1 . I used to be the most determined resolution-maker. Every January 1st, I would dutifully sit down and write out my resolutions for the upcoming year. I always ________ big goals, like: In the new year, I will lose 50 pounds! And run a marathon! Oh, and be the best parent ever who never ________ my children!

The problem? I never accomplished those resolutions. I’d start out strong, but by February or March, I’d be out of willpower and I’d ________ quietly back into my old habits. Every winter, I’d feel ________ and ashamed, looking back at all of the amazing things…I didn’t do.

Two years ago, I started experiencing severe stomach pain. The doctors ________ a surgery to go in and ________ it out. But ________ I could have the surgery, I found a lump(肿块) and was diagnosed with breast cancer. I started treatment for the breast cancer only to ________ that the stomach pain was from appendix(阑尾) cancer. That’s ________: two different cancers, with two different treatment plans, at the same time, in the same body. It was a lot to ________, and I won’t lie – the next year was incredibly difficult.

The experience completely changed my perspective on my life— especially about what I consider “success” and “failure.” Before, I always felt like I was ________ somewhere, but now ________ being alive and with my family felt like a huge success.

I understand the ________ of having a new beginning, but I learned that you can take the opportunity to start over at any time. January 1st is just a day, and it’s not ________. You can make the day you decide to be a better person a special day, regardless of what the ________ says.

2 . When I first heard from my doctor that I was allergic to hay (干草), it weighed pretty heavily on my mind.

I grew up _________ around big open fields and playing with the animals on my friend’s farm. There were no limits set on me as a child.

After I _________ about my allergy, I felt that a kind of _________ had been placed on me. I could never get a rabbit or a pig, since hay is the main component of their diets. I remember that _________ feeling in my stomach when I realized I was so seriously allergic to something that I’d always need to keep the pill within _________.

Disappointment at this _________ was the first feeling that sunk in. With time, _________, I began to see my allergies as a gift.

I was the kid that tried never to _________. I was okay with enduring a six-hour drive in a(n) _________ car with my knees to my chest. I was okay with eating burnt or under cooked food. But this allergy finally let me feel __________ saying “no”. I finally felt free to refuse to go places or do things where my allergies would act up. I didn’t have to apologize for or explain my __________ at the smell of grass clippings. I didn’t have to __________ myself for not wanting to sit on the grass with my friends on summer days while I got bitten.

Yes, my hay allergy __________ some activities, but it’s also given me a broader appreciation for experiences I actually like and want more of. I’m __________ to be getting a dog instead of a bunny. Let’s be honest, a bunny brings you more trouble.

I ought to thank this allergy for giving me the space to be __________.

3 . There's an old saying to the effect that if something can go _______, it probably will. Recently my wife and I took a trip, by ship, to Hawaii. It was a nice trip and we enjoyed it but the cabin we were in had problems.

One day, I awoke in the small hours of the morning and_______my way across the dark cabin to the washroom. On the way I stepped _______ a puddle （污水坑）on the carpet. Then I found that there was a slow but _______ drip of water coming from the ceiling. So I called the ship's office. Someone came, addressed the problem, pronounced it _______ and went away. That night the ceiling was dripping again. I called and someone came. This time they _______the ceiling apart and spent some time with tools searching inside. They pronounced the problem solved and went away. The ceiling dripped. We put a towel on the floor to catch the _______.

Though the drip had_______ the next day, some black and sticky things came out from the main drain （排水管）in the ceiling. Someone came and _______ the ceiling.

The following day there was a note on our desk expressing _______ for the problems we had been having. The note was _______ down by a bottle of nice wine. We were very _______ to accept the peace offering and just owed the experience to bad _______.

In general, cruising on large ships is a wonderful experience and, in the main, it was a great trip. I suspect, _____,that if all this had happened to someone on their first cruise, they would have sworn never to go to sea again. Although I hope I don't end up like this on our next trip, don't let the_________things beat you down.

4 . For most kids, birthday is the happiest time of the year. "How many times do I have to sleep till my ________?" the kids ask me about a million times a day. And no matter how many times I ________ them, they keep on asking.

