When my dad finally finished the triathlon in Montauk, the crowd cheered. It showed me how his hard work paid off. I wondered whether a small boy of my size could ________ something like that. My father ________ me and said I could train with him.

After a few weeks of ________ , I signed up for my first triathlon. Before the competition, I nervously waited for the ________ . When someone fired the gun, I was ________ , swimming towards the distant buoy (浮标)that marked my turn. I ________ the half-mile swim and ran towards my bike. I was dripping wet, trying to ________ it. Once on my bike, I experienced an excitement specific to ________ . I went through the transition zone (转换区)again and ________ my running shoes. At the start of the run part of the triathlon, my ________ already felt like they were made of cement (水泥).

For me, the real competition began during the run, ________ now I could see each competitor as a target. No matter my ________ in the field, each racer was either following me or being followed. The run part of the race boiled down to ________ tolerance. “Shut up, legs”, one of my favorite quotes, kept me from ________ the burning feeling. Then I crossed the finish line. I took a breath and then began a (n) ________ with the other finishers. The sense of accomplishment was there for all of us.

Once a highly successful businessman, _________ a health insurance company, was getting ready to go to his office. When he _________ the car door and tried to reach into his car, a dog sleeping under his car suddenly came out and _________ on bis leg! The businessman got very angry and quickly _________ a few rocks and threw at the dog but none hit the dog. The dog ran away.

Upon reaching his office, the businessman _________ a meeting of his managers and during the meeting he put the anger of dog on them. The managers also got upset by the anger of their _________ and they put their anger to the employees working under them. The chain of this reaction kept going _________ the lower level of employees and _________, the anger reached to the office peon (苦力；苦工).

After the of office time was _________ the peon reached his home, and his wife opened the door. She asked him, “Why are you so late today?” The peon __________ and upset, gave one slap (用手掌打，拍，捆) to his wife! And he said, “I didn’t go to the office to play football. I went to work so don’t irritate me with your stupid questions!”

So now the wife got upset, for she got a slap for no __________. She put her anger on his son who was watching TV and gave him a slap, “This is all you do, and you have no interest in studying! __________ the TV now!”

The son got upset now! He walked out of his house and saw a dog passing by looking at him. He picked up a rock and hit the dog in anger and frustration. The dog, getting hit by a rock, ran away barking, __________.

This was the same dog that bit the businessman early morning.

What we can learn from this story is that we should be mindful of our __________, because good actions will bring you good things and black deeds will lead to __________ results.

A saint (圣人) was delivering his lecture on his moral theory. One of his students came up to say, “Sir, you told us that a truly cultured person is whoever _________ to smile facing difficulty. How is it possible to smile when we are truly in difficulty?”

The teacher thought it over, and finally, he had to _________. “To be honest, I myself cannot _________ this because I can’t do that, either.” After an embarrassed silence, he continued, “I think an old man living not far from here can offer you some _________. As a child, he was _________ and became an orphan (孤儿). As a young man, he lost both his legs. His life has been difficult, with a series of _________ . Yet, he always wears a beautiful smile. You can go to _________ him.”

The student became _________. He went to call on the old man. The man in a wheelchair _________ him smilingly. “Sir, my teacher said you would answer my question. Could you tell me how you ____________ to wear a smile despite all your sufferings?” The man said smilingly, “I’m afraid you’ve turned to the ____________ person. I have never ____________ any difficulty so far. My luck has always been good. This is the ____________. How can I teach you how to smile always in difficulty?”

The student got the answer: Here was a person who lived ____________. We must always have gratitude for all we have. Having this ____________ will help us accept awful situations gracefully.