It is said that leaves live for flowers. But when flowers have gone, what do leaves live ________? I didn’t know myself until recently.

One day last month, when I got back home from school, I smelt something nice. I saw ________ plant with some red and pink flowers on the tea table. “________   beautiful they are!” I said. The flowers which had leaves around them stood in a bottle with some water in it. Mom said, “I buy them in a flower market just now.” I took the plant out. I found it was cut from a tree, ________ it bad no roots（根）. I thought the flowers would die in a few days. It made me ________ a little sad. Over the next few days, the flowers died one by one. Finally only the leaves were left. “They ________ also die soon,” I thought. But the leaves became much ________ than before. I wondered why.

One day I took the plant out again. “Wow,” I was very surprised to find that there were many little roots at the ________ end. That was why the leaves didn’t die! I ________ that leaves lived not only for flowers, but also for themselves. Leaves have ________ own lives. The plant is still in the bottle on the table with many green leaves. They are more beautiful than the flowers!

Lots of junior high school students enjoy sports. My classmates and I had a lot of ______ at our school’s yearly sports meeting last week.

It was pretty ________ for me because I took part in the 800-meter race for the first time. Though I practiced running hard every day, I was still nervous on the day of the meeting.

My arms were shaking and my heart was beating ________ when I stood at the starting line. Facing the endless runway, I felt like a boat fighting against the wind and rain. I ________ myself that simply being in the race was a victory itself. I started to calm down.

Just then, the starting gun ________ and all the runners rushed out like tigers running down a hill. By the time I finished the first lap（圈）, I felt I had used up almost all my ________. But I had to keep running for the last 400 meters. I felt I couldn’t breathe. Looking at the runners in front of me, as they got closer to the finishing line, I really wanted to ________ running and sit down. But I reminded myself that it must be a victory to keep going and it filled me with strength（力量）again. With my remaining strength, I desperately（拼命地）________ to the finishing line.

I ________ in the seventh place. This might have been a small achievement to other people. But it made me feel excited and ________. I have tried my best.