The day for the great balloon competition finally arrived. Every insect in the garden had been hard, and now they were preparing to begin their routines. The balloon competitions were always something really special.
Each time, the flying insects were favourite to win, because they could seize the balloon strings and fly off in all directions, creating all sorts of in the air. , on this occasion there were some rather unusual insects taking part: a group of ants. Of course, expected that they could do anything special. They were so light that no ant had ever to take part, but it was quite impressive to see all the ants all organized and prepared.
So the competition began, and the insects took their turns, performing beautiful movements with the balloons. As always the butterflies left everyone with their twist and turns, and their wonderful colours. When it was time for the ants to perform, it seemed like the competition had already been decided.
For the time in living memory, the ants shared just one balloon between them, and one by one they climbed up the balloon string, a thin black thread of ants. When all the string was covered, the last ant climbed his teammates to reach the balloon. he got there, he climbed onto the top of the balloon.
This strange attracted everyone's curiosity, and they were just about to witness the most important : the ant opened his jaws as wide as he could. . . and then he made a violent movement at the balloon with all his strength!
The result was powerful! The balloon began blowing out its air, flying about, here and there, doing a thousand turns and spins, while the ants made all kinds of beautiful shapes out of the string.
Of course, that acrobatic(杂技般的) flight with quite a hard landing, but it didn't . The creativity and teamwork of the ant performance was so that the crowd didn't even have to vote for there to be a winner.
From then on, in that garden, everyone understood how much could be achieved by working . In the years to come, the balloon competitions were full of displays carried out by teams, and they put on some wonderful routines; something those individual insects could never have achieved on their own.
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In a food store I heard a woman say her foot was hurting and that she was going to call a cab. When walking back home, I saw her outside the store, probably for a cab.
I asked her where she was going. She told me a place which was actually on the to the craft store I’d be to. So I asked her to the cab and I’d give her a ride. To my , she said okay without . I wonder if I’d have been so if a stranger made me the same offer!
Where she was going was on the way to where I was going. It was such a interaction. But there was more!
When I had what I went for and was waiting at the checkout, the woman behind me said she had a coupon（优惠券）for 50% off any in the store. She gave it to me because she had a（n） one! I thanked her and gave her a card.
They say “what goes around comes around”, but sometimes it is hard to see how that as there is often a “manifestation（显现）delay”. Each action a ripple （涟漪）that eventually back to us, but sometimes it is much so we forget their connection.
Today the causes and effects have appeared in a linkable manner in . I’m also opening myself to receiving gifts, now or in the future. I can learn so much from others as to how they are to receive gifts in a way I might not have been if the same.
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The first time I left my mother, I was five years old. She told me I couldn’t go out to play I picked up my toys. Who could put up with such ? “I’m running away,” I announced. “Oh, dear, I’ll you. But if you really want to , I guess I shouldn’t stop you. ” Mother got my red coat from the cupboard and my white gloves in a pocket. She walked me to the , kissed me good-bye, and the door behind me. Off I went. As I the house next door, my footsteps . It struck me for the first time that I had no where I was headed, and after a moment, I turned around. on our front steps, I began to consider my immediate . But as the afternoon wore on, I didn't from my place.
Mrs. Ford, our neighbor, took out her rubbish and called, “Hi, honey! How are you doing?”
“I'm ,” I said, and my lips started to tremble.
“You are? Well, I won't you then,” she said, and went back inside.
As darkness fell, I decided to be . I knocked on the door, and when Mother opened it, I walked past her. “I' m giving you another ,” I said, as she enveloped me in a warm hug. I ran away again.
But I , and that’s different. When I left for college, Mother waved until my train pulled out of sight. When I got to the college, I found a she had hidden among my sweaters that read, “We’re so proud of you!”
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To be a real gentleman, you should know that true forgiveness is one of the most remarkable qualities a human can possess!
In the fighting between two countries in the 1970s, a young man was walking from one village to the next when he was by an armed guerrilla fighter from the enemy country．The fighter the young man down the hill where he was to be.
But a（n） thing happened. The young man, who had military training, was able to disarm the fighter. Now, the table was and it was the fighter who was ordered down the hill.
As they walked, , the young man began to reflect on what was happening. Recalling the of his mother, "Love your enemies; do good to those who you." He found he could go no farther.
He the gun into the bushes, told the fighter he was to go and turned back the hill.
Minutes later, he heard footsteps33behind him as he walked．"Is this the end after all?" he . Perhaps the fighter had got the gun and wanted to finish him off. But he continued on, ________ glancing back, until his enemy reached him, only to grab him in a hug and pour out for sparing his life.
Mercy often wears the face of . And though it usually isn't an enemy in uniform-that we are challenged to forgive, we have ________ for mercy every day. Family members and friends, co-workers and neighbors and even strangers have ________ for our forgiveness. You know who they are.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, "The ________ can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. " Be strong. Forgive.
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完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were , and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.
One agent a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was our range, so we declined. But she kept urging us to have a look .
We finally did and it was at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was, the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of________it would be like to live there.
Days later, we made a(n) ________—far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn’t ________ us. They renewed their offer ________. It was also much more than we could afford, but far ________ than the original asking price.
The next day, we got a ________ message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so, we decided to talk with the ________ directly. We made our final offer, which ________ was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer’s bid. We knew it, ________ we had to try.
“Sold!” said the owner. Then he ________ : He’d seen us sitting by the lake all those times; he knew how much we loved the place and that we’d ________ the years of work they had put into their home; he realized he would take a ________ by selling it to us, but it was worthwhile; we were the people they wanted to live there. He told us to consider the ________ in the price “an early wedding present.”
That’s how we found our home and how I learned that when people are ________ they are not strangers, only friends we haven’t yet met.
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阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The professor stood before his class of 30 senior biology students，about to pass out the final exam．“I have been privileged to be your ________ this semester，and I know how hard you have all worked to________ for this test．I also know most of you are________ to medical school next fall，”he said to them．
“I am well aware of how much________ you are under to keep your GPAs up，and because I know you are all ________of understanding this material，I am prepared to ________ an automatic B to anyone who would ________ not to take the final．”
The relief was audible(听得见的)as a number of students jumped up to ________ the professor and departed from class．The professor looked at the handful of students who ________，and offered again，“Any other takers? This is your last ________．”One more student decided to________ ．
Seven students remained．The professor closed the door and took attendance．Then he 52 the final exam．There were two sentences typed on the ________：
“________，you have just received an A in this class．Keep believing in yourself．”
I ________ had a professor who gave a test like that．It may seem like the easy ________ of grading exams，but it’s a________that any teacher in any discipline(治学严谨)could and should give．Students who don’t have ________ in what they’ve learned are B students at best．
The same is________ for students of real life．The A students are those who believe in what they’re doing ________ they’ve learned from both successes and failures．
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