1 . People always ask me how I got into the sport of weightlifting. I know it sounds weird, but I’m so focused on lifting that everything else _______. Because I was super depressed, weightlifting helped me manage those mood swings.

Now, being bipolar (双相情感障碍) is something I’m proud to say. And I would like to _______ the shame on all mental disorders. As I grew up, sports played a vital role in my life. And I spent 11 years doing gymnastics, which I found just to stay in _______, so when I was 15 years old I decided to _______ it. My current coach recruited (招募) me to get into weightlifting competitively. About two years into my career I _______ realized I could go places with this. My first _______ came in 2018, when I had my first International medals at the Junior World Championships, from where it took off. In 2019 World Championship I had my _______ year.

Last year I had a minor meet in Cuba but not feeling motivated, I definitely _______, which meant I didn’t make a lift. In fact, I had been fighting _______ for probably two years at that point—I was ________ with bipolar disorder type two. One of the first things in my mind was that I was ________ because there was a fixed image around people that ________ with the mental health. ________, it didn’t take me long to realize that there’s nothing to be ________ of. I could go to train and focus on weightlifting, ________ on whether I’m gonna feel great or awful.

At this point, I’m all but ________ for the Olympics. There are some days that I ________ have to push to my maximal ________. It can be very painful, but when it ________ it, it is the days that get you stronger. And then it’s really ________ to just put everything into those few seconds that you’re competing.

2 . A woman about 100 years old just proved that age means nothing by breaking three amateur(业余的) swimming world records.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, Betty Brussels _________ the Victoria Masters Swim Club Meet and beat the rivals in the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle in the 100- to 104-year-old age _________.

Betty Brussel didn’t get into _________ swimming until she was in her 60s, and this was the first time she had been able to _________ such an achievement. She was able to break the records despite _________ a pacemaker(心脏起搏器) she received after suffering a heart attack in her 70s.

Betty finished her 50m backstroke in 1:24.91, which was almost five _________ faster than the previous record. She surpassed(超过) the _________ standing 400m freestyle record of 16:36.80 by _________ hers in 12:50.03. Betty set the first record for the 50m breaststroke with a time of 1:56.22.

“I was surprised by my own _________ yesterday,” said Betty. “I gave it my all; I never give up. It was wonderful. I was totally __________ by everybody’s support. I like to win, but __________ have never been the most important thing to me. If somebody else wins, I am __________ for them.”

Even though Betty Brussels only just __________ her own achievements, award-winning filmmakers Hannah Walsh and Emma Puchniak are already talking about a possible __________ that could be released in about a year.

“I live life every day and __________ it,” Betty told the publication. “I feel very fortunate to do what I do.”

3 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

4 . To become the Olympic champion in the individual (个人) all-around event, Gabby Douglas had to leave everything she _________ best. She had to _______   her bedroom in Virginia. She had to say _________ to her two dogs and to the beach, where she loved to _________ waves on her board. But it was _________ to take the leap (飞跃), however _________ it would be. Even at 14, Douglas knew that. So she _________ about 1,200 miles away from home, to _________ with a coach from China. She lived with a family she had never _________ and everything was new to her.

As it turned out, Douglas did __________ what she needed to do to become Olympic champion when she __________two Russians. The Chinese coach __________ Douglas into one of the best gymnasts in the __________, helping her skyrocket from an __________ member of the national team to the top of the sport. By __________ the Olympic all-around title, she became the first black woman to do so. She __________ the competition from beginning to end. She said she had felt __________ all along that she would win.

Not so long ago, Martha Karolyl the coordinator (联络人) of the women’s national team, did not think Douglas had what it __________ to be an Olympian. As time went by, she thought __________ that she could make the London Games — and win.

“I’m going to inspire so many people,” she said. “I’m ready to __________.” And shine she did.

5 . The grandmother from Shanghai has become a minor celebrity in recent months as her newfound and unlikely love for working out made national headlines.

According to Chen Jifang’s trainer, who helped to manage the Douyin account, she ________ more than 400, 000 followers within just a few months.

“The main group that I wanted to ________ was people at ages of 30 to 50,” says Chen. “I think they will be ________ to work out in the gym after seeing that a granny like me can. The ________ I want to convey (传达) is that it is never too late to pursue good ________.”

