1 . Right now I’m the age my parents were when they had the third baby. Unlike them, I don’t have any kids to feed, I don’t have a mortgage to pay, and luckily I have a higher income. In an outsider’s opinion, I should be very_________, but in fact I’m not. Here’s why.

Money is always a_________ thing. You think that by having it you’ll be happy.

Once you start making some and_________ it’s not making you happy, you think maybe it’s because you don’t have enough. So you exchange your_________ for money, sometimes working at a job you don’t even like to make more_________. As time goes on, you realize you’ve been spending more and more time at_________.You fail to keep a(n) _________ between work and family. Friends wonder why you don’t_________ them anymore. As you get a higher position, you feel more_________ than you did before. You find you don’t __________ so well anymore. As a result, your health begins to fail. Also, the cost of keeping up with a higher quality of life is starting to__________ and you’re not making as much as you__________ you would be. At the same time, you are worried about__________ the few friends you have because you’re earning more money than they are. Workmates think you earn very much and that you must be happy. If only that were__________.

Only you can__________ your happiness; money can’t buy that for you.

4 . I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday，at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their _________ had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth _________. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so _________.

His question _________ me of something I’d read somewhere before: “Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to _________ life that day.” I said, “I choose to be cheerful.”

“Let me give you an example,” I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. “In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the _________ from where I live. One day a few weeks ago, I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive _________ quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn’t _________. So I put my flashers on, _________ my books, and marched down the road to the college.

“As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The __________ in the Provost’s office asked me what had happened. “This is my lucky day,” I smiled. She was puzzled.

“My car broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. If my car was __________ to break down today, it couldn’t have been arranged in a more __________ fashion,” I added. The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and __________ for class. So ended my story.

I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be __________. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn’t the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student’s __________ that I was cheerful.

6 . “Today I will give you a special test,” said the English teacher with a smile on his face.

All the students set up straight and ________ for the test to begin. The teacher began to ________ the test papers to all the students. ________ he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

The students were very ________ to see that there was not a question but a black dot (圆点) in the centre of the paper. The teacher ________ the students’ surprise and said, “I want you to ________ about what you see there.”

At the end of the class, the teacher took all the students’ answer sheets (答题纸) and read the answers. ________ of them described the black dot. After reading all the answers, the teacher said, “Here everyone only paid attention to the black dot, ________ no one wrote about the white paper.” The whole class listened ________, because they were afraid to fail in the exam.

Then the teacher said, “Don’t worry about your ________ for this test. I just want you to think about our life. The white paper is like our whole life and the black dot in the centre of the paper ________ problems in our daily life.”

Our life is a ________ given to us by God, with love and care. Still, we just pay attention to the problems like ________ and poverty, and never see that these problems are very ________ compared to everything else we have in our life.

So we should try to take our eye off our problems and ________ each moment life gives us.

7 . When I came out of my office, it was dark. In order to get home as soon as possible, I hired a taxi. The car was _______ along the road, now well- lit, now sank in darkness. I broke the _______ on purpose, _______ that the driver might be too tired to drive. “When do you go back home in the evening?”

“9 o’clock. I’ll go after this trip.”

“Then when do you come out in the morning?” I _______ another question.

“9 o’clock, too. And I go home for lunch and dinner, just as if I worked at an office.” His easiness surprised me, because every time I ride in a taxi, what I hear from the _______ are only complaints. They complain that they have to work from morning till night, that it is _______ to earn money, that they are bullied (欺侮) by the policeman, or that the corporation leaders are seated _______ and enjoy the _______ of others’ work. It seems that they have a grievance (不满意) against everything. But this driver told me, “I find it tiring to be a section chief as I was before. I don’t like management work. I like driving, just for _______. It’s fortunate that I ________ drive without a passenger. So I can earn two or three thousand yuan a month with ease. Any secret? Yes, I never follow an empty taxi. If it goes ________, I go northward. If it goes along the highway, I turn into a ________ street. In this way I always get customers.

His words showed his satisfaction with his life and the pride he ________ in his job. Such feelings are so ________ among people nowadays as oxygen in high mountains. As an ancient saying ________, “Neither joy in material gains nor grieve over personal setbacks (挫折).” How many people nowadays can show high ideals by simple living and go far with a calm mind? I couldn’t help feeling curious when I found such a state of mind in a stranger on a cold winter night.

8 . We never stop learning. The most important skill I ________ at school was keeping a routine (惯例). Routines allow us to develop a rhythm (节奏) to our lives, but they also have their ________.

It can be easy to get so used to your routine that you don’t ________ you’re no longer aware of your time. This can stop ________, which means you start living your life on autopilot (自动驾驶). Doing the same thing week after week can be boring. If you make time to try new things and ________ new interests, you can adjust your routine to better fit your ________ as things change.

When I first came to college, I was ________ countless times that it’s important you develop a routine so you can ________ things important to you. But it’s easy to forget the bigger picture. I got so accustomed to the ________ old things that I would often ________ about all of the other fun and exciting ________ college had to offer.

It wasn’t until my junior year that I really started setting time aside to explore things that were ________ to me. I needed to find a ________ between keeping a structured timetable and finding time to be creative and try ________ things.

Routines are important, yes, but don’t forget: it’s not the routine that ________ your life. It’s only you who can determine how you spend your time, so don’t forget to throw something new in there from time to time. Above all else, don’t live your life on autopilot.

9 . A long time ago, there lived a girl called Lily. When she started going to school, she was       ________. All her classmates bullied(霸凌) her for her shy behaviour. If the teacher asked any questions she would not answer because of her shyness. But she was a________student and she knew all the answers.

Out of all the subjects, her favorite subject was sports.She always________to be a football player on her school team. But the students always made fun of her. ________, she did not care what her________would say as she wanted to tell them that she could be a football player.

So during the day, Lily________her school, and at night she would practice football at her home. Her mother installed(安装)some more lights in their garden so that her daughter could     ________properly.

After practicing for long, finally, the selections for the inter-school for football competition came. Lily, without a thought________to go for it. Her classmates________her, and said, “Boo! You will not make it. Back off!”But Lily decided not to________their words.

As she began to play, everybody was________her excellent skills.The judges(裁判)were so amazed by her confident________that they not only selected Lily but also made her the team leader. Now, everybody wanted to become Lily’s friend and soon she became the________girl in the school. Lily’s story is one of the________stories for kids that help them to do their work with the right________.