1 . When my son was eleven years old, he came home from school in tears one day. A couple of the older kids bullied (欺负) him at the bus stop. Rob wanted to stay home from school, so he wouldn’t have to meet the boys.

We called the school. “We’ll be happy to call the boys’ parents,” We were told, “And you should call the police.” “We don’t know what we will do yet.” I said. I felt that calling the police was a choice to be used when everything else failed, and I wanted first to consider other ways of dealing with the situation, I asked him to hold off calling the boys’ parents.

The next day was Saturday. Rob happened to look our of the window and said in fer, “There are the boys who beat me up!” Two older boys were standing in front of our house, as if they were waiting for Rob to step outside.

My wife Bev opened the door and said with a smile, “Hi guys. Would you like some ice cream?” They looked at each other in puzzlement. But they were teenagers, after all, so one of them said, “Sure. Why not?”

Bev quickly introduced herself, Rob’s younger brothers and me. She even introduced Rusty, the dog. “And I think you already know Rob,” She said. Her idea was to help them to see that Rob was a person, not a target. He had a family and even owned a family pet.

Bev drew the boys into chat while we ate ice cream. After a few minutes, she said, “I know there’s been some trouble at the bus stop. I think there may be a misunderstanding.” They nodded that there had indeed been trouble at the bus stop. She continued, “Maybe we can talk about the misunderstanding, so you can be friends.” We talked until the ice cream was finished. Finally the boys apologized.

Understanding is a difficult task. It may be easier to control conflict by force than to find a way to cooperate. Force can calm a situation. But understanding leads to peace.

2 . I used to think my life was perfect. My mom had her dream job and a beautiful office and I had my own room with a computer and a garden to _________. But one Sunday, everything changed. A hurricane _________ our neighborhood while we were visiting my grandparents in Raleigh. Our kitchen was destroyed, and our clean and comfortable home was in ruins.

But something _________ happened. Our neighbors, the Flores family, came to our aid. They helped clear _________ pieces and offered us a place to stay. Their _________ was most impressive. We had never_________ spoken to them before, but they _________ their home to us and made us feel like family.

We started a new_________ of having weekend dinner together. We invited other families from the neighborhood to join us, and our _________ were filled with laughter and delicious food. It was a beautiful thing to see our __________ come together in the wake of a disaster.

I __________ knew Rosica, their daughter, before the hurricane. But she quickly became my __________. She had a gift for storytelling and our evenings together were filled with adventure and laughter.

Looking back, I realize that the hurricane__________ unexpected benefit. It brought us closer to our neighbors and __________ our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Sometimes, it takes a(n) __________ to bring out the best in people.

3 . When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt completely alone in my small town.

But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.

Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.

After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, one I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.

Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.

4 . I never imagined that an interstate trip could be so exciting. But when your world has become smaller since the pandemic hit two-and-a-bit years ago, and then slowly _________, the most ordinary experience gives new _______ to life. And so it was with me when I was _________ given the chance to take my first flight in more than two years.

I’d forgotten how it felt to be among the people coming and going. I got to the airport two hours before boarding. Time for the bar and, of course, _________.

That group of young Arab women laughing and posing for photographs by the expansive windows, aircraft in the _________ , lighting up the place with their happiness.

The man in the corner drinking alone. Just another one of the 70,000 or so stories that would pass through the airport _________.

I couldn’t be calmer as a flyer. But when the plane took off I was _________, in that moment of weightlessness as the wheels _________ Earth, leaning towards the window to watch everything below becoming smaller and smaller.

Is it possible that the denial of so much during the pandemic lockdown had added new _________to what was the ordinary? I think so. The plane ride, the hotel stay, and the social occasion all now gave me a sense of ____________ that might have previously only aroused in me nothing more than a certain nonchalance (若无其事) or even ____________.

Last June, just ahead of the long Sydney lockdown, a friend ____________ a birthday party. That experience for me would continue happily through some of the____________ months of the lockdown that would follow.____________ the repeated fear that the pandemic holds over us, the memory of that celebration still keeps its bright, warm light in my mind. That’s what happens when everything old is new again, when ____________ is rediscovered as a virtue.

