1 . A man was employed to paint a boat. He brought paint and _________ and began to paint the boat as the owner wanted. While painting, he _________ there was a hole in the body of the boat and decided to repair it. When he finished painting, he received his _________ and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat visited the painter and _________ him with a cheque(支票), much higher than what he was paid for the painting work. The painter was _________.

“You’ve already paid me for painting the boat, sir! he said.

“This is not for the paint job. It’s for repairing the _________ in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service.” the man said. “Certainly it’s not worth paying me such a high amount for something so _________!”

“My dear friend,” the owner said, “You don’t understand. Let me tell you _________ happened. When I asked you to paint the boat, I _________ to mention the bole. When the boat dried, my kids took it and ____________ a fishing trip. They did not know that there was a hole there. I was not at home at the time. So when I ____________ and noticed they had taken the boat, I was hopeless. Imagine my ____________ and joy when I saw them returning safely from fishing.”

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You now see what you did? You ____________ the life of my children!”

Each of us has a moral duty to offer help, wipe tears, listen carefully and repair all the “hole” we ____________ in our life journey, because a small act will make a big ____________ in the future.

2 . Traveling on an airplane can be a very tiring task even in the best of circumstances, which is why when Sophie Murphy boarded a recent flight from Sydney to Melbourne and noticed an “awful tension” in the cabin, she first thought it was caused by typical bad-tempered passengers. But as the flight neared its end, it became obvious that something was very wrong.

A teenage boy with Down syndrome (唐氏综合征) who was traveling with his family had become upset and would not return to his seat, regardless of the cabin crew’s warnings over the loudspeaker that it was almost time to land. The pilot was forced to circle above the airport, delaying the landing—and angering people on the already tense flight.

“If it were a cartoon,” remembered Murphy, “there would have been smoke coming out of people’s ears.”

As the boy’s elderly parents and adult brothers and sisters tried to persuade him to get off the floor and back into his seat, but in vain, Murphy, 42 — who had been a teacher for more than 20 years — stood up and quickly headed to the back of the plane.

She found the boy in the passage between rows of seats, lying on his belly, and lay down on her stomach to face him. She began chatting calmly with him, asking his name, his favorite book, and his favorite characters. He told her he felt sick and she tried to comfort him.

Minutes later, he allowed her to hold his hand—and then together they got properly back into airplane seats. Murphy asked for sick bags, and held them as the boy threw up several times, including on her. As she helped him clean up, she repeatedly told him everything would be okay and that they’d get through it together.

After the plane was finally able to land, no one was impatient to step off the flight as one might expect. Instead, calmed passengers—obviously following Murphy’s amazing example — allowed the boy and his family to depart first, smiling at them as they passed. His parents tearfully thanked Murphy for what she had done, and a doctor sitting nearby also let her know he had even taken notes on her expert way of handling the situation.

3 . “Mother Serious.” said the express telegram, ________ our entire house into a mess. My mother began to sob, while my father started to ________ quickfire instructions to my two brothers and me to ________ up for the six-and-a-half-hour journey to our village in Rajoli, Andhra Pradesh.

At 12, 11 and 9 years old, we boys were too young to ________ the mood. After a long bus ride, we had to cross the river Tungabhadra to reach our destination. During summers, we would cross it by foot, but on this day it was full and there were no ________ there. And we had no way of crossing it.

Clearly we were ________, unable to move forward or go back home. The only structure in sight was an old inspection bungalow — a landmark in an otherwise ________ area. Its doors were locked. ________ and tiredness overtook us.

By dusk, our father was a worried man, with little clue about our next move. As the day grew darker, we ________ a man walking towards us, the bungalow watchman, Raju. As Father ________ our experience, he let us into the bungalow and asked us if we had anything to eat all day. We shook our heads, ________. Raju then set off to the ________ with a net, where he caught a couple of fish and soon returned to cook the catch.

It was a ________ meal by most standards, but Raju’s kindness and selfless ________ made it a feast I will never ________ in the following years of my life.

4 . A Leap to Honor

Leaping on a narrow balance beam (平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast is an expert at it.

To perfect her skills, Lola ______ for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.

That’s especially impressive, ______ she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift (移动) constantly. She often sees double and can’t ______ how far away things are.

When she was little, her mom ______ that even though she couldn’t see well, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the sport right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

Though leaning gymnastics has been more difficult for her than for some of her teammates, she has never quit. She doesn’t let her ______ stop her from doing anything that she wants to.

She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest ______ is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to ______ your mind that it’ll take you where you want to go,” says Lola.

To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most ______ for anyone because it’s four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn’t fall ______ the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10 — her highest score yet.

Lola doesn’t want to be ______ differently from the other girls on her team. At competitions the judges don’t know about her vision problems. She doesn’t tell them, because she doesn’t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her ______ attitude.

Lola never thinks about ______ . She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her ______ is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics ______ to pass down what she’s learned to other kids when she grows up.

Lola is ______ of all her hard work and success. She says it’s helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics too. Her advice for others is “just believe in yourself.”

5 . I trained my teenage traveler well. Having just celebrated her 16th birthday, my daughter _________ the opportunity to go to Thailand with Adventures Cross-Country (ARCC) on a _________ volunteer service. What her group of a dozen _________ did in Thailand was anxious, exhausting and impressive.

