3 . I’ve been taking a bus to school for years. I found that most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever has a _________ with anyone else.

About a year ago, an elderly man entered and said _________ to the driver, “Good morning!” Most people looked up, surprised and _________, while the bus driver took it for granted and _________ responded with a grunt (哼声). The next day the man _________   and again he said in a loud voice, “Good morning!” to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver finally agreed to accept the elderly man and _________   him with a little cheerful “Good morning!” Then the man _________, “My name is Benny.” The driver told the man he was Ralph.

That was the first _________ any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say _________ to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny __________his cheerful “Good morning!” to the whole bus. Within a few days, his “Good morning!” was __________ by a whole bunch of “Good mornings” and the entire bus seemed to be more __________. People got to know each other.

“If a __________ is someone who makes something happen, Benny was the one who took a lead in showing friendship __________ us,” I thought.

A month ago, something __________ happened and Benny didn’t __________ in the bus. Everyone began to __________ about Benny and lots of people said he may have passed away. No one knew what to do and the bus got __________ again. So last week, I started to act like Benny and say “Good morning!” to everyone and the whole bus cheered up again. I guessed I was the leader now. __________ Benny could come back to see what he had started really __________ a lot.

4 . Having repeatedly heard “good manners”, do you really understand what the basic elements of good manners are? Certainly, a strong sense of justice is one—(from this angle) politeness is often _________ but a highly developed sense of fair play. A friend of mine once told me of him _________ along a one-lane dirt road. _________ was another car that produced clouds of choking _________, and it was a long way to the nearest highway. Suddenly, at a _________ place, the car in front pulled off the road. _________ that its owner might have engine trouble, my friend stopped and asked if anything was wrong. “_________”, said the other driver, “but you’ve tolerated my dust this far; I’ll _________ yours the rest of the way.”

Another element of politeness is empathy, a (an) _________ that enables a person to see into the mind or heart of someone else, to __________ the pain or suffering there and to do something to minimize it. A man __________ alone in a restaurant was trying to unscrew (拧开) the cap of a beer bottle. __________ he couldn’t do it because of badly injured __________. He turned to a young kid for help. The kid took the bottle. __________ and loosened the cap without difficulty. Then he __________ it again. Tuning back to the man, he __________ to make great efforts to open the bottle without success __________ he took it into the kitchen and returned shortly, saying that he had __________ to loosen it—but only with a pair of pliers (钳子).

Last but not least, the ability to treat all people __________ is also an element of politeness, regardless of status or importance. __________ when you have doubts about some people, act as if they are worthy of your best manners. Are you astonished to find out the basic factors of “politeness”?

5 . I was cycling and noticed a person about a quarter of a kilometer in front of me. I could tell he was cycling a little slower than me and _________ to try to catch up with him. I had about a kilometer to go on the road _________ turning off.

So I _________ cycling faster and faster and on every _________, I was gaining on him just a little bit. After just a few minutes I was only about 100 yards _________ him, so I really picked up the pace and _________myself. You might _________ I was cycling in the last section of the London Olympic triathlon.

_________ I caught up with him and passed him. On the inside I felt so _________. I beat him, of course, but he didn't even know we were __________.

After I passed him, I __________ that I had been so focused on competing against him that I had __________ my turn. I had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around and go all the way back.

Isn't that what happens in life when we __________ competing with co-workers, neighbors, and friends, trying to __________ that we are more successful or more important? We spend our time and __________ chasing after them and we miss out on our own __________ our future.

The __________of unhealthy competition is that it's a never-ending __________. And there will always be somebody ahead of you, someone with a __________   job, more money and a better education, etc.

Therefore, just take what life has given you, your height, weight and personality. Stays focused and live a peaceful life. There's no __________in life. Run your own race and wish others well!

6 . As I drove my blue Buick into the garage, I saw that a yellow Oldsmobile was _________ too close to my space. I had to drive back and forth to get my car into the _________ space. That left _________ enough room to open the door. Then one day I arrived home _________ , and just as I turned off the engine, the yellow Oldsmobile entered its space—too close to my car, _________ . At last I had a chance to meet the driver. My patience had _________ and I shouted at her, "Can't you see you're not _________ me enough space? Park farther over." Banging（猛推）open her door into _________. The driver shouted back, "Make me!" _________ this she stepped out of the garage. Still, each time she got home first, she parked too close to my __________ Then one day, I thought, "What can I do?" I soon found __________ . The next day the woman __________ a note on her windshield（挡风玻璃）:

I'm sorry my mistress（女主人）shouted at yours the other day. She's been sorry about it. I know it because she doesn't sing anymore while __________ . It wasn't like her to scream __________. Fact is, she'd just got bad news and was taking it out on you two. I __________ you and your mistress will __________ her.

Your neighbor,

Blue Buick

When I went to the __________ the next morning, the Oldsmobile was gone, but there was a note on my windshield:

My mistress is sorry, too. She parked so __________ because she just learned to drive. We will park much farther over after this. I'm glad we can be __________ now.

Your neighbor,

Yellow Oldsmobile

After that, whenever Blue Buick __________ yellow Oldsmobile on the road, their drivers waved cheerfully and smiled.

7 . Unchangeable Love

One day I visited an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting.

I was expecting a quiet_______of the splendid artwork.

A young_______viewing the paintings ahead of me_______nonstop between themselves. I watched them a moment and decided the lady was doing all the talking. I admired the man’s _______for putting up with her_______stream of words, _______by their noise, I moved on.

I met them several times as I moved _______the various rooms of art. Each time I heard her continuous flow of words, I moved away___________.

I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop making a _______when the couple approached the__________. Before they left, the man __________into his pocket and pulled out a white object. He____________ it into a long stick and then tapped his way into the __________to get his wife’s jacket.

“He’s a __________man.” the clerk at the counter said. “Most of us would give up if we were blinded at such a young age. During his recovery, he made a promise his life wouldn’t change. So, as before, he and his wife come in ____________there is a new art show.”

“But what does he get out of the art?” I asked, “He can't see.”

“Can’t see! You’re__________. He sees a lot. More than you and I do,” the clerk said, “His wife __________ each pointing so he can see it in his head.”

I learned something about patience, __________and love that day. I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without __________ and the courage of a husband who would not____________blindness to change his life. And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away, hand in hand.

9 . Rhemy Elsey, a fifth-grader, is deaf and mainly uses sign language to communicate, along with the _________ of an interpreter. Some of his fellow fifth-graders decided to _________ their break once a week to form an American Sign Language club in order to chat more _________with Rhemy.

It’s been a few months since the club was _________ and his classmates’ participation makes Rhemy _________. “It’s like they want to be like me” he said.

His interpreter, Tammy Arvin, _________ the club, which meets every Wednesday. So far, the club members have learned basic _________ in different topics including school, food and clothing. Arvin said that _________ the club’s formation, it was difficult for students to communicate directly with Rhemy. So when the other students expressed interest in an ASL club, Arvin was _________.

The club has already had an effect on the way the students ____________ with Rhemy. The ____________ can have more natural conversations which make Rhemy feel less isolated(孤立的). And the students are also ____________ a very important culture.

“It ____________ gives them a perspective on this other ____________ that they previously weren’t aware of, so they’re ____________ greatly just in terms of learning about diversity and having a broader perspective on the world around them,” Arvin said.