Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such    16    that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.
It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on  17  things in life and about devoting ourselves to 18  is important to us. This is how the story went:
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the sub-way. He would    19   the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and   20  . He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at 21  street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His 22   was dirty, and a stench came out and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of 23   all over the house  24   he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon   25 that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house expecting to ___26__ the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a   27   man now, a millionaire.
But the old man said  28  ; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up  29, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Clearly, this old man had no great plans, 30  or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing.

Monday morning is an important time at our school. All of the students go to the playground. We listen to music, and we   16  the national flag go up.
　  Usually, one student gives a talk on Monday mornings. One Monday last year, a boy gave the talk. He was   17  and excited! When I saw him, I wanted to have a try, too.
　  Can I really do it?
　  Last week, our teacher said our class should give the talk. My teacher   18  me, “I know you want to have a try. Next Monday, you can give the talk. Go and write something down.   19  for it, I’m sure you’ll do well.”
“Thank you,” I answered. It was such a great   20  for me! When I got home, I was excited. I wrote two pages for the talk. I read them again and again. When I read, I asked my parents  21 . I wanted to make my teacher happy.
　  Monday morning came. I began to feel   22 . When did I last give a talk to   23  many people? Never! This was my first time. Could I really   24  it ? Maybe I couldn’t finish the talk.
When I got to school, we all went out to playground. I  25 in front of everyone. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t say anything.
“Take it easy,” I said to   26 . “Don’t be nervous. You can do it.”
Just then, I looked down at everyone. I saw about 1,000 eyes. They were all looking at me ! I couldn’t   27  stand up.
I looked at their eyes more carefully. Their eyes were saying, “You can do it! Don’t be afraid, just talk!”
I   28  a big breath. Then I began to talk. It wasn’t hard. It was easy.
I don’t know   29  I finished my talk. But I did it. I felt so good that day. I showed myself 30  everyone what I can do.