When I was a child, I loved spending weekends with my grandparents．
I remember one Saturday morning 1 ．After breakfast I asked Granny,“What kind of 2 are you making today?”
“Vegetable beef,”she answered．“And you can 3 by chopping some carrots and celery(芹菜)．”
Granny 4 an apron(围裙)around her full waist．She gave me a knife and cutting board so I could do my share of the work．
As I slowly peeled carrots, I sighed,“I've got to give a 5 next week and I'm scared．”
“Most people 6 public speaking．But remember, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself．So, what 7 are you afraid of?”
“Everything, I guess．I don't like standing up in front of everybody．What if I 8 what I'm going to say?Or what if somebody 9 ?”
“And what if you do just fine?”Granny asked．“Have you prepared 10 ?”
“Well, no．That would be a lot of 11 work．”
“Hard work 12 hurts anyone．You could try practicing in front of a mirror．”
Then I went on to 13 the schoolwork, friends and family．
Granny listened patiently．Then she started,“Nancy, there's nothing wrong with a little 14 in your life．It adds character·”
“Do you like my soup?”she asked．Soup?I wondered．I thought we were talking about my 15 ．
“I love your soup．Granny”I said．
“Well, you know, a lot of people don't make 16 soup these days．They say it's too much trouble．But I don't 17 a little trouble,”she said．“It 18 variety and flavor to my soup－and to my life．”
While I helped 19 clean up, I thought about what she had said．I still had a few days to prepare my speech．I would work on them．Maybe I too could 20 a little trouble into something as special as Granny's homemade soup．
In my third year as a high school athletics coach, I gave a speech telling students and parents about the benefits of football．I gave the same 1 each year, aimin g at recruiting(招收)new team members．I talked about 2 football wasn't just for 3 athletes and how everyone could 4 from it．This year, a 5 looking couple approached me after my speech．They said their son really wanted to play football．They had tried to 6 him out of it, but he had his heart 7 on joining the team．
When they told me his name, my heart sank．Michael was five feet and ten inches tall and weighed about 108 pounds．He was a 8 boy, the constant target of other kids' jokes, and as far as I knew he had never 9 sports．I knew he would never 10 it through football practice, let 11 as a player．But we told them we could give it a try．
On the opening day of practice, Michael was the first player on the field, we did 30 minutes of warming-up 12 starting a one-mile jog around the track．I 13 my eye on Michael．At 50 yards he fell, and I helped him to his feet．“Michael,”I said,“Why don't you just 14 the mile?”He said in tears that he wanted to run with the others, so I let him go on． 15 he fell, but each time 16 himself up．
The same thing happened every day for weeks, and Michael gained strength both 17 and physically．By the last week of practice, Michael could run the mile without falling, we had 18 only one game that season, 19 the team cheered louder for Michael's run than the victory they had, Afterward, Michael approached me, and I told him how 20 I was of him．
