2 . From the window of my room, I could see a tall cotton - rose hibiscus (木棉树). In spring, when green leaves were half _______ by mist, the tree looked very attractive. _______ with red flowers. This inspiring neighbor of mine often _______ my mind working. I regarded it as my best friend _______.

However, when I opened the window one morning, to my amazement, the tree was almost _______ beyond recognition as a a result of the storm _______ the night before. I was seized with a sudden sorrow at the thought “all the flowers are to fall” I could not help _______ with emotion: the course of life never runs _______, for there are so many ups and downs. _______ twists and turns. The process of my life saw my beloved friends parting one after another. Isn’t it ________ to the flowers falling off the tree in the wind?

This event ________ from my memory as time went by. One day after I came home. I found the room hard to breathe in and opened the window ________. Something outside caught my ________ and impress me. It was a plum tree (李树) with flowers ________ beautifully by the sunset. The surprise discovery filled me with pleasure. I wondered ________ I had no idea of some tough life restarting over the fallen petals (花瓣) when I felt sorry for the hibiscus.

When the last petal ________, all the admiration for the hibiscus disappeared as if nothing was left, until the landscape was again decorated with the red plum flowers to ________ people of life’s alternation and continuity. Can’t it be said that life is actually a symphony, a harmonious ________ of loss and gain.

Standing by the window lost in thought for a long time, I realized that no scenery in the world remains ________. As long as you keep your heart bathed in the sun, every dawn will present a fine start for you and the world will always be about ________ hopes.

Tell anyone who has inspired you how they have inspired you.

3 . The True Story of Treasure Island

It was always thought that Treasure Island was the product of Robert Louis Stevenson’s imagination. _________ , recent research has found the true story of this exciting work. Stevenson, a Scotsman, had lived _________ for many years. In 1881 he retuned to Scotland for a _________.With him were his American wife Fanny and his son _________.

Each morning Stevenson would take them out for a long _________ over the hills. They had been enjoying this for several days _________ the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Kept indoors by the heavy rain, Lloyd felt the days _________. To keep the boy happy, Robert asked the boy to do some _________

One morning, the boy came to Robert with a beautiful map of an island. Robert _________ that the boy had drawn a large cross in the middle of __________. “What’s that?” he asked “That’s the __________ treasure,” said the boy. Robert suddenly __________something of an adventure story in the boy’s__________. While the rain was pouring, Robert sat down by the fire to write a story. He would make the __________a twelve-year-old boy, just like Lloyd. But who would be the pirate(海盗)?

Robert had a good friend named Henley, who walked around with the __________ of a wooden leg. Robert had always wanted to __________ such a man in a story. __________ Long John Silver, the pirate with a wooden leg, was __________.

So, thanks to a __________ September in Scotland, a friend with a wooden leg, and the imagination of a twelve-year-old boy, we have one of the greatest __________ stories in the English language.

4 . It is dark now when I begin my early morning walk in the woods. And now that autumn has marched into winter, darkness persists well beyond my 6 a. m. start time.

Paths have become familiar after years of hiking. But rocks and tree roots have magically appeared from previously ________ ground.

Certainly I hit my toe against or ________ on some unseen barriers. Fallen branches from last night’s storm ________ in wait. Layers of autumn leaves create a false floor through which my trusting footsteps ________. Sometimes a piece of moon donates some ________ to the mystery path. But when skies are dark, there are no ________ clues for where I step.

My very first night hike was during summer camp on a warm August night in the woods. Our leader ________ bright flashlights so we would not scare away the night creatures we hoped to find.

“See with your ________，” the leader told us over and over again.

________， that advice took effect. With ________ and courage, it didn’t take long before our feet became ________ to the ground’s textures(质地) and irregularities. Toes learned to ________ for barriers before trusting full weight on feet. Holes and dips in the ground were detected in ________ of possible fall…

But mistakes ________ happened. My foot got caught on a trip and I fell. Since the pace was ________， there was little damage except to pride. Once ________， I paused to feel the firmness of earth beneath me.

On my way home, as dawn ________ day, I thought about how similar night hikes were to journeys through life.

