Music to My Ears
Robby was 10 for his first piano lesson in my class. Much as he tried, he ____ even the basic rhythm. However, he dutifully reviewed the pieces that I required.
Over the months he tried and tried while I ____ and encouraged him. At the end of each lesson he'd always say, "My mom's going to hear me play some day." ____ it seemed hopeless.
I only knew his mother from a ____as she waited in her aged car to pick him up. Then one day Robby stopped coming. I was secretly ____ that he stopped because of his lack of ability.
Weeks later I informed the students, including Robby, of the coming recital（独奏）. To my ____, Robby asked me if he could be included. I told him he really did not qualify because he had ____ out. He said his mom had been sick and unable to take him to lessons but he was still ____ .
“I've just got to play!" he ____. Something inside me let me allow him to.
Then came the recital night. The gym was ____ with parents. I put Robby up ____, thinking that I could save his poor performance through my “curtain closer（谢幕）.”
The recital went off smoothly. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was ____. "Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?" I thought.
Robby pulled out the piano bench and began. I was not ____ for what I heard next. His fingers were ____ on the keys. Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people of his age. After he ended, everyone was ____ their feet in wild applause.
In ____ I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby. "I've never heard you play like that, Robby! How did you ____ it?"
Robby explained, "Well, Miss Hondorf…remember I told you my mom was sick? …____ she had cancer and passed away yesterday. She was born deaf, so tonight she could hear me play in heaven. I wanted to make it special."
There wasn’t a ____ eye in the house. That night I felt he was the teacher and I was the pupil, for it was he who taught me the meaning of perseverance and ____.
A．lacked B．had C．showed D．got
A．listened B．learned C．checked D．played
A．And B．But C．So D．Or
A．conversation B．performance C．distance D．picture
A．guilty B．sad C．anxious D．glad
A．relief B．surprise C．pleasure D．satisfaction
A．stepped B．worn C．run D．dropped
A．acting B．performing C．practicing D．recording
A．insisted B．suggested C．complained D．threatened
A．lined B．packed C．piled D．filled
A．least B．most C．first D．last
A．messy B．cool C．neat D．dull
A．eager B．concerned C．prepared D．grateful
A．hesitating B．dancing C．touching D．crawling
A．over B．under C．in D．on
A．chaos B．tears C．silence D．return
A．find B．feel C．make D．like
A．Gradually B．Suddenly C．Frequently D．Actually
A．dry B．curious C．bright D．wet
A．regret B．talent C．love D．courage
This past Thanksgiving Day the boss of the company I work for decided to serve a Thanksgiving meal for the poor. I couldn't ________ this and decided that I wanted to ________ ! I could deliver foods and send out my smile card.
I arrived at my ________ around 11 and found a line of families waiting outside the doors. I wasn't sure ________ I wanted to give my card to because there were so many people there ________ I knew I wanted to give it to a mother.
I served ________ table plates of turkey with all the fixings and slices of pumpkin pie for desert. Everyone was so happy and honestly seemed ________ for what my co-workers and I were doing.
At my last ________ there was an older lady with about eight kids. She looked tired, but ________ that her children were ________ . Smiling at her, I exchanged a few words ________her and knew that she was a foster mom(养母) and that ________ she would have liked to cook at home she couldn't __________it because of the size of her family. She then thanked me for ________ time with my family to serve hers.
She burst ________ a smile and gave me a hug__________ .I gave my smile card to her.
At the end of the day I didn't think about how I gave up time with my ________ to do this because I got so ________ out of this special and unforgettable experience, ________ made me so incredibly thankful for ________ I have and I now realize it is important to give back, and not just on the holidays.
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For most of the eight years they have been married, Ryan has never received a hug from his wife, Tracy. He has not even received a “hello” or a smile. Tracy has been since 2008. But this is not a story about the outcome of a young lady. Rather, it is about a man who has stayed to his wife, nursing her night and day, making sure she is as as possible.
Ryan and Tracy in a friend’s home in 2003. “She was beautiful and interesting to talk to,” Ryan says of his first of Tracy. In 2005, they got married and were very happy. However, a call put the couple’s life in a month after their daughter was born. Ryan was at work when a neighbor called to inform him that Tracy had been to the hospital.
