1 . People get angry because they don’t know enough to keep calm. I couldn’t control my emotions and used to feel annoyed (使恼怒) when I was a child. Worse still, I was not good at communicating with my ______. I didn’t have a very good relationship with my family.

One morning, my mother ______ handed me my father’s vest (背心) instead of mine. I was larger in build than my father. So when I ______ the vest, it was tight and I felt uncomfortable. I realized that it was a mistake of hers. I got very ______. The mistake grew out of her carelessness.

I took out my anger on my mother ______ thinking much. I was so upset that she had handed me the ______ vest. I behaved badly and I threw it ______! Later, my mother shared her sad feeling with my father, “See what your son has done.” Instead of punishing me, my father behaved very ______. He asked my mother to ______ the vest clean. He then wore it to work the next day.

After a long time, mother told me about my father’s ______. “How come my child turns out this way?” he said. I immediately had a great sense of shame for my bad behavior. I ______ that he spent the whole day wearing a vest that his son threw away. He must feel terrible. I was ______ with great admiration (钦佩) for my father. His kindness taught me a life lesson.

On that day, I decided never to let anger get the better of me. I learn to ______ myself down and forgive others when I was treated in an unfair or unacceptable way. ______ I found forgiveness is a way to turn anger off. And whenever I have difficulty controlling my strong emotion, I try to ______ my father’s vest.

2 . There was once a boy called Joseph Webb who always loved to show off how many friends he had at school. One day his ________ said to him, “Joseph, I bet (打赌) you a big bag of popcorn that you don’t have as many friends as you think. I’m sure many of them are nothing more than companions.”

Joseph ________ the bet at once. However, he wasn’t sure how to test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandfather. The old man answered, “Wait a minute.” Then he left and ________ soon as if carrying something in his hands, but Joseph could see nothing there.

“Take it. It’s a very ________ chair because it’s invisible (看不见). It’s rather ________ to sit on, but if you take it to school and ________ to sit on it, you’ll activate (激活) its ________ and it’ll be able to tell who your real friends are.”

Joseph, brave and determined, set off for ________ with the strange and invisible chair.   At break time he asked everyone to form a ________, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. Having difficulty seeing it, Joseph tried to sit on it but he ________ the seat and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone around him had a pretty good laugh.

“Wait! Let me try again, ”Joseph said. But again, he missed the seat,________ more surprised looks and a few catcalls. Joseph didn’t ________ and kept trying to sit on the magic chair. But he kept falling to the ground...until, suddenly he tried again but didn’t ________. Looking around, Joseph saw three of his best friends holding him up.________, many others he had thought of as friends had done nothing but make fun of him. And there, the show came to an end. Joseph understood that true friends were those who care for him, and not just the ________ that happened to be passing by. And someone who took joy in his misfortunes was even less of a friend.

4 . What does it mean to be a hero? I think a hero is someone who goes out of his way to make others happy. My hero is Mr. Wright, my chorus (合唱队) teacher.

When I was 12 years old, my grandparents passed away. I was really close to them, and losing them was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to ________ through. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or think; I felt like I couldn't even breathe. It was as if my whole world had fallen down from under me, and I ________ into this huge hole of depression (抑郁).

________ I was battling depression, I was determined to make my high school years the best of my life. It was difficult to be ________ , but I had to try. I joined Women’s Choir. Mr. Wright was the choral director and he was so funny that the first day, I just knew I had made the best ________ of my life.

As the year progressed, I loved chorus more and more. I began to smile again and really enjoy life.

Then one day that all changed. My friends—or those that I thought were my friends—started talking about me behind my back. I was hurt , and I sat by myself. Mr. Wright came over and asked what was wrong. The look in his eyes told me that I could ________ him. Trying hard to ________ back tears, I told him the whole story.

When I finished, he nodded and told me, “If you never learn anything from me, learn this: No one is worth ________ your joy. ” What Mr. Wright said really ________ a chord (心弦）in my heart. He ________ cared about me and what was going on. I’ll never be able to thank him enough, because he not only saved me but has ________ every day of my life since. Any time I feel like giving up, I remember Mr. Wright's words and push forward.

I’m proud to say that I ________ my depression, and I'm now a senior. I’m still a part of chorus, and now I'm also in the best choir at my school.

Mr. Wright is a hero to everyone he meets. He cares about every single person who walks through his door, and he loves what he does more than any other teacher I've known. That’s ________ he deserves to be Educator of the Year. He deserves the ________ not just this year but every year.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet you, Mr. Wright. You are an ________ teacher, and I hope you realize that. You’re my hero.

5 . I decided to ski to the North Pole. It was after I saw a(n) _______ in a newspaper looking for people to join a team that would _______ 350 miles to the magnetic North Pole. Back in 1996, a woman from the UK had never _______ this challenge. I wondered what it would be like to _______ in temperatures that cold, so I sent off for the application form.

When the application form _______, it said “Are You Man Enough for the Ultimate Challenge?” and it was full of pictures of _______ explorers. I was angry and decided that women could do it too, so it made me even more _______ to get on the team.

