A certain student passed all his examinations. Then he went to college to  21  his studies. There he wrote down his  22 for a course in English, but after the first 23 , he didn’t go to it any more.
The English lecturer 24_this student was always absent (缺席的) and thought he had  25_to another course, so he was  26  when he saw the boy’s name on the list of students who wanted to take the English  27at the end of this year.
The lecturer had  28 a difficult paper, which followed his  29 closely, and he was eager (热切的) to see  30 this student would answer the questions. He  31__the boy’s answers would be very bad, but when they  32 him and he examined them  33 , he was able to find only one small mistake in them. As this surprised him greatly, he  34 the paper repeatedly but still couldn’t find more than one mistake, so he  35 for the student to question him about it.
When he came and sat down, the lecturer asked him, “I  36 you came to my first lecture and you’ve been absent from all the others. But I’ve examined your  37 carefully and I’ve found only one small mistake in it. I’m curious (好奇的) to know your  38 .”
“I’m very  39  about that mistake,” answered the student. “After the examination, I  40  what I should have done. I would not have made that mistake if I had not been confused by your first lecture.” 

A little boy was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot(弹弓）to   21 in the woods. He practiced and practiced but could never   22  the target. Becoming somewhat   23 , he headed back for dinner.
As he was returning, he saw Grandma’s   24 duck. Without thinking, he shot his slingshot, hit the duck right   25 the head and killed it. He was shocked and sad. Quickly, he   26 the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his   27 watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After   28 that day, Grandma said, “Sally, you wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me that he wanted to   29 in the kitchen today, didn't you, Johnny?” And then she   30 to him, “Remember, the duck?” Then Johnny did the dishes.
Later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to __31__ fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I __32__ Sally to help me make supper.” But Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right. Johnny told me he wanted to __33__.” And she whispered again, “Remember, the   34  ?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny   35 at home.
After several days, Johnny finally couldn't   36 it any longer. He went to Grandma and   37 that he had killed her pet duck and asked for her   38 .
Hearing this, Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the   39 and saw the whole thing from the house. And because I   40 you, I forgive you, but I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make you her slave.”

Zigfried, a little mouse, blew his breath on the frosty window of the farmhouse and rubbed it to see the outside. Still nobody came. Maybe today, he thought  31 . It was only a few days before Christmas and he was watching for a miracle (奇迹).
This farmhouse had been  32  too long. It needed a family. Zigfried’s  33  made a noise. He realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He jumped from the windowsill (窗沿), grabbed a  34  from his home, and went next door to Farmer Mike’s.
Farmer Mike’s house had been a great place for the little mouse  35  the farmer married a wife who had a cat. Zigfried  36  when he thought of it. He looked around cautiously as he 37  into the room where grain was stored and was quite  38  as he filled his bag with wheat. He was turning to leave when suddenly he  39  a hot breath about his ear. His heart beat  40  , and without thinking he started to run and luckily  41  the cat’s paws (爪子).
The next afternoon Zigfried heard some good news: a  42  family would be moving into the farmhouse soon. Zigfried’s granny would arrive on Christmas Eve to  43 with him. He hoped that the family would come before his granny came. Before long, a car came  44  the road leading to the house, with butter sandwiches, cheese and chocolate.
Zigfried’s Christmas miracle did arrive!
The house came  45  the next few days. Zigfried  46  every single hour of them.  47 , the day before Christmas when he was drinking hot chocolate with a  48  smile at the door of his home, he heard the  49 of the children of the family about what they might get for Christmas. What? A cat? The  50  froze on his face； his mouth fell wide open. After a long while, he at last found his voice: “Hey! Whose Christmas miracle is this?”

One day a famous speaker gave a speech to a crowd of people. He held up a   21   bill. He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill ? ” Hands were   22  . Then he said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.” He began to crumple（弄皱）the   23 . He then asked the audience, “   24  still wants it ?” Still the hands went  25  in the air.
“ What   26  I do this? ” He asked, and he  27  it on the ground, and started to step on it. He  28  it up. Now the bill was  29  and crumpled. “ Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went up.
“My friends,” He continued, “You have all  30   a good lesson . No matter   31  I did to the money, you still wanted it because the bill did not lose its  32 . It was still worth $20. Many times in our   33 , we are dropped, crumpled, and stepped on, because we sometimes  34  wrong decisions, or we may   35  with something we do not   36 .When that happens, we feel depressed and think we are   37 . But in fact no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. The worth of our life comes not   38  what we do or whom we know, but in who we are! Don’t forget ‘the worth of a thing does not depend on its outside   39  , but on its inner value.’ This is the   40  of life.

It was a cold winter. The day my husband fell to his death, it started to snow, just  31 any November day. His   32 , when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months, while I sat on the couch and watched it   33 . One morning, I walked slowly   34  and was surprised to see a snow remover clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman clearing my walk. I dropped to my knees and crawled back upstairs,  35 those good people would not see me. I was   36 . My first thought was, how would I ever  37 them? I didn’t have the  38 to brush my hair,   39 clear someone’s walk.
Before Jon’s death, I felt proud that I   40 asked for favors. I identified myself by my competence and  41 . So who was I if I was no longer capable? How could I   42 myself if I just sat on the couch every day and watched the snow fall?
Learning to receive the love and   43 from others wasn’t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried. Finally, my friend Kathy said, “Mary, cooking for you isn’t a   44 for me; it makes me feel good to be able to do something for you.”
Over and over, I heard   45 words from the people who supported me during those  46 days. One wise man told me, “You aren’t doing nothing because being fully open to your  47 may be the hardest work you will ever do.”
I am not the person I   48 was, but in many ways I have changed for the   49 . I’ve been surprised to learn that there is incredible freedom coming form  50 one’s worst fear and walking away whole. I believe there is strength, for sure, in accepting a dark period of our life.