, he ran to the hospital. When he got there, he knew his had been treated for fever. However, the fever did not after Tracy received that medical treatment.
Tracy’s breathing became labored and was to speak. The medical examination she developed an infection damaging her nerve system. Tracy went into a coma(昏迷) and a few days later, though she regained consciousness, she could not move her lower legs. “She was admitted to hospital for four months and doctors did all they could, her got worse,” Ryan says. She could no longer her legs, and lost the ability to give voices.
“Those four months are the most time I have ever had. I have never stopped hoping and praying she will regain her ,” Ryan says with a smile, “I miss her laughter, and wonder what kind of a mother she would be to our daughter.”
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My 9 year old daughter and I were flying from our home in Carolina to spend a week with my husband in Florida．We were_______ about the trip because we hadn't seen him for five months，and______ her Dad terribly．
As usual on the Charlotte to Miami flight，the plane was totally______．Because we did not get our boarding passes until we_______ at the gate，Kallie and I could not get seats together and were_______ by the aisle（过道）．I asked two passengers in my row if they would switch places with Kallie and me，______we could be together．They_______，saying they thought they should stay in their assigned seats．
Meanwhile，a mother and her three children were in a_______ several rows ahead of us．There had been a mistake in their boarding passes，and_______ the whole family had been split up．The passengers in her row_______ refused to move elsewhere．She was very_______ about the younger boy sitting with strangers．She was in tears，yet nobody_______ to help her．
There were a troop of Boy Scouts(童子军) on_______．Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said，“Ma’am，I think we can help you．”He then_______ five minutes rearranging his group so that adequate space was_______ for the family．The boys followed his directions cheerfully and without_______，and the mother's relief was obvious．
Kallie，however，was beginning to panic at the______of not being next to me．I told her that there wasn’t anything I could do．_______，the man sitting next to the Scoutmaster，_______to me and asked，“Would you and your daughter like our seats？” _______to himself and the Scoutmaster．We traded seats and continued our trip，very much relieved to be together and watch the scenery from Kallie’s window seat．
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That morning, I stepped into the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with seventy-five students who would be my English Literature class．Having taught in for seventeen years, I had no about my ability to hold their attention and to on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue．
I was shocked when the monitor shouted, " !" The entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness was over, I quickly my calmness and began what I thought was a fact-packed lecture, sure to gain their respect—perhaps their admiration．I went back to my office with the rosy glow which came from a sense of achievement．
My students diaries．However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 49 by a strong sense of sadness．The first diary said, "Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today． her next lecture will be better．" Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a theme．"Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework of Western thought and laid the historical for all the works we’ll study in class," I complained．" How they say I didn’t teach them anything?"
It was a long term, and it became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as of my students．I thought a teacher’s job was to raise questions and provide enough background so that students could their own conclusions．My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide information as directly and clearly as possible．What a difference!
, I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture．
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The eyes are one of the most expressive of body language．Keith，seventeen，from Montclair， New Jersey，learned the hard way about one the eyes can make．“I had a teacher who heavily on classroom discussion，”Keith says．“He seemed to have a strong to know just when I didn’t have the answer．I couldn’t how he could be so ．Then it dawned on(逐渐被人明白)me． I didn’t know the answer，I would looking at him．When I did know what to say，I always stared straight back him．From that moment on，I myself to look him in the eye， I knew the answer or not．That trick has me a lot of trouble．”
Many people， some policemen，believe eye contact is a good of testing honesty．If someone can’t look at you directly in the eye，then he or she is not playing ，they insist．After many experiments， ，a number of exports have found out that good liars can make false eye contact．
Eye contact，though not a sure of dishonesty, is a clear way to show interest in another person．When a person looks at you and continues to do so，you know his attention is on you．When he turns his head away， his mind is probably ．But there is ．A shy person may have trouble making and keeping eye contact，no matter how interested he is in the other person．And certain nationalities，such as the British and Germans，are much oriented(适应)to eyeball-to-eyeball contact than，say，the French and the Arabs．
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