Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time．The moment was exciting．Salome’s 1 filled the room and brought the theater to life．I was so 2 that I decided to write an article about her．
I 3 Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk about her career．She 4 and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday．When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind．I 5 I was lying．I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list．
I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday．I sat there 6 , taking notes and asking questions that all began with,“Can you tell me…”I soon realized that 7 Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible．The 8 was almost unbearable．I struggled for days 9 draft after draft．Finally I put my manuscript(手稿)into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox．
It didn’t take long．My manuscript 10 ．How stupid of me!I thought．How could I 11 in a world of professional writers?Knowing I couldn’t 12 the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer．
Five years later, I was moving to California．While 13 my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope．This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in 14 ：
Dear Ms Profit,
Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic．Yet we need some 15 materials．Please add those and return the article immediately．We would like to 16 your story soon．
Shocked, it took me a long time to 17 ．Fear of rejection cost me dearly．I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine．More importantly, I lost years of 18 writing．Today, I have become a full–time writer．Looking back on this 19 I learned a very important lesson：You can’t 20 to doubt yourself．
A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor．They talked about the 1 topic-happiness．But soon their conversation turned into complaints about 2 in work and life．
To offer his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and 3 with a large pot of coffee and a variety of 4 －plastic, glass, metal, porcelain(陶瓷), som plain-looking some very 5 ．The professor told his students to help themselves to hot coffee．
When all the students had a cup of coffee in 6 ．the professor said："lf you have noticed, all the nice-looking 7 ．cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones．While it is 8 for you to want only the best for Yourbelves, that is the 9 of your problems and stress．The professor continued," Believe that the cup itself adds no 10 to the coffee．ln most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases it even 11 what we drink．What all of you 12 wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went 13 the best cups．Now 14 this：life is coffee, the jobs, money, and 15 in society are the cups9 which are just tools to hold and 16 life, and the different typesof cups we have don't decide, nor 17 the quality oflife．lf we concentrate only on the cups, we will 18 to enjoy the coffee in it．So don't let the cups 19 you…enjoy the coffee instead．"
At these words, the graduates looked at each other in 20 embarrassment．
