2 . My mother turned ninety. I knew I needed to find a senior _______ center. Not for her — for me. If I were at her age, I would want to stay in shape to _______ life, getting a lot of pleasure. Yes, walking in local parks was my _______, but I wasn’t so active as before.

I called a nearby center, “Do you have aerobics (有氧运动) classes _______ for seniors?” “Sure. Come and check us out! We start at 10 am,” the receptionist (接待员) replied and _______. The next morning, I went there. One part of me was _______ that the class was too easy, not doing me any good. The other part feared it was too hard for me to _______.

When I came into the room, a woman _______ me, “Oh, you’re new. Welcome.” Then the music started. The hour-long workout woke up the muscles I didn’t often _______ in daily walks, suiting me fine. I became a member there. My classmates ranged in age from fifty to ninety. Most gave the exercises their own ____________, doing as much or little as they could. ____________ no one kept score. Soon I learned physical well-being wasn’t the only ____________ there. During breaks, people chatted happily. Whenever some people were ____________ we asked around. Were they busy? Were they in hospital? Moreover, we signed cards for those who were ill.

I ____________ to be in good shape now as I’ve hoped. Still, I’m grateful for things more valuable from the class — close friendships and new social ____________.

3 . After graduation, I decided to take the gym seriously. Accompanied by a friend, I _______ a routine of walking on the treadmill(跑步机). I was _______ with our routine in the gym. My friend, however, became bored.

One day, he suggested that we _______ an outdoor sport. I was an uncoordinated (动作不协调的) person, so I _______ his idea.

But several weeks later, he managed to _______ me to step onto an outdoor racquetball (美式壁球) court. When I hit the ball, I sent it flying in every direction except the direction that I had _______. Still, somehow, I tried hard to learn it and became _______ after constantly practicing.

“We’re not getting enough _______ on the treadmill. Why not play tennis to build up our body?” suggested my friend.

“Tennis? I can’t play tennis! That _______ real skills!” I firmly resisted (抵制) his new ________.

However, weeks later, I started playing tennis. After several months of painful practice, one day, as the ball came flying towards me, my racket and the ball met in what tennis players ________ as the “sweet spot”. I had ________ learned how to play tennis properly!

I learned a valuable ________ from these experiences: I can do whatever I set my mind on. I just need to put in efforts, and the results will ________. And I become quite ________ about trying new things and I’m always filled with a sense of excitement.

4 . When I tried out for the football team during the summer before 9th grade, I never imagined how important this sport would become in my life. Football is a _____ sport, at times almost painful, and practices really _____ a team’s physical and mental limits. Without trust in my own ability and a strong sense of commitment, I would never have managed to continue after years of hard work as a player, and with countless _____.

In the first year, I played on the defensive line. This was an amazing _____ that gave me a great sense of achievement. But in the last game of the season, I was seriously injured. I was prohibited from any physical activities for six months. After going _____ a series of physical treatments, I returned to the field as a team captain. I practiced harder than ever to make up for my _____ time.

In September, during my junior year, my name was mentioned in the local newspaper as the key defensive lineman on the team. After playing a fantastic season, I was given the _____ of the Most Valuable Player.

_____, my skills in football do not magically extend to other sports. During the winter break, I went on a snowboarding trip and seriously injured my right shoulder. I had to have four _____. Since I could not use my right arm for two months, I had to learn how to write and eat using my left hand.

______ life must go on. I knew that my own present efforts would decide my future, so I ______ the strict training program to build up strength and improve flexibility in my ______. After an eight-month recovery, I was back to the field playing football, the sport I ______.

In this sense, the world of football has taught me an important life lesson: ______ and commitment make what seems impossible ______. This lesson from football is the one that can be applied to every part of life.

5 . After graduation, I decided to take the gym seriously. Accompanied by a friend, I________a routine of walking on the treadmill (跑步机). I was ________with our routine in the gym. My friend, however, became bored.

One day, he suggested that we ________an outdoor sport. I was an uncoordinated (动作不协调的) person, so I_______his idea.

But several weeks later, he managed to ________me to step on to an outdoor racquetball (美式壁球) court. When I hit the ball, I sent it flying in every direction except the direction that I had __________Still, somehow, I tried hard to learn it and became ________after constantly practicing.

“We’re not getting enough________on the treadmill. Why not play tennis to build up our body?” suggested my friend.

“Tennis? I can’t play tennis! That ________real skills!” I firmly resisted (抵制) his new ________.

However, weeks later, I started playing tennis. After several months of________practice, one day, as the ball came flying towards me, my racket and the ball met in what tennis players viewed as the “sweet spot”. I had ________learned how to play tennis properly!

I learned a valuable ________from these experiences：I can do whatever I set my mind on. I just need to put in efforts, and the results will ________. And I become quite________about trying new things and I’m always filled with a sense of excitement.

6 . 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.

8 . Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, won brief international fame at Sydney’s 2000 Olympic Games for an extremely unlikely victory.

Twelve months before the Olympics, Moussambani had never gone outside of his home country, an extremely poor tiny African nation. Having_________his admission into the Olympic Games, Moussambani set about teaching himself to _________. The only pool that was_________belonged to a local hotel, and they _________ him to use it between 5 and 6 am, three times a week. Before Sydney he had never set eyes on an Olympic _________, let alone practiced in one. Moussambani had no_________, no lanes（泳道）, and no way of tracking his efforts. Worse still, he didn’t know he had been entered in to the 100m race, not the 50m he had_________.

When the day came, events got _________. Of the three competitors in the first round, Moussambani was the_________competitor who was not removed from the game for starting early. He now had to do it alone, against the ________, fighting for a chance to be in the final. __________it seemed that he’s not going to finish it in the second half of the race, he ________completed it with a time of 1＇5". It was the slowest time in Olympic history, __________a personal best.

International media __________him ‘Eric the eel’ and a real model of the Olympic __________that it’s not the winning, but the taking part that __________. When he was__________after the race, Moussambani said, “At first I got worried that I couldn’t ____________. Thinking of the dear people__________me, I kept on and it happened.”

Moussambani never gives up. He is now the head coach of the national team and thanks to his__________, the country has built two 40m pools.