We always want what we cannot have. When we're young, we want to stay out late, have romantic relationships, and be ____. However, when we're ____， we want to go back to being young and we ___ the days when we didn't have to worry about complex love affairs, ___ pressure, and money problems.
Young people believe adulthood ____ freedom from parents and schoolwork. When they get older, they feel that ____ is freedom from work pressure and family responsibilities. To ____ this feeling, people say, “The grass is always ____ on the other side of the fence.”
As ____， we like to be like adults but as young adults, we ____ to be young again. We think about staying out late and ____ our own money to spend. Suddenly, they see that love can result in ____ hearts; staying out late makes it hard to get ready for ____ the next morning. They find out that adult life is not as ____ as they thought it would be and suddenly, ___ becomes very scary.
Life is ____. It gives us time to ____ but also requires us to work. The time will come when we must grow up and we will always look back wishing we ____ being young a bit longer. That time will not come back. It is normal to want what we cannot have but the ____ is that to be happy is to appreciate what we have. That is the first step to grow up. ____ life becomes more complex, we will not regret the time we wasted wishing we were adults.

It was raining. I went into a café and asked for a coffee. ____ I was waiting for my drink, I realized there were other people in the place, but I sensed ____. I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls ____ their souls belonged to the ____.
I stood up and walked _______the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man _____ in front of it. “I’m Steve,” he ______ answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you. I’m ____,” he said. He was chatting online and, ____, he was playing a computer game – a war game. I was ______.
Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me? I tried ____ to speak to that computer geek （怪人），____ not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but no reaction. I was _____. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “____!”
I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me. I raised my head, and saw nobody showed any interest.
      , I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. They were more interested in having a relationship with the      , particularly Steve. I wouldn’t want to         the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines         with people.
I was worried and sank in my thoughts. I didn’t even ____ that the coffee was bad, ____ Steve didn’t notice there was a person next to him.

I consider myself something of an expert on apologies. A quick temper has　　me with plenty of opportunities to make them. In one of my earlier　　, my mother was telling me“Don’t watch the　　when you say, ‘I’m sorry’. Hold your head up and look at the person in the　　, so he’ll know you　　it. ”

My mother thus made the key point of a(n)　　apology: It must be direct. You must never　　to be doing something else. You do not　　a pile of letters while apologizing to a person　　in position after blaming him or her for a mistake that turned out to be your　　. You do not apologize to a hostess, whose guest of honor you treat　　, by sending flowers the next day without mentioning your bad　　.
One of the important things we should do for an　　apology is a readiness to　　the responsibility for our careless mistakes. We are used to making excuses, which leaves no　　for the other person to　　us. Since most people are open-hearted, the no-excuse apology leaves both parties feeling　　about themselves. That, after all, is the　　of every apology. It　　little whether the apologizer is wholly or only partly at fault. Answering for one’s　　encourages others to take their share of the blame.

I’d meant to go to Miros that day. I’d packed my bag and was ready. The motor-boat       in on time. The sky was cloudy, but the wind wasn’t too strong for the two-hour        . I stood at my window, staring at the boat. Then I lost        of her, an old light-house partly blocked my view of the harbor. A dozen passengers were          their way there. I was about to join them --- when a man’s face          at the light-house window.
This was strange, because the light-house had been empty, unused and         for thirty years. It was stranger still --- because I’d seen that        before. I couldn’t place it but it was, or had once been, familiar to me. I opened my window and        across. “I know we’ve met before, but I can’t remember where.”
I        him to open his if he could and answer me. He did neither. The face behind the glass        motionless (靜止). Seeing him more clearly now, I knew he was not looking at me. He seemed to be looking upwards,        the clouds. How well I’d known that face, sometime, somewhere!
I         again. “We met years ago. Was it in Athens in the 1950s? I used to live in Plaka.”
He didn’t reply nor give any         that he’d heard. I went back further, to        I was in the navy. “Perhaps we met at sea during the war,” and that thought at once         him to mind. Commander Leftis! He was Commander Leftis of course! How could I have forgotten? I’d saved his life once. But surely he …
The motor-boat        her bell. I turned my eyes. The wind had risen, but she was pulling      . Laughing, I called, “Now I’ve missed her, and it’s your        , Commander!”
As the boat drew away, the face at the window faded.        minute it was there. Looking up, I could see the whites of the eyes. The       minute it was gone.
Well, I didn’t rush to the light-house. I knew that Leftis was dead. He died at sea in 1963 or 1964. But there’s one other thing I ought to tell you: the motor-boat never reached Miros. It was lost in a storm, with all the passengers.

