There was once a carpenter（木匠）who was good at building houses. He had no other 【小题1】（skill） and his boss was very nice, so he worked for his boss one year after another. After 10 years of working for 【小题2】（冠词）same company, he finally got tired of it and decided to quit （辞职）. He wanted to try something new.

However, after 【小题3】（ hear） this, his boss asked him to help with one final job before he left the team. He asked him to build one final house. 【小题4】（连词）the carpenter didn't want to do this kind of work any more, he still agreed. He built the house, but his heart wasn't in it. He used cheap materials （材料）and rushed to finish the job 【小题5】（quick）. It turned out to be the 【小题6】（bad） house that he had ever built.

When he finished, his boss came to see him for the last time. Seeing the house, he said nothing. He paid the worker 【小题7】（介词）building the house. He then said, "I wanted to do something special for you to say thanks for your 10 years of hard work. You know, you have built so many beautiful and grand houses for other people these years but not one for 【小题8】（you） so I'm giving you this house as a gift. "

The carpenter was so 【小题9】（surprise） that he was speechless. What a shame! He had never thought his boss would give him such a big gift. If he knew he was building his own house, he would have done it much differently. He regretted 【小题10】（build） his final house so poorly.

Same hearts, same minds

A boy named Reggie was well-known in his hometown because he couldn't hear anything. He was born deaf. Although people liked him a lot, they also treated him much 【小题1】 (different) than other people. The other children worried that they might hurt him while they 【小题2】 (play) together. Adults acted like he was incapable of understanding them, as if he was a baby.

However, this year, people got to understand Reggie a little better. On Reggie's 【小题3】 (nine) birthday, everyone in town would wear earplugs (塞) so that they couldn't hear anything, 【小题4】. This day came to be known as the day of silence. People realized 【小题5】 difficult life could be when they couldn't hear anything. They also learned that Reggie had some 【小题6】 (amaze) skills.

On that day, no one thought of Reggie as just a deaf person. People saw a whole new side of him. They 【小题7】 (pay) more attention to the things he said. They were also surprised by his intelligence, 【小题8】 (creative), and his ability to find a solution to nearly any problem or challenge that he faced. They realized that he had always been like that, and that he 【小题9】 (simple) needed to communicate with others in a different way. In the end, he was really just like any other little boy.

On the Day of Silence, people came to know Reggie's true nature. They learned that although most of us are different 【小题10】 each other-sometimes in big ways-we are still mostly the same in our hearts and minds.

I think my life has been long enough now. And I won’t be able to visit you any 【小题1】, but would it be too much to ask 【小题2】（是否）you could come and visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. I am so glad when I hear you are coming to the school for a meeting. But I have d【小题3】not to go to the school because I am seriously 【小题4】.

I’m sorry that I only have one eye, and I have been an embarrassment for you. But before I leave this world, I have to tell you one thing that has been hidden in my h【小题5】for over twenty years. When you were very little, you got into an accident, and l【小题6】your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to g【小题7】up with only one eye. So I gave you 【小题8】（我的）. I was so proud you could see a whole new world for me. I was 【小题9】（从不）angry with you for anything you did. Sometimes when you were upset with me, I thought to myself, “It’s because you love me.” I miss the time when you were still young around me.

I miss you so much. I love you. You 【小题10】the world to me. Wish you a safe trip.

Your mum