From my father I have learned a lot. And I'm very thankful to him. I remember when I was a child, my father always got up very early. He was afraid to wake up others, so he _______ put on his clothes and went off to work. To arrive in time to open his tiny store at 8:30 he need to leave our apartment at 6:30. After all ，he had to take a bus and then the subway. The last _______ was a long walk through a neighborhood much of which was full of the smell of rubbish. I learned: it is very important to work. No _______.

When I was 12, I would, on some Saturdays, go to my father's store to _______. After helping set up the outside clothing display (陈列), for the rest of the day, I'd watch to make sure no one stole anything. When I noticed someone looking _______ or strange, I would look the person in the eye, smile and say, “May I help you?” Usually that     _______, but sometimes, someone would run off with something. The first time, I ran after the thief _______ my father shouted, “Martin, stop! There is no need to do that.” It's true that _______ is more important than money.

After 10 years of hard work, he saved up enough money to buy his first car, a cheap one—he wouldn't buy one _______ he could afford to pay for it without borrowing money. I learned: buy only what you can afford. Buying ________ food and clothing won't make us go in debt (债务). The unnecessary things won't give us happiness, which comes from achievement only.

I was a student of yours in Grade Six, and I hope you still remember me. I'm _____ this letter because I want to let you know that the school year with you was important and special to me.

I know I _____ be very quiet in your class, and you never said much to me. But you did something that made a big _____ in my life. You see, all through my first year in schools, I hated to read. Books were just words that had _____ to do with me, and I felt bored while reading them. I'll never _____ the first day of Grade Six when you took out a thick book and began to read the story to our class. It _____ that your voice changed with the people in the story, and you drew pictures in my mind as you read _____ . Since that day, I always waited for the time that you read to the class. You _____ us all kinds of wonderful stories.

During the summer after my year in your class, I _____ the stories you read. So one day I picked up a book and read it all by myself. I found out that I could make the words ______ , too. Now, I love to read! Thank you for opening the world of books for me.

Yours,

Linda