The most important lesson I learned in high school had nothing to do with maths or American history．It came at graduation, several minutes before I left Miramonte High School．
I was rather shy back then, content to around with my few friends and to concentrate on my I was doing so well that by the end of senior year I had perfect scores and enough to go to college．
But my good record soon became a to my well-being．In early June of senior year, the headmaster called me into his office．He asked me to give a leave-taking speech at graduation．I looked at him, my heart fast．This was the for my hard work? I said something, but not very clearly, and hurried away from the office．
I was about the decision, finally agreeing to compromise．I wasn't the only speaker—I would the honor with five other students．Still, it was doubtful whether the task was me．How in the world would I give a speech to hundreds of people?
Graduation day soon arrived and, as ．I was nervous．I'd been practicing my speech for days, and I had it ．But I had never been so in my life．The first half hour of the ceremony passed, and then my came．My name was announced．I managed to reach the platform without falling down．But within minutes, I was , heading back to my seat．
Now I still have the of that speech．My voice trembled a little, but it was clear and strong．I'm proud of that tape．I achieved something I'd never I spoke in front of hundreds of people． I didn't realize it at the time, the successful completion of that speech gave me the to participate in class at college, to give oral reports, and to eventually break free of my .
I never would have chosen to give a speech at graduation．But I'm glad I did．I know it may well turn out to be one of my shining moments．
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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。
I often recall those good old days. At that time life was relatively simpler, and people were much more ______and gentler. Recently, to my surprise, I got the opportunity to experience that same warmth that I thought had_____ from the fast-moving world.
I was out shopping the other day with my husband, two daughters and one ______. It was a burning hot day, and we were all visibly tired and hungry. We entered a restaurant, looking for some______and comfort. To our disappointment, all the tables were_____and no one seemed in a hurry to______ . We waited, tired and ______. After quite some time, one table was vacated, but that could ______only two of us. My daughter made me sit along with her father, while she and my other daughter _____alongside. My granddaughter sat on my______ as we looked all around us, waiting for another table to be ______soon.
At the next table, two young girls were sitting at a table for four and enjoying their meal. We decided to move to their table, ______they were finished with their lunch. Since the girls had just got their ______, I knew it would be a ______wait. As we were deciding on what to eat, one of the girls got up and ______their table to us. She said they would move to our table so that my family could sit together.
We were very appreciative of their kind ______. We thanked them ______and moved to their table. The girls quickly ______their plates and glasses and went to sit at our table.
That day, I ______to myself there still were some kind, civil and helpful youngsters in this non-caring world, and my faith in humanity was______ .
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When I returned from a trip abroad, I felt that something was wrong between Keith (one of our twin sons) and me. So I asked him, “Keith, have I done anything that really your feelings?”
Instantly, he said, “Yes. Last Christmas you promised me a special that I really wanted and you gave it to me.”
The is that I’d completely forgotten about it. I , “Is there anything else I’ve done wrong, but I have never asked for your forgiveness?”
Again, his was immediate, “Remember when Mom said you had to go to the because Stephen was going to be born? You left us at home and hurriedly. Remember?” I did.
“Well, you left in a hurry and the suitcase with all the things.” I couldn’t believe all the he remembered! “After you left Mom at the hospital, you came back and you were . When you got here, the suitcase had been opened and was thrown all over the place. And you me.”
“And you didn’t do it?” I asked.
“No.”
My heart . I felt terrible. I hugged Keith and asked him to me. His honesty made me think of our other twin son, Kevin. Perhaps I’d hurt him, too. I went to ask him the question. Kevin’s answer was as immediate as his had been, “Last Christmas you us a special toy and you never bought it for us.”
the Christmas was past, I still took my two sons to the store that day and bought them what I had promised. The thing wasn’t the toy. The problem was I’d made a promise all too lightly and didn’t keep it as their father.
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When you’re living a busy life, every minute must be accounted for, you feel like you must be checking something off the list, or __ to the next destination, And no matter how you ___ _ your attention there’s never enough time in a day to catch up.