Over 500 individuals _______ for a place in the team, and the selection process included physical and psychological tests designed to _______ the best group. Our test was to complete the Sandhurst military assault course, where the UK’s best officers are trained, and it’s not   for ________. We had to climb a huge rope ladder, and I stopped at the top because I have a fear of ________. I thought all hope was ________. But two others helped me over, and later I found out that the organizers were not looking for amazing ________, but great team players, and this moment had shown them who would ________ others in the team.

I had also shown my real self, and in a place like the Arctic, you have to be yourself, ________ there is nowhere to hide. These ________ of asking for help and showing your real self are necessary for women to master.       

I realized that by being myself, I could ________. I was chosen for the team, and as a result became the ________ British woman to ski to the Magnetic North Pole. I realized that I could achieve more than I ever ________ was possible—but more importantly, by sharing my story with others, I could ________ them to take a step into the unknown.

6 . “It’s over! Thank goodness!” school was _______ and I was tired. I _______ at the front of the school bus.

Janie, the driver, tries to _______ the uncomfortable atmosphere by striking the match of talks. I try to listen _______, but usually I am too _______ thinking about my day. On this day, however, her talk was worth _______.

“My father’s ill ,” she said to no one in particular (特别地). I could see worry in her _______. I had never seen her like this before. She always meets students _______ a smile.

With a sudden change of interest, I asked, “what’s wrong with him?”

With her eyes wet and her voice _______, she answered, “Heart trouble.” Her eyes lowered as she continued. “I’ve already ________ my mum, so I don’t think I can stand losing him.” I couldn’t answer. My heart ached for her.

I sat on the ________ thinking of the great pain my own mother was thrown into when her father died. I saw how hard it was, and still is, for her. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that.

Suddenly I realized Janie wasn’t only a bus ________, that was just her job. She had a whole world of family and cares ________.

I suddenly ________ very selfish. I paid no attention to Janie because she was a bus driver. I had judged her by her job and brushed her off as unimportant.

I shouldn’t have been so selfish and self-centered. ________ people is an art.

8 . I live in a big city with a lot of homeless people. Luckily there’re small ways of helping them and you needn’t have a lot of ________. One way to help is to buy their monthly magazine. ________ doing this one day, I got to ________ a young homeless man. He was often ________ the magazine at the train station.

He was a poor farmer from another country. After a while, I discovered that his

________ was close to mine. It meant that we were born in the same month.

I met him last year________ after his birthday, and after congratulating him, without ________, I asked if he had had a good day. He looked down and said that he hadn’t really celebrated. I felt so ________.

I just couldn’t bear the thought of (不敢想) this nice, young man being ________on his 20th birthday with no presents, no cake, nothing! So I went home and looked in my yarn (纱线) basket. ________ for me, I had enough yarn left. I set to work and knitted (编织) a ________ for the young man. The yarn had become a little dirty ________ I didn’t knit very often. Then I washed the yarn so the scarf would be ________ when he got it.

I met him on my own birthday as I was going shopping. I had hoped to meet him so I had carried the scarf and a piece of my own birthday ________ around with me. He was very happy with these gifts and so was I. The ________ in his eyes was the best present he could have given me!

9 . I was in a department store with my family a few days ago. Usually I am one of those people who do not like to go shopping. ________, I decided this time to join them.

My mother and I were ________ for some things to buy when I noticed two chairs on the side. One of them had a little girl sitting on it with her ________ nearby and the other one was ________. So I decided to sit down. While I was doing my own things there, I noticed that the family were not in front of the ________ any more. I saw the girl ________and look around for her family. She came back and I saw her in tears, ________.

I knew that she lost her family and was all________herself. I am sure that almost everybody has been lost ________ before and we all know that feeling. ________I went up to her and asked what was wrong and in tears she told me she was________. I gave her a toy I just bought and told her a joke. You can imagine the ________ on her face when she heard it. Then I went up to customer service center and told them ________ had happened. People there promised to ________her. After I left, the little girl's parents went there. Later I was told that they looked around for the person who had found their daughter and given her the ________. Little did they know it was an ordinary teenager who did it.

10 . My parents operated a small restaurant in Seattle. It was open twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. And my first real job, when I was six years old, was _________ the diners’ shoes. My father had done it when he was young, so he taught me _________ to do it efficiently (有效地), telling me to _________ to re-shine the shoes if the customer wasn’t _________.

Working in the restaurant was a cause of great _________ because I was also working for the good of the family. But my father _________ that I had to meet certain _________ to be part of the team. I had to be punctual (守时的), hard-working, and polite to the _________.

I was _________ paid for the work I did at the restaurant. One day I made the mistake of advising Dad that he __________ give me $10 a week. He said, “OK. How about you paying me for three meals a day you have here? And __________ the times you bring in your friends for free soft drinks?” He __________ I owed him about $40 a week.

I remember returning to Seattle after being __________ in the US Army for about two years. I had just been promoted (升迁) to Captain at that time. And full of pride, I walked into my parents’ restaurant, but the __________ thing Dad said was, “How about your __________ up tonight?” I couldn’t __________ my ears! I am an officer in the Army! But it didn’t __________ as far as Dad was concerned. I was just __________ member of the team. I reached for the mop (拖把). Working for Dad has taught me the devotion to a __________ is above all. It has nothing to do with __________ that team is involved in a family restaurant or the US Army.