Norman Cousins was a businessman from the United States who often traveled around the world on business. He enjoyed his       and traveling.
Then, after returning to the United States from a       trip to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), Mr. Cousins got sick. Because he had pushed his body to the       of its strength on the trip, a change began to take place        him. The material between his bones became      .
In less than one week after his return, he could not      . Every move that he       was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told him that they did not know how to cure Mr. Cousins’ problem and he might never       over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up      . Mr. Cousins thought that       thoughts were causing bad chemical changes in his body. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself.      , he felt that happy thoughts or       might cure his illness.
He began to       on himself while still in the hospital by watching funny shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that 10 minutes of real laughter during the       gave him two hours of pain-free sleep at night.       the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into (登記住宿) a hotel room where he could       his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching funny shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping __   he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well       to take a vacation to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for      . After a few months, Mr. Cousins returned to work. He had laughed himself back to      .

I was assigned to take care of this patient a couple of weeks ago and began to grow closer to her. Communicating with her was      because everything she wanted to say to me had to be written on a notepad. As a nursing graduate, I was able to      her mind by observing even a slight      in a patient's facial expression.
One day, when I was checking the patient, she      me on the shoulder to show me a note, "Do you think I could be let go      the hospital in a month to see my niece get married? Taking her hand in mine, I told her that I could not      her，because I did not want to leave her a      sense of hope.     , I made her believe that I would be there with her every step of the way on her journey toward     . Hearing that, the patient gave me a      and a hug.
Day by day, I built her      by walking around the floor with her. As I did this, I could see before my own eyes that her health was      improving and able to walk more steadily. On her last day in hospital, just before her niece’s     , she wrote me one last note, “I couldn’t have done this      you; I love you.” After kissing goodbye, I had a strong sense of achievement. I realized that moments like this were      I woke up early for      in the hospital and spent long hours with her. I truly felt, and her      confirmed, that I was an      part of this woman’s recovery. My experience with this patient shows me that this career allows me to touch the      of people in ways that people in other      will never get to experience.

In December 2012.my parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told them I would get back t0 them once I thought of    . At chat point .I had tie full    of asking for something . but for the first time .I      how lucky I was to have been born in such a fortunate family. There was nothing I could ask for         there was nothing more I needed .I was truly satisfied.
This made me    ahout all the children  who die not have families homes ,or food ,much less gifts ,for Christmas     these thoughts in my mind ,I told my parents in January that      getting me an expensive gift for the holidays ,I'd love to use the money to get a  bunch of small gifts for all the      that hadn't gotten anything for Christmas.
At first ,they were        Then they realized I was serious ,and      to spend $500 on gifts for young kids of the families living at the homeless shelter .It was such an incredible experience. I      going to the homeless shelter to hand out the toys to as we could give,    them all to share .One of the children looked at me with his innocent eyes I could see the     in them .It was     that he had never gotten a Christmas gift before ,so when he asked me where I got the gifts from ,I told him what I knew he wanted he wanted me to say ;that I was helping       .
I        that Santa was sorry he was so late .but that this gift had been made    for him! The boy took the gift slowly ,smiled the cutest smile I  had       seen and ran to his
The last  thing I heard as I moved on to give a gift  to the next hopeful child was the boy's         : " Mommy .Santa really does          ! And he didn't forget about us this  year!

In 1982, Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He got into a life boat, but his supplies were    . His chances of surviving were small.      when three fishermen found him 76 days later, he was alive —much      than he was when he started, but alive.
His      of how he survived is fascinating. His cleverness —how he      to catch fish, how he evaporated (蒸發(fā)) sea water to       fresh water—is very interesting.
But the thing that        my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, and there seemed no       in continuing the struggle. He was starved and      worn-out. Giving up would have seemed the only possible choice.
When people      these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in       desperate circumstances      in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the courage to carry on      difficulties.
“I tell myself I can      it,” wrote Callahan in his book. “Compared to what others have been through, I’m fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over,      up courage…”
I wrote that down after I read it. It      me as something important. And I’ve told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed      off or when my problems seemed too terrible. And every time I’ve said it, I have always come back to my      .
The truth is, our circumstances are only bad      to something better. But others have been through the much worse, that is, in comparison with what others have been through, you’re fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over again, and it will help you       through the rough situations with a little more courage.

In our discussion with people on how education can help them succeed in life, a woman remembered the first meeting of an introductory____course about 20 years ago.
The professor ____the lecture hall, placed upon his desk a large jar filled with dried beans（豆）, and invited the students to _ _how many beans the jar contained. After ____shouts of wildly wrong guesses the professor smiled a thin, dry smile, announced the ____ answer, and went on saying,” You have just ___an important lesson about science. That is Never____ your own senses.”
Twenty years later, the ___could guess what the professor had in mind. He ____himself, perhaps, as inviting his students to start an exciting____into an unknown world
Invisible（無形的）to the    ,which can be discovered only through scientific        .But the seventeen-year-old girl could not accept or even        the invitation. She was just        to understand the world. And she        that her firsthand experience could be the       .The professor, however, said that it was     .he was taking away her only     for knowing and was providing her with no substitute. “I remember feeling small and        ,”the women says, “and I did the only thing I could do.  I          the course that afternoon, and I haven’t gone near science since.”

