8 . Four years ago, I received a call from the headmaster. He asked me to speak to the group.

After receiving the call, I was so ________ that I couldn’t sleep the whole night. Finally, I decided to give the speech. I thought that the school would never invite me to any of their programs again if I ________ this chance. The next day, I got to school. Before it was my turn, my whole body was shaking and my mouth was dry. It was on that day that I ________ my greatest weakness — public speaking.

After my speech, I met with the headmaster and explained what happened to me. He told me that it was very ________ and most people experienced it. He suggested that I try again the next week. I ________ it and spent a whole week practicing the speech. This time I became more relaxed but still not ________. I was not sure whether I did my best.

A few months later, the headmaster invited me to give a talk at a meeting attended by more than 100 headmasters. I ________ it day and night. This time it went very well and won the hearts of all the audience (听众).

After giving this speech ________, I said to myself, “If I dare to speak in front of so many learned audience, like headmasters who ________ others, I can now speak in front of others too.”

As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Everything is possible if we have the ________ to take the first step.

9 . Going to a movie now has been a part of our life. But have you ever thought of blind people watching movies?

64-year-old Wang Fokun lost his eyesight in his fifties. He had to give up his hobby of watching movies then. But in the past two years, a theater has helped him to get his love for the cinema back. Every Saturday, Wang travels 40 minutes to “watch” a movie.

It’s at Xindeng Theater in Kunming that Wang “watches” the movie. With the help of volunteers, Wang enjoys himself along with many other blind people. The volunteers describe what is happening on the screen, including when the story happens, what the actors or actresses look like, what they are doing…Thanks to the description, the blind can throw themselves into the movie. They laugh when something funny happens and cry during sad scenes.

The task of describing the movie is not as simple as it sounds. The volunteers must be familiar with every scene in the movie. “I watch a movie at least three times and write down every small part,” one of the volunteers said. And they have to practice many times before they do the job. However, they all enjoy the experience. “We’re glad to bring enjoyment to the audience (观众) by explaining the movie,” they said. So far, thousands of blind people have enjoyed more than 100 films described by them. They all agree that the volunteers do a great job.