2 . Do you know one bird whose name is crow (乌鸦)?Here is a story about one of them. There was once a lazy crow who thought it was too much trouble to _________ food. “Caw! Caw!” he said “If someone brought me my food every day, I’d be very _________!”

One day he saw a(n) _________ pigeon flying by. “How happy and well-fed it looks ” the crow said to himself. So the crow _________ the pigeon until they came to a _________. There were some other _________ there too. Before long an old man came along and brought them a large bag of food. When the man had gone ,the crow flew over to the pigeons. “Caw!Caw!” said he. “Can I _________ you?”

“No, you can’t!” _________ the pigeons angrily. “We don’t know you.”

The crow went home feeling _________. But he suddenly had a(n) __________. “I’ll paint my __________ grey,” he said, “and then the pigeons will __________ I am one of them.” After he finished the painting, he flew off to the park and was __________ by the pigeons. The crow was so hungry that he got very excited at the food. “Caw! Caw! Give food to me!” he said loudly. __________ the pigeons found he was a crow. They flew after him and made him __________.

Sadly the crow flew to his own forest. But when his old friends, the other crows saw him they asked him to __________. They did not __________ him because of his grey-painted feathers. So the crow felt __________ than before. His own __________ did not want him, __________ the pigeons wouldn’t let him into their group.

“What looks easier isn’t always so,” the crow said to himself. “I wish I had never painted my feathers grey!”

Mary was an university student. She didn’t have much money and her parents were poor. So she had an uncle who had been luck enough to be very rich. He always give her valuable Christmas and birthday presents. When her uncle’s birthday came round, Mary wanted to buy her something really special, but because of he was so rich, she did not know how to get him. She went into the best shop in her town and explained her problem to one of the helpful shop assistant. Finally she asked, “What do you have for someone has already got everything he wants or needs?” The girl sighed deep and answered, “Envy (忌妒), only envy.”

4 . A young man and an old man were waiting for a bus at a station.They sat ________ each other. “What’s that in your bag?” asked the young man, ________ to the big bag beside the________.

“Money,” answered the old man.The young man could ________ believe his own ears. “What?” he said to himself in surprise. “________ money? My God! How I________ to be able to get so much money!” Then he began to think about________ to get the money.

The old man________ tired and it seemed that he could hardly keep his eyes ________.

“Are you tired, sir?” asked the young man. “Then you’d better ________ down on the chair and have a good rest. Don’t worry about________ .I'll wake you up in time.”

“All right. It’s very kind________ you, young man.” The old man lay down and by and by he fell________.

The young man took the big bag carefully. ________ when he was just going to run away, he found a corner of his fur coat was ________the old man’s body. Several times he tried to pull it out, but he couldn’t. At last he took off his ________and went away with the bag.

The young man ran out of the station as quickly as his ________ could carry him.He reached a place, _______ he thought the old man couldn’t ________him, then he stopped and quickly opened the bag.

To his surprise, there was ________ but old newspapers in it. He hurried to the station at once. But when he got there, he found the old man was gone.

6 . My presentation was horrible and both the client and boss seemed not satisfied. Disappointed and exhausted, I ___________ myself out of the air-conditioned office. It was hot as hell and I was _________ in the three-piece suit I’d bought specifically for this big day. I boarded a full bus and was unable to ___________ it, so I _________ my way off at the next stop. Continuing my journey, I refused to take off my jacket, purposely maximizing my setbacks — “When it rains, let it ___________” was my principle.

As I ___________ the corner, I saw a group of kids frolicking (嬉闹) in the water. “If I get wet...” I said to myself, thinking about taking an alternative ___________. Then I noticed a little kid holding a water gun and ___________ me a little harder than the others. I eyed him back. Suddenly, he shot his gun at me. In that second, I knew I was going to get wet though I felt they didn't dare. He got me, behind my ear, ___________ he made his escape. I, ____________ and then angry, headed toward the alley to ____________ his escape. More surprisingly, his playmate threw his water gun to me. I pulled the trigger (扳机). He fought back but his shooter was no ____________ for my power, so instead he turned his water gun on a few other little kids who were taken by surprise and ended up in ____________ at what just happened. Then, I too turned my gun on these kids and before long we were in all-out water warfare. Soon, the whole block seemed to be ____________. Needless to say, I was wet and laughing like I'd never __________ before.

I couldn't remember my last water ____________ and if did, it couldn't have been as fun as this one. It took a five-year-old to ____________ the kid in me, and help me realize that you may not be able to ____________ disappointment but you can still let in the ____________. And you can ____________ a suit, too, and not really care!

7 . Every year in my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia was delivered to my house.     1     Calls to the flower-shop were not helpful at all. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s name and just delighted in the beautiful white flower in soft pink paper.

    2     Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender. My mother encouraged these imaginings. She’d ask me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness. Perhaps it was the old man across the street whose mail I had delivered during the winter.     3    

One month before my graduation, my father died. I felt so sad that I became uninterested in my upcoming graduation dance, and I didn’t care if had a new dress or not. But my mother in her own sadness, would not let me miss any of those things.     4     In truth, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia—lovely, strong and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery.

My mother died ten days after I was married. I was 22.     5    

8 . December 24 arrived along with a heavy snow. It was my first Christmas Eve without my mother, and the day's usual ______ had disappeared.

The telephone rang. I ______ it and went to my bedroom to bury the continuous ______ , knowing it must be my friend Rebecca calling. How could I be ______ ? I wanted to be left ______ .

My heart felt as ______ as the falling snow. ______ can I stop missing my mother? I ______ the window. Seeing Rebecca's car parked out front, I went back to my bed and drew the covers over my head.

“Lucy!” she shouted. “I know you're in there. Answer the door!”

“Leave me alone!” I ______ back. I heard paper rustling (沙沙作响)as she slid ______ under the door.

“Merry Christmas,” she called out.

Not answering the ______ made me feel even ______ . It wasn't fair to my best friend. Her father and sister ______ in a car accident when she was eight years old. ______ , her mother had to return to ______ , and Rebecca was left to look after herself.

When she left, I carried the small package, sat down and ______ it. Inside was a golden pen and a journal. When I opened the journal's front cover, out fell a bookmark with a（n） ______ written on it.

“My words won't heal the ______ . But your own words can.”

As I started at the journal's blank pages, a single tear fell on the page which quickly ______ it.

That night, I ______ the phone and dialed her number.

10 . When I was young, each morning I woke up and would find my father nowhere around the house. He usually got up early before _________ and began milking the cow and cleaning the farmyard. In summer, he got up_________ earlier to mop the grass and water the flowers and vegetables in the garden. Once I helped my father to _________ weeds from the corn field. It wasn’t long _________ I felt very tired but the field ridge (田垄) seemed_________ . Finally I totally threw myself _________ in the field, feeling_________. My dad seemed to have_________ my mind. He came up and said, “Farming is backbreaking (费力的) and really takes_________ and sweat, but in __________ the sweet harvest will be worth the__________ .” Encouraged by his words, I struggled to my feet. My father__________ and added, Rome is not built in a__________ but it can be built in hundreds of days. So whenever__________ with a huge project, just break it into __________ parts and then complete them one by one. Finally you will be amazed at your ____________. Hearing what he said, I was greatly__________ and continued removing the weeds from patch to patch. Believe it or not, at the end of the day, I__________ in weeding half an acre of corn field.

Now, I have tried different jobs and finally__________ down running a big restaurant. In my lifetime, my father’s devotion to his job and his special working methods can always encourage and guide me __________ all kinds of difficulties.