3 . I had always been warmly praised for my basketball shooting ability when I was in high school. But when I went to Ohio State, I discovered that everyone on the team was ______ in his hometown.

To win a starting job on the team, I had figured I would have to ______ the coach with my shooting ability. But it turned out that the team was ______ full of attacking players and what it needed was someone to ______ on defence (防守). Unwillingly, I decided to take that role, but didn’t expect the ______ was to make all the difference to me later.

One day, when we were ______ a game against the Bucks, I was called out by the coach, Milwaukee, who gave me the ______ to guard our court (球场). Though feeling a bit ______, I accepted. Throughout the game, I continued playing the defence role.

Then, near the end of the game, in a(n) ______ to widen the score gap, Milwaukee gave me a precious ______. He asked me to organize an attack. Running to the center of the court, I ______the ball. It was a ______ three-point play and the championship was ours.

Standing there in that circle of cheering audience, I came to ______ the importance of teamwork. Just as Milwaukee said, “______ teams often have one or two players who stand out; good teams have five who work together. It is amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who gets the ______.”

4 . While many grandmothers would be content to stay home and enjoy a relaxed retirement, Nancy is taking a vastly _______ approach to her golden years. Three days a week, she heads to the _______ where she usually warms up with a walk before turning to her favorite sport of all:_______.

You read that right. This powerhouse is 75 years old. Ten years ago, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. There’s no _______ for Parkinson’s, and the condition generally _______over time.

Nancy wasn’t about to _______ and wait for her symptoms(症状) to increase. “My doctor said one day, ‘you’re discouraged from sitting down’,” she explained. In a(n)_______ to “move, move, move”, Nancy headed to a gym to research _______ that might help her _______ her disease. As soon as she ________ non-contact boxing, she enjoyed it very much!

Non-contact boxing means Nancy never takes hits from her opponent, so it’s a(n)________way to get exercise that stimulates her brain as well as her body. Since she started her boxing________, Nancy said her symptoms have ________, and that she feels better immediately after working out!

When she first stepped into the gym, everyone turned around to stare at her in boxing gloves. Once they got over the ________, her gym friends, who are “gentle from the heart”, became her biggest supporters.

These days, she’s a ________ customer in the gym and has no shortage of partners.

5 . I’m not athletic. In high school, for example, I joined the soccer team for a year, ending up as a ____.

In 2020, I was in a difficult stage of life and wanted something to fight for. Therefore, though I’d never run even 5 kilometers before, I entered the lottery (抽签) to run a marathon, a ____ where only a small number of people are randomly selected. Somehow, my name was ____.

I figured the only way to finish the 42 kilometers was to start by running just one. But even one kilometer proved too hard, so I adjusted the ____. I ran several minutes at a time, and then walked to catch my ____. I repeated that for months. Besides, I read books, talked to friends and found coaches. Step by step, I became a ____.

Then the ____ day came when I showed up at the starting line with other competitors. Did I win? Certainly not! Did I run 42 kilometers, cross the finishing line joyfully and receive my medal proudly? ____!

Last year I decided to ____ my own business: a performing arts training centre for kids. I’ve always loved kids and arts, but I was ____ of business. Nevertheless, because of the marathon, I had a model for how to ____ it—step by step.

So, again: I read books, talked to friends and found ____. Through it all, I became a successful entrepreneur. I keep my Marathon medal above my desk not to____my achievements but to remind myself every big goal can always be ______ into individual steps. When you combine enough steps, you will ____ to the finishing line.

6 . You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression—this was the theme of this year’s International Public Speaking Competition(IPSC). Thirty-three young speakers aged 16 to 20 from around the world _______ The English Speaking Union to tell their stories, including Wu Dongxu from China. To him, the event wasn’t just about giving a _______ on first impressions, it also made a strong impression on him.

“Rather than a competition, the _______ was more like an enlightening research trip to me, which _______ me to see firsthand the differences and _______ between Chinese and foreign cultures,” said Wu.

Apart from the _______ differences in food, transportation and climate, what _______ Wu the most was the distinct styles of Chinese and foreign public speaking.

Although still a teen, Wu is no stranger to the public speaking podium (讲台). But on the stage of the IPSC, speakers had no podium to _______ behind. They just had to _______ the audience. “It made me realize how ________ eye contact and body language are,” said Wu. Speakers have the freedom to express more information with their gestures ________ just words.

Another difference that caught Wu’s ________ was the evaluation criteria (评价标准). To his surprise, the IPSC organizing committee informed all the contestants before the ________ that accents and grammatical errors would not be considered in the evaluation process, meaning that the expression of feelings and your conveyed story are what matter most.

“Audiences are ________ to hear powerful stories, ________ those that resonate (引起共鸣) with people regardless of where they are from,” said Wu.

8 . I’m a professor teaching people how to think more creatively.________, this lifetime passion was awakened by a casual contest when I was a child.

At a family picnic, children used to have the handkerchief-throwing contest, which I realize now, was not meant to show any real ________, but simply for laugh. But it stirred my love of thinking outside the________.

The host gave each child a cloth handkerchief and told us the winner would be the one who threw it the farthest. The first little throwers took ________ strength, but the cloth opened and fell to the ground. Then, one kid after another tried ________ to throw much farther. Finally, it________ me that the secret was actually to keep the cloth from ________! Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would ________ the cloth at least farther than the others, and when they separated, people might not notice a small rock ________ in the grass. I had a good chance of ________with it, but I didn’t want to win by cheating. I had to make the handkerchief fly like a rock.

I began tying the handkerchief around itself to make it ________ . When I approached the line as the final contestant, people were already laughing. I took a long ________ , and the balled handkerchief rocketed off maybe 60 feet away. The laughing ________ suddenly. The host stared at me and then ran to check if I’d cheated the crowd. “It’s just the handkerchief,” he declared. The adults applauded and I felt ________.

This is how I learned the secret to creative thinking. I wanted to continue looking________what things seemed to be.

10 . Exercise and I had never had a good relationship due to my fear of sports. From a young age, my dad _______ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, _______.

When I entered the University of Regina, my dad _______ telling me “You have to find a way to stay _______.” or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I _______ to give swimming a shot, but I _______ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was _______ to convince myself that’s OK.

The spring semester came. A friend of mine _______ me if I wanted to try Zumba (尊巴) with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically a kind of exercise: dancing to Latin pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be _______.

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my ________ of tea. The instructor would always say, “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my ________ of sports. I didn’t have to be ________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to ________ the music and move. Zumba did ________ me from the Freshman 15, and it also did so much more. It let me make ________ with my unpleasant past about physical exercise, and enjoy staying healthy.