1 . My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of ________. Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some ________ to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little plant in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either.

We decided to let it ________ growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ________ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to ________ the weeds (杂草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something ________.The sunflower had not ________ where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the ________.

That’s when I ________ that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we ________ ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we ________ to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ________ to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had ________ in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be ________ of who and what we are, and then the environment will begin to ________ us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.

2 . Dylan Virtudazo is a little boy living in Houston. With his 7th birthday party ____ because get-togethers were not allowed at that time, he received some _____ instead of beautifully packed gifts. ____ , he was uncertain about what to do with that. But when his teachers asked students about their New Year plans, it ____ to him that he could use his birthday money to ____ the homeless and buy them some other things.

“He’s always been like that,” said Dylan’s mother, Nancy. She ____ a time when Houston was under a hurricane (飓风) and Dylan showed her a handful of coins, saying he had a ____ to give them to the victims (受害者) for hurricane supplies. During trips to the ____, Dylan always makes sure that if he gets candy, so do his brothers and sisters, ____ they don’t come to the store. That_____ attitude led Dylan to create “blessing bags” for homeless Houstonians.

Extra ____ from teachers gave him enough money to ____ 50 of them. The “blessing bags” contain     ___ like masks, water and snacks and a sincere message, “You matter!” On New Year’s Day, Nancy and her children drove to homeless shelters to give ____ the bags. People there accepted the bags       ____ — some even cried.

Dylan’s act was   ____, but it made a big difference, helping _____ the homeless people’s holiday. Nancy said, “We are so   ____ of him. I hope his story never ______ and that he continues to set an example to his generation. We adults need to ____ the seed of love put in kids’ hearts — for a better future.”

3 . Two men, both seriously ill, lived in the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was next ________ the room’s only window. The other man had to ________ all his time flat on his back. The men chatted and talked for hours. They ________ about their wives and families, their jobs and a whole lot of ________ .

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his ________ all the things he could see outside the window. ________ man began to live for those one-hour periods when his world would be ________ and enriched by all the activities and colors of the world outside.

The window ________ a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water ________ children sailed their model boats. A fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the________ .

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade (游行队伍) ________ . As the man described all this in detail, the other man ________ close his eyes and ________ the beautiful scene. Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the nurse arrived to bring ________ for their baths only to find the _________ body of the man by the window, who had died ________ in his sleep. She was sad and called the hospital workers to take the body ________ . As time went by, it seemed appropriate, the other man asked ________ he could be moved next to the window. The nurse agreed and was happy to help him.

Slowly, painfully, he sat up to take his first look at the real world outside. To his ________ , he saw a blank wall. Later the nurse told him that the man was ________ and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

6 . Five years ago, I was in charge of an interview group for my company. We were _______ with figuring out how to hire people with disabilities and help them succeed inside the organization.

Many applied for the position. I _______ one of them with autism (自闭症). He was suitable but our group felt that the disability would _______ him from learning the skills and being successful in the role. I talked my workmates into giving him a role. _______, it meant a lot to the man, for he could take the chance to change his life. Our HR department was not too supportive to take some _______ so we could only hire him as a temporary (暂时的) designer. I gave him a lot of _______ and I became one of his guides. In the workplace, the man slowly and surely _______. There were many difficulties along the way _______ he came to be accepted and even won many friends. I continued to guide him _______ and helped him to overcome a number of ________.

Fast forward five years, he called and told me he got a formal ________ yesterday from his manager as a ________ worker with a job title.

I ________ him and told him that he was to be more successful. He went on to say “Sir ________ your support all these years, I would not be here”. I told him, “Your success is the reward of your hard work and determination. You ________ a lot of people with similar disabilities. You inspire them to work hard and move forward, in their workplace or in their life.”

7 . For the past ten years, my dad and I have attended the same school — he as an administrator and I as a student. Our relationship, in and out of school, has been totally unpredictable.

When I was younger, all that my dad said was doctrine (信条) and anything he did I, ___________, copied. We played games together, and stayed up late reading bedtime stories. I could ___________ my dad taking me to school, running into him regularly during the day and riding home with him every afternoon.

As I grew older, we were not as ___________ as we used to be. He wasn’t cool any more. He wore his socks too high, listened to horrible country music and laughed too loudly in front of my friends. He became a total embarrassment.

However, the ___________ that occurred in school were even worse. The worst one happened in seventh grade. My dad came to our New Year party, dressed up as Donald Duck, guitar in hand, singing silly songs. Just kill me! I wanted to run away.

This ___________ continued into high school but we somehow began to find a balance. Things started to _________ around the time of my 10th-grade physics project. The ___________ was to build a wood bridge with the best strength-to-weight ratio (比率). All the students and physics teachers ___________. So did my dad, the only administrator! Embarrassed as usual, I ___________ the scene. However, later when I learned from my friends that my dad ______________ all competitors and won everyone’s admiration, I found that mixed in with my ______________ was a touch of pride.

I had needed someone else to show me what I ______________ in my dad. It wasn’t the fact that he’d won, it was more than that. I began to ______________ that we have many of the same values and sometimes the same opinions. No matter how much I had tried to ______________ him, he still influenced me.

I feel fortunate to have such an unusual father. The ______________ I have developed with my dad over the years has enabled me to look back and see how I’ve grown.

8 . When I woke up on Aug 4,2016, there was only one thing on my mind: what to wear. A billion thoughts________through my brain in the closet. It was my first day of high school. I need to________the people who I would spend the next four years with. First impressions did________, which made me nervous.

After carefully searching my closet, I________came out in a dress from Target. I felt powerful as I headed toward room 1136. But as I entered class, my jaw________to the floor.

Sitting at her desk was Mrs Hutfilz, my English teacher, in the same________as me. I kept my head down and________to my seat. I made it through my brief________speech until Mrs Hutfilz rose to her feet, jokingly________that she liked my style. Although this was the________I had been afraid of, all my________surprisingly melted (融化) away, and the students paid attention as I shared my story. My smile grew as I laughed with the students.

________back four years later, the ten minutes I spent________of giving my speech were really not worth it. My first period of high school________made the day unforgettable in the best way and taught me that Mrs Hutfilz has an awesome sense of________!

9 . Right after World War II, a U.S. army officer lived in Japan. That country had been destroyed by the war. Many people _______ their jobs, so they came to the officer’s door every day _______ to get employed (雇佣). One man told the officer that he could create _______ for his garden if he could give him a(n) _______. For the first time in his life, this army officer _______ a gardener. The man spoke no English, so the officer could _______ communicate with him through body language.

As the man had promised, the garden soon became the _______ in the neighborhood. One day the gardener came with an interpreter (口译员) who expressed the _______ but the pity of the gardener. “He will no longer be able to _______ your garden. He must leave.”

The officer _______ his pity and thanked him through the interpreter for making him such a fine garden. Out of _______, he asked the interpreter, “Where is he going?”

The interpreter replied that the gardener was going to _______ his old job as the Professor of Horticulture (园艺学) at the University of Tokyo.

The officer was greatly _______. No wonder he _______ so much about gardening! Imagine having someone at your garden with that amount of _______. What a beautiful garden you could have!