ARCC has a(n) _________ no cell phone policy. When the group met at Los Angeles International Airport, leaders _________ all cell phones. Once a week, the kids were allowed to _________ their cell phones.

Less than 24 hours after landing in Bangkok, they _________ open-air bus—like trucks and made their way along dirt roads for a couple of _________ to the Village—Hill Tribe. Their new home was a village _________. Desks and chairs were pushed aside to clear space for the kids to __________ at night. In the hot summer days, there were lots of the flying and crawling (爬行) variety. __________ were finished by filling bucket (桶) with a soft pipe and pouring it over your head. When my __________ rang about a week after she left, there were no complaints (抱怨). She said the shower was the __________ thing that had ever happened to her.

__________ like this can’t be gained by reading books or searching the Internet. They’re learned by traveling and __________. All of the teenagers learned that they can do great things.

7 . Natalie Doan always feels lucky to live in Rockaway. Living near the beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the waves from her house. “The ocean makes Rockaway special,” she says.

On October 29, 2012, that ocean turned fierce. Hurricane Sandy hit Rockaway hard. Natalie’s family escaped to Brooklyn before the city’s bridges closed. When they returned the next day, they found their neighborhood destroyed. Many of Natalie’s friends had lost their homes and were living far away. People were suffering, especially the elderly. Natalie’s school was damaged, so she had to temporarily attend a school in Brooklyn.

In the following days, the people helping Rockaway inspired Natalie. Volunteers came with clothing and food. Neighbors devoted their spare time to helping others rebuild. Teenagers climbed dozens of stairs to deliver water and food to elderly people.

“My mom tells me I can’t control what happens,” Natalie says, “but I can choose how I deal with it.” Natalie chose to help. She created a website page, matching survivors in need with donors wanting to help. Natalie posted information about a boy who lost his baseball card collection. Within days, his collection was found.

In the coming months, her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball; Charlie, who got a new keyboard. Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring needed supplies to Rockaway. Her efforts made her a famous person. Last April, she was invited to the White House.

Today, the scars (创痕) of destruction are still seen in Rockaway, but hope is in the air. The streets are clear and many homes have been rebuilt. “I can’t imagine living anywhere but Rockaway,” Natalie declares.

8 . I was gating ready to head to my daughter’s college to bring her home for New Year. The _______ was falling heavily and the land was silvered, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy drive.

Usually a three-hour round _______ but I knew it was going to be a lot _______ today as I slowed my car to _______ the slippery roads. Once I was on the road, though, condition only worsened I _______ slowed down but four-wheel trucks sped past me _______ huge showers of slush (融雪) onto my windshield (挡风玻璃). During the last twenty miles I suddenly found myself behind a very _______ winter driver. Instead of driving slow and adjusting, when he hit a slippery spot he braked (刹车) hard and tamed sharply all over the road. I had to _______ hard myself to keep from hitting him but unfortunately slid into a ditch (沟).

I tried pulling out again and again but could only hear _______ tires. I was half-way out in the road and a truck sped by me, missing the car by inches. I looked about the car ________ and amazingly the car started to ________ , as if it was almost being pushed out of the ditch. From the driving mirror I spotted a ________ covered with snow, pushing my car as hard as possible. When I stuck out my hand to greet him with gratitude, he ________ signed me good luck, getting on his car.

Just as a famous writer Henry ________ it, “He who walks in love may wander far.” Wherever you go then and however ________ your journeys may be, always remember that you are watched over by people with a love more powerful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.

10 . In 2010, my mother-in-law gave me her rather simple but graceful, antique “secretary desk”. The desk easily fit into the tiny room at the top of the stairs. I felt so secure, and confident when I sat down and began each writing session. Despite the desk’s appeal, its limited storage capacity meant that I often put file folders and books on the small floor space around me. After each writing session, I painstakingly gathered the tools of the trade and placed them on a nearby shelf until the next session.

A few years into my writing journey, we moved into a bigger home and I acquired my own office. My husband, Bill offered on more than one occasion to buy me a new desk for my office, but I ignored his offer.

One day, we stopped at the local office supply store. Bill found what he thought was the perfect desk for me. “I want to buy this for you, sweetie. My writer needs a bigger desk. ”He hugged me.

“Thanks, but I don’t want a bigger desk!” I said.

“Why don’t you want a bigger desk?” he said. “You must be afraid of something.”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” I said. “Like I said, I really like my little desk. So don’t ask me again.”

He didn’t.

A few weeks later, while working in my new office. I looked around at the folders, books and papers lying all over my office floor but couldn’t find what needed to meet a contest deadline. My heart raced. I looked around my office. The room basically swallowed the tiny desk, making it look slightly out of place. Maybe I did need a bigger desk. Was Bill right? Was I afraid of something?

Unable to write, I pulled c. JoyBell C.’s book of poetry, All Things Dance Like Dragonflies (蜻蜓), from the bookshelf. I flipped through its pages, and her words about faith jumped off the page into my heart. She talked about how she had trained herself to love the feeling of not knowing where she was going, and just trusting that as she opened up her wings and flew off in an unknown direction, things would work out.

At that moment, I recognized that a bigger desk symbolized bigger possibilities, stepping out in faith, and leaving my comfort zone.