This is the best time and this is the worst time；this is the time of great material richness and this is the time of desert of the soul. Everyone seems to be rushing around for something but they have never fulfilled their dreams. Everyone tries to seek happiness but it seems to be nowhere to be found.

When asked "What on earth can make you happy？"，most modern men would give similar replies such as becoming extremely wealthy，or getting promoted in work and then becoming very wealthy. When asked "What will you do with your wealth？"，they would make a long list of things they have been longing for. However，haven't you noticed the multimillionaires are not as happy as we common guys suppose them to be？Haven't you noticed that the multimillionaire celebrities（名人）don't even enjoy the fundamental freedom of going shopping with their own families without being followed by annoying paparazzi？

If we focus our happiness on such big issues，we are bound to be unhappy all through our life，because those big issues might just occur to us once in a blue moon.

As Socrates（苏格拉底）once put it，"He is the richest man who is content with the least，for content is the wealth of nature. "But how can we" be content with the least"？If you pay due attention，you will find our life is loaded with little joys，sometimes too little to be noticeable. Stop once in a while in your rush to your destination，look around and you will see that there are always little things worth cheering for. You got an "A" in a test. Good！You listened to all inspiring lectures. Great！You offered a helping hand to someone who had a flat tire. Amazing！Your dream girl or boy greeted you with a sweet smile. Fantastic！Let's cheer for the little joys in life！Please keep in mind that never should we wait to be happy！

   When I was about 12, I had an enemy. A girl liked to point out my _____ Week by week her _____ grew: I was very thin; I wasn’t a good student; I talked too much; I was too _____ , always feeling superior to others, and so on. I tried to hear all these as long as I could. _____ , I became very angry. I ran to my father with _____ in my eyes.

He listened to me _____ , and then he asked, “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever _____ what you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s _____. Go and _____ a list of everything she said and mark the points that are ______. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

I did ______ he told me. To my great ______, I discovered that about half the things were true. I couldn’t ______ some of them, but a good number I could — and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I had a fairly ______ picture of myself.

I brought the list back to Daddy. He ______ to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know the truth about yourself ______ than anyone else. But you have to learn to ______, not just close your ears in ______, feeling hurt when something said about you is true, and you’ll find it of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your affairs. Don’t ______ your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

Daddy’s advice has always ______ me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.

“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” That’s one of the best-known old 【小题1】（say） in English. It means other places often look beer, more interesting than the place 【小题2】 you live.

Troubles in life are sure 【小题3】（appear）if we always think that way. We will not be able to see the goodness of our own lives, 【小题4】（believe）that we have nothing good to work with. We’ll lose focus, self-confidence, and even hope. We might feel sad and 【小题5】（anxiety）, feeling that what we have cannot ever be enough. 【小题6】（bad）still, it leads us to turn away from the main task of life — to make the most of what we have.

In fact the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. It only appears that way. The grass is the greenest where it 【小题7】（water）. When crossing over fences, carry water 【小题8】 you and take good care of the grass. The way to happiness is 【小题9】（actual）quite simple — the secret is to learn to value what you have 【小题10】 not to envy what you don’t have.

The Italian dinners we had every Sunday when I was a boy were feasts fit for a king. There 【小题1】（be）loaves of Italian bread ready to be eaten. They were great with butter and even 【小题2】（good）when you dipped them in the sauce（调味汁）. My grandma，【小题3】 we called“Nanny”，would always bake them a day ahead so they would be ready. I remember watching her hands make the dough（面团）. I would often ask to help only because I wanted to have 【小题4】 bite of the dough before she placed it in the pan to bake.

One day I 【小题5】（foolish）asked Nanny why she didn't just buy bread at the store 【小题6】（save）time. “Because it is not as good，”she said in 【小题7】（she）thick Italian accent. Then she laughed，smiled，and gave me a piece of bread to eat.

Nanny was right. Today I buy my bread at the store and it isn't as good. It is factory-made and lacks all the taste，【小题8】（warm），and love that Nanny put into hers. Store-bought happiness is a sad substitute for homemade joy. If you want lasting love，permanent peace，and 【小题9】（end）joy，then you will have to bake them 【小题10】your own.