3 . There was once a boy called Joseph Webb who always loved to show off how many friends he had at school. One day his ________ said to him, "Joseph, I bet(打赌) you a big bag of popcorn that you don't have as many friends as you think. I'm sure many of them are nothing more than companions."

Joseph ________ the bet at once. However, he wasn't sure how to test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandfather. The old man answered, "Wait a minute." Then he left and ________ soon as if carrying something in his hands, but Joseph could see nothing there.

"Take it. It's a very________ chair because it's invisible(看不见). It's rather ________ to sit on, but if you take it to school and ________ to sit on it, you'll activate(激活) its ________ and it'll be able to tell who your real friends are."

Joseph, brave and determined, set off for ________ with the strange and invisible chair. At break time he asked everyone to form a ________, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. Having difficulty seeing it, Joseph tried to sit on it but he ________ the seat and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone around him had a pretty good laugh.

"Wait! Let me try again," Joseph said. But again, he missed the seat, ________ more surprised looks and a few catcalls(尖叫，喝倒彩). Joseph didn't ________ and kept trying to sit on the magic chair. But he kept falling to the ground…until, suddenly he tried again but didn't ________. Looking around, Joseph saw three of his best friends holding him up. ________, many others he had thought of as friends had done nothing but made fun of him.

And there, the show came to an end. Joseph understood that true friends were those who care for him, and not just the________ that happened to be passing by. And someone who took joy in his misfortunes(不幸) was even less of a friend.

4 . Mr.Bard is the manager at his family’s shoe company. He really_______competence in his workers. He always tells the_______and hard-working employees that he is_______of them. But Mr. Bard does not only show his appreciation through words.The most competent workers are also paid_______.

Mr. Bard thinks when an _______works harder and produces higher quality shoes, the company earns more money. _______, the employee should also earn more. But many of the less competent workers_______.

“We are equal,” they protest(抗议). “We do the same job, so we should get the_______pay!”

He is a kind man, but he is also_______. If he keeps hiring the less competent workers, the whole company will________, and perhaps all employees will lose their jobs. It will also be bad for his family and for the company’s________.

To________the situation, Mr. Bard creates evening workshops(工作坊)to help________the employees who are not working at company________.They watch the most competent workers,who receive a special bonus for________their co-workers, and make lots of notes.They inspect the production line, ask lots of questions, and________until they are skilled and________.

Production at the company________, and the customers are happier with the high________shoes! As sales increase, Mr. Bard is able to pay his workers better. And________the company’s smart pay system, the most competent workers can be highly rewarded.

One summer day my father sent me to buy wire for our farm. At 16, I liked _______ better than driving our truck, _______ this time I was not happy. My father had told me I’d have to ask for credit at the store.

Sixteen is a _______ age, when a young man wants respect, not charity. It was 1976, and the ugly_______of racial discrimination was _______ a fact of life. I’d seen my friends ask for credit and then stand, head down, while the store owner _______ whether they were “good for it.” I knew black youths just like me who were _______ like thieves by the store clerk each time they went into a grocery.

My family was _______. We paid our debts. But before harvest, cash was short. Would the store owner _______ us?

At Davis’s store, Buck Davis stood behind the cash desk, talking to a farmer. I nodded ________ I passed him on my way to the hardware shelves. When I brought my ________ to the cash desk, I said ________, “I need to put this on credit.”

The farmer gave me an amused, distrustful ________. But Buck’s face didn’t change. “Sure, ” he said ________. “Your daddy is ________ good for it.” He ________ to the other man. “This here is one of James Williams’s sons.”

The farmer nodded in a neighborly ________. I was filled with pride. James Williams’s son. Those three words had opened a door to an adult’s respect and trust.

That day I discovered that the good name my parents had________brought our whole family the respect of our neighbors. Everyone knew what to ________ from a Williams: a decent person who kept his word and respected himself ________   much to do wrong.