Hana hated waiting. She couldn’t wait for it to snow as soon as leaves turned yellow and whenever _________ family started a trip she always asked if they had arrived.

So when Grandma told her she would have a baby cat of her own in _________ week(s), it sounded like forever. “How will I know when four weeks is?” “Use the _________,” suggested her brother Randy. That sounded _________ to Hana so she took her brother’s advice.

“But _________?” she asked. “What does the moon look like now?” Randy asked. “That is easy. It’s a full moon.” Hana said. “Will it _________ be full tomorrow?” said Randy. Hana hesitated. “Well, almost. But it will be a little smaller.” “That’s right.” Randy said. “And it’ll keep getting smaller _________ we can’t see it at all! And then it’ll come back when it’s just a skinny (极瘦的) moon, and it’ll get fatter and fatter and finally it’s a full moon again!”

“It takes four weeks to go from full moon to full moon. By the next full moon, it’ll be time to _________ your baby cat.” Randy added.

Then Hana _________ to draw a picture of the moon every night. Her first picture was round and full and golden. Then the moon started getting skinnier. Every day Hana drew more pictures. When the moon was covered with clouds, she drew clouds instead.

A few nights later, Hana’s dad called her to the __________. “Look, Hana—a crescent (月牙形) moon outside!” Now every night the moon got __________. Finally, the night came when Hana __________ the window again and covered her paper with a huge, round, golden moon, just __________ her first picture. “Is it time?” she asked.

It was time. Father started the car and __________ to Grandma’s house with her family. At Grandma’s house Hana chose a black baby cat. She was black like the night, and her eyes shined like the moon. Hana scooped up the cat and kissed her little nose.

That night, Hana had a sound sleep. Because for her, she not only got a baby cat, but also learnt a lesson—the importance of being __________.

Riya spent the first week of high school trying to get used to the new life here. One of the main headaches for her was finding her way in the huge school building. It was a six-story building. On each floor, stretched in four directions, leading to classrooms, laboratories, and teachers’ offices. Riya found it impossible to get around in such a huge building, so she decided only to memorize where her classroom was.

In her first PE class, Riya was shocked when Coach Pitt announced that everyone had to run one mile around the track (跑道) outside. To Riya, “a mile” meant long distances. It was ten miles from her home to her grandfather’s, and that always seemed like a long way, even in a car! How she wished for a chance to escape from running. However, she had no choice but to face the challenge.

When the running started, Riya was afraid she would be left behind. However, while some of her classmates ran ahead, others actually fell behind. “It’s just the beginning,” she thought. “I’ll come in last for sure.”

Soon Riya began to breathe hard. Feeling hopeless, Riya then started to use a mind trick (诀窍). She stopped thinking about the word “mile.” Instead, she focused on reaching the shadow (影子) on the track by the tree up ahead. Then she tried hard to run to the place where the track curved (拐弯). After that, she tried to see if she could complete her first lap (一圈). One lap turned into two, then three, then four.

When Coach Pitt said “Nice work!” to her at the finish line, Riya was surprised. Looking around, she realized what her coach meant. Instead of being left behind, she found she was the third one to finish running. Her mouth curved up into a smile and her face lit up with a sense of confidence and the word “mile” was no longer a big challenge for her.

______. So she stopped racking her brains for which direction to go. Instead, she created a detailed map of the six-story building, and broke down the routes (路线) into smaller parts. She explored each day, one at a time. Days turned into weeks, and getting around the huge building seems like a piece of cake for her now.