The new, “used” car that I bought just three months ago wouldn't start the other day. The factory battery that ________ along with it decided that it had worked long enough and ________ to take an early, permanent retirement. My ________ neighbor gave me a jump but the battery stubbornly wouldn't ________ the charge. After getting one more jump, I ________ to the local auto parts store to buy a new one. Installing (安装) it was much more ________ than we thought, however, so I took it to a local mechanic who finally got the new battery in and the car ________ once again.

Driving it this morning, though, I ________ that the time and date on the screen in the dashboard (仪表盘) had ________ gone back to nine years ago, resetting to the ________ date of the first time it was started. While my son smartly figured out how to ________ it back to today I thought about all the times I had wished I could go back in time and undo some of the ________ and missteps I had taken in my own life.

Yes, many of my choices brought me ________ in the past, but they have also brought me wisdom for the present. When you ________ your own life, don't regret the roads not taken Instead, be ________ with the path you are on, the things you have learned, and the love you have shared.

If you have strong arms and feet, patience and a good temper, you might _______ a good waiter. You must start, _______, not in the restaurant, but in the kitchen, helping the chef, to learn how each dish is _______.

From this first step, you may enter the restaurant _______ a ''commis'' (厨助). But you won't be _______ to serve the customers yet. They will only let you do the bottomed jobs, _______the tables and carrying the plates. But all the time you must watch and learn with _______.

Later you may become ''chef de rang'' (a waiter in charge of a number of tables). You may even become a head waiter _______, if you have the right sort of personality and you are not _______ of hard work.

When Carlo Bianchi first arrived in London, he spoke only two words of English - ''please'' and ''Hello''. He ________ to get a job helping in the kitchen of a restaurant, and he spent what little ________ time he had learning English. He was a good worker and soon they ________ him a job in the restaurant as a waiter.

Every night, Carlo ________ to go home exhausted, but never too ________ to study the language for half an hour before going to sleep. And no matter how tired or ill he felt, he always wore a ________ for his customers. They liked him, and people came and asked to be ________ by Carlo.

Now, twenty-five years later, Carlo is in ________ of six restaurants, and he ________ to open a seventh shortly. So friends, in this world success never comes overnight. Start from the ________and make progress step by step with enough patience and ________ chances will fall upon you.

Someone told me that if I want to learn about humanity, I should watch the television show, Undercover Boss. It’s a reality show where the________ of different businesses go undercover(暗中地)to________ what’s really going on at their company and how their employees really feel.

The other day, the episode(一集)I________to watch did teach me something different and inspiring. The business owner________   to be broke and in desperate search of a new way out of his________ and emotional difficulties. He recited his________ story to one of his   employees and was ________ by her response. She was quite encouraging and optimistic. Not only did she seem to________ him after a brief acquaintance, but she later revealed that she herself, who seemed to be full of sunshine and optimism, was________ homeless! The owner was hugely surprised. How could she maintain such high ________ in the face of such challenges? How could she even try to ________ him in the middle of her own battles? She taught the owner--- and the TV audience --- a ________ about true kindness.

However, that’s not the ________ of the story. What________ me most is that the business owner didn’t plan to just sit and watch. ________, he was inspired to________. At the conclusion of the episode, he promoted this employee to assistant manager, with the accompanying________ in salary. And then the owner gave her a check for $250,000 to help her________ a house. While watching all these, I was in tears. It was a touching story because this employee was kind with absolutely no expectation of________. She was really kind despite her own bad________. Just as the saying goes, one good turn deserves another.