David worked in a bank and he made a lot of money. He wanted to show his ________ how poor people can be. So one day, he took his young son on a trip to the countryside. They ________ a day and night in the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip, David asked his son, “how was the trip?”

“Very good, dad.” his son replied ________, with a smile on his face.

“Did you see how poor people can be?” David asked.

“Yeah.” The son said.

“And what did you ________?” David asked again.

“I saw that we have a ________ dog at home, but they have four big ones. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden. They have a creek (小溪) with no ________. We have some lights on the wall. They have the bright ________ in the sky at night.” the son answered.

After the boy ________, David couldn’t say a word.

The son added, “Thank you, Dad! For showing me how poor we are and they are much ________ than us.”

Isn’t it true that it all depends on the way you ________ things? If you have love, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude (积极的态度) towards life, you have got everything.

When I had something difficult to do, I used to ask my mother for ________, but she always said “Do it yourself, my dear.” I was not happy at all I thought she was the ________ mother in the world! For example, one day, I decided to ________ some friends to my house to have a birthday party. My room was in a ________. Books, clothes and shoes were here and there. And I didn’t make the bed. I asked, “Could you please help me clean the room, Mom?” But she still said, “________, my dear girl. I’m busy. You should do it yourself.”

________ my lazy mother”, I have to do some chores, such as doing the laundry, doing the dishes, and cleaning my room. I have to help my parents ________ my little sister. And I also have to go to the dentist by myself. It is really ________ for me to do everything well, but I have learned a lot. As time goes by, I know my mother well. She makes me ________ hard-working and clever. What a great mother she is!

A(n) ________ mother is worth one hundred teachers! Don’t you think so?

In China, there is a song called Snail and the Oriole Birds (《蜗牛和黄鹂鸟》). A little snail works hard to climb the grape tree. Two oriole birds laugh at it. But the snail doesn’t ________. Last summer, I did the same thing as the snail.

When my summer holiday started, I wanted to read English stories to help me learn English. I was surprised on the first day ________ the stories were too difficult to understand.

I was sad and ________. So I asked my teacher for help. “Dear, think about the snail on the tree. It wants to get to the top. It walks slowly, but it is still climbing. See? The tree is like your goal (目标). You have to climb to get to the top like the snail. It takes time. ________ you don’t stop, you will reach your goal one day,” she said to me.

I kept my teacher’s advice in ________ and made a plan to read some pages every day. I followed the plan without ________. At the end of the summer holiday, I made it.

Everyone is like the snail. If we never stop climbing, our goals will come true.