Once there was a family. There were _________ people in the family. Father was a hard-working man. He sold bread for a living. His wife had no job. She looked after their three children. Father spent all his evenings taking classes after work to get a _________ job. Father hardly ever ate a meal together with his family. He worked and _________ very hard because he wanted to make more money.

When the family said that he was not spending enough time _________ them, he said that he was doing all this for them. But he often wanted to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the exam results _________. Father passed! Soon he found a good job. His dream came true. Father could now afford his family nice _________, fine food and vacation around the world.

However, the family still did not _________ Father for most of the week. He still worked very hard. _________, when the family said that he was not spending enough time with them, he said that he was doing all this for them.

Father’s hard work paid off（取得成功）, and he bought a beautiful house. On the first evening at _________ new home, everyone was so excited. Father told his family that he __________ to spend more time with his family. However, Father did not wake up the next day.

There were two men who lived next to each other. One of them was a retired（已退休的）teacher and ________ was an insurance agent（保险代理人）. Both of them had planted many different plants in their gardens. The retired teacher seldom watered his plants and didn’t pay a lot of attention to them. But his neighbor was very ________ with his plants and watered them often. The retired teacher’s plants were small, but looked okay, ________ the insurance agent’s plants were much bigger and greener. One night, there was a heavy rain and wind because of a _______. The next morning, both of the neighbors came out to check on their gardens. The insurance agent saw that his plants had ________. But the retired teacher’s plants stood firmly（牢牢地）.

The insurance agent thought it was ________. He went to ask the retired teacher. “We both grew the same plants and I ________ for my plants better than you did. How could your plants ________ survive（存活）?”

The retired teacher smiled and said, “Because you gave your plants too much attention. You made it too easy ________ them to grow. I gave my plants just a little bit of water, so their roots（根）had to grow ________ to absorb（吸收）more water. That is why my plants survived.”

A young man went for a job interview in a big company. The boss found that the young man’s college grades were excellent. Then he asked the young man who ______ for his education. The young man told the boss that his parents did and they ______ as laundry workers.

The boss ______ that the young man’s hands were smooth and perfect. He asked, “Have you ever helped your parents wash ______?”

“No. My parents always make me study. Besides, they wash clothes ______ than I do.”

The boss asked the young man to go back home and wash his parents’ ______. When he got home, he told his parents that he wanted to wash their hands. His parents felt ______ but happy. Then the young man began to wash their hands slowly.

He was in tears. He ______ his parents’ hands were so rough (粗糙的) and pale because of washing a lot of clothes in the cold water. There were also many injuries in their hand. ______ washing his parents’ hands, the young man quietly washed the rest of the clothes.

The next morning, the young man went to the ______ again. The boss noticed the young man’s pale hands. He said to the young man, “Welcome to join us!”