1 . I used to hate running. It seemed too hard, and pushing outside my comfort ______ was not something I was raised to do.

In fact, I wouldn’t have become a(n)______ if it weren’t for my husband Charles He had been a ______ competitive runner for many years. After our marriage, he wouldn’t stop talking about how much he ______ it.

So he picked it up again, and after about a year, I started to join him at the ______. Just a few weeks later, Charles signed us both up for a five-kilometer race. I ______ about doing it. It was too soon.

But on race day, there I was.

The gun went off Thousands of runners ______.

The first kilometer was tough. I was already breathing ______ and painfully aware of the group of runners____ past me.

After another minute I saw the three-kilometer ______.All I could think of was that I was ______.

I rounded a comer, and saw both sides of the street______ with people watching the race, all cheering the runners on. I ______ my legs to keep going.

Then I looked up and saw the clock. The ______ ticking away gave me an incentive(助力). I knew that if I had ______ finished this race I would have achieved something, So, I ______ up, and kicked it.

I had my arms ______ higher when I passed through the finish line. A volunteer put a(n) ______ around my neck.

“You did great! I’m so proud of you!” Charles was thrilled that I’d ______.

“That was amazing! I want to do another race.” I proudly hugged my medal as we started to walk to the post-race festivities. My lungs and my comfort zone both______.

2 . Earlier this spring, we asked NPR Ed readers to send in stories of teachers going to great lengths to help students succeed in and out of school. We_____from hundreds of you. Many of you said that every teacher you know____the bill. Here is a teacher that caught our eye. When Arinn Filer, a social studies teacher, started teaching social studies at Humanities and Arts Academy in Los Angeles, she_____noticed that many of her students were football____.One of them — a sophomore (大二学生)—already had a( n)_____to play at University of Southern California. During football____many players didn't have time for_____between school, practices and games. Filer_____to make sure these student-athletes had a point-person to______them. She created a_____for athletes to complete work,______study skills, and plan out their classes to ensure that they're NCAA appropriate — to ensure that they’re____to play in college.

"I like to work with the athletes because I feel like they____have a place to go on our campus,” she says. She checks their report_____, talks to them about their_____,，and leads lessons on___skills, like goal-setting. One of her coworkers, LaNea Austin, who teaches English, wrote to NPR, No matter what, she helps____a future for these athletes. ”

Filer's football players______the state championship in the fall, and many have offers to play for big-name football schools. “ Give back to someone else and be an______to someone else, ” Filer tells her students. “That’s what will make me_______’’

3 . Cali Scores a Goal

It was the last game of the season. Cali had been playing soccer all summer. She really enjoyed __________ around with the other players in her blue uniform, chasing the black and white ball across the grassy field. As much as she tried, __________, Cali still had not scored one single goal.

“Don’t give up,” said her coach. He showed Cali and her team how to pass the ball to each other and take shots at the goal. Cali was pretty good at passing the ball, but she couldn’t kick the ball __________ the goalkeeper. She wondered if she should __________ soccer.

“Don’t give up,” said her teammates. ”You just need to keep trying and you will get __________ .” So Cali stayed on the team and did her best.

“Don’t give up,” said Aunt Lisa. But it was half-time, and Cali was feeling __________ . She was trying! Every time she got a(an) __________ to kick the ball, it would go in the __________ direction or a player from the other team would take control of it.

The break was over and the referee(裁判) blew her whistle to __________ the game again. The two __________ walked back onto the field, both __________ to win. Cali heard her aunt whisper in her ear. “Look for an opportunity to get the ball. You can do it.”

Cali took a deep breath. __________ she didn’t get one goal all summer, she knew that she had tried her best. She dreamed she’d leave her team after the game was over. Suddenly, she was woken by some __________ that was the sweet, happy jingle of the ice cream truck. It was driving right beside the soccer field, playing its music loudly to attract __________ .

The players on both teams turned to __________ at it. A few girls pointed to it and cheered. The soccer game had nearly stopped. Cali looked around and saw the soccer ball close by, __________ by the nearest player from the other team. Cali dashed over to the ball. She dribbled(带球) it between her feet, moving forward toward the net of the yellow team. By the time the other girls had __________ , Cali was positioned right in front of the net. The goalkeeper was __________ to one side, looking at the ice cream truck. She turned back __________ to guard the net as Cali kicked the ball hard.

The keeper __________ out her gloved hand. The ball touched the tips of her fingers as it swooshed past, right into the net. “Goal!”