The same rules often ________ for both: slow down, concentration, “see” with new senses —and don’t be ________. Although the path is full of ________— hidden barriers, false surface, wet floor — the earth is solid and firm beneath. It is the nature of night ground. It is the nature of life.

5 . I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early________of gardening may not have originated from my love for nature. It was to ________my parents.

At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with ________at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her, “something else to ________!”Seeing the neighbors busy with gardening, my father ever thought it a waste of time.

At that age, I always did something________to whatever my parents did! If gardening were something they found________, I would plant a garden!

I planted some lily (百合花)seeds in the yard. But they failed to ________. I continued to sunflower seeds and roses. Wild ________joy, I found the first rose bloom (开花). One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off.________, I was touched by this land of wonder.

________, my parents showed no interest in my garden. My father even________at me because he found it was ________to move around my garden to the driveway. To my mother’s ________, I put her vase my real roses which, in her eyes, were simply weeds________flowers.

Regardless of their ________, I kept on planting my garden and ________to enjoy the pleasure gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they________to care and love.

It has been many years since I made my first garden out of my desire to ________my parent. Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, teaching gardening and hosting a gardening show which makes my parents feel very________. And now I could say it is my affection for________that makes me a real gardener.

6 . It's often said that you can judge a person by looking at what's on their bookshelves. Well, when I asked myself this question a few years ago, I made a(n) _______ discovery. Pretty much all the _______ on my bookshelves were written by British authors, and there was almost nothing in translation from other _______. What a shame! So, I decided to begin my _____________ reading project.

But how could I find books from much of the rest of the world? I had to ask for _______. So in October 2011, I started my blog, and I _______ a short appeal (呼吁) online. Within hours, people began to _______. At first, it was friends and colleagues. Then it was friends of friends. And soon, it was _______.

Four days later, I got a(n) _______ from a woman called Rafidah in Kuala Lumpur. She said she loved my project, ________ if she could go to her local English-language bookshop and choose my Malaysian book and post it to me. I ________ accepted, and a few weeks later, a package ________ containing nothing but two books — Rafidah's choice from Malaysia, and a book from Singapore that she had also ________ for me. At the time, I was ________ that a stranger more than 6,000 miles away would go to such lengths to help someone she would probably never ________.

But Rafidah's kindness ________ to be the pattern for that year. Time and again, people went out of their ________ to help me. And books often came from ________ sources. A writer even emailed me an unpublished translation of his novel to me, allowing me to become one of the ________ people ever to read that book in English.

That year, thanks to kind strangers from the four ________ of the world. I read books from over 100 countries.

7 . He came from somewhere south of Rome. I didn't know when or how he got to America, ________maybe. But one evening I found him standing in the driveway, behind my garage, extremely thin.     

＂My name Tony Trivionno and I mow （割） your lawn. "he said. It was hard to comprehend his ______ English. "I mow your lawn, "he said again and walked away. Yes, these Depression days were _______，but how could I__________a person who had come to me for help? When I got home the next evening, the lawn had been mowed, the walks___________and the garden weeded._________, my wife assumed I had ___________him. I told her of my _________the night before and we thought it strange that he had not asked for__________。The next two days were busy, and I __________ about him. But on Friday, I saw him, behind my garage again and busy around.

I managed to __________ some small weekly pay for him and each day he cleaned up the yard and took care of any little __________. He was very helpful whenever there were any heavy objects to lift or things to fix in my factory.

＂I want to be an apprentice （学徒），”he said one day. __________ we had a good Prentice school that trained laborers, I doubted whether he had the ability to_________ blueprints and micrometers （千分尺）.Therefore, he took a __________in pay to become an apprentice.

Many years later, I found him in our_________   meeting spot, much __________ than he used to be and taking on a look of___________. He was a millionaire now!

Tony came to America seeking the American Dream. But he did not find it-he ________ it himself. Tony didn't begin on the bottom rung （横档） of the ladder. He began in the__________. Tony' s affairs were tiny, and all he had were 24 hours a day. He wasted none of them and succeeded finally.