Music to My Ears
Robby was 10 for his first piano lesson in my class. Much as he tried, he ____ even the basic rhythm. However, he dutifully reviewed the pieces that I required.
Over the months he tried and tried while I ____ and encouraged him. At the end of each lesson he'd always say, "My mom's going to hear me play some day." ____ it seemed hopeless.
I only knew his mother from a ____as she waited in her aged car to pick him up. Then one day Robby stopped coming. I was secretly ____ that he stopped because of his lack of ability.
Weeks later I informed the students, including Robby, of the coming recital（獨(dú)奏）. To my ____, Robby asked me if he could be included. I told him he really did not qualify because he had ____ out. He said his mom had been sick and unable to take him to lessons but he was still ____ .
“I've just got to play!" he ____. Something inside me let me allow him to.
Then came the recital night. The gym was ____ with parents. I put Robby up ____, thinking that I could save his poor performance through my “curtain closer（謝幕）.”
The recital went off smoothly. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was ____. "Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?" I thought.
Robby pulled out the piano bench and began. I was not ____ for what I heard next. His fingers were ____ on the keys. Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people of his age. After he ended, everyone was ____ their feet in wild applause.
In ____ I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby. "I've never heard you play like that, Robby! How did you ____ it?"
Robby explained, "Well, Miss Hondorf…remember I told you my mom was sick? …____ she had cancer and passed away yesterday. She was born deaf, so tonight she could hear me play in heaven. I wanted to make it special."
There wasn’t a ____ eye in the house. That night I felt he was the teacher and I was the pupil, for it was he who taught me the meaning of perseverance and ____.

閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給各題的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
Most of us lose life’s tough battles by starting an unexpected attack—when a touch of humor might well enable us to win.   the case of a young friend of mine, who was     in a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving a warning about being late for the job.     there was a good reason for Sam’s being late—serious illness at home—he    that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn’t     any longer. His boss was probably already pacing     preparing a speech to fire him.
Yes, the boss was. Sam entered the office at 9:35. The place was as     as a locker room;     was hard at work. Sam’s boss came up to him angrily. Suddenly, Sam    and stretched out his hand. “How do you do!” he said. “I’m Sam Maynard. I’m applying for a    , which, I understand, became    just 35 minutes ago. Does the     bird get the worm?”
The room exploded in laughter. The boss     a smile and walked back to his office. Sam Maynard had    his job—with the only    that could win-–a laugh.    is a most effective, yet frequently neglected ,means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for making up differences, apologizing, criticizing and     the other fellow to do what you want     his losing face. For some jobs, it’s the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so   that serious dialogue may start a quarrel.   , many believe that comedians(喜劇演員) on television are doing more today for racial and religious problems than people in any other field.

Suzie goes to her art class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. She always looks forward to those days when she can do    things all afternoon. What Suzie likes best is the good feeling she gets when she has finished working on a piece of    . And then when she takes it home to    her parents, she feels so proud of what she has made.
On Wednesday afternoons Suzie writes articles for the      newspaper. When she first moved to her new school, she wrote an article about how it feels to be a      student in a new school. Her second    article in the newspaper was about a(n)    from her school who had just finished writing a book. Suzie    the teacher what it feels like to be a published author. And then she     what she found out with the rest of the school.
Another time she wrote an article about why she thought the school should have two short      a day instead of a long one. Lots of her friends thought that this would be a good idea too. Many teachers also     with Suzie’s suggestion.
Would you believe the principal (校長(zhǎng)) of the school asked everyone to have a     about Suzie’s suggestion? The principal always thinks that students should help decide how the school should be      .
During the vote, each person in the school voted. At last, the school      that two short breaks would be better than one long break. And all of that happened because of Suzie’s suggestion in the school newspaper.
On the day the newspaper      out each month, the first thing Suzie does is to        where her article is in the newspaper. And each time at the beginning of her article are the words: By Suzie Jefferson.

Twenty years ago, Mark Thatcher, the son of Mrs. Thatcher, was reported missing in the Sahara Desert while competing in the Grand Prix Motor race from Paris to Daker. The sad news, so unexpected, shook the unusually      and unhurried politician off her balance. Though she did her best to    as if nothing had happened and made her public appearance as usual, people could not fail to notice that she was no longer the old self-assured prime minister who always had everything under    . Instead she had become a very sad mother who was unable to     from her shock.
One day when she was to    at a lunch party, a reporter caught her off her guard by bringing up the     of her missing son again. She was    mentally unprepared for the question and lost her self-control. Tears were    her cheeks    she sobbingly told the reporter there was still no news of Mark and that she was very worried about him. She said that all the countries concerned had    to do their best to help her find her son. With that she    down completely and sobbed silently for quite a while. Gradually she calmed down and started to speak as    . It was a very    scene which exposed a new side of Mrs. Thatcher’s    the public do not usually see. People began to talk about the Iron Woman’s     love, a    that is common to all human race.
Later Mark returned    to his mother’s side, good-humored and all smiles as usual   nothing unusual had ever happened. The Iron Woman,      , broke down again and was     sobbing for a second time.

One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final    . He discovered the youth was    and felt satisfied. Then the president asked who paid for his school fees. The youth answered, “My mother did it. She worked as a clothes   .” The president requested the youth to    his hands. So the youth did. They were smooth. Then he asked, “Have you ever      your mother wash the clothes before?” The youth answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to     .”“Go and clean your mother’s      when you go back today, and then      me tomorrow morning,” the president said     .The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he    requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell    he cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. It was the first time he had      that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled (布滿皺紋的). After that, the youth didn’t say a word and washed all the remaining clothes for his mother    . That night, Mother and Son    for a very long time, longer than any talk before.
The next    , the youth went to the president’s office. The president noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes and asked: “Please tell me how you    about helping your mother.” The youth said, “Number One, I know now what    is. Without my mother, I wouldn’t be successful today. Number Two, by helping my mother, I realize how    it is to get something done. Number Three, I’ve come to realize the    of family relationship.” The president said, “You are     . This is what I’m looking for to be my manager.”