4 . I used to hate running. It seemed too hard, and expanding my comfort zone was not something I like. In fact, I wouldn’t have become a runner if it weren’t for my husband Charles. He had been a serious competitive ______ for many years. After our marriage, he wouldn’t stop talking about how much he ______ it. So he picked it up again, and after about a year, I started to ______ him at the track. Just a few weeks later, Charles signed us ______ up for a five-kilometer race. I ______ about doing it because it was too soon.

The ______ sent a signal. Thousands of runners pushed forward. The first kilometer was ______. I was already breathing heavily and painfully aware of the group of runners ______ me. Charles was trying to ______ me, to get me focused on something _______my discomfort.

After another minute I saw the three-kilometer ______. “Painful” couldn’t _____describe how I felt. And there was pain, so much pain. I rounded a ______, and saw both sides of the street ______ with people watching the race, all ______ the runners up. I tried to keep my ______ going. I knew that if I actually ______ this race I would have achieved something. So, I ______ up and went on.

Finally I passed through the finish line. A volunteer put a medal around my neck. I ______ held my medal, walking to the post-race celebrations with Charles. My lungs and my ______ zone both expanded.

5 . After having a child, I found my regular exercise interrupted. I was not only busy: I also lacked the motivation. Solo gym sessions or some quick______following the DVD while the baby sleeps didn’t______me at all. So I decided to sign up for a hiking______in Peru, hoping that it would get me______again.

Looking over my travel arrangements before I left. I______phrases such as “3-hour hike______primitive forests” and “sliding with a rope down waterfalls”, and I started to feel a little______.

However, as we made our way through the forests and were______with amazing views of______waterfalls, this team of strangers______me to go on. Being physically active with a group motivated me to reach the______or the valley below-rather than simply lying down on the forest floor and giving up,______I might have done if I were alone.

____confirm my experience: Group exercise can really start a new attitude toward fitness. “People get a better______in a group than they do on their own,” said Allison Kimmel, a group______instructor. That’s because other people______both support and competition. “Humans are______animals and the shared experience of facing a challenge______is compelling(不可抗拒的),” said David Ezell, the CEO of fitness provider Darien Wellness.

With the______of a group, I'm slowly getting back into a______lifestyle.

6 . One summer weekend, my wife, son and I entered a running race on mountain trails(小径). When the race started, our son took off ______, but my wife and I stayed back and ran together, enjoying the scenery. After some time, while running down a narrow,   ______ trail, I walked on a big stone and had a ______, and in the process, I jammed (挤) my toe pretty hard. I realized I’d got my toe ______, but I didn’t take off my shoe and sock to check my _____. Instead, my wife and I kept running.

____, after going about half the course, I realized my watch on my wrist was ______. Slightly discouraged, I encouraged my wife to go on _____, and I would return to see if I could find it. After running back for some time, I ____ my broken watch off the trail. I picked it up, and quickly put it into my pocket. Then I ______down the trail. Once I was near the end, I saw my son, who had finished 30 minutes earlier, had run back up the trail to ______ me. He ran with me to the end.

____it turned out, both my wife and son had won first place in their age groups, but I had no chance of placing. As I sat down to ____ after the race, I decided to take off my shoe and check my toe, and I found that my sock was in blood. Pain and it hurt, but there was a bright side. I ____ to receive any award in my age group, but the race _____ had a special award which was given for the most injured runner in the race.

So, how does this _____ relate to you and me in everyday life? Although everyone wants to live a life of comfort, the _____ is that we often face pain and_______. However, the key to real happiness is ______ pain into something positive. In other words, ______ can make us stronger if we let them.

7 . His palms were sweating. He needed a towel to dry his grasp. The sun was as hot as the _______ he faced today at the National Junior Olympics. The bar (横竿) was set at 17 feet. That was three inches higher than his personal best. Michael Stone faced the most _______ day of his pole-vaulting (撑竿跳高) career.

You couldn’t tell whether Michael Stone was surprised, excited or vain about clearing the bar at 17 feet. As soon as he _______ on the inflated (充了气的) landing mat, Michael immediately began _______ for his next attempt at flight. He seemed _______ the fact that he had just beaten his personal best _______ three inches and that he was one of the first two competitors in the pole-vaulting _______ at the National Junior Olympics.

When Michael _______ the bar at 17 feet 2 inches and 17 feet 4 inches, again he showed no _______. As he lay on his back and ________ the crowd sigh, he knew the other vaulter had missed his final jump. He knew it was time for his final jump. Since the other vaulter had ________ misses, Michael needed to clear this vault to win. A ________ would get him second place. It was nothing to be ashamed of, ________ Michael would not ________ himself to have the thought of not winning first place.

