1 . It was a dark night. Thick, dark, gray clouds had made sure that there was no starlight or moonlight to ________ me as I walked out of my porch (门厅). Still, I kept the porch light off because I didn’t want to be ________ by bugs and moths (飞蛾) on this sticky ________ evening. I stood there for a while letting my eyes adjust to the lack of ________.

It was then, though, that I saw them. First one blink of light at the far end of the ________ followed by another and then another. I ________. I recognized them at once as my firefly (萤火虫) friends, my lightning bug buddies who always ________ this time of the year.

When I was little I used to sit in the grass and watch them ________ fly around blinking on and off. I never ________ and put one in a jar as some kids did because I never wanted to hurt these messengers of light. Their time on this earth was so ________ as it was. I tried to enjoy them each night they were here. It always ________ me when they disappeared in the fall and it always made my heart ________ when they reappeared the next summer.

We are like them in a lot of ways. Our ________ here on earth is brief. Often our light of love is more like on and off blinks rather than a ________ shine. Still, we do our best to share it and take ________ in knowing that others will be shining their light long after we are gone.

2 . A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington D. C.. I saw many of our nation’s treasures, and I also saw a lot of unfortunate people like beggars and homeless folks in the streets.

Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, "Can you help me?" When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended. In a natural reaction, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it in her hand. I didn’t even look at her. I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar.

But the blind woman smiled and said, "I don’t want your money. I just need help finding the post office."

Immediately, I realized what I had done. I acted with prejudice—I judged a person simply for what I thought she was.

The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant. I left Honduras and arrived in America at the age of 15. Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, cashier, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other jobs, and finally I became a network engineer.

In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice. I remember a time, at age 17—I was a busboy, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well at school, he would end up like me.

But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going. That blind woman on the street of Washington D. C. cured me of my blindness. She reminded me to always keep my eyes and heart open.

6 . A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how to _______ and want to give up. It seemed as one problem was solved. a new one_______.

Her father took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a(n)_______ . In one he placed carrots, the second eggs, and the last ground coffee beans. He let them _______ and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited. In about twenty minutes he turned off the _______ . He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he_______   the coffee out and placed it in a mug. Turning to her he asked, "Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee." she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to_______the carrots, she did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After _______ the egg, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She _______ , as she tasted its rich fragrance.

“What does it mean. Father?” she asked.

He explained that each of them had faced the same________boiling water, but each reacted________.The carrot went in strong, and hard. But after being subjected (to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been ________. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting________ the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were ________,however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter.

When adversity (逆境) knocks on your door, how do you________? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

7 . Most of my life I had lived in a Black community. Neither of my _______ had made it past middle school and I was the first in my family of three to ever set foot on a college campus. _______, most of my peers came from generations of college-educated family and had grown up in _______ suburbs. Instead of _______ with others how I was feeling, I isolated myself and thought I could get through it if I just focused on _________. During the weeks leading up to my sophomore year winter break, I finally decided I would _________. Fortunately, that wasn't the _______ of the story. I found strength and guidance to continue through to graduation.

Social and psychological counseling gave me space to process my _______. Volunteering work provided me a consistent reminder for _______ I was in college. My interactions with students who__________ me so much of my own friends back home inspired me to be __________ to working for access to higher education for low-income youth. I __________ got involved with a summer internship program, where I cooperated with some student leaders to start a conference to __________ about issues of race.

Knowledge is empowering. I read books and __________ chose courses to learn more about topics related to race. Most importantly, I was empowered with the knowledge I needed to work for justice and ___________

8 . Did you ever have a dream? I'm talking about a conscious dream where you would like to ____ a new future, a different choice of employment and a ____ of your own.

Several years ago, I had a dream about inventing a board game that would ___ my fortune. After many revisions, a board game was developed. It was a(n)_____ time. Our dream seemed to come true with sales starting to ___, and our company was also founded.

___ ,another new board game come into the ___ and made great progress in sales. Eventually, our company was dissolved (解散).Perhaps for a game developer, the ____emotions that it never was meant to be will discourage his future dreams of a different life. To me, maybe I didn't succeed to the level I ___, but there is one thing I'm ___ of: at the very least I turned my dream into a reality. If I had never transferred my dream into a ___ and then to action, there wouldn't have been valuable lessons to be learned from the failure. It may take many ___ but success is only achieved. Once dreams are ___ action, failure becomes a better action plan in future. The important ___ here is that success only comes by turning dreams into reality and realizing that the ___ that you fortunately get along the way are only stepping-stones to final success.

9 . As my husband and I drove down a country road, we passed a fire station with a sign that read, "Are you ready for the next storm?” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and outages. We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world.

We have had our share of storms in the past--a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days in a cold house weren't fun, but we learned so much from those early storms, things that made later storms easier to bear.

Now we have stored up flashlights, lanterns and candles. We bought a battery-operated radio to keep up with the news. We stocked up on batteries so that we'd have plenty for extended power failures. We make sure our grill（烤架） is ready and its tank is full, and we purchase food that can be easily prepared and then cooked or heated on the grill. And we don't forget to buy emergency chocolate! We have book lights to read in the dark. We keep our car gas tanks full and have emergency cash on hand.

We're ready for the next storm, but we wouldn't have learned to do all those things if we hadn't encountered a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big storms--the big trials--that will come our way, They can teach us some valuable lessons.

Are you ready for the next storm? Now is the time to get ready. . . not when the storm arrives.

10 . Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood-The Rolling Stones — have played together for more than 50 years. However, they still recognize the ____ of practicing together.

They understand that for excellence to become a habit, you need to define a ____ approach to working together. You need to practice it over and over until it becomes second ____. Before every tour, the band typically spends two months in rehearsing . They __ the opportunity to reconnect with their collective rhythm . The __ enables the band to perform with almost telepathic communication. Richards says that he knows exactly what's happening by____watching Watts' left hand. If the rhythm ever slows, one glance from Richards to Wood speaks volumes. Together they will then ____ the pace.

The Stones' ____ comes from each member having a distinctive yet complementary   ____ Richards is their spiritual leader, Watts the band's backbone, Wood the mediator, and Jagger is ___ everything he can be - a chief executive in many ways.

Each of the band's members is a(n) ____ in his own right, but it is the chemistry the band has on each of them that works best. Being part of the Rolling Stones remains the best way for each member to achieve their ____ goals. The best teams are those who ___ individual drive with understanding the importance and ____ of the team.

This is the secret to becoming an excellent team ： There is no ____ to the ongoing devotion and intentional practice required to build better teams.