Over the years, thanks to my life’s obstacles(障礙), I understood the meaning of faith and the strong will to survive. It was Hurricane Ike that made me fully____ the beauty of our strength and a human’s motivation to ____.
Mom had a two-week ____ in summer. While we enjoyed our holiday in Southeast Texas, we didn’t realize the fact that Ike ____ cause months and likely years of “l(fā)abor”. By September 7^th, the “eyes of Texas” were watching Hurricane Ike more ____, making the typical mad rush for last-minute hurricane ____. Two days later, both oil and ice were in ____ demand.
In the early hours of September 11^th, some neighbors were planning to ____the storm in their homes, ____ others were making final preparations to get away. At first, we decided to stay. But that afternoon, the Houston-Galveston area would be on the more ____ side of the storm. Mom and I packed some of our most ____ belongings in the car and ____ the East Texas town of Lufkin.
As Ike pushed farther inland, we ____power in Lufkin. On Sunday, our next-door neighbor told us via cell phone that our ____ had remained well. Our hopes could not have been ____. But a few hours later, the neighbors reported that our brick chimney had ____, and it was sitting on our living room, ____ a hole in the roof between two skylights (天窗).
We wouldn’t be allowed to return home ____ September 17^th. I climbed upstairs, and looked toward the hole in the roof which showed a beautiful blue sky.
Without hesitation, I shouted, “Wow! A third skylight!”
My neighbors could not believe I was making jokes ____ crying, but ____ is always good medicine. It was with that joke that I knew, given time, everything would be okay.

My daughter Julie and I went shopping this morning. A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line. This one had the shortest queue, there was only one guy in it, but he was in a ______ and there seemed to be some complications going on.
Well, I stamped on that little part, and we stepped in _______him. At first, he seemed to be having _____ getting his groceries onto the conveyor belt(輸送帶). But after a while, I _____ that what he was actually doing was dividing them into two lots.
Still, getting the stuff up there was no_______ task in itself. I ____to help, but he and the checkout lady had it under_____. He asked Julie if she would ______ putting his empty basket away. Then he ______for his wallet which was in a pouch(小袋子)on one side of his chair. The way he was positioned and the fact he only had one usable______ made this quite a stretch for him, so I helped there.
What must it be like, I ________, to be so dependent on other people like that?
The checkout operator came around and gave him his _______ and the items he needed to have to hand. I offered to get ________bigger bag and he said, “ No. but you could do me a favor. Take that lot along to the entrance and give it to Angela.”
I _____did that, leaving Julie with our shopping. Angela, it turned out, was collecting food for people who might otherwise go ___! I hadn’t even noticed her before.
This guy, despite the limitation that his ________condition imposed(強加于) on him, had bought more than twice as much shopping as he needed. He may have been _________ physically, but his heart was more than capable of ________ all that. And it changed my idea of _______ when I realized that the help he had given was ________ the help he had received.