George was so excited he could hardly wait to get to the store. He walked so fast that his sister Beth had to run. “Do you have to hurry like that?” she puffed. On his way from school he had seen that baseball cap in Rogers’ store window. Only a dollar and this was the last cap! George had looked at the cap a long time. He wanted it more than anything. Every boy at school had one.

George thought of his piggy hank, into which he put every coin for running errands (差使) for his family and neighbors.

George raced home, not stopping for anything. He held the fat iron pig, opened it carefully, and poured out the coins. Ten...twenty...thirty...ninety cents. If only he had one more dime (一角硬币)!

Lost in thought, George stared out the window. “What’s wrong, George?” asked Mother George told about the money and the cap. “If you give me what you have, I’ll add a dime,” Mother said, handing him a dollar bill.

George jumped up. “Oh, thanks, Mom. That’s great!” George gave all his coins to Mother and took the dollar bill. And away went George and Beth to the store with the dollar bill in George’s pocket.

They turned the last comer. Ahead was a group of boys and girls, talking heatedly and looking down at the sidewalk.

One of the children was Ronny, a new boy who had been in this town only a short time. Ronny’s father had been sick, so there wasn’t much money for extras - like baseball cap.

“What’s the matter?” Beth asked, anxiously.

“It’s Ronny,” answered one of them. “He’s been working and finally saved up a whole dollar, and now it’s lost!”

George went over to Ronny.

“We’ll all help look. We’ll find it!”

“I was going to get that last cap in Rogers’ window. I wanted it a lot. With that cap, I could join them.” Ronny said slowly.

Suddenly George remembered how Ronny had watched the fellows playing baseball, his eyes lighting up eagerly as they shouted and ran.

George stared at the ground, thinking hard.

Forcing a smile, George showed Beth the empty pocket.

6 . 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.

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.

9 . When I was little, I often helped my mother plant our family’s garden. In April, I would kneel by Mum’s side for hours, carefully digging holes and ______ seeds into the earth.

When I grew up, I was unwilling to do any planting. ______, my mother never said much about my decision until two years ago. I was leaving home when Mum ______ me.

“Would you please help me with the planting today?” she asked, I mumbled (咕哝) something along the ______ of, “Uh, maybe … I’ll see. By the time I left the house, Mum was already in the garden. She ______ for a moment as I walked past, and from the corner of my eye I saw a certain ______ in her stare. A few hours later, I decided to head back home to help her and felt very _____   for my selfless decision. But I was too late.

I ______ little about that day until nearly a year later, Mum unexpectedly ______ her friend Sara to cancer. She went to see how the two children were ______ the sudden loss. There Mum learned the answer. “Mummy made me my own garden,” Rachel said ______, leading her outdoors to see the masterpiece. Sara had decided to plant her children something that would ______ long after she was gone.

As I listened to my mother tearfully tell Sara’s story, I realized the true ______ of a garden. Our annual planting was about kneeling together, planting potential life and creating the best ______ together.

I won’t ever ______ the planting day again.

10 . When I was a small boy my family was very poor. My father always used his savings to ______ my mother to visit her parents who lived far away. There were just my younger brother and I in the house. One evening Dad came home from ______ and there was no food in the house, not even a piece of bread. Although we were ______ , my brother and I went to bed without eating anything.

My father had no money, but I knew from the ______ on his face that he could not let us have an empty stomach. He ______ the house and about two hours later returned and quickly ______ us up. He had two small potato pies in his hand, which he gave us to eat. I didn’t know where he got the food but somehow he managed to get us something to eat.

My father had not eaten and had worked all day but he sat there with great satisfaction watching us eat. This has ______ stayed in my mind and made me more impressive than any amount of money he may ever have ______ me.

At that moment, I felt happy knowing that he was there and would not let us suffer.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that in difficult times it is ______ not to show weakness but strength and character (勇气) . If a mother is the cement (胶合剂) that ______ a family together, then a father is the one that ______ that cement.

It is his values and ______ that have carried me forward and helped me to ______ my own problems in life. In my own ______ I have learned that it is the ______ time I spend with my children and the values I teach them that will always remain with them.