1 . On nothing but a “wooden board and four wheels”, a group of women are speeding down windy mountain roads. For most people, this could sound _________. But for Anna Pixner, downhill skateboarding at speed brings a _________ feeling: freedom.

Austrian Pixner got _________ in this sport six years ago. When she started competing, she would _________ in crowds of hundreds of men. Journalists point out that she is a(n)_________ in this male-dominated sport, but Pixner has tired of such _________. “There’s not that much of a difference except that we _________ started a bit later. There is no media about it... if you never saw a woman doing that, it’s harder to get the _________ to do that.”

That is about to _________: Pixner’s journey is captured in a new film “Woolf Women,” which __________ her 5,700-kilometer journey with four other young women across Europe in 2019. One of the central __________ of the film is mental health. Pixner says she finds skating helpful to all kinds of mental issues. “For myself, I __________ it too. I used to be extremely anxious and skateboarding absolutely __________ me.”

Though skateboarding was once a sport on the __________ of society, it is now becoming more mainstream, and in 2021 became an Olympic event. Pixner hopes that downhill skateboarding will soon __________ its appeal to more youngsters.

2 . When handball was introduced to Sri Lankan schools in 2010, I wanted to bring it to my school in a remote village. This became a(n) _______ task as the sports teacher was unwilling to initiate anything _______ traditional sports like basketball. Despite being an English language teacher before _______ my post as deputy principal (副校长), I was _______ to start this game at any cost.

40 students aged between 13 and 19 _______ to play. I had the support of their parents but I still couldn’t _______ the sports teacher to agree. _______ , I used my position to get the game going.

Heshan Pradeep, an alumnus (校友) and member of the Air Force handball team, volunteered to _______ the team. Although handball is an indoor game, we trained outdoors due to limited _______. Training started early in the morning before class and ________ after school until it was dark. The boys loved the game and were ________ training. After three months of devoted training, we were able to send an under-19s boys’ team to ________ with 50 other schools. Our boys played remarkably well and ________ the semifinals. The following year, nobody could ________ our team from winning the all-island schools handball championship.

The ________ sent the whole village into carnival mode. Heshan and I were much honored to have shown the boys that dreams can be fulfilled.

5 . I once heard a story about a little boy whose father gave him a baby cow. The boy was ________ to feed and clean the cow, and then to ________ it over his head once every day. As the child grew, so did the cow who became ________ each day. By the time he was 15, the young man could ________ lift a full-grown cow.

There has been a ________ story in my own life. Ever since my son Ivan was five, he had been my only tennis ________. One day when we were playing, a local tennis coach ________ and said, “Your son really hits well.”

Though I told Ivan about the coach’s ________ for him, I had no idea what exactly the coach had ________ in Ivan’s game. Ivan had been telling me about his rapid ________ in school tennis and how he’d ________ some kid who was a country-club champion. But to tell the truth, I really hadn’t seen much ________.

Then a strange thing happened. Last week, I had a tennis game with an old friend who used to beat me but I________ easily this time. On the way home, I figured it out. It was Ivan! As his ________ had improved, so had my own, just like the boy who lifted the cow. All the time, it was Ivan who ________ me to go further.

6 . I was turning 65 in the fall. My mind was filled with ________ of a future loaded with bad senior moments. So how should I ________ the milestone? I knew I needed to shake off the ________ and celebrate my good health. An idea soon followed — I would________ five kilometres with my kids on my 65th birthday. I called it “5 at 65”.

After I mapped out a six-month plan, the ________ began. I started the first week with walking alternating with jogging. I jogged so slowly that I would have ________more ground if I had walked. But gradually my slow jog turned into a slow run, and the walking ________ decreased in length and number.

In mid-July I shared my ________ of “5 at 65” with my kids. With my secret out, there was no turning back. However, there were days when it was ________ to get out the door. The numbers that ordinarily ________ me became my enemy. Small hills became mountains. My legs ________ their new challenge. But the good days far outnumbered the bad ones, and I kept going.

