Winston, a teacher, came into the classroom one morning. “Morning, my dears. I have a question     1     you today. Why do we have brakes（刹车）in our car?”

One student got up and replied, “Sir, to stop the car.” another one replied, “To control the speed of the car.” A third one said, “Not     2    （hit）other cars.”

Soon, all the students began to give similar answers. Being unhappy with them, the teacher decided to answer the question     3    （him）. He said, “I look at it in     4     different way—the brakes in the car help us to make it run much faster.”

Hearing this, all the students in the classroom kept     5    （silence）because no one had imagined this answer. The teacher continued, “Here’s one more truth.     6     our car has no brakes, we won’t have the courage to drive the car as fast as we can and reach our destination     7    （safe）in time.”

All students were surprised at what the teacher said. They never thought about brakes in the car this way.

The teacher     8    （smile）and continued, “Similarly, there are many such brakes in our life, such as the directions our parents need us to follow, the effort our teachers ask us to put in, or the progress we require ourselves in life.”

Most of us have experienced those difficult     9    （situation）and thought they were like brakes to stop our pace. But what if we regard them as our helpers? With the help of these brakes, we are able to take risks and make sure of our safety at the same time. As everyone can imagine, life is not always about moving on. Sometimes we have to stop to have a rest, so that we can run much     10    （fast）.

It is because of such situations that we are able to reach where we are today. When we make good use of these brakes, they are sure not to push us back, but to help us move forward, so that we can reach our destination quickly and safely.

Jane Scott is fourteen and the year before last she began to study in a middle school. She likes dancing and singing and spends a lot of time     1     them. But she hates math and does not work hard at it. She thinks it difficult to learn math. She falls behind(落后) her classmates and once     2     (fail) the math exam. She decides to give it up. Her father is angry     3     her when he knows about it.

It was Sunday. Mr. Scott gave a call to his sister who teaches math in another school. He hoped she would come and     4     (tell) his daughter how to learn math. The woman came quickly and said, “You’re a clever girl, Jane, I’m sure you’ll soon do well in math if you     5     (work) hard at it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t, Aunt.” said Jane. “Girls can’t     6     good at math.”

“I don’t think so.” said the woman. “I was good at it when I was a girl. You must do more exercises and practise a math problem again and again until you master(掌握) it. Remember: Practice     7     (make) perfect(熟能生巧). Well, here’s a math problem. Think about it and practice it again and again, then you     8     (work) it out.”

“OK,” said the girl, “Let me     9     (try).”

About an hour later, Jane took the exercise book to her aunt and said, “I     10     (do) the problem ten times.”

“Well done!” her aunt said happily, “What result did you get?”

“Ten answers.”

Who is your hero? Why do you like him or her? Cool looks? Money? A lot of talents? I think Helen Keller is one of the     1     (great) persons all over the world. Helen is a famous     2     (write) and educator in America. When she was about 19 months old, she got very ill and couldn’t see or hear at all. As time passed, things got even     3     (bad), she couldn’t understand anything.

One day a teacher came     4     (live) with Helen and her family. Her name was Anne Sullivan. The teacher helped Helen learn about words. Helen was very clever and she learned to spell her     5     (one) word. With the help of Miss Sullivan, Helen went to school when she grew older. Helen Keller spent her life     6     (help) many children. The world     7     (remember) her today as a brave and wonderful person. She was blind and deaf.

To many people, she was very     8     (luck). But she found a way     9     (see) and hear. Don’t stop trying. Helen Keller said so. From her true story, I know whatever (不管什么) we do and how hard it is, we     10     (not give) up.