There was a time when I thought my dad didn’t know a thing about being a good father. I couldn’t   36  him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seems to me his only purpose in life was to say “  37  ” to anywhere I wanted to go and anything I wanted to do, including getting a   38 . Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses. Not my dad ---- he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.
So that is what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   39  every penny I could and   40  I had enough to buy my car, I did! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to   41  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only   42 you five dollars.” I offered with a smile.
“I see,” was all he said.
One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a   43  to work. The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house ,   44  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a(n)   45  day. As I dropped my dad off, I   46  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his   47  from the truck (車尾箱) of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   48  lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad works for the family. My father is a cement finisher(水泥修整工).
In that instant, it  49  to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this day in and day out,   50  hot it got. Never, not once, had I hear him   51  about it. To him we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.
When he closed the trunk, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to   52  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s my   53 . Don’t work too hard. I love you.”
His   54  met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he   55  his throat and said, “Oh, and… me, too.”

The power of encouragement is great. You may draw some inspiration from the following story.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a famous 19th­century poet and artist, was once  26  by an elderly man. The old man had some sketches (素描) and drawings that he  27  　Rossetti to look at them and tell him if they were any good, or  28  they at least showed potential(潛在的)talent.
Rossetti looked them  29  carefully. After the first few, he knew that they were worthless, showing not the least sign of artistic talent. But Rossetti was a  30  man, and he told the elderly  31  as gently as possible that the pictures were of little value and showed little talent. He was sorry,  32  he could not　33  to the man.
The visitor was  34  , but seemed to expect Rossetti’s  35   .He then apologized for  36  Rossetti’s time, but would he just  37  a few more drawings—these done by a(n)  38  art student？Rossetti looked over the  39  batch (一批) of sketches and immediately became  40  over the talent they revealed(顯示；透露) .“These,” he said,“Oh, these are good. This young student has great talent. He should be  41  every help and encouragement in his career as an artist. He has a hopeful future if he will work and stick to it.”
Rossetti could see that the old man was  42  moved.“Who is this fine young   artist？” he asked.“Your son？” “No,” said the old man sadly.“It was I  43  painted the pictures forty years ago.  44  I had heard your praise then！For you see, I got discouraged and 45  drawing—too soon.”

The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, although sharing my love of music, didn’t __36__ it as a profession. My grandfather, having taught music for years at college and, though much __37__, earned merely enough to support his family. As a result of this _38___in the family, I went to college -----quite __39__, for although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I had many other _40___. Before my graduation from Columbia, I felt _41___my duty to leave college and take a job. Aside from the satisfaction of being able to ___42__the family, money is all I got out of it. My only ambition was to save enough to _43___ the job and go to Europe to study __44___. I used to get up at dawn to practice_45__ I left for “downtown “to work. . I continued to make money, and _46__, bit by bit, accumulated enough to enable me to ___47_.
The situation of my family improved, and my help was _48___necessary, so I resigned from my __49__and, feeling like a man released from jail, sailed for _50___. I stayed four years, worked harder than I had ever dreamed of working before and _51___every minute of it. I was a _52__man and I was doing what I__53__ to do and what I was meant to do. If I had stayed in business, I might be a quite wealthy man today, __54__ I wouldn’t have made a success of living . I would have _55__all those that money can never buy.
Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high price on it.

That night, Joe came back home very late, pulling his heavy legs, obviously tired．He then sat down by the window, ­ 1  his head．
Hearing her husband back, Kay  2  out of the kitchen, but to her  3 , Joe sat still,
without  4 ．Usually, when he came back, he would greet her with a kiss or a hug．Immediately Kay 5 something unusual．She went over to Joe and asked, “Tell me, my dear, any 6 news?”
“Well, I have to say that things are not in our  7 ．It seems that I have no  8 to defeat my opponent (對(duì)手)．He’s much more 9 , for he’s been holding the position for nearly four years, and people think he’s done a 10  job．Many signs show that he’s in the 11．”
“Oh, really? But I still believe you have our own  12 ．You’re in your forties at the best age for a man．You’re new, so people have reasons to  13  you to do better．So let’s go to the voters and tell hem, ‘Give Joe Hart a chance, and he’ll show you who’s your better 14”
Their next three weeks were spent  15  different neighborhoods, going to all kinds of parties, and making speeches at universities and gatherings．Even Judy and Julie, their small children, went from door to door,  16  their “Please vote for our daddy, Joe Hart!”
The night before the 17 vote, the whole Hart family were too 18 to fall asleep．The moment before the final result was declared, their 19 were brought to their mouths, but at last they all 20 and burst into tears．
Joe Hart became head judge of the state of Texas, USA．

When I was about twelve years old, my mother told us that we would not be ___1___ Christmas gifts for lack of money．I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d ___2___?” Then，three women ___3___ at our house with gifts for all of us．For me they bought a doll．I would no longer have to be ___4___ when I returned to school．
Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my ___5___ Christmas special and memorable there, I ___6___ remembered the women’s visit．I decided that I wanted to create the same feeling of ___7___ for as many children as I could possibly ____8__．
So I ___9__ a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help．We gathered about 125 orphans （孤兒） at the Christmas party．For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies, each with a child’s name．We wanted all of them to know they were ___10__．Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I ___11__ them that they couldn’t open their presents until every child had come forward．Finally the __12___ they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three．Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles ___13__ up the room．The __14___ in the room was obvious, and it wasn’t just about toys．It was a feeling---the feeling I knew from that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit．I wasn’t forgotten．Somebody still remembered me．I know I___15___．

