Stephen is a famous basketball player. It was self-belief, hard work and perseverance     1     made him a success.

Stephen’s grandfather built a simple basket by     2     (attach) a piece of plastic to a telephone pole along a narrow muddy road different from the bright lights and shiny courts of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The bumps and rocks caused the ball to bounce in all     3     (direct).     4     (know) where the ball would go wasn’t very easy. However, practising day in and day out made Stephen improve his skills.

Many people, including his high school teammates and coaches, thought Stephen was too short, too thin and too weak     5     start his career.     6     he regarded playing basketball as his dream. He would not give up. He finally ended up playing college ball at Davidson College,     7     his creativity and perseverance made him a star player. In 2009,     8     (select) by the NBA, Stephen joined the Golden State Warriors. In 2015, Stephen won his first NBA championship, and he led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. In addition, he received the Most Valuable Player award for two years     9     a row. Stephen shared his philosophy: be yourself, value the fact that you can work every single day to get     10    (good), and be able to put in the time and the work. His success has shown us that nothing is impossible.

Christoper Reeve was born in 1952 to a novelist father and a journalist mother. From 1978 to 1987, he     1     (give) the lead role to star in four Superman films     2     were very popular and successful. A terrible disaster in 1995 changed the course of his life forever. While horseback riding, he     3     (break) his neck. As a result, he had no movement or feeling in his body and couldn’t even breathe     4     the help of a machine. His injuries were so severe     5     many doctors believed he would not survive. At first, Reeve’s being trapped in a broken body made him very     6     (depress) but eventually, he decided to recover as best as he could. He undertook an intense exercise programme     7     (design) to help him rebuild muscle. Alongside this, he became a passionate and     8     (energy) advocate for others     9     (suffer) similar injuries and raised millions of dollars for medical research. He inspired many people with his confidence to recovery and his desire to help others. For that reason he     10     (remember) by many as a superhero in real life, as well as in films.

A’Driane Nieves didn’t attend art school, and she never dreamed of     1     (become) an artist. That changed when Nieves began to struggle     2     mental health. Painting is not only treatment for her, but it’s her career now. “Painting is now the primary way that I express     3     (I),” Nieves said. Nieves experienced deep     4     (anxious) after giving birth to her second son in 2010.

Nieves tried crocheting (钩编) for about two weeks. She admitted she was     5     (bore) with it. And one day, she picked up painting. As she poured the paint and moved it around with her hands, she felt     6     sense of relief. I felt     7     (complete) different from what I had before,” she said.

Since she started painting in 2012, Nieves     8     (create) more than 1,000 pieces. In 2012, she set up her nonprofit Tessera Arts Collective,     9     aimed to encourage people with a mental disorder to be kind to themselves. “You have the right     10     (live) a full and healthy life even while managing a mental health condition like this.” she said.