ______________, I found myself with a more positive attitude and ______________ results.

Of course, there should be ______________ made to account for expenses or time. Doing so can only help you ______________ your goals in a better way. However, there is no need to beat ourselves up (过分自责) when something stands in our ______________. Maybe we cannot see a ______________ coming our way, but we can always give ourselves the extra time to catch it.

It started four years ago. My wife would see a ________ man near where she worked. It was the week before Christmas and she said she wanted to purchase a new coat for him because his coat was ________.We don’t have a lot of ________.We are really a step away from being homeless in rags most months but we try to ________ when we can.

We talked and found a way to get some money together to ________ him a coat. I ________ that since we were giving a coat to him, we should look at what else he might ________.We decided to fill a ________ with some useful ________ things—a toothbrush, soap, clothes, a hat, gloves and some food. A small gift and Christmas card was put in it as well.

We haven’t had money to exchange ________ for birthdays or Christmas for many years, too. It feels wonderful to have someone ________ you at Christmas but I’ve always been a little ________ when friends ask “What did you get for Christmas?” It always makes my wife feel bad that she can’t ________ to give me anything and I feel the same. So I would ________ and say she bought me this thing or that. But that year we could say we ________ something to others instead and that’s ________ what happened.

People asked and we said what we did. They also wanted to help the following ________ and we made ten more backpacks the following Christmas, and this year we really ________ the gifts.

I still can’t afford to buy my wife some gifts to ________ on Christmas day, but the ________ we feel makes up for it ten times!

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

When I was six years old, I was a innocent and lovely girl. One day, my father asked me, “How can fish only live in water?” I thought about it with cautions and then replied, “That’s because there is some cats on the bank.” My father said, “Although your answer sounds a little ridiculous, but I think you are smart.” I was happy to hear them then. Maybe it seemed an amused answer then. But now, I think it is benefit to me. And now I am smart. I dare said I could have a happy childhood just owing my parents’ love for me.