He rolled over and found his pole, stood and stepped on the runway that ________ the most challenging event of his 17-year-old life.

As he sprinted (冲刺) down the runway, something felt wonderfully different, yet familiar. When he took a deep breath, it happened. He began to ________ like an eagle.

He later went on that day to clear 17 feet 6 inches: a new National and International Junior Olympics record.

With all the media attention and sponsorship possibilities, Michael’s life would never be ________ again. It wasn’t just because he won the National Junior Olympics and ________ a new world record. And it wasn’t because he had just increased his personal best by 9 inches. It was simply because Michael Stone is blind.

A chance encounter can sometimes make all the ________ to whether hardship brings ________ the best in us or the worst.

8 . Challenges of my Life

Many high school students tend to follow the crowd and not to do what they believe to be the right thing. I was one of them. It took me two years of high school to realize that I was capable of standing on my own two feet and taking up the _______ of wrestling, which has had a long history in my _______.

The tipping point (临界点) for me was the constant urging of my family to _______. I can remember my grandpa telling me the story of _______ he won his championship match and the _______ he had when they announced his name as New York State Champion. I never could have _______ that feeling till the night I won my first match. The one thing that scared me away from this sport was the _______ which was a tight fitting singlet that exposed my entire body. I also never realized the _______ demand that wrestling took——the long hours of learning new moves and lifting weights. And the mental _______ for this sport is overwhelming, too. Also, I had to learn to __________ my time between school, home, work, family, and friends.

Wrestling is more of an individual sport but it also __________ the help and support of a team to be successful. The coaches taught us to __________ ourselves and also the opponents that we face on the mat. __________ a team at Christmas, we were able to bring toys to Upstate Hospital cancer unit for the __________ children who were facing a major illness and could not be home for the holidays with their families. This taught me a valuable __________ not to be afraid of those things that frighten me. It also made me __________ that I need to live each day to the fullest.

Wrestling has __________ me that I am capable of being my own individual. The __________ that I have gained has allowed me the possibility of furthering my wrestling __________ later. From this sport, I now know that in order to be __________ you must not be afraid to try something new.

9 . I never thought I’d be a “runner”. I was the girl who _______ slowest in the PE class. A few years ago, I was walking with a group of _______ in the Race for the Cure, a 5KM race designed to _______ money for the fight against breast cancer, _______ one lady caught my _______.

She was one of the weakest-looking women I’ve ever seen. She must have been close to seventy years old, _______ a T-shirt with the word “Survivor” . She was so small that it seemed as if she could even be _______ by a swift wind. But she was running. And she was _______ me my group of friends. She ran slowly, but _______—as if each step pushed her cancer further into her past. Right at that moment, I ________ that in the next Race for the Cure, I’d be running along with her.

A week later, I found myself in the ________, running on the treadmill (跑步机). Three minutes after I started, my face was bright red. I felt like my lungs were going to ________. I had to slow down to a walk. I thought of the ________ at the race. I kept it up. I was able to go a little ________ each time. Three and a half minutes. Four minutes. Five.

A year later, I was ________ at the Race for the Cure, but this time, I ________ with the runners. When the race started, the other runners passed me by. I ran forward. I wondered if I’d be ________ to do it. But then, I remembered the brave woman. I ran as fast as I could until I finally crossed that finish line. I had just ________ my first race! I looked down at my legs, ________. They had done something I’d never thought ________. I have never felt stronger than at that moment. And, I knew that I wanted to do it again.

10 . Don and his 11-year-old son, Allen, love basketball very much. On Allen’s birthday, Don _______ to drive him to Chicago, more than two hours’ distance, for the first game of the World Championships. They had no ____ but hoped to buy two from other people.

After arriving, they ____ in the streets for two hours carrying a ____ which said, “We need two tickets”. _____ the cheapest ticket was $175 and they could not ____ it. They were about to leave when a man _____ them. He pulled _____ two tickets and handed them to Don. “How much do you want?” “______! No money is needed!” said the man.

When asked, the man ____ “I am working for Joe, who hasn’t ____ a World Championships for 16 years. But he is ill and can’t make it this time. So he told me to give the two tickets away. The only ____ he set is to give the tickets to people who I think will be deserving. A lot of people looked as if they might just take the tickets and ____ them right away. Then I saw you. You seemed very ____ and you make me ____ my Dad and myself when I was a child. I ____ wanted to go to see a World Championships game with my father at that time. But I never got the _____”.

How important and _____ the game was to Don and his son! Here is ____ Don said, “It’s the most worth ____ thing that happened to us. My boy and I must have turned to each other 30 times during the game. I can’t forget that night.”