B:_____________ is OK, I'm free today and tomorrow.

    A woman repeated a bit of gossip(流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible(负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.

    "Go to the marketplace," he said, "and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck(拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road." Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.

    The next day the wise man said, "Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me."

    The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.

    "You see," said the old man, "it's easy to drop them, but it's impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn't take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong."

    Not everyone has the chance to be a detective(侦探). But I ever got one when I was thirteen years old. It happened in 1988.

    One afternoon, I was walking down the street when I saw my father's new car. I 1 to see my father, but to my 2, I saw a young woman driving instead. "She stole my father's car," I thought. So I quickly stopped a taxi and got in. I said to the driver, "Follow that new car 3 ." And I told him why.

    The taxi driver had a car telephone, and I asked him to call the police. Soon we heard the 4of a police car and its loudspeaker. The policeman told the woman to stop her car. Our car came to a stop, too. I 5  right now and said to the woman, "It's not your car. It's my 6."

    The woman smiled and said, "Oh. You're Mr. Johnson's younger son, right? I've ever seen your photo at your father's office."

    Before I could say 7 word, the woman explained that she was my father's new assistant. My father had asked her to take his computer to the shop to have it 8. He lent her his car. After hearing her words, we called my father and he told us what she said was 9. The police and the taxi driver laughed. I 10very sorry. It was both the first time and the last time for me to work as a detective. Don't you think my story funny?

—Sorry, my e-dictionary_________, I've looked for it everywhere but still_____ it.