Tom lost his job again a few months ago. He is a warm-hearted repairman. He was really _______ applying for (申请) a new job.

One day, he brought together all his courage to go to a job interview (面试). The interview was at 10 a.m. and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus, he saw a man _______ kicking one tyre (轮胎) of his car hard. Clearly, there was something wrong with the car. Tom _______ to help.

An hour later, Tom finished repairing the car, getting his shirt dirty. The man thanked him and wanted to pay for the _______. “I was just helping out,” Tom _______. “I have to rush for an interview now,” he added. “Well, I could take you there. It’s the _______ I could do, please!” the man insisted. Then Tom agreed.

While waiting in the long line of the applicants (应聘者) _______ his dirty shirt, Tom felt embarrassed and nervous. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer’s (面试官的) office with _______ looks on their faces. Finally his name was called.

The _______ was sitting on big chair with his back towards Tom. “Do you really need to be interviewed?” he asked. Tom’s heart sank (下沉). “With the way I __________ now, how could I possibly __________ this interview?” he thought to himself.

Then the interviewer __________ his chair. To Tom’s surprise, it was the man he helped earlier in the morning!

“Sorry to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I had made the __________ decision to have you in our company even __________ you came into this office. I just know you’d be a good worker I can __________. Congratulations!”

Once upon a time there was a great man. He has a bright little daughter and the man loved her very much. When she was very little, he would pick her up, sing a song and dance with her, and he would tell her, “I love you, little girl.” When the girl grew up, the man still would hug her and tell her, “I love you, little girl.”   The little girl would be unwilling and say, “I’m not a little girl any more. Don’t call me like this.” Then the man would laugh and say “ ▲ to me, you’ll always be my little girl.”

The little girl left her home and went into the world. As she learned more about herself, she learned more about the man. She realized one of his strengths was his ability to express his love to his family. It didn’t matter wherever she went in the world, the man would call her and say, “I love you, little girl.”

The day came when the great man was ill badly. He couldn’t talk any more. He could no longer smile, hug, dance or tell the little girl that he loved her. So she went to the side of the great man. When she walked into the room and saw him, he looked small and not strong at all. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not.

The little girl did the only thing she could do. She climbed up on the bed next to the great man. Tears ran from both of their eyes and she drew her arms around the useless shoulders of her father. Her head on his chest, and she thought of many things. She remembered the wonderful times together and how she had always felt protected by the great man.

She heard what she needed to hear. His heart beat out the words that his mouth could no longer say. “I love you! Little girl!”

Now, the VOA Learning English program begins. Today, we talk about one way to solve a problem.

There are many different ways to solve a problem. One way is to be creative. People often think creative thinking is just for artists and designers, but this is not true. Dr. Edward de Bono, an expert（专家） in creative thinking and problem solving, has shown the world that using creativity to solve problems is very useful in business and in our communities, and will continue to be so in the future.

One example of creative thinking is the solution（解决办法）to a parking problem in a town center. In the areas close to stores, people can only park for 20 minutes. There are parking meters where people pay to park in these areas. However, the problem is that many people leave their cars there for longer than 20 minutes. Dr. Edward de Bono’s solution is to make a rule that all cars parked in these areas must keep their headlights on. Of course, drivers will want to return to their cars before their car batteries（蓄电池）die.

According to Dr. de Bono, people will need to use creative thinking more often in the future. To help people think more creatively, he designed the “Six Thinking Hats” system（系统）. The system helps people think about a problem in different ways in order to find a solution. In the system, there are six imaginary hats of different colors. Each hat represents a different way of thinking. For example, the white hat helps people consider the facts. The black hat is the most logical（有逻辑的）and helps people consider why a possible solution may not work. So, next time you have a problem in your community, think about it creatively, from different perspectives, and see what best ideas you can get.

And that’s all for today’s program.

I’m Bryan Lynn. Thanks for your listening.

We find it difficult to find true friends these days. A lot of people tend to backstab（背后伤人）. Some make friends just to use them. Others promise to be your friends but they are never there when you need them the most. They appear only when they need something from you.

Once you find a friend who is worth keeping, make sure to take care of what you have with that person. How? Here are some tips on how to make friendship last forever:

1 Call for no reason. Call just to say “Hi” or just to ask “What’s up?” You don’t need a huge or an important reason to call a friend. If you can’t call, just send an e-mail. This would send a message that you remember your friends on a random （随意的）time of the day.

2 Know when to say I’m sorry and thank you. Don’t let pride get in the way, especially when you make a mistake. The word “sorry” already has saved a lot of friendships. Show appreciation for the things, big or little, that your friend does for you. Did she listen to you when you were complaining about that physics exam? Did he offer his shoulders for you to cry on when your boyfriend broke your heart? Say thank you. It’s that easy.

3 Don’t say hurtful words. If you have nothing good to say, don’t talk at all. Don’t hurt your friends’ feelings by saying hurtful words that, most of the time, you don’t really mean. If you’re a true friend, you will be careful with your words.

4 Be honest. Don’t lie to friends. Trust is the base of true friendship. Write them a note from time to time. Also, try to be thoughtful. Give simple gifts that will make their day.

5 Know how to keep a secret and show your friends that they can depend on you to be there whatever happens. If you promise to keep the secrets for your friends, just do it.

6 Never be mean（小气的）with your time. Spare some time to see your friends however busy you are. You can always spare an hour or two after school or work to visit them.

If you are the type of person who knows how to take care of friendship, you definitely are a keeper!

Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does     86     sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not     87     (success)? Well, friend, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you’ll find that the whole world smiles to you. While in school, sometimes you are so tired that you are not willing to devote much of your time to     88     (learn) your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face after you do a good job?

One day it is fine. Just before you want to go on a trip, it     89       (complete) goes beyond what you expect. It suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start complaining     90     the weather. But dear friend, why don't you sit down and listen to the sound the nature offers you? And with the timely(适时的) rain, crops in the fields will grow much     91     (good) and farmers will have a good harvest.

    92     everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure (失败) hits you. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we     93     (beat) by failure and give up hopes easily. When we face failure, we must be confident of     94     (us), draw some useful lessons for the future from it and try our best to finish what we have decided     95     (do). Just as a popular saying goes, “Failure is the mother of success? ”

Attitude (态度)decides everything. Let’s smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us.

96. 假如你是李华, 请仔细阅读征文要求, 并用英语写一篇短文投稿。

I’m writing this letter to share my thoughts of doing housework.