1 . My mom has been and will always be my biggest inspiration. She is a single parent of eight, and I have no idea how she survived. Throughout the years, my mom has _________ many hardships which could easily _________ someone with little determination.

Even when doctors _________ if my little sister Mary would live to see the age of 2, my mom never lost hope. After _________ visits to countless doctors, my mom decided to bring her home and make the best of my sister’s life _________ giving in to the bad results from different hospitals.

Mary’s frequent hospital visits definitely upset her, but my mom never showed _________ of weakness. Her _________ helped Mary through every tough time. No matter how confused Mary was, my mom always made her feel as if there was nothing to worry about, which _________ Mary to live the life of a normal child.

_________, things began to become worse. Around her 6th birthday, Mary lost sight at the age of 5. The doctor said that it could __________ cure. The whole family were heartbroken and helpless. Once again, my mom found a way to __________ us all, making us know that she had a strong support system. She __________ her job and stayed with Mary day and night, which helped contribute to her recovery __________.

My mom gets us to realize that no matter how __________ our life may appear, we are equipped with a very strong __________ system. We are a family that will always be there for one another.

4 . Several years ago, a neighbor kid kicked a football and broke a basement window of my house. Due to financial problems, I _________ it up, thinking I’d get to it someday.

Over the years, I had planned to upgrade to energy-efficient windows. But with the frame rusted (锈) and firmly _________ in the foundation, whoever did it would need to chisel (凿) it out by hand. It would be a _________ process and there were six of those windows in the house. The cost was estimated at $15,000. It was simply _________ .

Honestly, the thought of that window _________ me for years. I knew I needed to fix it, but I had built up the _________ so much in my mind that I put it off again and again.

Then I had a job change and needed to sell the house before moving away. But it was almost _________ to find a buyer if there was a broken window. So I pulled off the boards to face this thing head-on. I grabbed some rust remover, _________ it around the frame of the window, and gave it a pull. To my astonishment, it easily _________ . I took the window downtown. It only cost me $12. I could have __________ the problem for only $12 when it occurred, but I let it bother me for five years!

__________ , this isn’t just about my window. Many of us live with broken windows of one type or another. They are things that seriously affect our __________ of life. If you recognize your broken window, don’t __________ to mend it. It may turn out to be __________ than expected. Usually we suffer more in __________ than in reality.

8 . The first day of school, our professor challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I was looking for someone when a _________ hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a friendly, little old lady with beaming eyes.

“Hi, handsome. My name’s Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I _________ you?” I laughed and _________ responded, “Of course!”, and we hugged. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She also joked, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get _________, and have kids…” “No, seriously,” I was curious what may have _________ her to study at university at such age. “I always _________ having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she replied.

Over the course of the year, Rose became very _________ on the campus and at the end of the semester, we invited her to give us a _________. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

She was _________ and stepped up to the podium (领奖台). With all eyes on her, she cleared her throat, “There is a huge __________ between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 years old and lie in bed for one year without doing anything __________, you will turn 20. If I stay in bed for a year, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any __________. The idea is to grow up by finding the opportunity in change and have no __________.”

She __________ her speech by passionately singing “The Rose.” She __________ us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

9 . Last Tuesday I took my two daughters to town by car. It began to rain __________ so I decided I would leave the children in the car before I __________ a shop. I told them not to __________ anything and told them I would be __________ within a few minutes. Then I locked all the doors and left __________ happily looking out of the window.

I returned to the car in less than five minutes but the girls had __________! I could hardly believe my__________. The car doors were __________ locked, the windows tightly shut and on the back seat were only two coats. Being ____________, I ran to the corner of the street ____________ there was no sign of them. I rushed up to an old lady nearby and asked whether she had seen two small girls but she said “No”.

Feeling quite sick with ____________, I sat on the driver’s seat, and __________ to stop trembling (发抖). Suddenly, I ___________ a merry laugh behind me. I got out of the car, ran round to open the boot (车尾行李箱) and inside were two very red-face and excited children. They had obviously ___________ the back seat, climbed behind it and then been unable to push the seat forward again. With tears in my eyes, I ___________ and pulled their ears.

10 . Two weeks ago my grandfather passed away. It really put me into deep ________ because my grandfather held a ________ position in my life. For me, my grandpa was not only a ________ family member but a tutor (导师) who encouraged me to work hard and ________ well.

I’ll never forget the first time I read a long piece of his writing. It was when I ________ for Princeton and he offered to write to the university on my behalf. He wrote in beautiful ________ and used poetic language, unafraid of sounding too “flowery”. I read the ________ out loud so I could hear the rhyming sounds.

My grandfather ________ hard work. Every time he came to visit us in New York, he would ________ my brothers and me for our good performance, which made me feel ________. I knew he had worked hard to ________ the big family during the Great Depression. He was awarded many military ________ for winning many battles in the Navy in World War II.

At the funeral, a friend of my grandfather walked to me and said that my grandfather had told him about a small book I had written. After it came out, I sent it to my grandfather ________ received no reply. This man told me that my book hit my grandfather’s heart and brought tears to his eyes. My grandfather said he was so ________ of me.

Now I feel even more deserved to write well because I know my grandfather ________ it. I know he lives in my heart forever.