So I ________ the tradition of making a theme birthday countdown（倒计时）for kids. For now, as my kids are ________ small, I do the preparations. But ________ I intend to also involve the kids in the party ________ and in making the birthday countdown for their brothers or sisters.

So when the birthday of my six-year-old girl got ________, I started to plan a new birthday countdown. She had been talking for the past year about her ________ to have a fairy birthday, so I didn't have much choice on the ________. Ten days before the day, a birthday countdown made of 10 fairies "magically" appeared on the wall of our living room.

Each fairy ________ a small "surprise package" with an activity and some goodies for her and her brother and sister. This way, all the little people in the house were ________ about picking a fairy from the wall each morning and getting some surprise goodies. And there were no more "How long till my birthday" questions, ________ they could just see how many fairies were ________. Task completed!

For me, the fairy birthday countdown was ________ a success. The birthday girl was ________ when 10 days before her birthday she walked into the living room.

5 . My mom taught me songs. However, she never taught me how to sing. Of course I never really learned the English ________ then, but I realize as I grow up that one does not really ________ to understand the language of a song in order to ________ it completely. I also realize that music has become an important aspect of my ________. I use music to ________ my emotions, my joys, and my sorrows. Also, music is an ________ aspect of our culture. For example, some people use music to celebrate weddings.

When I came to the UK I realized that music has ________ me to deal with times when I miss home. It has become my ________ and when I miss home, especially my mum,   I find myself ________ the songs that we used to sing together. ________ I hear a song that makes me think of my brother and I find myself smiling or crying.

People use ________ instruments to create music, yet none of the lyrics and ________ have similar effect on all of us. When I listened to people singing as they ________ the world cup, I realized that music can actually bring ________ to this world and through songs the people of this world can be ________ as one!

6 . In eighth grade, I was fascinated by a legend from Japan. ________ you fold one thousand paper cranes, the gods will help realize one wish for you. I took it as a challenge and started folding paper cranes.

I folded cranes at home, between classes, and in the car. My fingers were ________sticky from the glue.

________with a pack of colorful pencils, I decorated each piece of paper individually. Slowly, my collection grew.

With more confidence, I started ________. How small was it possible for a crane to be? Smaller than a golf ball? Smaller than a coin? Soon I could finish a crane in fifty seconds with my ________ closed.

By six hundred cranes, the increasing demands of high school academics caused my ________ to slow. I despaired. I wouldn’t let this be another ________ project that I couldn’t finish. My cranes mattered to me. As an outlet for expression, they ________ as a way to overcome frustration and sadness.

So, I pushed myself to keep working and to keep folding one crane at a time. My determination ________ off. One month before the end of junior year, I folded my thousandth paper crane. As I ________ the open drawer filled with cranes in a huge number of sizes and colors, I felt a rush of ________. I proved to myself that I can finish what I start.

Looking at them, I realized the fact that there is a lot of beauty in tiny things. I have ________ away cranes to my friends as a pick-me-up on ________ days, and I have made cranes to ________ people, such as the dark green crane I made the day my grandmother died. They are a symbol of hope to remind me what I have accomplished. It turns out, I didn’t need the ________. I learned I have the power to make things happen for myself.

7 . I’ve always been fascinated by languages, but I’ve never been any good at learning them. I remember sitting in my French lessons, I never _________ what I was being taught. My teacher wasn’t _________.

But one of my A levels was English Language, and that was where my interest in _________ started. Over the last few years, I’ve started learning more languages than I can _________. They include Latin, Russian, Spanish, and probably several others. None of them stuck.

And then came lockdown. While I was _________ enough to still be able to work from home, on evenings and weekends, I found myself getting _________ and looking through video websites for something to watch. That’s how I _________ a Chinese fantasy drama filled with complex relationships.

But by the time I got about halfway through the show, I _________ that in some cases, the words being spoken in Chinese didn’t match the words being said in the English translations. _________, a character was being called shijie instead of by her name. I went online, did some __________ and met a difficulty.

