1 . Small children are easy to throw up in the air and catch — and they ________ it. “Again, Daddy, again!” Jacky shouts as I throw him skywards and catch him on the way back down again. He throws his arms and legs out   ________ he were flying, his eyes wide with ________. His trust in me is ________, which is quite a nice feeling, but at the same time gives me a huge sense of ________.

I hope Jacky will always trust me fully, but I know that, as he gets older, it will need more effort and sound judgment ________. Trust is such an important part of a parent-child relationship that it’s something that I can’t ________to lose. Every time I ________ Jacky to something new, he’ll do it only because he trusts me and feels ________ in the knowledge that he won’t get hurt.________，teaching Jacky to swim means he has to believe that, when he’s swimming in the big pool, I’ll come to his rescue if his doggy paddle lets him down.

________, in the workplace, trust is important for strong ________. It is something that every manager should work hard to ________ among their team. If people don’t trust you, they’re unlikely to follow your directions and willingly become a loyal (忠诚) team member. A ________of trust can make people work against you rather than for you. At the very least, it means that people are not going to be giving you their best. Good ________, like good parenting, is a long-term commitment.

2 . Sometime in the early 1960s, a significant thing happened in Sydney, Australia. The city discovered its harbor. Then, one after another, Sydney discovered lots of things that were just sort of there — broad parks, superb beaches, and a culturally diverse population. But it is the harbor that makes the city.

Andrew Reynolds, a cheerful fellow in his early 30s, pilots Sydney ferryboats for a living. I spent the whole morning shuttling back and forth across the harbor. After our third run Andrew shut down the engine, and we went our separate ways — he for a lunch break, I to explore the city.

“I’ll miss these old boats,” he said as we parted.

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re replacing them with catamarans. Catamarans are faster, but they’re not so elegant, and they’re not fun to pilot. But that’s progress, I guess.”

Everywhere in Sydney these days, change and progress are the watchwords, and traditions are increasingly rare. Shirley Fitzgerald, the city’s official historian, told me that in its rush to modernity in the 1970s, Sydney swept aside much of its past, including many of its finest buildings. “Sydney is confused about itself,” she said. “We can’t seem to make up our minds whether we want a modern city or a traditional one. It’s a conflict that we aren’t getting any better at resolving.”

On the other hand, being young and old at the same time has its attractions. I considered this when I met a thoughtful young businessman named Anthony. “Many people say that we lack culture in this country,” he told me. “What people forget is that the Italians, when they came to Australia, brought 2000 years of their culture, the Greeks some 3000 years, and the Chinese more still. We’ve got a foundation built on ancient cultures but with a drive and dynamism of a young country. It’s a pretty hard combination to beat.”

He is right, but I can’t help wishing they would keep those old ferries.

3 . The other day, I was looking at my schedule for the summer. I had a moment of _________, realizing I’d be without my laptop for two weeks during our family camping trip.

You might be thinking my _________ sounds astonishing and that two weeks with no pressure to work, just relaxing in nature is the time to refresh and restore one’s _________ and body. I used to be a workaholic (工作狂). So taking two weeks off from my business made me _________.

I know I’m not _________ here in our busy world. To work hard is especially significant for high-achieving people to _________ in their careers. We live in a culture that _________ the state of being busy. There might have been many times when you _________ some relatives or friends on the street and heard they said they were very busy when asking about their recent _________. Being busy is the new normal. Therefore, when we’re not busy, we feel like we’re doing something wrong.

I’m not saying working all the time makes us feel OK. Taking a break brings us __________. We’ll be more __________ after relaxing, thus having more novel ideas. Iceland has __________ a 4-day work week for 2,500 people. A study by Stanford University found that their __________ didn’t decline; they reported a better work-life balance.

Our brains aren’t designed to __________ all the time. Working hard enough to pass our limits will unavoidably lead to burnout. Therefore, we should give ourselves a(n) __________ once in a while.

4 . I wrote a letter to my kids a few years ago. It’s three pages long, and it sums up what I’ve learned in four decades of life. My kids are too ________ to understand now, but by the time they reach adulthood, they will have heard most of the advice in that letter: Live in the moment, do not ________ yourself to physical things and follow your dreams, etc.

I sealed the letter in a plain white envelope and wrote ________ not to open it unless something horrible happened to me. As a police officer, I’ve seen life put to an end or irrevocably ________ in an instant. I realized that could happen to me at ________ time. If something does happen to me, my children will get that ________. In it, they will read about my love for them and about the advice that I want to ________ on to them.

Every day, when I open my locker, I see the letter. It ________ me to be careful at work, and to show my children and the people I come into contact with that I truly understand and practice everything I’ve written. If that day comes and my children ________ read the letter, I hope that because of my actions, they will take my written beliefs to heart and improve upon my ________.

But for me, it’s not enough to write down my beliefs. I try to be the ________ person I can be every day — even in very difficult circumstances, even with ________ people. I also get depressed, or yell at my kids occasionally, and sometimes I’m not as ________ or as considerate as I should be. In fact, I am ________ perfect, but I hope my children will eventually realize that ________ is an illusion. What really matters is that, instead of just writing about our beliefs, we all take action to be the best humans we can be.

