Three Thing I Learned While My Plane Crashed

On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 crash-landed on the Hudson River in New York City. Several large geese had flown into its engines and caused both of them     1     (fail). Due to a combination of pilot skill and pure luck, everyone on the plane     2     (survive) the accident.

Although it is an experience that he hopes no one else has to have, passenger Rick Elias learned a lot that day. He says that three important lessons came out of that terrifying moment. The first is in a life-or-death situation, “Everything changes in an instant.” He realized that it was important to do     3     that he wanted to do without postponing them.     4     it is fixing a friendship that has problems or going on an adventurous vacation, Elias says we shouldn’t wait.

As the plane went down, the second lesson Elias learned was that it was important to have negative energy     5     (eliminate) from his life. He saw that he had spent too much time winning arguments and feeling important. Now, he says, “I no longer try to be right; I choose to be happy.”

The final important lesson Elias learned was that although it wasn’t frightening to look death in the eye, it was sad. He realized     6     he really wanted was to see his children grow up. He understood that “the only thing     7     matters in my life is being a great dad.” He encourages other parents to be the best mothers and fathers they can be,     8     anything else.

Since then, Elias has lived those lessons. Even though he is the CEO of a growing company, he has also taken time to do good works. In 2012, he contributes $1 million toward the founding of Golden Door Scholars,     9     (provide) scholarships for immigrant students who want to attend university.

As Elias remembers that cold winter’s day in 2009, he knows “I     10     (give) a gift, which was to be able to see into the future and come back and live differently.” If you could look into your own future, what would you change now?

In our daily life, we often meet with difficulties. Some people do nothing but wait, while others try hard to conquer     1    . Personally, we should face difficulties positively and make every effort to overcome them.

My memory drew me back to five years ago when I was    2     18 -year-old student. At that time, I had great trouble studying English. First of all, I felt it hard to memorize English    3    (word). Besides I didn’t dare to say anything in class when I    4    (ask) questions. What annoyed me most was that I failed exams    5    (constant). I was about to give up    6    my English teacher found my problems. He encouraged me and gave me some good advice.So    7    (inspire) by him, I decided to settle my problems.     8    (follow) his advice, I made progress gradually. I am grateful    9    the teacher whose encouragement was of great    10    (important).

“Be true to yourself” is a     1     (common)used saying encouraging individuals to make decisions according to their own beliefs. However, one should always take into     2     (consider)the thoughts and opinions of others, because     3     outsider can often see the situation from a different point of view,     4     (offer)a different way of going about the problem. John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis     5     (seek)the advice of others on how to handle the situation and ended up making the right decisions. Lily from Edith Wharton’s “House of Mirth” was     6     (able)to listen to the advice of others and consequently made poor decisions. Asking for the opinions of others for personal or     7     (profession)decisions helps one avoid making the wrong decision.

Though it is important to remain true to     8     each of us truly believes in, we are expected     9     (keep)one ear open to objective opinions. Without the thoughts of others, we will find     10     more difficult to see the weakness in our own arguments and without this self-reflection we can never grow.