8 . I’m proud of myself for this kindness I did last night. I did it ________ and did the right thing. However, I was unwilling to _______, because by sharing 1 am also sharing the ________ and more self-centered side of myself.

It was last night and I ________ my shift at work. It was late and I wanted to go straight home. On my way out of the door I ________ a fellow staff member and colleague. She doesn’t have a ________ and usually either catches a taxi home or _______ for an hour waiting for _______ staff member and friend of here to finish work.

In the past I’ve ________ to drive her home as she ________ on my side of town. But last night I really did not want to. I wanted to ________ straight home, alone. And I did not have to make “small talk”.

So I tried to ________ her, walking past her, heading down, and stealing out (偷溜) to the _______ without letting her see me and _______ without offering her a lift.

Yet, something in myself was stopping me. Something in myself made me ________ her and put myself in her shoes. She had young ________ who she wanted to go home to attend to and, she could go home right now _______ I took her, not an hour later when the other staff member and friend of hers who was taking her. So I offered.She_______. And of course, she was extremely ________.

Well, I learned a great ________ last night about not being so self-centered and selfish!

9 . "Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It's Friday, and we don't have any _______.   Can I, please?" Mum was sitting at the kitchen table.   Dad was _______next to her, resting his head on his arms.   Mum could _______that James wanted so badly to have his friend over.

"I'm so sorry, James," she said.

"I'm never allowed to have friends come to the house? Why, Mum?" James asked sadly, almost in _______.

"I know it's _______for you," Mum said softly.   "But I'm just worried other people might think we're a little. . .   strange.   And then they would make fun of you. "

"No, they wouldn't, Mum," James protested.   "We're not _______at all.   We're just ordinary people. "

Mum sighed heavily.   "To tell you the truth, James, my neck has been so painful that it's given me a heavy _______.   And your poor father — he doesn't feel _______.   He really needs a rest. "

"I can help, Mum!" James said.   " _______I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please?"

"Well. . . " Mum began.

"Great! Thanks, Mum!" James almost shouted.   "Just sit there, don't move. " He rushed over to the kitchen drawer and ________what he needed — two spanners(扳手).   "Hang on, Mum," he said.   "This won't take a second. " After some ________, James was finished.   With a smile of ________on his face he said, "There! How does that feel?" "Oh, James," Mum said.   "That's much better! How did you do it?"

"Easy," James said ________.   "Dad had tightened your neck bolts(螺栓) too much! I just________them slightly! I learned that in robotic science at school. "

"What about your father? Can you ________him?" asked Mum.

"I'll try," James replied.   He ________up Dad's hair at the back of his neck, and plugged the electric wire into Dad's head.   Then he turned the ________on.   Dad opened his eyes and ________immediately.   "He just let his ________run too low, that's all," James said.   "Shall I tell Brett to come over straight after school tomorrow?"

"I guess so," replied Mum.   "Your friends will just have to ________that we are a very unusual family.   Thanks, son!"

10 . My dear grandmother passed away 18 years ago. However, I still _______ her every single day. She is such a(n) _______ part of my life. My Mom, Dad, brothers and I lived in her old house for most of my _______. And when I close my eyes and open my heart, I could see her _______ face. I could hear her say “HELLO” in a high _______, as I opened the door after school. And then she would open her _______ to give me a big hug and kiss. And when she _______ me, I could feel the love and joy coming from her _______ into mine.

I thought I _______ everything about my “Nana” but ________ I am still learning more about her even today. Just yesterday a(n) ________ family friend stopped to talk to me at the local post office. She told me what happened once when she ________ my Nana when I was still a little boy. They were ________ around the dining -table, chatting. Our ________ noticed the lovely earrings my Nana was ________. She told Nana how much she liked them and asked if Nana could ________ them to her in her will. Without a second ________ my sweet Nana took them off and gave them to her on the spot.

After our friend left, I stood there for a few minutes in ________. I had never known this and as far as I could tell, Nana never ________ it to anyone. That was just like her. She may have been excited and temperamental (喜怒无常的) at times but she was the person who loved others deeply and she ________ freely. She lives in my heart forever.