1 . “What are you doing?” my fifth-grade teacher asked as I bent over the side of my desk. “I’m ______ my backpack. The bell rings in a few minutes.”

“Unpack your assignments (作业). You still have five minutes. We ______ until the clock runs out. The more you do here in class, the less you have to do at home,” she said. She was a very kind woman, but I knew she was ______ this time.

Having no choice, I ______ pulled my math assignment back out and ______ one problem at a time as the minutes on the clock ticked away. The bell finally ______, and I stuffed my homework in my backpack as ______ as possible and ran out.

I cannot remember how many times per day she would say, “Use your time wisely.” It worked. It became second ______ for me to work until the bell rang. In middle school, I continued the ______ she instilled (灌输) in me. I worked on my assignments until the bell rang. And she was ______. The more I did in class, the more time off I had at home for projects and hobbies. I instilled that mindset in nearly every aspect of my ______ life: my education, my career, and my family.

At age ten, I didn’t ______. I do now. Learning how to use your time wisely also means learning what’s ______ to you and being able to prioritize (划分优先顺序) your life. It’s not just a ______ in using the time you have, but in enjoying those moments and ______ the time spent with loved ones.

2 . I’ve been having trouble concentrating on one thing. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.

In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it. ” She glanced down at me through her glasses, “You are not different from your classmates, young man.”

I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.

In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots (点), which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

Wasn’t I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was not different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?

I didn’t expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day — with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep trying?”

Inspired and touched, I began to keep trying hard in my study and struggled against attention problems. I believe one can find his way out of difficulty with determination (决心) and efforts.

4 . Every time I take time off with my family, I tend to reflect on how technology has impacted our lives. When we go on a trip together, it usually takes a few days for my kids to finally ______ the fact that they have to let go of their electronic devices. They go through a withdrawal period(戒断期) where Mom is“the worst”for expecting them to go a few days without ______. I need to be ______ here. I am writing about my kids but the ______ is that I ______ withdrawals as well. I find myself having to use all my willpower just to ______ looking at emails.

It has become a(n) ______ that vacation time is quality family time and when we are together, there are no ______. When vacation mode sets in, it becomes easier to ______ the technology and enjoy the moment. My children start to share stories and we find ourselves having fun just spending quality time together. ______ , it always surprises me how quickly we ______ to our regular routine once the ______ is over. It becomes part of my ______ once I am back at work to have the phone beside me at all times.

Do you use technology as a tool to improve productivity? Or, has technology become a(n) ______ that contributes to devaluing “real life” connections with the people right in front of you?

So spend ______ time with your loved ones and become engaged in the moment.

5 . After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make a difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance — curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both.

Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more than ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”

Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only to recapture them. “The great man,” said Mencius, “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average.

Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.

How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it.

The way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.

However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.

7 . As a child, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me.

Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never agree because the walls were so old that some stones were loose and falling. However, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.

“I want to climb the stone walls.” I said. “Heavens, no! You’ll hurt yourself !” The response was just as I’d expected. But before I left the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s loud voice. “Now hold on just a minute.” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”

“Go,” he said to me, “and come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls — and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, smiling, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”

Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids will hear me say, “ and people can like you exactly as you are.”