Six years ago I was lucky to have a stop-and-smell-the roses type of___ _.When I needed to be out, she was taking her time___ a purse and a crown. When I needed to have a quick lunch, she’d___ _ to speak to the elderly woman who looked like her grandma.
___ _ my child caused me to deviate from (偏离)my schedule, I thought to myself, “We don’t have___ _ for this.” As a result, the two words I most ___ _ spoke to her were; “Hurry up.”
I started my __ _ with it. “ Hurry up and eat your breakfast.” I ___ _ my day with it. “Hurry up and get in bed.” Although the words did little to___ my child’s speed, I said them __ .
Then one day, things __ _.We’d just picked my older daughter up from kindergarten and were getting out of the car. Not going ___ _ enough, my older daughter said to her little sister, “You are so slow.” When she crossed her arms and let out a sigh, I saw__ _ it was a terrible sight.
I was a mother who pushed and pressured and ___ a small who simply wanted to enjoy life.
My eyes were opened; I saw the___ my hurried existence was doing to my children. I looked into my small child’s eyes and said, “I ___ _ to be more patient from now on.” I ___ _ her who was now smiling at her mother’s promise.
Living at a slower speed still takes a（n）__ _,but my younger daughter is my living reminder of why I must keep trying.
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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。
A Japanese farmer bought a big foreign tractor to grow his corn and apples in northern Japan. The giant tractor __ _the waste land into fields at an amazing speed.___ __, he was troubled by the damage caused by raccoon dogs .Just when the sweet corn was ready to be____ __,it was ruined.
“I placed___ ___in several places around the fields,but ended up trapping a young raccoon dog. The mother stayed next to it,and didn’t_____ __when I approached. When I tried _____ ___ out to release the trap,the young raccoon dog bared its _____ ___and got really upset. It seems cruel,but I held its head down with my rubber boot _____ ____I released it from the trap. It didn’t run away,though. Right in front of ____ __, the mother started licking the young one’s ___ ____ leg. Seeing that, I felt committed an awful crime. “
“I_____ ____told them ‘Stop eating our corny But then I started leaving small piles of second rate corn around the ____ __of the fields. They’re not good enough to sell. The next morning when I went to the fields, they’d completely _____ __. But the raccoon dogs had caused ___ ___more damage at all. So at harvest time I decided to ____ ___using the traps and put out the corncobs without kernels .After that,__ ___ by the raccoon dogs stopped almost completely. So I figured that farmers suffer this sort of damage because they ___ _ _everything. After all,we,d turned what used to__ _ the raccoon dogs into fields. I worried that if I actually fed them,the raccoon dogs would even more __ _ ,but that didn’t happen.
I suppose you could say that my eyes were opened to the mysteries of nature. Anyway,I realized that nature didn’t work in the __ _ that most people thought.”
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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。
At a gathering, we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank.
Frank began to tell us of his childhood. "I in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to the family."
He looked at us and said, "I you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for the . When you got close to him, he like the ocean. He would wear his old coat and his overalls. No matter how much my mother them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish."
Frank's voice dropped a bit. "When the weather was bad he would me to school. He had this old truck that was older than he was he would drive toward the school, I would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear. He would right in front of the school gate, and it seemed like everybody be standing around and watching. Then he would over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so for me. I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!"
He and then went on, "I remember the day when I said 'No' ”
It was the first time I had ever talked to him that , and he had this surprised look on his face.
I said, 'Dad, I'm too for a goodbye kiss. '
My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him . He turned and looked out the windshield(挡风玻璃). 'You're right,' he said. 'You are a big boy....a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'”
Frank got a sad look on his face, and the tears began to in his eyes, as he spoke. "It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”
Tears were running down Frank’s cheeks. He spoke again. "Guys, you don't know what I would to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek....to feel his rough old face....to smell the ocean on him....to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a , I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss."
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