I woke on the day of the birthday run feeling ________. But my nerves calmed as soon as we started. I set the ________ and there was no pressure to be fast. The kids regularly called out the distance and ________ me to keep running. I finished!

Becoming a senior might not be so________ after all.

7 . There is no age limit to work or do something you love. 102-year-old Jean Bailey, a resident of Elk Ridge Village Senior Living in Omaha, is constantly ________ this by teaching a fitness class four times a week for almost three years now.

Bailey mentioned that some of her ________ clients have arthritis(关节炎) that restricts their mobility, but they can ________ perform stretching exercises by following her instructions and get benefit from them. Bailey, who also uses a ________ frequently due to her leg pain, is a strict coach despite this. She explained she was ________ and called “mean” for being strict in her classes. “The girls seem to ________ what I’m going to do for them,” she added. “They know it’s beneficial.”

In 2020, 99-year-old Bailey started ________ classes. Despite being a senior, she wasn’t ________ by the younger ages of her peers(同行). Being someone who was keen on staying active and good at motivating people, she encouraged her students to bring chairs into the hallway and performed ________ exercises. Everyone enjoyed it greatly and the classes never stopped.

Bailey ________ 30-minute exercise classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, which begin at 9:45 am. Apart from helping them stay ________, the classes also have allowed the women attending to form beautiful ________. Bailey said, “One of us would do something for anybody. We really keep track of each other.”

One of these women is Phyllis Black, 87, who lives down the hall from Bailey. Black was ________ by Bailey with homemade cookies when she moved into Elk Ridge about three years ago. Bailey often treats the ________ with baked goods after the exercise sessions, especially on birthdays, as she believes all birthdays are significant at this age. Black said of Bailey, “She’s a very ________ neighbor, and she’s also a good friend.”

9 . Every August, teams with players about 10 years old play baseball across the US, with the aim to become Little League _______. In this year’s game, Isaiah Jarvis, a Little League batter (击球手),   _______ the pitcher (投球手), Kaiden Shelton, who threw a baseball that hit him in the head. The   _______ scene brought tears to the eyes of the crowd in the stadium.

On August 7^th, Kaiden Shelton, from Texas, _______ Isaiah Jarvis, from Oklahoma, at the plate. With two strikes against Isaiah, Kaiden _______ lost control of his pitch. The ball hit Isaiah in his helmet, sending him to the ground. The field staff immediately _______ him and found him to be OK. He decided to remain in the _______. Yet Kaiden, the pitcher, appeared to be _______.

Isaiah called a timeout upon seeing his _______ battling emotions. He calmly walked toward Kaiden and gave him a big hug, trying to ________ him. “Hey, you’re doing just great.” Kaiden later shared with NBC News. “These ________ words from him really helped me.”

A video of the moment was posted online and attracted more than 6.5 million views. Danny Graves, a sports announcer, said Isaiah’s ________ was the best thing he had ever seen in Little League baseball.

The Texas team won the game 9-4 to ________ to the Little League World Series. And Isaiah was also ________ to the game to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The pair told NBC News they think their newfound ________ will last beyond any tournament.

10 . It was an overwhelming Friday afternoon. There were hundreds of students, who _________ to cheer their favorite team up.

I have always loved running, but my_________to compete for a long-distance race was terrible for me. I was_________to compete in a four-hundred-meter race, yes, it was indeed _________. When the competition finally began. I found my nervous self _________. I ran with my strength, but still did not make_________to the top three. My teammates, whom I have expected to comfort me_________to doubt my ability to compete in the next event. They never wanted me to be in the next track game. This belief motivated me to_________more.

I wanted to prove myself._________I decided to work more on my endurance(耐力)skills. As soon as I noticed my time__________were getting better. I signed up for the next track game. This time I not only __________to be one of the top three competitors, but also earned a medal for my team.

Nothing was more__________ than the medal I won at that moment. I was appreciated by the members of my team, who__________rejected my wish to compete on that game. I learned that whatever one puts their__________to do, that person will__________be the best at what he is aiming for.