"Everything happens for the best, "my mother said whenever I faced disappointment, "If you   21   on, something good will happen some day."
Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college. I had   22  myself for a sports announcer. So I went to Chicago to knock on the door of every station and was 23  every time. In one station, a kind lady told me that  24 stations wouldn't employ a person without   25   since I had just graduated. "Go out in the town and find a small station that might give you a chance, "she said.
I returned to Dixon, where I had finished my high school education and had   26  in the school football team. My father said that our town had built a store and wanted a man to manage its sports department. The job sounded just  27  for me but I wasn't hired.
My disappointment had 28 as if by design. "Everything happens for the best," Mum  29  me. Dad lent me his car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio Davenport. The program director told me they had already hired an announcer.   30  I left his office, I asked aloud,"  31 can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?" Suddenly, I heard the director  32 . "Do you know anything about football? " Then he asked me to  33  an imaginary game. It was easy, and I did it without difficulty. The director was  34 and told me I would be broadcasting a game on the   35    Saturday.

When I was in the 8th grade in Ohio, a girl named Helen in my class had a terrible accident. As she was   36  to the bus in order not to miss it, she slipped on the ice and fell under the back wheels of the bus. She   37  the accident but was paralyzed from the waist down. I went to see her, in my 13-year-old   38  thinking that she wouldn’t live   39  from then on.
Over the years, I   40  and didn’t think much about Helen after that. Three years ago, in Florida, my oldest son was hit by a car while riding his bike,   41  a terrible brain injury. While I was looking after my son, a lady who said she was the hospital’s social worker called. It was a (an)   42  trying day. I burst into tears for no reason and rang   43 .
A short time 1ater, a beautiful woman, in a wheelchair,   44  into my son’s room with a box of   45 . After 16 years, I still   46  Helen. She smiled, handed me the tissues and hugged me. I told her who I was, and after we both went through the shock of that, she began to tell me about   47  since we last saw each other. She married, had children and got her degree so that she   48  the path for those people who were less   49  than her. She told me that if there was anything she could give me, it would be   50 .
Looking at this wonderful, giving person, I felt   51 . But I also felt the first hope I had since learning that my son was   52 . From this person that I thought would have no   53  of life, I learned that where there is life, there is hope. My son miraculously   54  and we moved north, but I owe Helen   55  that I can never repay.

While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an incredible(難以置信的) sight. The  36  was swimming and started with only three men. For one reason or another, two of them had a 37 start, so they were disqualified. That would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to  38 against.
I watched the man  39  off the blocks and knew immediately that something was wrong. Now I’m not an expert  40  but I do know a good dive 41 a poor one, and this was not exactly medal  42  . I listened to the crowd begin to  43 this poor man that was clearly having a  44  time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was 45  he made a few desperate(拼命的) stroke(劃水) and you could tell he was exhausted.
But in those few  46 strokes, the crowd had changed. No longer were they laughing, but beginning to  47 . Some even began to  48  things like, “Come on, you can do it!” and he 49  finished his race. The crowd went  50 . Even though he recorded one of the  51 times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other 52 .
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals, feeling they have  53 been cheated out of gold, or when they act so  54  in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog(敗者), a man that gave his all --- knowing that he had no chance, but competed because of his  55  and the spirit of the games.

One cold night，I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco． There I was walking home around one o’clock in the morning after a    26   practice at the theatre． With the opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines by heart．I was having    27   handling my part-time job at the bank in the daytime and my acting at night at the same time． As I walked I thought seriously about    28    both acting and San Francisco．I had    29  too much of city life．   
As 1 walked down the    30    streets under the tall buildings，I felt very small and cold, so I began    31   both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers．Very few people were still out    32   a few homeless people under blankets．
About a block from my    33  , I heard a sound behind me． I    34 quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun． The street was empty．All I saw was a shining streetlight． Still，the noise had made me    35   , so I started to run faster． Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I    36    what the noise had been．It  had been my wallet    37  to the sidewalk．
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired any more．I ran out of the door and back to where I'd heard the noise．Although I searched the sidewalk    38   for 15 minutes，my wallet was   39 to be found．
Just as 1 was about to quit the    40  , I heard the garbage truck stop to the sidewalk next to   41 ．When a voice came from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?”I thought I was   42 ．How could this man know my name? The door opened and out jumped a small blonde man with an amused look in his eyes, “Is this   43  you’re looking for?” He asked, holding up something like a wallet．
It was already 3 am． by the time I got into bed． I couldn’t get much sleep，but I had got my wallet back． I also had got back some    44  of city life． I realized the city couldn’t be a bad place    45   people were willing to help each other．

There are many kinds of friends. Some are always   36  you, but don't understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only   37   friends leave footprints (腳印).
I shall always recall (回憶) the autumn and the girl with the   38  . She will always bring back the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.
It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves   39  on the cool   40  . In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves,   41  to the sound of them.
Autumn is a   42  season and life is uninteresting. The free days always get me   43  . But one day, the sound of a violin   44  into my ears like a stream (小溪) flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was   45  in playing her violin.
I had   46  seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn't know that I had been   47  there for so long but my existence (存在) did not seem to disturb her.
Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building   48  I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became   49  .    50  we didn't know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me.
Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly   51  . To my astonishment (驚訝), the girl came over to me.
“You must like violin.” she said.
“Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.
Suddenly, a   52  expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.
“I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that   53  me.” she said.
“In fact, it was your playing   54  gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let's be friends.”
The girl smiled, and so did I.
I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure (身影) of the girl. She is like a        55  —so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.