A little boy invited his mother to attend his school’s first teacher-parent meeting. He was very _____ to hear that she agreed to go.

This would be the first time that his classmates and teacher met his mother and he felt sorry for her ____. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a serious scar(疤痕) _____ her right face. The boy never wanted to talk about ____ or how she got the scar.

At the meeting, the people were impressed by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother ____ she had the scar. But the little boy was still embarrassed and hid ____ from everyone. Just then, he ____ a conversation between his mother and the teacher.

       “How did you get the scar on your face, Madam?” The teacher asked carefully.

The mother replied, “When my son was a baby, his room caught fire one day. Everybody was too scared to get into his room, but I did. When I was running towards his bed, a long piece of wood ____ down and I put myself over him. Finally, when I woke up I found I was in the hospital. “She touched her right face.” “The scar was left on my face, but I have never ____ what I did for my son. You see, he is strong and healthy now.”

Hearing that, the little boy cried sadly and ran to his mother. He hugged his mother and felt great ____ from his mother. He held her hand tightly for the rest of the day.

Jeffrey was in college. He needed a place to live. He found a small _______ near his school. It was perfect for him. It had a small kitchen and a big TV in the living room. Jeffrey couldn’t _______ an expensive house. This place didn’t cost much. He met with the landlord（房东）who said Jeffrey could _______ move in.

A few weeks went by. Jeffrey loved everything about his apartment but one thing. There was a dog somewhere in the apartment building. The dog kept barking _______ Jeffrey did in his house. It even barked in the late night when Jeffrey was trying to _______! The noise troubled him.

Jeffrey walked around the apartment building. The barking got louder. Jeffrey stopped in front of a door. He _______ the dog in this room. Jeffrey knocked on the door. It opened. Jeffrey saw the dog and its owner. It was the landlord! Jeffrey thought with a _______ mind. If he complained about the dog, the landlord might tell him to move out. But if Jeffrey said _______, the dog would keep barking. What should he do?

“Excuse me, sir,” Jeffery said. “How cute your dog looks! Could I take him for a walk?” At first, the landlord stayed _______ on his request. But after Jeffery expressed more ________ for the dog, he finally agreed. Soon, Jeffery took the dog outside and stopped him barking in the end. Why? Well, Jeffery used to raise some pet dogs and knew how to calm them down.

From then on, the dog didn’t make noise, although his owner was very amazed at that.

While checking out at the supermarket, I had been talking with the woman behind me. She was riding in one of those shopping carts _________ the basket in front. The basket held just a few things: some apples, corn, bread, and a bunch of beautiful _________. Several times while we were talking, I caught her looking at those _________ roses and smiling. I said to her that they were very lovely roses. She said, “I really love _________.”

Well, just as I was leaving, I heard her say to the cashier(收银员), “You can put those roses back. I really can’t afford them.” I turned around and asked her if she would _________ me to get them for her. She seemed hesitant(犹豫的) so I told her that she would be doing me a great act of _________ if she would allow me to gift them to her. With tears in her eyes, she agreed and said, “I do love them. Thank you.” As I told her goodbye and began to walk away, I noticed that she was holding the roses and just _________!

On the way home I _________ a song I had heard years before and I’ve loved it ever since. The song is “Bread and Roses”. It’s a beautiful song on many levels and makes us realise that we all need food, _________ we all also need beauty.

“A line from this song fits this situation __________,” I thought. It reads, “Hearts starve(挨饿) as well as bodies. Give us bread, but give us roses, too.”