1 . During my second year in high school, I got sick and missed a few days. When I _________, I was greeted with two essays due, three days of math and history homework, plus several tests. _________ I went home from school that day tired, I had to stay up really late to finish them all.

The next day at school, I got a rude awakening: I’d totally forgotten to prepare for the _________ on Romeo and Juliet, which I’d take _________ my lunch hour! Worse still, I had _________ the in-class discussion and all the notes. When lunch came, I went to the English room to face my certain doom (厄运). All I could do was try to _________ on the questions I didn’t know.

As it turned out, I didn’t know the majority of the questions. I was just about to give _________ when my pencil accidentally fell and broke. Standing by the blackboard sharpening my pencil, I _________ down and there was the answer for the test! “What good fortune! I can kiss good-bye to all my _________ of failing the test!” My heart started beating, and my brain __________, “Yes! Read over the answers—quickly!” This was quickly followed by another voice, “No! You’ll get caught! My mind turning back and forth, Yes! No! Yes! No!...” This went on for ten of the __________ seconds in my entire life.

Finally, I decided to finish the test on my own, without __________! I was satisfied with my decision but pretty __________ I had failed the test.

The next day when I walked into the English room, my great joy of having been an __________ soul changed into a wave of doom as I saw my test paper lying face down on my desk. I knew what awaited me. I stared at it a few seconds before I got up the __________ to turn it over.

You can only imagine my __________ when I learned that I had passed the test! I have never in my whole life been so happy to see my __________ a C-.

My mom says the victories that __________ the most courage are won within. Now I know __________ what she means. Now not only can my conscience (良心) rest easy, but I don’t have to worry about getting caught and meeting a sad __________ like Romeo and Juliet.

2 . HER moon-shaped head appears on everything from schoolbags to fashionable watches. And _________ she actually has no mouth, her lovely poses (姿势) have made her one of the most famous _________ in the world.

Now 2007, Hello Kitty is celebrating her _________ birthday, and her “parents”, Japanese character goods maker Sanrio, will make it a _________to remember. From July, a series of _________ events will be held.

And, in keeping with her _________as “United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Special Friend of children” , the cat will donate (捐赠) $150 000 to the organizations’ _________ education programmes. There are 10 million more girls than boys out of _________ across the world, and these programmes are intended to _________the gap.

When she first went __________ in 1974, Hello Kitty became an immediate hit. There have been many style (风格) changes since then. In 1995, she appeared in nurse’s uniform and, two years later, the ribbons (丝带) in her hair were __________ by flowers. This style was then __________ by millions of Japanese schoolgirls.

“All I did was make Kitty do the sorts of things I wanted to do myself,” said Yuko Yamaguchi, the cat’s __________ since the early 1980s.

Most popular __________, such as Snoopy or Mickey Mouse, started life in cartoon strips and films __________ going on to earn money from their image.

The makers of Hello Kitty just started __________ the cat straight away. Sanrio now receives $500 milli0n a year from companies who __________ to use the cat’s face on their __________.

“Hello Kitty is a good __________of how commercially-minded (商业头脑的) the Japanese are,” explained Brian Bremner of Business Week magazine, “Adapt it, sell it, __________ it and sell it again, hopefully all within the same week.”

5 . The passengers on the bus watched with sympathy as Susan made her way carefully up the steps. She paid the driver and then, using her hands to _______ the seats, settled in one of them.

It has been a year since Susan became blind. As the result of an accident she was suddenly thrown into a world of _______. Susan’s husband Mark watched her _______ into hopelessness and he was _______ to use every possible means to help his wife.

Finally, Susan felt ready to _______ to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but she was now too _______ to get around the city by herself. Mark _______ to ride the bus with Susan each morning and evening _______ she could manage it by herself.

For two weeks, Mark _______ Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other ____________, specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new ____________.

At last, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip ____________. Monday morning arrived. Before she left, she hugged her husband ____________, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude (感激). She said good-bye and, for the first time, they went their ____________ ways. Each day went perfectly, and a wild excitement ____________ Susan. She was doing it!