5 . I first realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet during my travel in Western Australia. One day about 12 years ago, I stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast ta buy some groceries. But the lady at the counter told me that the supermarket didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and help preserve the endangered turtles(海龟) living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, I gathered all purchases in my arms and left, reflecting on what I had been told.

The experience in that trip made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to travel and live more sustainably. For example, I always carried a cotton bag when I went shopping.

My travel to Indonesia was another life-changing experience that strengthened my determination to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. In Indonesia, finding safe drinkable water was always a challenge, so I traveled with my water bottle, managing to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during my trip.

However, I was seriously struck by my stay on the Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts by the project staff and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively reusing plastic, the shore was washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented me from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.

Facing this global issue in person, I felt a sense of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in my life. Sometimes we might feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes could actually make a difference step by step!

6 . In the sport of track and field, athletes compete not only with one another but against themselves, and in each race they try to achieve the new personal best.

For one Nebraska teen running in what would likely to be his final cross-country outing before graduating from high school, his personal best turned out not to be marking the fastest time but displaying the biggest heart.

Although it was a long shot when he came out from the starting position last Thursday, Brandon Schutt from Bellevue East High School knew if his time was good enough that day, he still had the potential to qualify for the upcoming state meet. A mile into the 3.1-mile race, however, Schutt realized he wasn’t going to be able to keep up the necessary momentum(势头). Rather than risking injury, he slowed to a comfortable pace that would allow him to simply get pleasure from the moment and the day.

Meanwhile, Blake Cerveny from Omaha Burke High School was running a very different kind of race. Aiming to beat his own personal record, after a fast start, he continued to push himself hard. With less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny’s legs cramped up (抽筋), but he didn’t give up. Cerveny rose from the ground and continued on, only to fall again after another 150 meters and again. About 100 meters away from the finish line, he lay curled on the ground. His legs had simply given out.

Before Cerveny’s dad could reach his son, Brandon Schutt was at his side to offer a helping hand. The two completed the final meters of the course. Schutt even made sure the injured runner crossed the finish line first, securing his opponent a faster time.

In today’s competitive world, while the emphasis in athletics is so often on breaking records, it is inspiring to see an athlete like Brandon Schutt.

7 . A long time ago, there was an emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then the emperor would give him the area of land he would have covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping (抽打) the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much as possible.

Finally, the horseman was exhausted and dying. He asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I need only a very small area to bury myself.”

The story above is similar with the journey of our life. We push very hard every day to make more money, to get power. We don’t pay attention to our health, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauties and the hobbies we love. One day when we look back, we will realize that we don’t really need that much.

Life is not only about making money, getting power. Life is definitely not only about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauties and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of work and play. Happiness is also the meaning and the purpose of life. So, take it easy! Do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile (脆弱的) and short.

8 . Before I started high school my parents gave me the greatest gift any teenage boy could ask for: a cell phone. I______ that phone all summer. To me, being connected was more important than being present. So, you can imagine my ______ when I learned what my dad had ______ for my family vacation that year. “This year,” my dad said, “We are going camping!” His excitement was met with a disappointing sigh（叹气）. ______, he wasn’t upset.

The views during the trip were amazing, but none of those mattered to me. My mind was on my phone. I remembered the first time I looked up was for something shocking—my phone had no service. My dad said that it would be ______ until we returned home. I would be ______ in the forest for four days with no way to contact the outside world. I went to bed angry that night. But something ______ when I awoke in the morning. ______ immediately burying my head in my phone, I ______ something else: my surroundings. As my dad and I walked the trails（小路），I felt the weight of tons of stress off my shoulders.

I realized being ______ to nature made me focus more on myself. I let my mind speak to me and listened to my feelings. I had been so focused on staying connected that I hadn’t been hearing my own ______. That was 15 years ago, and I carry that ______ to this day. When I received my first work email. I ______ the reason why my dad chose a campsite with no access to technology. In a world that asks for more connectivity, the need to check up your cell phone becomes stronger. Having my own time is nearly ______ when I can be ______ at any time of day or night. So, I need to work harder.

Whenever I feel my inner self is slipping away, I follow my dad’s guidance. I pack up the tent and drive until my phone shows those two magic words: “no service”.

10 . I had always been warmly praised for my basketball shooting ability when I was in high school. But when I went to Ohio State, I discovered that everyone on the team was _________ in his hometown.

To win a starting job on the team, I had figured I would have to _________ the coach with my shooting ability. But it turned out that the team was _________ full of attacking players and what it needed was someone to _________ on defence. Unwillingly, I decided to take that role, but didn’t expect the _________ was to make all the difference to me later.

One day, when we were _________ a game against the Bucks, I was called out by the coach, Milwaukee, who gave me the _________ to guard our court. Though-feeling a bit _________, I accepted. Throughout the game, I continued paying the defence role.

Then, near the end of the game, in a(an) _________ to widen the gap, Milwaukee gave me a precious __________. He asked me to organize an attack. Driving up the middle of the court, I __________ the ball. It was a __________ three-point play and minutes later the championship was ours.

Standing there in that circle of cheering audience, I came to __________ the importance of teamwork. Just as Milwaukee said, “__________ teams often have one or two players who stand out; good teams have five who work together. It is amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who gets the __________.”