1 . Park City is the best-known ski town in Utah, the US. It snows for nearly six ________ every year from November to April. So it is a ________ place for winter sports. Many of the people who live there are professional athletes (运动员). Over time, ________ has become a symbol of the city and its people.

When I lived in the US, my friends and my family went on a trip to Park City together. After arriving, I decided to ________ how to ski.

My friend’s mom, Vicky, could teach me. I borrowed my friend Joey’s skis. They were so ________ that I couldn’t lift them! I tried going down a hill and fell face down into the snow. Vicky helped me up. She taught me two ________ things—keep my skis parallel (平行的) and look ahead, not down.

As I practiced, I ________ over and over again. Sometimes other children would come and ________ me up. They said most of the children here learned how to ski at a young age, and it was their responsibility to help others. I was moved by their ________ towards me.

At the end of the day, I could ski down a hill without difficulty. I will never ________ that experience because I not only realized my dream of learning to ski, but also saw how sports could connect people from different places.

2 . I often felt shy in front of a crowd of people. As ________ short girl, I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.

I still remember my first day in the new school. My teacher asked me to go to the blackboard to write my name on it. Of course I knew my name and how to write it. However, I ________ so shy that I was shaking. Standing at the blackboard with the eyes of so many students on my back made ________ nervous. I couldn’t remember all the things but those eyes. I didn’t know ________. I wanted to cry and I couldn’t write a word.

“Don’t be nervous. Just forget us and write your name,” the teacher said with a big smile, “________?” I was too nervous to answer. “Claire,” all the students answered but me. Then they ________ loudly. I went back to my seat ________. After class, the teacher asked me to go to her office, and told me everyone might feel nervous when speaking in front ________ many people. That was nothing. Just do it as often as possible. I followed her advice. Then I made ________ friends in the class than before and I tried my best to get better grades.

No one is always perfect. Sometimes, you feel terrible, while at other times, you are OK. We should learn ________ for a while and try to make a change.

3 . What does the power of role models mean to the young? Superstar Su Yiming may be one of the best persons to give a(n) ________. Su didn’t become a young idol (偶像) ________ he made history in Men’s Snowboard Big Air during the Beijing Winter Olympics before his 18th birthday. He not only won two medals (奖牌), but also beat his own idol in the same competition.

Su ________ young people to try their best to achieve their dreams. “I became ________ in snowboarding when I was a kid. And I kept ________ it. After I knew Beijing would host the 2022 Winter Olympics, I made the Olympics my ________ . I wanted to show the best of myself at the Games,” said Su Yiming.

Su only became a professional player about four years ago. But he kept his dream and trained hard for it, and finally he made great ________ . “Before the Beijing Winter Games, I had doubts if I could win, but I achieved my dream of winning a gold medal. So I want to tell the kids that they need to ________ the things they love and give them their best efforts. In this way, I believe their dreams will surely come true.

Su knew many young people looked up to him as a role model, so he said he couldn’t ________ his progress. “I will try my best to be responsible for myself and other young people and I will do ________ I can to set a good example for them,” Su said.

5 . Have you heard of the idiom (习语) “Let the cat out of the bag.”? It came from a town in England. Long long ago, people there thought it was very important ________ honest.

One day, Beth came to the market to buy ________ pig. A man said he had a baby pig for sale. Beth asked him how much ________ and he replied, “One gold coin.” The price wasn’t high, so Beth happily gave ________ a gold coin. The man gave Beth a closed ________, saying, “Here’s your pig.”

________ Beth got home, she happily opened the bag to let the pig out. However, ________ her surprise, there was a cat, not a pig! She thought, “I ________ by him.”

One day, the man went to the market to trick more people. When Beth saw him, she told his secret to everyone __________. Beth asked him to open the bag, but he refused. She had no choice but to take the man to the judge (法官).

“In the market, he said he was selling a pig,” said Beth. She took the man’s bag, ________ it and let a cat out of the bag. This way, Beth made people in town know the man’s secret.

Now when we say someone gives away a secret, we say “He lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting idiom came from.

I had been in poor health. I was always sick. So my parents ________ me to join a swimming club. I was not good at any kind of sports. They chose a good swimming ________ for me. Because they thought it would make me healthier.

The first day, I knew an old coach(教练). The coach looked very ________ and strict. I was worried that he might be mad at me and shout ________ me. I wanted to leave but my parents didn’t agree on my ________. They left the club and I stood there ________.

I ________ the water under the coach’s order. I knew the coach would punish me ________ I went back. Because he had told me some rules in the club, I had to swim in the water. At that time, a boy who was smaller than me swam quickly by me. He smiled at me and ________ me to swim. I suddenly felt very ashamed (羞愧的). Such a young child could swim very well. Why couldn’t I do so? I made up my mind that I would overcome my fear and make great progress.

After experiencing some ________ training, I could swim well three weeks later. At last, I really understood the old saying: where there is a will, there is a way.

A group of boys stood around a tree. “________!” they said to each other. “It would be excited ________ to the top!”

The group of ________ then decided to play a game to see who could climb to the top of the tree first. Their mothers were sitting not far away, looking at their children as they played. One of the climbers was ________ 8-year-old boy named David. He was the ________ child in the group. Nobody thought he would win the competition.

Then the game started. All of the boys tried their best to climb as high as they could. ________ they all made it halfway up the tree before David did, he reached the top of the tree fastest at last. ________ mother was proud to see this. She asked him, “David, how did you manage to reach the top of the tree so ________?”

“It was easy,” David said. “The other children kept looking down as they climbed. When realized how high they were, they got scared and were afraid of falling ________. I, however, looked only up. When I saw how near I was, I kept going higher and higher until I ________ the top.

It is true in life that if we just keep going forward without looking back, we are more likely to reach our goals (目标).