Grandpa’s Investment Pays Off

When I was a student, my family went through a few rough financial years. We _______, but with much effort and many worries.

I had a pick-up truck that was _______ breaking down and the thought of the 600 km drive to school in it was a（n）_______ one. As I drove away from home one day, my uncle walked up. I stopped and he _______something onto my dashboard（仪表板）.

He leaned against the window, speaking softly. “Years ago,” he said, “when I was a _______ student myself your grandfather once did this to me. I _______ one day I would return the _______. And now I have.”

Then he _______ without looking back, and I _______ he did so in order to hide his emotions.

A few miles later I opened the __________. It contained a few bank notes. It was a gift __________ more than two decades later to a second generation; it is almost like a full circle, __________ I’m the only one who bears my grandfather’s name. The amount（金额）was not large. Twenty years ago it had been __________ to buy a full trolley of groceries，or a few tanks of fuel. At this moment it was just a（n）__________, something to express his good intentions. But my uncle was jobless at the time and I almost had no money. Therefore for both of us, it was a（n）__________ amount.

I paid it forward some years later to another poor boy with an old car, __________ the amount for inflation（通货膨胀）. As far as I can __________ that boy has been the only one I’ve told this __________ to-until now. I can only __________ that one day he will pay it forward too.

I couldn’t help but feel that Grandpa made a good __________ all those years ago.

   Today, I was phoning at an ATM that was situated inside a gas station. The security guard who was an old man _______ reminded me that I could not use my cell phone there and that it was _______. When I came outside, he smiled at me and I had a strong wish to _______ him.

At first, I felt a little sympathetic (同情的). In my _______, he seemed like a poor, elderly man who was still working. He was _______ at first and just talked about his family in a small voice. When he talked about his _______, he was happy. He told me that she always _______ him, even though she was married herself. Then he _______ his son, who “has a heart of gold”. He also told me I had better _______ some money for my old age, and I thanked him for his ________.

________ we spoke, he opened up quite a bit. He told me about his limited income and how the family were still ________ in spite of all the difficulties. I had nothing to give except ________. I thought about ________ him money, but it didn’t feel quite right. In our conversation , it was ________ that he wanted my time, not my money. I did not want to take away his ________ by giving him money.

By the time the conversation ________, I was close to tears. Ordinary people — when given the opportunity to ________ their story — are real gems (难能可贵的人). Sometimes, time and ________ are the best gifts you can give. That thought made me ________ listening to this old man.

Once a traveler came into a village, 【小题1】（hunger）. The villagers tried to stop the traveler from staying, 【小题2】（fear）he wanted them to give him food. They told him that there's no food anywhere 【小题3】（find）. The traveler gave an 【小题4】（explain）that he didn't need any food and that, 【小题5】 fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with all of them. The villagers watched 【小题6】（strange）as he built a fire and filled a large pot with water. Then he pulled a stone from a bag, dropping the stone into the pot. He tasted the soup and said 【小题7】delicious the stone soup was. As the villagers began to show interest, he said how good the soup 【小题8】（be）with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brought out a cabbage to share. This event repeated 【小题9】（it）until the soup had cabbage, carrots and onions-indeed, a large soup that fed everyone in the village.

Are you like one of the villagers, holding back？If you come forward and share your gifts, you will encourage others to do the same. The reward is 【小题10】 gift that can benefit（使受益）many.

   A total of 17 paintings worth between 10 and 15 million euros were stolen at a museum in northern Italy, local officials said on Friday.

Three armed men with masked faces broke into the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona on Thursday night, a local newspaper reported. Located inside a castle which was built in 1354 ,the Castelvecchio Museum is one of the most important museums in the northern city.

The stolen paintings included masterworks from Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Bellini, Hans de Jode and other world-famous artists. The group controlled the only private security guard who was there and the cashier, and then forced the guard to accompany them to the rooms where they stole the paintings.

Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi, who stayed at the scene until late in the night, said that surely someone sent them, because they acted professionally, and knew what they were looking for. The paintings stolen, he added, basically  were the most valuable works on display. An investigation was opened into the theft.

The museum displays a very important collection of Italian and European art in 29 rooms including early Christian finds, Lombard gold work, sculptures from the 10th to the 14th century, medieval arms  and armor, and paintings from the 14th to the 18th century.

The museumi's director, Paola Marini, called herself shocked by the theft. The experienced art historian, who is about to leave her post after over 20years, was receiving an award in a nearby restaurant when she was informed of what had happened.

The theft came just a day after two stolen paintings recently recovered by Italian heritage police were displayed in Rome during a ceremony attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.