1 . Are parents rational (理性的) about their children? No. Parents aren’t rational because ________ isn’t rational. Young people can understand this about romantic love, but they find it ________ to accept this part in parental love.

My eldest daughter’s ________ the other day brought this up. “Let me ask you something, Dad,” she began in patiently controlled ________ that every experienced parent knows.

“I sailed around the Mediterranean in a yacht (游艇) when I was seventeen,” she said. “I hiked through the Pyrenees from Spain to Paris. I’ve done rock climbing and deep-sea diving and slept in rainforests in the jungle of Indonesia. Right?”

“Right,” I said, “So what?”

“So this,” she went on. “When I go to the corner drugstore to pick up some shampoo, why do you always tell me to be ________ when I cross the street?”

There is no satisfactory ________ a parent can give to this.

All I could say in reply was that when I was 50, my mother would ________ me not to drive too fast. If I were 80 and she were still alive, I would be getting the ________ warning. No matter what the age, a child is a child.

There is something else, too, that children find it hard to understand. When they are far away, there is nothing we can do about their ________. They are in the hands of the gods. Parents try not to ________ about it.

But when the children are close, the old protective urge quickly ________, and it doesn’t ________ how far they have been or what experiences they have got through.

Most ________ happen around the corner, not in the rainforest. The most instinctive (本能的) act of almost every creature is to ________ its young, and with humans this reaction stays for a lifetime.

In the parents’ mind, a child ages but does not ________. Rational? No. But if we were rational, would we want children at all?

4 . My community and state are still recovering from the disaster that hit the area recently. A wall of storms with hurricane force winds _____ late on a Friday evening knocking down trees, _____ roads, damaging homes, and destroying power lines. Hundreds of thousands of people suddenly _____themselves in the dark without water, electricity, air conditioning, telephones, internet, and television. They were _____ from the modern world suffering unbearable 90 degree plus heat with no help and no idea _____ it would be over.

The most _____ thing happened, however, as the reality of the crisis sank in: it brought out the best in us. While there were a few acts of _____ and stealing, they were overwhelmed (压倒) by the wave of _____ and compassion that came from the hearts of so many. People shared their food, ice, and gasoline. People who still had _____ opened their homes to those who had none. People rushed out to _____roads and homes of fallen trees. Selfless power crews worked around the clock to repair the damage and _____ electricity.

Life’s disasters strike all of us from time to time. No one is _____. We all get hurt. We all get _____. How we respond to them, though, is up to us. We can let them bring out the worst in us or we can let them bring out the best in us. We can _____ them like devils of selfishness or like angels of love. May you always bring the best from your heart and soul to whatever life may _____ at you then. May you live all of your days here with so much love that you sing and smile.

5 . I’m 52, and as surprising as it may seem. I’m a gymnast. In a sport for young girls, I have found an unlikely path to joy. When I enter the gym, no matter how much stress I might be feeling, my mind clears and I forget my life. I think of nothing but what I am doing.

When I was 9, I went every Saturday to a gymnastic academy. The coach had gray hair and wore ballet shoes and had boundless enthusiasm. He would say, “You are going to be a gymnast.” And I believed him. I vividly remember the first time I did a round off back handspring by myself, the weightlessness of it. I lived for Saturday mornings. I only ever did gymnastics recreationally — I didn’t even know real gyms existed — but I always loved it.

That long dormant love came roaring back in my forties. It happened in an instant, at parents’ day for my daughter’s beginning gymnastics class. The bars were just sitting there, and I had this overwhelming urge to grab hold and swing. But I couldn’t make it through the warm-up at the first adult class I went. I felt bad during conditioning. I was the oldest person there. But that spark of memory glowed with possibility. I went back to class again, and again. It was hard and it was humbling. But soon I was doing back handsprings like I used to.

There is nothing like the thrill of getting a new skill, that combination of speed, mechanics, timing, muscles, and bravery. There is an indescribable (不可言喻的) element, too, something like faith. By the time we reach middle age, most of us have had to deal with our fair share of unwelcome surprises, like illness, family crisis or the death of a beloved parent. But gymnastics has brought the most delightful surprises — I keep getting better, overcoming what I thought were limits, amazing myself by what I can do. At a time in life when many things feel like they are sliding down the slope (斜坡) towards old, gymnastics is a gift of fluency and competence in motion. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m a better gymnast now than I was at 16.

8 . I visited my sister’s family yesterday. When I arrived there, my 14-year-old nephew looked quite ________. When asked about the reason, he said he was going to take an exam   I was not________after listening to his explanation.

I know it is common to ________ anxious thoughts before an examination or during the examination. Moderate(适度的) levels of stress________ us to work hard, overcome our limitations and give our best ________. However, when we are overly nervous, we may feel like a complete failure and see no________ in making an effort.

As a society which now believes firmly in________, achieving, and winning,we might________turn examinations into larger than life events. We seem to________ the fact that an examination is just something used to tell us how well we have learned a particular subject and where we need to improve in that specific subject. Whatever the________of an examination we have got, they cannot change who we are and what we will do in our lives. Therefore, ________we fail to perform well, we must ________ourselves that it is just one exam in our long life and it is not going to be the end of the world.

Comparing ourselves with others brings a lot of fear in our mind and prevents our________. Rather than thinking about either defeating others or getting defeated by them, we should________this unhealthy thought and make self perfection our long term goal.   Let’s always strive to________ourselves and realize our internal potential.

10 . I was cutting up lettuce in the kitchen when I suddenly remembered watching a video about soaking the lettuce stub (残余部分) in water to grow a whole new vegetable. So I took out a wide-mouthed mug(大杯) and placed the stub into it, gave it a little water, and placed it by the window.

On a snowy morning, I noticed the first sign. A first small leaf from its heart spread out. A tiny green flag of hope. Beaten, but not defeated. This lettuce was not done living! Within days, it was impossible to see the cuts where I had removed the leaves. The growth was explosive. And when I lifted the blossoming head out of the mug, tiny root threads fell down, seeking for the earth. What is growing here? Lettuce or hope?

If I were a lettuce in a similar condition, I’d want to skeptically assess where I found myself before committing to full growth. Yet for this lettuce, my inadequate offering of water and a place by a window was enough for it to decide to reclaim itself again. It grew in a mug of water, in faith. This is the heart of this lettuce: alive, strong and fearless. It deserved a name. I decided to call it Monty.

Monty wanted to grow, as we all do. I think I gave him a little love and freedom. Those two ingredients were all he needed to return to himself. I see joy in this lettuce. The return to self is always an expression of joy, which is life itself. With the right ingredients, this is the tendency of all living things.

Monty still lives in a mug, but I’m going to transplant him outside. He deserves to become his full self. The only problem I see now is my capacity to support Monty. I hope I have enough of a green finger.

I’m surprised to find myself where I am. Maybe Monty is, too. I have the same choice as he does: give in and decay (腐败), or start again. The prospect of starting again is discouraging. But my lettuce-friend, Monty, leads the way. I can only hope to be as brave.