My children gifted me a stainless steel coffee plunger (咖啡壶). I couldn’t ________ to use it, looking forward to coffee making for a peaceful day.

As I poured my first cup of coffee, the plunger spilled (洒出) all over the table. ________ no one was around to see my disappointed face! I kept trying, but each morning would see me ________ the coffee. Then I realized that if I poured very slowly there would be no spilling. This was at first a very ________ experience. My normal ________ was to rush through breakfast so that I could get on with my day.

But ________ I learned not only to pour slowly but to enjoy the ________: the smell, the taste, and the stillness of a new day. It helped me to ________ on whether there were other areas of my life I was rushing through. Most of life, it seemed.

I started to leave extra time to do even the most ________ tasks. When shop owners would ________ for keeping me waiting, I’d say, “Not a problem, I’m not in a hurry.” ________ hanging out washing became pleasurable when listening to the birds singing in the trees became part of my ________ . Besides, one of my favorite experiences was spending time with strangers. We sat on the steps, with a cup of coffee in hand, listening to each other’s stories. It was one of the ________ things about living in a busy city, as if the world slowed to a ________ we could both handle.

Stillness and quietness not only slow the pace of life, but also ________ the soul, helping us to enjoy the world’s small pleasures.

Early in my teaching career, I heard countless excuses(借口)from my students for not having their homework. Many of them were made up and ________. And, yes, “the dog ate it” was one of them. As time passed, I was ________ of hearing “I don’t have my homework because….”. “No excuses. No ________!” I, out of anger, ________ my eighth graders.

Then, one afternoon, Anthony ________ me and said shyly, not taking his eyes off the floor, “I know you said it doesn’t ________ why we don’t have our homework done, but my dad moved out and my mom waits tables at night, so I have to ________ my little brothers.” Feeling shocked and ________ for him, I put my hand on Anthony’s thin shoulder. “Why are you just now telling me...?” I stopped in mid-sentence. I knew why. So I ________ the question, “Would it ________ if you stay in my classroom after school and work on it before you go home?” He nodded.

The next day, I ________ to all my students that I’d offer an after-school study hall. Anthony was the first student to ________. Before long, I had a room full of eighth graders who stayed to work on their homework. I soon had a large collection of “I don’t have my homework because...” ________ like Anthony. All were very ________. Most importantly, I learned that “I’ll ________” works a lot better than “No excuses”.

I walked into a restaurant and ordered some food. After 20 minutes a group of guys came in and ordered theirs.

To my _________, these folks got served first. I watched as they began to eat and laugh _________. I even overheard one of them bragging (吹嘘) about how he was _________ to everyone in the restaurant and I felt _________. Unable to stand it anymore, I called the _________.

He explained to me, “Yours is a special order, being prepared by the _________ chefs themselves. Their orders were _________ prepared by students on assignment; please have some juice as you wait.”

I _________ and waited. Shortly after that, my meal was served by six chefs. Unknown to me, the owner of the restaurant, who _________ to be an old long lost friend of mine, __________ me when I entered and decided to __________ me. She changed my simple meal to a five‐star meal. The group at the other __________ were shocked. They couldn’t stop __________. Suddenly they were the ones __________, asking why they didn’t get that kind of __________ and meal.

Such is life! Some people are __________ you, eating and laughing at you. You __________ mockery (嘲笑) and are waiting __________, wondering why it takes so long to break through. The owner of the world has seen you and doesn’t want you to be served a quick meal like those __________ of you. You are waiting long because yours is a(n) __________ meal, which costs time to prepare.