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work ____________. As she was getting off the bus, the driver said, “Miss, I sure ____________ you.” Curious, Susan asked the driver ____________.

“You know, every morning for the ____________ week, a fine-looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the comer watching you until you enter your office building safely,” the bus driver said.

Tears of happiness poured down Susan’s cheeks. She was so lucky for he had given her a gift more powerful than ____________. That is the gift of love that can bring light where there is darkness.

7 . I used to travel to make myself relaxed. Two years ago, I was rather busy with my business and under a lot of ______ , so I went to Las Vegas for a holiday. I just wanted to get away and ______   for a while.

When I was on holiday, an ______ suddenly came to me. I had long wished to pay a visit to the Greek island of Sanatorium. Therefore, the idea of a two-week European ______ alone was born.

I'd driven ______ across the US before, but traveling to other ______ whose languages aren't the same as mine ______ me. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to ______ with anyone.

But I soon ______ that if I wanted to follow my dreams, I had to ______ out of my comfort area（舒适区）. If I let ______ take control of me, I'd get nowhere.

As I was ______ more places to visit on my trip, I found Mykonos, Greece, which I ______ just as much as I liked Sanatorium. When I arrived in ______ , it was like I was in a dream.

What I appreciated best was the bus ride to Venice. As I rode the bus and enjoyed every new thing I saw, I was completely ______ from the pressure of my work. How ______ it was to see people riding their bikes to the ______ they would like to go to!

Some people might say, "It's not a big ______ ; it's just Venice. Thousands of people go there every day." But it was more than that to me. It was about having a ______ and when it was time for it to come true, don't let it ______ .

8 . For the longest time, I had always wanted a cat. _______, my parents did not share the same_______. Every year, I would ask for a cat, but I always got the same answer “No”.

So I _______ year after year, hoping they would _______agree. Right when I was about to give up, my seventeenth birthday rolled around. My parents were _______against the cat, but my friends were a different story. On my birthday, they _______ with a wide- eyed ,_______cat named Bandit. At that moment, I was _______ with joy. My lifelong wish had finally come true! I knew my life was about to_______

To my surprise, Bandit is the most timid(胆小的）cat I’ve ever met. I didn’t know how to deal with his actions. Upset and angry, I________him loudly. But that didn’t ________ So then I tried, I regret to say this, forceful ________. Carrying him to the outside world as he meowed(喵喵叫）________ didn’t work, either. During all of this, he was closer to my mom. I felt angry. How could the one thing I loved most love my mom more? I thought over many ________ including: maybe she would speak the language of cats, or she was luring (引诱）him with a secret ________. I went to talk with her about it, excited and ________.

“I didn’t have a secret treat, dear. What I do have is ________,” my mom replied. Ever since then, Bandit has been ________ me to be more and more patient.

He has taught me to grow up. He has also brought my family________by leading me to talk with my parents. We eat dinner together at the table more often now, usually with a Bandit as the________.

9 . When middle-aged Alex _________his job and made up his mind to become a freelance writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not. He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work

After a year or so, however, Alex began to _________ himself. He found it was difficult to earn his living by _________ what he wrote. But Alex determined to put his dream to the test even if it meant living with uncertainty and fear of _________

One day Alex got a(n) _________ "We need an assistant, and we’re paying $6, 000 a year." $6,000 was _________money in 1960. It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more. As the dollars were dancing in Alex’s head, something _________his senses. He had dreamed of being a full-time _________"Thanks but no," Alex said _________, “I'm going to stick it out and write.”

After Alex hung up the phone, he __________ everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents. Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself, "There’s __________you’ve made of yourself so far.”

Finally his work was __________in 1970. Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers __________ experience.

Then one day, Alex found the paper bag. Suddenly he __________himself working in that cold storage room. It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the __________ and perseverance it takes to stay the course in the shadowland.