A man had two sons. They were twins. They were b_______ at almost the same time and looked quite alike. But in one important way, they were very d _______. One of them was an optimist (乐观主义者），while the other was a pessimist (悲观主义者）. The man was worried about his sons. There are good and bad things in one's life. He didn’t want his sons to be too pessimistic or too optimistic. He told his best friend Johnson about this p _______ .

Johnson was a man of many ideas. Then he asked, “When is their next b _______?” The father answered, “It’s on Wednesday. They will be twelve years old.” “ Excellent,” Johnson said. “ Here's what you should do. Give your pessimistic son a really nice present. Give your optimistic son a really p _______ present. That will work!”

The father did as his friend told him. On Wednesday morning, the two boys got their birthday presents. The pessimist looked at his first. It was a very expensive gold watch, but he was not p _______ with it. He said, “I don't like this very much. I am sure it won't keep good time. It will always be fast or slow, and it will p___________break easily. Then I have to spend lots    of money getting it repaired.” Then the optimist looked at his present. He was really pleased. “Look! Dad has given me shoelaces (鞋带),” he said. He held up the shoelaces and said, “I can use it when I have new shoes.”