1 . My son had just gotten his driving license. On the way home, I ______ the car to a side road, unfastened my seat belt, and ______ places with him. “Okay,” I said, “I want you to drive home.”

Sitting behind the steering wheel, his body looked tense and ______ . “Mom,” he said quietly, “I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”

“It’s okay!” I said, “You’re ______ going to feel ready. You just have to go for it.”

“No,” he took a deep breath and ______ my father’s words. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits. You told me that!” For a brief moment, time ______ I saw the very old photograph forever ______ in my memory. It shows my family standing arm in arm and ______ for the camera, with the then tallest roller coaster (过山车) we decided to ride together in the background. No one knew I was ______ terrified. I just didn’t want to be the one to stay behind. We ______ our way up the line and finally reached the end. Suddenly, my body was stiff (僵硬的) with ______ , and I knew: I just couldn’t do it. Too ______ to face my family, I simply called over my shoulder to Dad that I was leaving. Dad asked me what happened. “I guess I was too chicken. Sorry.” What Dad said next ______ surprised me. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits,” he said, “And don’t let someone make you do something you’re not comfortable with. I’m proud of you for the choice you made.” This was the exact ______ of what I had expected him to say.

Instantly, I understood exactly how my son felt. Knowing the limits isn’t an ______ of weakness. It’s actually a sign of strength.

5 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own ______ .

I learned this lesson from a(n) ______ many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the ______ team at the end of spring practice.The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to ______ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t ______ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to ______ that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my ______ about their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important, I began to treat them like ______ . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and ______ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our ______ on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a ______ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest ______ of my life!

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can ______ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and ______ them. I helped them to see themselves ______ , and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.

6 . It was 4 o’clock in the morning when I received the phone call.

“This is the emergency room calling and your son was just_________in with serious burns on his face, neck and arms.” The doctor described the_________, which caused the burns. At 6 a.m., my son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. Unfortunately, the charcoal burst into flames because they had sprayed too much petrol. The flames_________my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.

Fortunately, one of the boys was quick- minded, grasped my son, and_________him on the grass. While it saved his life, there was not enough_________to save him from fearful burns and the terrible scars (伤疤).

After he recovered from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery (整形手术) for 6 months _________ it took that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling. So he had to return to college with typical scars of burns.

When I was a child, my mother told my sister who had a very_________10-inch scar on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not_________it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”

I_________this wisdom on to my son. He took my advice to his__________and returned to school with his head held high-glad he was alive. By the end of the six-month waiting period, he felt that the scars did not__________, so he made the__________to give up any plastic surgery.

We all have “scars” that we believe will__________people to keep away from us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if we looked different, or dressed differently, people would like us better. But you see, people will only judge you by your looks, or your clothes, if you are judging yourself by these__________standards. Put your imperfections out of your mind and concentrate on what you value__________yourself, and your beauty will shine through.

7 . When working in person, most of us have a natural understanding of non-verbal (非语言的) signals. That is to say, all the ways in which we _____ work out without words. ____, in the digital workspace, this kind of communication can seem less _____.

Many work _____ now happen via online chats, and even video meetings can go ahead with cameras off.

Parts of non-verbal communication have always _____ outside face-to-face interaction, of course. For example, these unnoticeable _____ could begin with a profile picture on your CV (简历); even deciding whether or not to add an emoji (表情图标) in a work group chat can change the ______ of the interaction.

Yet the new workplace shift in where and how we work has _____ the world of non-verbal communication greatly. For instance, in video calls, backgrounds can give all sorts of non-verbal _____ about co-workers’ lifestyles, _______ and level of professionalism.

Let’s say if a co-worker positions the camera below the chin (下巴), ______ others to look up, you begin to dislike him or her, almost _______. Indeed, data have shown that during video calls, factors like camera angles, distance from the camera and ability to make eye contact all ______ how likeable people are noticed to be.

In a new world where ______ working is rapidly developing, being willing to engage non-verbally makes it ______ to understand others and to be understood.

8 . After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

10 . “Tom, you have a hairless spot on the back of your head!”Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.

I tried to shrug (耸肩) it off. “It’ll grow back. ”I worked to sound ________.

At first, the loss was minimal. ________the spot with my fingers became the top priority every day. No new hair, smooth as an egg. Weeks later, the spot was a little larger, and there was still no_________of any hair becoming visible through the skin. I began to________, but continued to try to be cool about it.

As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more. ________ my fingers through it, I would stare at the alarming quantity of hair in my hands, willing this to ________ happening to me.

We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection ( 注 射 ) to try, which would be ________ to the head skin. I underwent several costly injections over a few months, but in vain.

________, the injection began to trouble my sleep, and we finally had to stop the __. My hair still didn’t grow back.

I had to wear a wig ( 假 发 ) to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would________. Though aware that I should ________the fact to my friends, I was scared, not knowing how they would handle the information. ________, hesitantly, I told them what was happening after days of struggle. To my surprise, they all thought nothing of it. This was a(n) ________ for me.

I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel________of. I am learning that being bald doesn’t change who I am, and if I don’t let it affect myself ________ , then other people are much more likely to accept me as I am, too.