Last year, I was assigned to work at an office near my mother's house.1 ， I stayed with her for a month. During that time, I helped her out with the housework and contributed to the 2.
After less than a week, I started to3 the groceries were running out pretty quickly.4 ， I began observing my mother's daily routine for two weeks. To my 5 ， I found that she would pack a paper bag full of canned goods and 6every morning at about nine. She took the food to the slums (贫民窟) and distributed it to street 7.
I asked around and 8 my mom was popular in the area. The kids looked up to her as if she were their own mother. Then it hit me—why didn't she want to tell me about what she'd been doing? Was she 9 that I would stop buying the groceries if I knew the truth?
When she got home, I told her about my discovery and 10she could react, I gave her a big hug and told her she didn't need to keep it a 11 from me. She told me that 12of the children lived with an old lady in a shelter while others 13 on the streets. For years, my mom has been helping out by 14them whatever food she could 15. I was so moved by how 16 she was. She used what was 17 for her to help others in need. And I was so18 of her.
I 19 to buy groceries for my mom. But now, I always add a(n)20 bag for her other children.
When Jack was a small boy, he was once asked to give a speech about “A Big Challenge in My Life”．To talk before the whole class, he was (terrible) shy the moment he thought of so many eyes (stare) at him. He had no other (choose), though. First Jack was to draft the speech, which was just a piece of cake for him because he was a good writer. But the hard part (lie) in his oral presentation, for it was not allowed to read from the paper. He had to give the speech his memory and in front of such a big audience!
A real trial began when Jack stood on the platform with his legs trembling and his mind blank. He didn't know how much time had passed by. His listeners were still waiting patiently and without any signs of laughing. Gradually he found himself back, (give) out his speech without much difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, he found the audience applauding. He made ！From then on, his fear of talking before the audience disappeared. Actually with his confidence (build) up, Jack now turns out to be a great speaker. As we know, the greater difficulty we meet on our way to (succeed), the likely we will achieve our goals.
At your next meeting, wait for a pause in conversation and try to measure how long it lasts.
Among English speakers, chances are that it will be a second or two at most. But while this pattern may be universal, our awareness of silence differs dramatically across cultures. What one culture considers a confusing or awkward pause may be seen by others as valuable moment of reflection and a sign of respect for what the last speaker has said. Research in Dutch (荷兰语) and also in English found that when silence in conversation stretches to four seconds, people start to feel uneasy. In contrast, a separate study of business meetings found that Japanese people are happy with silence of 8.2 seconds—nearly twice as long as in American meetings.
In Japan, it is recognized that the best communication is when you don't speak at all. It's already a failure to understand each other by speaking because you're repairing that failure by using words.
In the U．S., it may originate from the history of colonial (殖民地的) America as a crossroads of many different races. When you have a couple of difference, it's hard to establish common understanding unless you talk and there's understandably a kind of anxiety unless people are verbally engaged to establish a common life. This applies also to some extent to London.
In contrast, when there's more homogeneity, perhaps it's easier for some kinds of silence to appear. For example, among your closest friends and family it's easier to sit in silence than with people you're less well acquainted with.
