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 . Eight years ago, I determined to start my first job—training horses in different countries. Now here I am, my connection with horses have taught me a lot. Let me share two ________ with you.

We can manage ________ through cultural sharing connection. Horse riding is the only sport in the Olympics where men and women ________ equally. In India, as the only woman ________ in the riding club, I had to teach some uneducated males who had a   ________ understanding of horsemanship (马术). People believe horse riding is a man's sport. As a woman, I had to ________ my right. I often trained difficult to ride horses as well as ________ the entire riding club. I worked hard, eventually ________ over those men, who were eager to learn horsemanship training techniques.

The second lesson is that we are never too old to learn. Riding can be learned at any ________. My husband, Christian, had never ridden a horse before but had always ________ it. When moving to England, we invested (投资) in a young horse named Lilly, as a   ________ project. At the age of 30, my husband started to learn horse riding, and now, the two can't be ________. Lilly follows him everywhere. Christian finally realized his dream.

I never realized how many doors of ________ that horses would open up for me. Because of horses, I ________ the world, I help others, and I've watched them heal (治愈) souls and ________ with people.

9 . 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 homeschool 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.

10 . My son was one of the students who served as a volunteer in different services while in a high school. Nowadays it is _______ for high schools to have a volunteer service hour minimum as a part of their graduation _______. One day, I asked him why he worked long hours voluntarily every week. He gave me a reply _______ his years. He said, “Mom, you should not do community service just because it was assigned and you just need to _______ it in. You should do it because of the effects it has.” In many ways his opinion is _______ reasonable, and though the service hour requirement actually does get students to participate in volunteer work in their communities, does it _______ them to volunteer in the future?

In some cases, no. A study found that when 8th graders in some schools were asked to accumulate _______ volunteer hours, those same students were no longer doing any service by their senior year of high school. It _______ that mandatory (强制的) volunteer hours led to a “potential loss in long-term volunteering”. _______, other researchers discovered that young people were more likely to vote and attend civic (公民的) life in other ways as a result of their __________ to community service in high school.

If teens __________ the significance of doing volunteer work and do it with a bit of enthusiasm, serving others in their communities will bring in a lot of unexpected __________. My son’s exposure to a variety of non-profits during his high school years led him to __________ a service scholarship for college, where he is now required to complete seventy-five hours per semester. But to him, this is __________ a requirement; actually he has benefited a lot more than that. __________ is what he has always wanted to do.