Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask this question they want to know      you think you are a        person or a coward (懦夫). But you will never really know the answer to this question        you are tested in real life. Some people       they are brave but when they come face to face with real      , they act like cowards. Others think of themselves as cowards, but when they meet danger, they act like      .
Lenny had always thought of himself as a         person. He got worried before examinations. He worried about his job and health. All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy.         , on January 15th, 2002, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see what was happening. He saw a woman in the         water. Lenny did not feel afraid. He kept very           and did a very dangerous thing. He jumped into the river,          to the woman, and kept her head          the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to Lenny, it was not           .
When you are in a very        situation and feel afraid, the body automatically produces a chemical in the blood. The chemical is called adrenalin (腎上腺素).        adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and stronger and are        to fight or run away. However, when you are absolutely terrified (or completely afraid), the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this       , the muscles become very hard and you find you       go at all. You are then paralyzed (使無能為力) with fear. This is        when we are very frightened, we sometimes say we’re “petrified”. This word comes from the Greek word “petros”, which means “stone”. We are       frightened that we become stonelike.

My brother and I were brought up in a town in Scotland. Our father was a struggling       , but I always knew he was      . He never criticized us, but used       to bring out our best. He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don’t give them water, they die.” I     as a child I said something         about somebody, and my father said, “        time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best       people, I would get the best     .From then on I’ve always tried to      the principle in my life and later in running my company.
Dad’s also always been very      . At 15, I started a magazine. It was       a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a       ：stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.
I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,    any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind,  he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad       me to go into law. And I’ve     __regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,    _  I didn’t pursue my      .You know what you want. Go fulfill it.”
As       turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national       for young people in the U.K.My wife and I have two children, and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad       me.

I arrived in the classroom，ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English literature class．Having taught in the US for 17 years，I had no      about my ability to hold their attention and to  on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue．
I was shocked when the monitor shouted，“    !” The entire class rose as I entered the room，and I was somewhat      about how to get them to sit down again，but once that awkwardness (尷尬) was over，I quickly      calmness and began what I thought was a fact—packed lecture，sure to gain their respect—perhaps    their admiration．I went back to my office with the rosy glow which came from a(n)      of achievement．
My students    diaries．However，as I read them，the happy mood was gradually    by a strong sense of sadness．The first diary said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today．    her next lecture will be better．”Greatly surprised，I read diary after diary，each expressing a     theme．“Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework (哲學(xué)體系) of Western thought and laid the historical    for all the works we’ll study in class，” I complained．“How    they say I didn’t teach them anything?”
It was a long term，and it      became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as    of my students．I thought a teacher’s job was to raise    questions and provide enough background so that students could ＿  their own conclusions．My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide      information as directly and clearly as possible．What a difference!
  ，I also learnt a lot，and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a＿  American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

So tired as I was, I bothered myself to open up my cafe shop on the cold morning. With many consumers streaming in, I knew another long business day began. And I had to serve far into the night.
As I rushed among the tables, suddenly, a       asked if I could mind a child. I was quite        but I could tell the man was quite desperate（絕望的）. So I had to make a       with him that if he wanted his son to stay and wait for him, he had to        something in the shop.
This was quite       for the man to do; I could       he was quite poor by the       he was dressed. It looked as if he had tried to come in his       clothes. But they still looked a bit old and worn out      he had often worn them, just to make himself look best. Looking down I could see his       were also a bit shabby（破舊的）and the heels（鞋后跟）were in a terrible state. I thought he was going for a job interview. In the end he bought a small box of       for his little son and seated him down in the corner. I could tell the boy was feeling down and only could       with a bit of cheering up.
Seeing that the kid sat there for quite a while, I was a bit       as the poor little kid was sitting      his own. People watched him and some kids even came over to pick on him. I was       to see one of them even knocked his cookies off the table. He quickly went and got them back without saying a word. I was hoping his father would       up and come back for his son's      .
At closing time, the only person left was the little boy. After a while, the father finally came in with a tiresome look. I       he didn't get any job. As they were leaving, I offered the kid a little cake, but the man rejected（拒絕）it. I       he felt as if I had just abused（虐待）him. Of course I didn't mean to. But I could understand why he felt like that. I only wished them good       whatever happened.  
The man opened the door to leave — father and son hand in hand.

There were a young couple who led a very happy life. The only thing they worried about was whether their         would last forever.
One day, they heard a wise man had         , who could solve all kinds of         . So they visited him and told him their source of          . The wise man told them, “ Travel around the        and seek a couple who are        happy. When finding such a couple , ask them for a piece of cloth from the man’s        , then keep it with you, and you always remain happy.”
The couple began their       . They visited many countries, cities, towns and villages        didn’t find what they were looking for.
One day they        a shepherd in the desert, who was grazing (放牧) his sheep when his wife and child came along. The shepherd        his wife and gently patted the child. The wife laid a mat and they started to eat contentedly. The        came to ask them, “ Are you the happiest couple?”
The shepherd and his wife replied, “ Nobody is unhappier than the king. ” The young couple immediately        they were the happiest couple and        a piece of the shepherd’s shirt. The shepherd said, “ If I give you a piece of cloth, I’ll be        without any clothes since I     just one”.
The young couple at once understood it was too        to find perfect happiness anywhere in the world. They        to the wise man and related all that had taken place.
The wise man laughed and said, “ Did you learn something from it?”
The young couple replied, “Yes, after this trip we have learnt        in this world is perfectly happy. In order to be happy, we should be thankful and        with whatever we have.”

