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 . Youth sports teach kids to develop a winning state of mind as well as the ability to become team leaders. Although having _______ is a major part of athletics, the only purpose of sports is to compete and create the _______ mentality (心态) people need in sports.

_______ have the extremely hard task of getting their young athletes to learn how to play the sport and become disciplined, and ready to play the sport to the best of their ability. _______, I was at my younger brother’s baseball game the other night and his team was _______ by five runs in the last part of the game. While most teams in this situation would be desperately trying to regain their _______ for heroics, his team just seemed to slowly walk around, _______ sunflower seeds, and laugh at jokes made by teammates. I asked my brother after the game why everybody was so _______ about the loss and he said it was because some kid’s mom brought really good snacks.

Some parents have a _______ with coaches shouting at their child. If a child makes a mistake, it is the coach’s ________ to correct the problem. When parents get involved in telling the coach how to ________ the team, problems ________. Some parents feel if they pay their money, they should have an equal ________ on how to coach the team. In order to have a successful learning experience, the coach needs to feel like he can control his team and ________ the parents from having the last say. Without that, the coach feels as if he needs to ________the parents by giving more playing time to their kids who actually don’t ________it.

With youth sport programs becoming less competitive, club teams are on the ________ . More teens can get an easier access to them. Club teams ________more of what high school and junior high coaches are looking for, the competitive edge that is absolutely necessary in ________ . While having fun is important, skills and a ________ mentality is worth more in the world of sports.