Something that I learned from both my parents was the importance of having respect(尊重) for other people. I remember one day when we were travelling on a bus and I sat down while other people were standing. My mother cried to me, “________! You have young legs and you don’t need to sit down.” At the time I felt bad about being told off in public, but now I understand. I think children nowadays have ________ that respect and it really makes me angry if I see children sitting down while ________ people are standing.

One area in which we had a lot of rules was table manners. For example, we aren’t allowed to start our meal ________ the oldest person had started. We had to say “thank you” when our food was ________, and eat everything on our plates before we could ________ the table. We couldn’t make any noise when eating. Worse than that, we were only ________ to have sweets at the weekend, as a special treat if we had been good.

Although my upbringing(养育) was perhaps a bit ________ compared with modern children. I’m very thankful to my parents for giving me a clear ________ in life. Even though I was sometimes ________, I think it has made me a better person. In my opinion, children need clear rules, but more than that they need to learn how to get on with other people and realize they are not the center of the world.

“What’s wrong, dear?” said Mrs. Smith to the little boy, Tom Blair, who had tears in his eyes.

“We have all got a ______ called Little Jim to learn,” said Tom, “and the one who says it best will get a ______ from the teacher. But I don’t think I can learn it.”

“Why not?” said Mrs. Smith.

“It is so long and hard for me. And other boys always ______ me, and call me ‘Slow Tom’,” said Tom in a ______ voice.

“Please, sir, it was the snail on the wall that ______ me how to do it,” said Tom. “I saw it crawl up (爬行) the wall bit by bit. It did not stop, nor turn back, but went on and on. And I thought I would do the same with my task. So I ______ learned it bit by bit, and did not give up.”

“Now, boys, let us give a good ______ for Tom Blair and the snail on the wall,” said the teacher. And the old house rang with a loud, long cheer (欢呼). For all were glad that “Slow Tom” had got a prize at last.

I have a foreign friend named Barker. We are very friendly. I often write e-mails ______ him, and he writes e-mails to me in time, too. He usually tells me something about his past. When Barker was young, he wanted to be ______ astronaut. He was hard-working, but he didn’t ______ the test. Year by year, Barker got ______ and he couldn’t take the test any more. ______, he went on working hard, just as if he was going to take the test the following month.

One day, he heard that the Space Agency was doing a very important ______. For the experiment（试验）, they needed a very old astronaut. Barker was the only old man in the whole world that was ______ to get ready for the experiment. He got the ______ this time.

With the help of science, Barker found ______ flying in space. He thought he was a real astronaut then.

The experiment was ______. The knowledge from the experiment helped doctors to cure（治疗）one of the worst illness for old people.

People all over the world saw the ______ of an astronaut with a walking stick and no teeth. They ______ him a hero.

So even if our plans don’t ______ out in the way we hope, we should ______ be prepared. Maybe even better things will happen ______ of our hard work.