For Chen, her passion for ________ was born out of a need instead of a ________ to become famous. According to Chen, her health had been poor since she was a child. After becoming a gym goer in December 2018, Chen lost 14 kilos (30 pounds) in three months and many of her physical conditions are ________

Chen, who has a grandson aged 14, recalled the ________ looks she got the first time she walked through the gym door.

“They found it very ________ . They don’t usually see people at such an old age who ________ their health so much,” she says.

“If your muscles are ________ and powerful, they will protect your bones if you fall. The elderly are most afraid of   ________ ,” she said.

“In fact, I also fell once and fell ________ hurting my forehead, hips, knees and toes. They ________ an old lady with white hair lying on the ________ and passersby started ________ an ambulance. I said ‘Don’t.’ and I got up. I said, ‘I have been exercising, so I’m ________ ’. Then I left.”

She ________ , “At our age, it is not how much money you have, who you are, or how good your children are that matters. You just want a ________ record as short as possible.”

6 . Golden Generation

A national team, mostly consisting of teenagers, pushed China to its biggest-ever medal achievement at the Winter Olympics. At the same time, a series of breakthroughs at the Games _________ the country’s emergence as a much more well-rounded force on the ice and snow.

_________ the heroics of teenage sensation Gu Ailing and seasoned aerials(空中技巧滑雪)masters Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu, China _________ four gold to top the freestyle skiing medal standings for the first time after its Winter Olympic debut in 1980.

Gu Ailing also became the first athlete _________, and the youngest _________, to win three medals(golds in Big Air, halfpipe and silver in slopestyle)in three different freeski _________ at the Olympics, throwing her to international super-star reputation as the _________ of Beijing 2022.

Needless to say, another teenager star, Su Yiming, also became a _________   name by winning China’s first snowboarding gold medal in Big Air after claiming a silver in slopestyle. Su’s _________ helped the host finish a highest-ever third on the Games’ overall medal standings, ____________ nine gold, four silver and two bronze-its biggest-ever medal achievement at the Winter Games. China’s ____________ best was a tally of 11, including five gold, at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

“The ____________ of the new generation on the Olympic stage, even seeing the emergence of teenagers, ____________ a great future for winter sports in our country,” said Li Yang, manager of China’s Big Air, slopestyle and halfpipe national programs.

“With winter sports becoming popular in our country amid the fast social and ____________ development, I believe more and more young people will ____________ skis and snowboards to enjoy the sport, just as young as Su and Gu did when they were little, which will ____________ expand the talent pool for our future national programs,”Li said.

The Beijing Winter Games also ____________ the first time that China’s snow sports teams outperformed the country’s traditionally strong ice sports squads in the medal numbers, securing investment in high-performance training programs and ____________ the foundation for even better results at the next Winter Games in Italy.

“____________ we keep the tendency going, I believe we will ____________ a stronger performance in four years' time at the next Olympics in 2026,” said Yang Yang, China’s first Winter Olympic gold medalist, in women’s short-track speed skating at the 2002 Games.

7 . Cody Wilkins sat on the bench, while his soccer teammates were scoring goals on the field. It had been a(n) ______ high school year for him. He was the only freshman on the team. He most never got to play, and he felt like a______.

“My confidence was shot. I thought maybe I wasn’t as good as my coaches thought I was during tryout. I thought maybe I should ______.” Cody says.

Cody suffered once he discovered he wasn’t a good soccer player. But he ______ to keep going. “The struggle I______made me want to work harder,” he says. “However talented you are, you can always ______ in sports.”

Then Cody took advantage of his ______ on the bench to watch his more skilled and experienced teammates play the game, and by the time he was a junior, he had improved so much that he was ______ captain of his team. He is now a senior and is being ______ to play soccer for several colleges.

If you base your ______just on whether you win or lose, you will never be happy. Winning is always ______ because there is always another ______ waiting for you.

No one is______. But you should learn about your strengths and weaknesses and know how to______ from failure. Once you accept that losing something isn’t the end of your world, you can get on with the business of living your life and learning from it. In the long run, this is _______.