In a national spelling contest, an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her soft voice the judges（裁判） were not sure1she spelled the word with the letter A or E. Finally, they decided to ask her what she had said. By now, the girl knew she had made a mistake. But instead of lying, she told the truth that she had said the2letter—so she lost the contest.
As the girl walked off the stage, all the people stood up to cheer her3. Later, lots of newspapers reported her, even when it cost her the contest. But the fact is that she4the biggest contest that day—the contest of her character.
5the biggest test of our character is what we would do if we knew we would never get caught. This young girl could easily have6and nobody would have known it but herself. But that's just it：she would know she did wrong. It's been said, "If you cheat, you make yourself cheap. "She knew she would have to live with herself and the7she made at that moment will have a long—lasting influence.
It's so true that the choices you make today make what you are tomorrow. Our children will8our behavior much more than our advice. So if we want them to9to be honest, we must show them the way by being honest ourselves. Remember, our kids are watching what we do and how we live10when we don't think they see or know.
