An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his _______ all the time.

One day a young man went by the _______. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be _______ he lived in such a beautiful place. Then, suddenly he found the old gardener was _______. He was very surprised about this and asked, “You can’t see flowers. Why are you busy taking care of them every day?” The old man smiled and said, “I can tell you four _______. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t know me,” said the young man.

“Yeah, it’s _______ that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels. They brought us happiness. “The blind man’s work opened our eyes and _______our hearts. This also made his life _______.

It was just like Beethoven. He became deaf (聋的) in his life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn’t _______ his wonderful music, but his music has ________ millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it one kind of happiness?”

In a history class, our teacher, Mrs. Bartlett asked us to make a study plan in groups. She told us to write the names of three friends we wanted in one group and she would think about our ________. However, the next day I was told to be in a group I would ________ want. The members were so weak in study. Oh, how I wanted to be with my best ________! So I walked up to Mrs. Bartlett. She ________ me and seemed to know why I was there. She ________ placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know what you want, Karma,” she said, “but your group needs you. I need you to help them. Only you can help them.” I was ________ and moved by her words. Her words encouraged me. Then I bravely walked over to my group. I sat down and we started. Each of ________ did a part according to our interests. Halfway through the week, I felt ________ enjoying our group. We did a good job together. Amazingly, our group got an A in the end. But I think we should hand the A back to Mrs. Bartlett. Because nobody except Mrs. Bartlett had believed ________ our group. She brought out the ________ in four of her students. She was the one who should truly receive it.

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know if she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one _________.

Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots _________ water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the _________ he placed eggs, and in the last he placed coffee beans. He let them boil, without _________ a word.

The daughter waited impatiently, wondering _________ he was doing. In about twenty minutes, he _________ the burners and put the carrots, the eggs and the coffee into different bowls. He asked, “Darling, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee.” she _________.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She noticed that they were _________. He then asked her to take an egg and break _________. After pulling off the shell, she observed (观察) the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to taste the coffee. She enjoyed it and smiled.

“What does it mean, Father?” she asked.

He explained that __________ of them had faced the same situation, boiling water, __________ each reacted (反应) differently. The strong and hard carrots became soft and weak __________ being boiled. The fragile (脆弱的) eggs became hard after cooking. Coffee beans were the most __________ of the three. They turned the __________ into tasty coffee. “Which are you?” he asked his daughter.

When __________ knock on your door, how do you answer? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?