2 . In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the _________ , most of them on their way to _________ .

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first _________. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to _________ him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother pulled him along _________ . The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the _________ pushed hard and the child continued to walk,_________ his head the whole time.

At forty-five minutes, the musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal _________. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour, he finished playing and silence _________ . No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no __________ at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most __________ pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a __________ in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

In a common-place environment, at an __________ hour, do we feel beauty?

If so, do we stop to __________ it? If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... How many other things are we missing as we __________ through life?

3 . “Every life is a boat, the dream is the boat sail.” Every child has a dream of what they want to be. When Renee Butts was little, her dream was to become a volunteer firefighter because her father was one. Sadly, when she was 14, her beloved father died and she was never able to do volunteer work with him. However, Renee’s story didn’t end there. She was determined and never gave up, which makes for a good firefighter.

Now Renee is a member of the Carme l Fire Department, where she is required to be an Emergency Medical Technician. She should also be ready to deal with any emergency, like fighting a fire, dealing with a car accident or helping someone who’s sick. Sometimes she is in the driver’s seat or using the water pump. Renee works nine to eleven days a month on 24-hour shifts. She also has a family to care for, as her husband is also a busy firefighter. Dealing with housework and working so much can show her great determination.

When I asked Renee what the best part of her job was, she replied, “Helping people and saving lives.” I think that shows signs of being a true hero. She’s always willing to do anything for anyone in need. Renee says that her job is frightening at times, but extremely exciting. “The worst part of my job is that I see death. Actually, sometimes people die in the accident, for which I am very sorry.” With 140 people in her station, Renee is one of the only three women, but that doesn’t bother her. She says everyone can get a fair shot and do the same jobs.

I was inspired by this because I knew I would be very scared to do her job and didn’t know if I could handle seeing people die. We would never live without people like her who have the courage to risk their lives. Renee’s determination rubs off on me and makes me believe that I can do anything.

4 . I was driving in my car the other day. The sun was out, the radio was playing, and I was singing along. The song was so _______ that even my weak voice sounded good. Then it _______, however. The sweet sound of the music _______ and there came the unpleasant news. Gas prices _______ again. Fans of two sports teams got into fight. I sighed and wondered about this _______ world we live in. _______, I could take no more and turned off the radio. Silence seemed preferable to listening to anything else about the crazy, _______ society we live in. I slowed down as I entered a town and _______ the people as I drove by. A tall man was _______ an elderly lady out of a car and helping her place her walker so she could go into store in her wheelchair. A smiling woman was ________ food onto the square while a dozen birds flew down to enjoy the food being laid out before them. A young man was walking along, carrying his ________ safely in his arms. When the daughter pulled the hat off his head, they both ________. I laughed too as I looked at all of his ________. The radio may have been off in my car, but in my ________ I was still singing.

In truth, this world could have more kindness and less competitions. Kindness makes us all ________ in this life and our life will be full of love and joy.

Sports Day was getting close in the school. All the children were very excited and were practicing for the big race. John, one of the fast runners of the school, was confident that he would win for he was not doing anything at all. “You have to work hard to come first in the race John. You are not practicing at all,” said John’s mother.

“Mom, you know how fast I am! Why should I waste my time running? Only I will win; no one else will win!”said John. “John, you may be right but talent (天赋) without hard work is not good at all. This laziness of yours will cost you greatly,” his mother warned him. John just laughed. He was so confident that he would win the trophy (奖杯) as no one else in his class was as fast as he was!.

Tim, a classmate of John, was also participating (参加) in the running race. He was not a fast runner. However, he practiced till late at night and had developed great endurance (持久力) to run the race.

There were a few days left for the Sports Day but John did not practice at all. On the other hand, Tim practiced day and night.

The Sports Day was almost around the corner but John was confident that no one could beat him and had not practiced at all. But Tim with his hard work had become a very great runner.

At last, the Sports Day arrived. All the students showed up on the ground to cheer their favorites. The coach blew the whistle (口哨) and everyone began to run toward the finishing line. It was so exciting. John and Tim left all the racers far behind. Both of them were neck to neck.

Suddenly, John went ahead of Tim.

John’s mother came up to Tim and praised him for his hard work.

6 . In the second year of my high school, I went abroad to continue my education. Shortly after I settled down with my host family, an Italian girl _________ too. Since the house had limited space, we _________ together. My negative view on roommates started from that moment. My roommate liked to invite friends over and hold parties, but I preferred _________ home by myself. Then _________ started to appear, and I told myself that I never wanted a roommate again.

Unfortunately, life quickly _________ me when I went to college. It required all first-year students to live on _________, which meant I had to live with someone I didn’t know. From that point on, I began to _________. When I talked to my future roommate Lily for the very first time, I tried my best to smile and nod to hide my nervousness. When she invited me to have lunch, I was completely _________. I told myself that I should step out of my comfort _________, even though I could clearly hear my heart beating through my chest. I considered it for a long time, and finally, I accepted her __________.

After we __________ together for a few weeks, I got to know Lily already owned a small business selling snacks, while I kept __________ to set goals. One night, she asked me what I wanted to do for my career. I looked into her eyes for a long time, and then said, “I don’t know.” “Don’t worry! We will work together, and I’ll help you __________ what you are passionate about,” she said in a gentle voice. Under her __________, I found my interest and knew what I wanted to be after graduation. Thanks to her, I felt having a roommate could be so __________.

8 . One day I went to a mall to search for a job. I saw a guard in tidy uniform (制服). I was drawn by it, so I walked to her and _______ her, and in return, she said hello to me with a smile, appearing very _______. I asked her the name of her company and where it lay. She answered nicely. I said to myself I _______ to work like her.

When I got home I _______ my first CV (简历). The following day I went to the exact company where the guard worked and was told there were no _______ currently. I begged her to keep my CV and hand it in when there were jobs offered and she kept it. After a month the company _______ me, inviting me to come for an interview. I really _______ the chance.

The interviewers were very satisfied, so I was invited to a month long training. I _______ the training and the trainer put me on the first group due to the good _______ I got in the training. I was ________ at the same place as the lady, which ________ me.

From that day on I told myself nothing is ________ in life. If you dream it and fight for it, then you can ________ it. We are always limiting ourselves by saying the sky is the limit, but the ________ is that only you can limit yourself. So only you can go beyond the ________.

9 . Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water or mud. As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked!

Yet I did nothing for the attack. It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Had I been hurt I wouldn’t have found it amusing. And I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!

Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain. For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused. I wasn’t sure what to do. After all, it’s just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That’s when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying.

Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. Should I have been careless enough to step on her? His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate’s safety seemed admirable. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.

Since then, I’ve used that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

10 . When I was a kid, my mom set aside some breakfast food for supper every now and then. I remember one night after a long, hard day at work, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and a plate of extremely burnt biscuits on the table. I waited to see if my dad would get annoyed.

All my dad did was to reach for the biscuits, smile at my mom and ask me how my day at school had been. I don’t remember what I told him that night but I do remember watching him add butter and jelly on that ugly burnt biscuit and ate every bite of that thing. He never made a face nor uttered a word about it!

When I rose from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for overcooking the biscuits and I will never forget what he said, “Honey, I love burnt biscuits every now and then.”

Later that night I went to say goodnight to my daddy, and I wondered if he really liked his biscuits burnt. He wrapped me up in his arms and said gently, “Your mom put in a hard day at work today and she is really tired. Besides, a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!

As I have grown older, I’ve thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. Learning to accept each other’s faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences contribute to a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. We could extend this philosophy to any relationship, such as a husband-wife, parent-child, or friendship. Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket. Keep it in your own. So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burnt one will do just fine.