A boy found a cocoon(茧) of a butterfly and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body 【小题1】 that little hole. Suddenly it stopped 【小题2】 (make) any progress because it 【小题3】(stick). So he cut off the remaining part of the cocoon. 【小题4】 it had a swollen body and small wings, the butterfly then came out 【小题5】(easy). The boy waited for the wings to become 【小题6】(large) to support it. But it didn’t happen. In fact, it must have 【小题7】 hard struggle to get its 【小题8】(free) from the cocoon. The boy didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle 【小题9】(need) by the butterfly were a way to prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

Our struggles in life develop our strength, without 【小题10】 we never get stronger, so it’s important for us to handle challenges on our own, and not to rely on others for help.

Did you ever run off and forget your drink? That's 【小题1】 happened to 11-year old Frank Epperson in 1905. He'd been mixing drink mix with a stick, and 【小题2】 (leave) the cup and stick out on the porch all night. And it got cold. In the morning, Frank found a 【小题3】 (freeze) block of sweet drink- with a handy stick to hold it. He thought that was pretty cool so he made more. Soon, everyone enjoyed his ice pops. At first Frank called them Epsicles, but later they got a different name—popsicles.

Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents 【小题1】(try) everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic school.

After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on 【小题2】 face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. 【小题3】, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished 【小题4】 (eat), he went back to his room, without a word. 【小题5】 no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time day after day while the mother tried to understand 【小题6】 was happening.

Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card, 【小题7】 he quietly put on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it. To her surprise, little Tommy got 【小题8】 A in math. She could no longer hold her 【小题9】 (curious). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?”

Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man 【小题10】 (nail) the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking.”