Shijie, which I learned can be translated as “martial sister”, introduced me to the complexities of Chinese __________. So many different words for “aunt”, “uncle” and “grandfather”! Characters with more than one name!

I was __________ by the way the language is so connected with the culture, and how poetic and __________ it is. I wanted to be able to __________ the source material, even if it was going to take me a long while __________ I got to that point.

8 . Last semester, I worked in a restaurant in my spare time. In the beginning, it was very _________ for me to learn the rules and remember the recipes. I had to stand there and _________. At the end of the day, I was so tired that I almost could do nothing.

After a few days of working, the head waiter told me that I could take charge as a chief. I knew if I worked hard, I would take charge of a room. It meant I could get more _________. I was glad to do that.

As new, it was not an easy thing to _________ all customers well. Sometimes, I dished up wrongly. Or I forgot the customer’s requirements. What was _________, I overturned the plates twice. However, I could not be _________ because of these difficulties.

One day, I was about to be off duty when three foreigners came here. It was my first time to talk with a _________. Suddenly, my mind was blank even though I had memorized 3500 words. I began to speak slowly, but think _________.

“Excuse me, what can I do for you?” I said it word by word. At the same time, I showed them the _________. “No, we order ... with some rice.” They said so quickly that I could hardly understand what they wanted.

“Pardon?” I asked with embarrassment.

“Hum, there is no rice left. How about noodles? Like this and this.” I felt   __________ embarrassed. I could not __________ the dish name to them and just showed the picture in the menu to them.

On the way to school, I saw them again and we went the same way. They were students too. They talked to me. I stumbled to respond to questions. I __________ about why I couldn’t remember any words. However, I __________ to this atmosphere gradually and began to talk to them more fluently. I restarted to pick up my confidence again. They praised me for my self-confidence.

It is memorable, for it was the first time to make a dent in my heart. __________ self-confidence means half success. I believe in myself and won’t __________       confidence any more.

9 . “Bookshops are places to let your imagination fly high, with so many possible ________ to discover,” says Laura Iverson. She is one of the ________ at Darling Reads bookshop in West Yorkshire, England.

For Iverson, the best thing about working in a bookshop is ________ new books to readers. “ ________ beats that smile when they find the perfect book,” she says. ________ , when it comes to choosing the right one, she has some useful tips.

Don't feel you have to ________ a book because your friend likes it," Iverson says. "Stick to your own interests and choose what ________ you. "

She also ________ asking booksellers for suggestions because it could open your ________ to a new book or writer you would never have considered. "Bookshop staff are so ________ and absolutely love talking about books all day. "

Iverson says that one of her ________ books is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. She remembers ________ reading it when she was around 12 years old, and not being able to put it ________ . This is one of the things Iverson loves about reading. "No matter where you are, or what you're doing, you can be ________ into another world, once you a pick up a book that fascinates you, in a matter of ________ . "

10 . Life became dull when social distancing began in March due to the coronavirus. The_________all faded (消逝) together into what felt like one unexplainable long day. Not only did I have no opportunity to_________with my friends, but as more time passed in solitude (独处), I lost any_________to be around people.

That is, until July, when one of my_________from another state asked me to go camping with her family. I agreed, although somewhat_________. Once you have forgotten the pure_________of being among friends, the idea of driving six hours to live in a tent in the middle of a bug-infested (虫子滋生的) forest doesn't hold much_________anymore.

I don't remember the drive there, and even the scenery slowly_________from my mind. What I do remember is the_________feeling of happiness that washed over me. Within seconds, I remembered what it was like to live each second to its__________. I slept under the stars,__________from cliffs (山崖) into the crystal-clear water and walked through a night so__________that I couldn't see 2 inches (5cm) in front of me. I made new friends that are among my closest friends to this day. I instantly fell__________in love with the liveness of life.

The coronavirus brought on the hardest couple of months of my life. But I wholeheartedly__________that it was worth it.__________the advantages of the past gives you a greater appreciation of them when they finally return. Those five days in New York will forever be among my happiest.