1 . A cheerleader amazed everyone at the Nebraska State High School Cheer & Dance Championship (锦标赛).

Just two weeks before the competition, something unexpected happened. Morrill High School cheer coach (教练) April Ott _________ the sad news to 17-year-old Katrina that she was the only one left on the cheer squad (拉拉队) after three girls _________ for personal reasons. The coach added the only choice for them was to watch other girls in action, but Katrina had other _________. She made up her mind to go at it _________.

And that was exactly _________ Katrina did. It was the first time that a cheerleader had competed on her own. Surprisingly, she had the _________ audience when she was _________. She was greeted by huge cheers. And despite not being able to be _________ the same as other competitors, her _________ ended up eighth out of the 12 squads.

“It was the last competition in my high school life. It was certainly out of my comfort zone,” said Katrina. “That was not something I would __________ do by any means, but I didn’t want to end my senior year on a(n) __________ note.”

Katrina’s story __________ her coach and many other people. “Katrina __________ herself,” Ott said, “I feel like this is a story for everyone. Never quit. Whatever the __________ are, just keep going.”

As for her advice to others, Katrina smiled, “Never back off. You’re __________ than you think you are.”

2 . Joy Chapman,70, retired from work in 2018 but decided she’d never become a “boring” granny. She joined local gym and got herself a hard workout routine which sees her in the gym every day for two and a half hours. She said, “I was afraid of turning 70, but I don’t feel my age at all.”

As her confidence in the gym improved, she hardly spent a day without going to the gym. “When I first started, I would come home feeling tired,” she said. “Every muscle ached, but as I progressed, my fitness levels improved and I got better. I would never have believed in 100 years that I would love the gym so much.”

Joy said, “Working out and staying fit stops things from getting me down.” The granny has been longing for living since losing her husband in 2011, when he was just 58—making Joy realize life is valuable. She said, “My husband died very young and very quickly. He became ill in February, was diagnosed (诊断) in March and died on April 22. No one could believe it. Everybody was shocked at his death. When he died, it made me think deeply of my life and I am quite a confident and strong person as a result.”

Every day when she does her workouts, Joy meets up with a group of pals who help keep her young. She said, “I’ve made brilliant friends. As soon as I step in the gym, there is friendly humour with the receptionists, the trainers, the cleaner-everyone. They all think I’m mad, but in a nice way. I’m the fittest granny in the town. I’d advise other people in later life not to be scared by the gym. Give it a go, because it’s just great.”

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10 . When I suggested my 13-year-old try tennis, she quickly refused me. “I’m not sporty; stop trying to get me to do sports,” Julianna said. I had suggested it because some of my happiest recent memories were of playing ping-pong with her. Tennis seemed like a natural progression from ping-pong and a great way to work out some of her growing pains on a larger playing field. But my suggestion was always refused by her.

Still, I was undeterred. I believed that doing some sports would help Julianna manage her emotions. I’ve seen how sports help with stress. It worked for me when I was a teenage girl.

Midway into summer, we stayed at home, and Julianna and I felt really bored. “Do you want to play tennis?” I asked her at lunch one afternoon. Sure, she said. At that time, we were both eager to spend as much time as possible out of the house.

Arriving at the court, we set down our bags, picked up our rackets (球拍), and headed to our sides of the court. The net was like the growing divide between us — I desiring connection and my teenage daughter longing for independence.

I started by hitting a ball over the net, and Julianna took a big swing and missed. We repeated this several more times. I didn’t tell her she was holding the racket too close to the neck or she should step more into her forehand. My daughter wanted the chance to figure these things out for herself. We repeated the pattern of me hitting the ball and her missing it a few times before she finally got it back over the net. “This is fun,” she said with a mixture of surprise and delight and then she smiled widely.

Now we always find time to play tennis. We’re both eager for an activity that can ease tensions between us in daily life. It’s nice to have a place where both of us can release our negative moods and let them go.