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was       and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be         but a failure.”
After five years of         jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best        that could have happened to me. I        I wanted to do something positive (積極地) with my life because I wanted to prove to       that what people said about me was       . Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s         it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my        and went to college. My first novel        while I was at college.
After college I taught during the         in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a         in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of        that job to write full time         I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel         of myself — here was a working-class boy who’d         school early, now teaching at the university.
My writing career (職業(yè)) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and       , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars.         what does it mean? I         wish all the people that have put me down had       : “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”

“A” for Attitude
English was always my favorite subject. In my freshman year of high school, I could write a killer composition. In my second year, my teacher        me to give spelling tests to the class. I had a      time of my junior year. Mrs Alexander        me to sit at her desk and take over the class when she had to leave the room. Only my senior English class was       , as we had a teacher right out of college who expected       work. Every student received a "C" or "D" grade the first quarter. But English was still my favorite subject.
I graduated from high school,      early and had children.       about my English, I often helped my kids with their English homework. And I wrote long articles and beautiful poetry as a columnist for a newspaper. Fifteen years later, I went to college, and because I had been an "A" student, I remained an "A" student. I       up to my own expectations.
Yesterday, I        my high school report cards when I was reading old papers. That bundle of report cards        back the old days. I remembered sitting in my advisor's office, explaining that I had always be       at English, and recommending that I did not deserve a '"D" from that inexperienced teacher of my senior year. The advisor was        but unable to change a(an)     . Reading through my old report cards revealed something else too. I wanted to       them or hide them. I was not an "A" student in high school English! Somehow, I had         myself of this, when the grades clearly reflected an average student with an       "A" or "B" but mostly "C” _S.
Had I lived up to those grades and       myself according to those letters, I would have never confidently sought my writing career. Had I       my early grades instead of myself, I would have allowed my fear of failure to       enthusiasm and damage my creativity. Instead, I       my younger self as an "A" English student, except for that undeserved "D".

One evening I was resting in a cafe. I       a pair of newly bought white leather shoes, which were rather expensive. Then a boy came to me.
He was in a(n)          shirt, looking pale and about eleven. No sooner had I begun to speak than he opened the        i n his hand and took out the tools of shoe-polishing. He       down, took off my leather shoes, and began to shine them. 
He was busy doing his work        heavy rain began to pour down.People rushed to the café for        from the rain.More and more people crowded        and gradually separated the boy from me.
Hours passed, and it turned     .I had no shoes on my feet and          where the boy had been.I thought he would not         my shoes, and I would have to go home on my bare feet.
When it was near midnight the        ended, and there were fewer and fewer people in the café. The café was to be       .I had to move to the door, head       . just as I went to the gate, I       found that a boy of about eleven, looking very familiar, was sleeping at the        with his head leaning against a boxand his upper body being       . he held a package made of his shirt tightly in his arms.
I shook him slightly and woke him up. He       up and rubbed his eyes for a while before he recognized me.Then he opened the package      , gave me my leather shoes, and apologized to me shyly.I        him and wrapped him with his unfit shirt, which had wrapped my leather shoes. On my way home, the        of the boy stayed in my mind.

Working Christmas Day
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25．I was a nurse      that day, sighing about having to work on Christmas．Just then five bodies showed up at my      ，a pale woman and four small children．
“Are you all     ? ” I asked doubtfully．
“Yes．”the woman said     and lowered her head．
But when it came to the     of their problems，things got a little strange．Two of the chlidren had headaches,      weren’t accompanied by the normal symptoms of being ill．Two children had earaches，but only one could tell me which ear was     ．The mother complained of a      but seemed to work to produce it．
“It may be a little while      a doctor sees you．” I explained．
“Take your time；it’s warm here．”She      ．
Whne they were waiting，I checked the chart．They had no      —they were homeless．The waiting room was warm．I looked out at the      by the Christmas tree．The youngest one was saying      to her mother．The oldest one was looking at the Christmas tree．
I went back to the nurses’ station and      the homeless family in the waiting room．The nurses，complaining about the working Christmas，began to feel pity for a family just trying to get      on Christmas．The team went into action，as we do when there’s a      emergency, but this was a Christmas emergency．
We      a simple dinner for our Christmas guests in the hospital cafeteria．They needed     ，so we collected from different departments candies and other things     that could be presents．
As the family walked to the door to leave，the four-year-old came running     , gave me a hug and whispered，” Thanks for being our angel today．”

My teenage son Karl refused to communicate with others after his father died. As a        parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card         during his junior year, it said that he had been         95 times from classes and had six         grades for the year. At this rate he         never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even         him. Nothing worked.
One night I felt so         that I got down on my knees and prayed for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything         for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you.”
I was at work when I got a phone call. A man         himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.”         he could say another word, I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came         out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has        . It’ s out of my hands.” For a moment there was         on the other end of the line. The headmaster         said, “Thank you for your time, ” and hung up.
Karl’s next report card showed a marked         in his grades. Finally, he even made the honor roll. In his fourth year, I         a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were         at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I        . “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really         me how much I was hurting you. That's         I knew I had to make you proud.”