Painting from Memory

I was born in Damyang, a beautiful place known for its bamboo forests in Korea. I spent much time in the forests painting pictures of the _____________. Painting is one of my talents. I lived there until last year when my family moved to New York. My mother, a scientist, was asked to come work here.

There are no bamboo   forests, I said, there is nothing to ___________ in NewYork.―Don’t worry, you will find many things to see and paint there, my mother said.I still felt _____________. But   I   will   miss   home, I said. Then you can paint pictures of your favorite   places. They will make you feel at home even in New York, she said. So when we moved, I brought my forest paintings with me.

New York was not easy at first. I missed home a lot. Yet when I looked at my paintings   of bamboo,   I felt   much   better.   I   soon _____________ friends at   schoold   too. They also like painting, and we now paint in a group after school.

Last month,   we had a new neighbor,   Varvara, an old lady who moved   from Russia, to be closer to her daughter. She was sad to leave her home. My mother and I often visited her. She told us her unbearable homesick and everything about her hometown Vyborg. I could_____________ her home in my head.

Varvara missed her home so much that she became ill. I worried about her and I wanted to do something for her. I had ever been in her _____________ before. At least, I had my forest paintings of home. However, she didn’t even have that. Unless …

A few days later, I met Varvara on the stairs. She looked better but still sad. I gave her my gift: a painting of Vyborg. I had painted it from her_______________

She began to cry as she saw the painting. At first, I was worried that she didn’t like it. Later, she told me that those were tears of joy. I knew just how she _______ wherever you go, hometown is always with you

One day, a little dog ______ relaxing in a park. Then he saw a cat on the top of a high wall. He thought, “It must be so nice to be high on the wall. But I can’t climb.” The dog felt so ______.

Then he saw a fish in the river. He thought, “It must be so nice to live in the water. ______ I can’t swim.” The dog felt ______ this time.

Just then he heard the fish ______, “It looks so nice and warm on the grass. I really want to lie down on it.”

Hearing the words, the dog felt ______. He thought, “The fish lives a great life, but she still feels bad.”

After some time, a bird flew past. She saw the dog playing in the ______. She said loudly, “I really want to play the whole day like this dog. But I have to ______ food for my family every day.”

The dog heard the bird’s words. He knew it was ______ to enjoy his own life. The life for ______ is different. There is no need to envy others, so just enjoy our own life.

One day a teacher stood before his class and picked up a large empty glass jar and filled it with rocks. He then asked the students if the jar was_________. They agreed that it was. He then added a box of pebbles(鹅卵石)into the jar,_________it lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the rocks. “Is the jar full now?” The teacher asked. The students said yes.

But then the teacher poured a bag of sand into the jar. Once more he asked _________ it was full. The students_________said that it was.

The teacher then poured a glass of beer_______the jar. The students were very excited about this demonstration(演示)

The teacher spoke again, “I want you to know that this jar represents (代表)your _________. The rocks are the important things in your life, like your family, your partner, and your health. If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no _________for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small things, you will never have room for the things that are _________to you. Take care of the rocks first.”

Then one of the students asked what the _________ represented.

It just goes to prove that no matter how full your life ______________ seem, there’s always room for a glass of beer.