Every Wednesday my dad would let me drive his truck to the end of the road to drop off the rubbish. For a 12-year-old boy, life didn't get any ______（16） than driving a real truck.That truck was my first taste of freedom. It was also my first taste of regret（后悔）.

It was a cool summer evening. While I was ______（17） the rubbish from around the house, Miss Sue walked in to visit my parents. After saying hello to Miss Sue, I carried the rubbish bags to the truck. ______（18）looking behind me, I put the truck in reverse（给挂上倒挡） and only backed up a foot or two when it hit something. I got out of the truck and ______（19） a large dent（凹痕）in the passenger's side door of Miss Sue's car. I knew I should go and tell them what had happened. I was ______（20）that my dad wouldn't let me drive his truck any more, and that I would ______（21）the repairs. So instead of doing the right thing, I drove the truck away. A week later, Mum told me that someone had hit Miss Sue's car but left without leaving a note or ______（22）. It was clear that Miss Sue had not noticed the dent that ______（23）at all. I felt ashamed but I didn't tell Mum the truth. For years, I kept it to myself. It wasn't until 8 years later that I ______（24） told my mum the whole story. I hit Miss Sue's car many years ago, but I still have the smell of ______（25）in my nose. A smell that is a lot stronger than any rubbish I ever took out.

Passage 1

Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for 10-15 minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for 60 to 70 minutes a day - which really for handwriting is pretty much.

Many adults remember learning that way - by copying letters over and over again.Today's thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas.After all, that is why we write.

Handwriting involves two skills.One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency-writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.

But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important anymore because of computers and voice recognition programs.

But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive（草体字）, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board,

Which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75 percent of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.

B

You know how wonderful you are, and you know that others know how wonderful you are, but what do you do when admiration crosses over the line into jealousy? For most teens there will come a day when you realize that one of your friends is jealous and that this jealousy is hurting your friendship. When this happens, it can seem like there is nothing that you can do, but the good news is that there is. Don't let jealousy spoil your relationships. Deal with it straight and you might be back to normal much sooner than you think.

It can be hard to walk up to a friend and ask them what the problem is, but if you want to save your friendship you'll have to do just that. Don't approach them and ask why they are jealous of you, just spend some time alone with them and let them know that you've been feeling like there's been something coming between you. If they refuse to respond, then use the opportunity to explain how you have been feeling.Chances are that something you say will strike a nerve and your friend will open up as well.

When you figure out what is annoying your friend, ask him what he thinks would make the situation better. If, for example, he says that he feels like he doesn't get to spend any time with you because of your being off with your new friends from the swim team then maybe you could invite him along the next time or block off one day a week for just the two of you. Remember, though, that whatever solution you decide on should be a compromise. Don't limit your own talents or opportunities simply because your friend is unhappy. Try instead to include him in your new life and see how that works out.

Even the best of friendships can be tinged(带有...色彩)by jealousy. This destructive emotion is rarely productive and can turn best friends into worst enemies. Before taking extreme action, chat with your jealous friend to see if the two of you can work out a compromise. If you can't, be prepared to know exactly how far you will go to keep your friend and how far you won't.

A

What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.

We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.

Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”

Failure is an important process you can learn from. ______(41) 

Most people view failure as something that should be avoided at all costs. ______(42) It may have been an “F” we received in primary school or the high expectations our parents placed upon our shoulders that stopped us from trying.

An award-winning psychologist and author, Ron Friedman, tells the story of how Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, revolutionized the women’s clothing industry and became a billionaire owing to her special understanding of failure.

______(43) She had zero experience in the clothing industry, lacked an education in business and raised only $5,000 to invest. When asked where she found the courage, she gave all credit to her dad. While most parents asked their kids, “How was your day?” when sitting down for dinner, Sara’s parents asked her and her brother, “What did you fail at today?” each and every night.

When interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Sara said, “I learn from my father failure is not the outcome. Instead, it means you tried. It forced me at a young age to want to push myself so much further out of my comfort zone.” ______(44) It became more about learning and less about a personal weakness.

If we view failure as weakness, we avoid stepping out of our comfort zone. ______(45) It does not define us, but instead matures us. I’m sure that there are many risks we would all take in our personal, professional and spiritual lives if we could get past a fear of failure.