1 . When it came to weather, I was always complaining about wind or rain. Although it was _________ unusual for the arrival of wind or rain, it caused _________ for me to go out, and sometimes it even created an awful atmosphere, so I _________ it strongly.

On a rainy day, I met a meteorologist（气象学家）, who was very _________ at my great anger caused by rain that made a little inconvenience for me. He asked, “Have you ever seen typhoon? Do you know what would happen to the world if there were no typhoon?” I _________ my head.

“Well, let me tell you,” the meteorologist said. “Without it the _________ of freshwater will be more serious, for it is a great source of water supply on the earth. Without it, there would be a greater _________ in the distribution（分布）of warmth. The equatorial （赤道的）area that receives the most sunshine on the earth _________ on typhoon to disperse（驱散）heat. Without typhoon, the tropics would be even hotter, while the frigid zones much _________. As a result, the temperate（温带的）zones would __________ from the world.”

Ignorance made me __________. I disliked wind only because it ruffled（吹乱）my hair. I hated rain only because I had to carry an umbrella. But I had no idea at that typhoon—something a thousand times more violent and disturbing than wind or rain—was a __________ to the existence of mankind.

It __________ to my mind that hard as it is for people to guard against typhoon, it is advisable for a man to stop to think for a moment before he complains. “What if typhoon disappeared altogether? What would the world become then?” The __________ will keep him calm and lead him closer to the truth—he will be better __________ of the world he lives in.

2 . I was 17 when I discovered shooting stars.

I loved them so much that I invited my high school friends to my family farm and spent an August night in our sleeping bags on the hillside to watch them together.

I can’t help but think of that as the final night of my childhood. I always managed to squeeze in a week or two of vacation before starting back at school, and I’d see shooting stars and remember that brilliant night on the hill. While still marveling at them, I’d work at convincing myself that the joy I’d experience from my accomplishments in college would soon replace my longing for some quiet time beneath a vast sky. But always, I returned to college life in August with deep sadness in my heart.

I’ve given lots of reasons over the past 13 years for my choice to live an independent life on a distant farm and home school my daughters. But deep down, I think the shooting stars had a lot to do with it. I couldn’t bear to gaze up at them and think that they were a finale to be witnessed before returning to the demands of school and careers.

So I said “no” to all of it: no jobs, no school. And I decided to lead a life tied to the seasons, where shooting stars were just one of many gifts from nature.

I changed my life to make room for them and I’m starting to learn the difference between fulfillment and accomplishment.

Accomplishment is a child’s successful test scores. Fulfillment is loving and forgiving each other through times table (乘法表)and written words.

Accomplishment is the publication of 20 essays per year and six books, Fulfillment is the hours spent researching, then walking through the woods to think about each word and thought.

Accomplishment is making enough income to cover my taxes. Fulfillment is sitting outside at 3 am in August, watching the shooting stars, no longer sad at the passage of childhood, but thrilled for the joy of the stars.

It is learned that accomplishment is merely a mark in the book made as a result of following fulfillment above all else.

4 . I suffered from Asperger’s at my childhood. One of the biggest ________ I faced was communicating with others. I was shy but I loved to read and recite facts. This sometimes made me a ________ for bullies (欺凌). I didn’t really understand as much about the disease or how it ________ my life.

When I was in my 20s, I ________ to Paris. I was deeply attracted by the city, and I ________ a job in a big hotel right then. As an Eiffel Tower ambassador, I ________ guests and visitors as they took the lift to the top of the hotel’s 46-story tower, where I liked to ________ the local attractions and helped people find the best ________ for taking photos. At first, I had a problem with changes in everyday life, ________ when talking with people who were different from me. But I liked to memorize facts, and that really ________ in my job because people loved to learn all of the interesting things about the city. Every day when I clocked in, I felt it was time for me to perform for and ________ the guests. I loved it when I learned something new because I couldn’t ________ to share the information with others.

Everyone is ________ , and everyone has a gift. It takes me more than 50 years to ________ that I am different. Just be yourself, be kind, and try to make a ________ in your life.

5 . When I was young, I struggled with body image and disordered eating. I used disordered eating to deal with my _________ and feel more in control of my life. Afterwards, I’d over-exercise to _________ my body for what I’d eaten, especially if I thought the _________ too much.

But later I realized how unhealthy my _________ were. A happier life was possible, in which I’d hang out with friends and join in enjoyable exercises in my free time _________. I wanted to have a wonderful life filled with amazing _________. In response to it, I stopped punishing my body and began to _________ it right. My body and I had done nothing _________ in eating and enjoying food, but my life would be happier once I was healthier.

Once I became healthier, I dove back into _________ I attended Zumba classes with an old roommate. I __________ how cool it was and how privileged I was that my body could do so many fancy dance moves. I even became one of the __________ of the technique award.

We live in a world where feeling okay about our eating and body image is close to __________ sometimes. But a life free of diet culture and body __________ is the one that everyone should fight for. I’m so __________ that I’m able to exercise my body through dancing, and here I want to __________ other particular body’s abilities.

6 . Growing up in a Jamaican American household, food was an important part of my childhood. I remember my grandmother preparing fried dumplings and curry mutton, jazz music playing in the background. Food was our greatest treasure. Food brought the family together. Food celebrated new beginnings and eased the wounds of life’s untimely endings.

When I was 8, I was diagnosed with a muscle disease, which caused me to spend most of my childhood in hospital. rooms and wheelchairs, slowly gaining weight by swallowing prednisone (肾上腺皮质激素) hidden inside mint chocolate chip ice cream. My mom made it her duty to help me lose the weight through strict dieting. I’ve tried every single one. In fairness, my mother did the best she could. As a single mom, she felt this brought us closer. However, as an adult, I began to experience a paralyzing fear of food. My “I’ll start a new diet on Monday” mind-set lasted for 16 years as I uncontrollably ate and abused my body. I was worried that I was not attractive enough. So obsessed and afraid no one would hire me as an actress if I didn’t win the battle with the numbers on the scale, in February 2011 I was send to hospital.

We do extreme things to our bodies because of those numbers, numbers that cannot talk with us or love us. I have had to stop judging my belly, stop starving myself, stop getting on the scale and staring at those numbers. I have come to the realization that my life is more important than those numbers on the scale and that the quality of the life I live is more important than how I look in the mirror.

7 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own ______ .

I learned this lesson from a(n) ______ many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the ______ team at the end of spring practice.The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to ______ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t ______ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to ______ that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my ______ about their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important, I began to treat them like ______ . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and ______ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our ______ on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a ______ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest ______ of my life!

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can ______ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and ______ them. I helped them to see themselves ______ , and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.