Even though it was only October, my students were already whispering about Christmas plans．With each passing day everyone became more ____ waiting for the final school bell．Upon its ____ everyone would run for their coats and go home, everyone except David.
David was a small boy in ragged clothes．I had often ____ what kind of home life David had, and what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so ____ for the cold winter months, without a coat, boots, or gloves．But something made David ____．I can still remember he was always ____ a smile and willing to help．He always ____ after school to straighten chairs and mop the floor．We never talked much．He ____ just simply smile and ask what else he could do, then thank me for letting him stay and slowly ____ home.
Weeks passed and the ____ over the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of ____ before the holiday break．I smiled in ___ as the last of them hurried out the door．Turning around I saw David ____ standing by my desk.
“I have something for you，” he said and ____ from behind his back a small box．____ it to me, he said anxiously, “Open it.” I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it．I lifted the lid and to my ____ saw nothing．I looked at David’s smiling face and back into the box and said, “The box is nice, David, but it’s ____.”
“Oh no it isn’t，” said David．“It’s full of love．My mum told me before she died that love was something you couldn’t see or touch unless you know it’s there.”
Tears filled my eyes ____ I looked at the proud dirty face that I had rarely given ____ to．After that Christmas, David and I became good friends and I never forgot the meaning ___ the little empty box set on my desk.

A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line．This one had the shortest    ，there was only one guy in it，but he was in a    and there seemed to be some difficulties    ．
We stepped in behind him．At first, he    to be having difficulty getting his groceries onto the counter．But after a while，I realized that what he was actually doing was    it into two parts．
I offered to help，but he and the checkout lady had it under    ．He asked Julie if she would mind putting his   basket away．Then he    for his wallet which was in a bag on one side of his chair．The    he was positioned and the fact he only had one usable arm    this troublesome for him，so I helped there．
The checkout operator came around and gave him his   and the goods he needed to have to hand．She    one bag of groceries over a handle at the back of his chair．
I offered to get the other bigger bag and he said，“No．  you could do me a favor．Take that bag along to the entrance and give it to Angela．"
Angela，it   ，was collecting food for people who might     go hungry! I hadn’t even    her before.
This guy，in spite of the limitations，had bought more than twice as    shopping as he needed—and given the bigger bag away to help    people!
He didn’t let the fact that he needed help     him from being a help．He may have been limited   ，but his heart was more than able to overcome all that．
【小題1】A  figure              B．space               C．queue            D．time

Three boys and three girls boarded the bus to Fort Lauderdale, dreaming of golden beaches as the gray cold of New York disappeared behind them. They noticed an old man, who sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never     , and his dusty face     his age. 
He was    in his seat like a stone, and the young people began to      about him, trying to     his life and his age. Deep into the night, outside Washington, one of the girls went up to him and introduced herself. “Want some wine?” He took    the glass and drank.
Slowly and       he told his story. His name was Vingo, he had been in     in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home. “When I was in prison I wrote to my wife,” he said. “I told her that I was going to be away for a long time, and that if she couldn't     it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it     too much, she could just forget me, I'd understand.”
“Last week, knowing I would be     , I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she would     me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd     and come home with her. If she didn't       me, forget it, no handkerchief, and I'd go on through.”
　　“Wow,” the girl exclaimed. She told the others, and soon all of them put their faces against the window, waiting for the       of Brunswick.
Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming       , all except Vingo. Vingo sat there     , looking at the oak tree. It was almost        with yellow handkerchiefs, 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a huge flag of      , blowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old man rose and      his way to the front of the bus to go home.

Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. So, I really ___whether there is love between my parents. Everyday they are very busy ___ to earn money to pay the high schooling for me. They don’t act in the ___ways that I read in books or I see in on TV, and sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even_____.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt(被子). I asked her if there was ___between them. She stopped her work and raised her head with____. Then she bowered her head and ____sewing the quilt. I was very ___because I thought I had hurt her. But after a few minutes, she said, “l(fā)ook at this thread. Sometimes it ___, but most of the time it disappears in the quilt. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can___ seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there, and makes the quilt____.” I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her___ the next spring.
My mother suddenly got sick seriously and had to stay in the hospital for a one-month treatment. Every morning and dusk after she___ from the hospital, my father___ my mother walking slowly on the country road. There were beautiful flowers, green grass and tress, and the sun gently shine them___ the leaves. All of these___ the most beautiful picture in the world. ___ their eyes, I know they love each other deeply. From this experience, I ___ that love was just a ___ in the quilt of our life. Love is __ making life strong and warm.