2 . The day I met Hani Irmawati, she was a shy, 17-year-old girl standing alone in the parking lot of the international school in Indonesia, where I teach English. She asked if I could help her improve her English. I could ______ it took immense courage for the young Indonesian girl to ______ me and ask for help.

“I want to go to a US university,” she said with confidence. I was surprised.

I agreed to work with her ______ a volunteer basis. For several months, Hani woke each morning at five and caught the city bus to her public high school. During the one-hour ______, she studied for her regular classes and finished the English ______ I had given her. At four o’clock in the afternoon, she arrived at my classroom, ______ but ready to work.

When I met Hani’s family at their ______ little house, I realized they would never be able to afford the expenses of a US university. Hani’s enthusiasm was ______ with her language ability, but I was becoming more and more discouraged.

One day I received the announcement of a(n) ______ opportunity for a major US university. After reading the requirements, I knew Hani couldn’t meet the qualifications. I told her that there was only a ______ chance of her getting the scholarship and encouraged her to be more “realistic” about her dream. But she remained ______.

“Will you send in my name?” she asked.

I couldn’t ______ her down. I completed the application, with the painful truth about her academic life, but also with my ______ of her courage and perseverance.

Three weeks later, just before Hani went to Jakarta to take the Test of English Fluency, she received a letter from the scholarship association. She had been ______.

I leaped around the room, overjoyed and shocked. Hani stood by, smiling. I realized that it was I who had learned something Hani had known from the beginning: It is not intelligence alone that brings success, but also the ______ to succeed, the commitment to work hard and the courage to believe in yourself.

6 . I had worried myself sick over Simon’s mother coming to see me. I was a new ________ and I gave an honest account of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn’t read his own handwriting. But he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work couldn’t reflect his ________

So, when Simon’s mother entered the room, my palms were sweating. I was completely________ for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you, ”she said, surprising me beyond speech. ________ me, Simon had become a different person. He talked of how he ________ me, he had begun to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had recently spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. She wanted to tell me how ________ she was for the self-respect I had nurtured (培养) in her son. She kissed me again and left.

I sat there, ________, for about half an hour, ________ what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without even knowing it? What I finally came to remember was one day, when some students were ________ reports in the front of the class. Jeanne spoke ________, and to encourage her to raise her voice, I had said. “Speak up. Simon is the expert on this. He is the only one you have to convince, and he can’t hear you in the________ of the room. ” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention, smiled more, and became happy. And it was all because he ________ to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed ________ was the one who took the last seat that day.

It taught me the most ________ lesson over the years of my teaching career, and I’m thankful that it came ________ and positively. A small kindness can indeed make a difference.

7 . Several years ago I started riding a bike. At first, I thought it was only a ______ ride. But as I built up strength, my friends encouraged me to try some longer ______ . The first one to come along was a 150-mile journey, an event held every year that raises money to fight cancer.

The ride began on a Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside, and for the ______ few hours I felt wonderful. This was just the ______ I had imagined, and my spirits were ______ . But by the end of the day, I felt tired. I was sure I’d have to ______ .

As I topped the hill, the nice sunset ______ me going for a few minutes more. Then in the distance, I ______ a rider riding very slowly. I ______ that the person looked different in some way, but I couldn’t tell why. I managed to ______ . There she was, riding slowly but steadily, with a determined smile on her face-and she had only one ______ .

My focus ______ at that moment. I’d been doubting my ______ for a whole day. But now I knew—it wasn’t the body, but the ______ that would help me reach my goal.

It rained all the second day. I never saw the one-legged biker again, but I pushed on without complaining. And at the end of the day, still feeling strong, I ______ the 150th mile.

8 . It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn’s house. But she_______that I come to see something at the top of the mountain.

So here I was,_______ making the two-hour journey through thick fog. Nothing could be worth this,I thought as I_______ along the dangerous highway.

Turning down a narrow track, we___________and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens (常青树)_________over us.Gradually,the peace and silence of the place began to_________ my mind.

Then we turned a corner and stopped at the top of the mountain and I was entirely held in_______. There across fields and valleys were rivers of fully-opened yellow flowers from the light one to the most brilliant. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and_______ the mountainside in gold.

_______ occurred to my mind.Who created such beauty? How? When? As we approached the house that stood in the center of the property, we saw a________ that read: “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking.” The first answer was: “One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet and Very Little Brain.”   The second was:“____________at a Time.” The third: “Started in 1958.”

As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had seen that I could________ speak.“She changed the world,” I finally said, “one small plant at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the ________ of an idea, but she kept at it.”

The wonder of it would not let me go. “Imagine,” I said, “if I’d had a dream and________it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished?” Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. “Start tomorrow,” she said, “______________yet, start today.”

9 . We went out to have dinner tonight to celebrate my daughter’s beautiful performance. We don’t do this often because of our   ______ budget.

I noticed a very   ______ mom come in with her three children, maybe about age 4 or 5. She looked like she had just   ______ work. She sat with her children quietly taking care of them and   ______ all their needs. Then I noticed as soon as the last course   ______ arrived, she took a bite of her food in a hurry and then one of the   ______ had to go to the bathroom. They all left the table and she led them—so lovingly and   ______—especially after what may have been a long day at work.

I excused myself from the table and quietly went to the hostess stand. I ______ $15 to the hostess and said, “Can you put this anonymously (匿名地) towards that mom of 3’s bill? I am hoping it will   ______ at least the children’s meals.” The hostess had such a lovely smile and accepted the   ______. I didn’t stand around   ______ as I didn’t want anyone—even my own family—to   ______ what was going on.

For the   ______ of my meal, I did all I could not to pay any more attention directly to the table, as I didn’t want her to suspect that it was me that had   ______ their dinner.

It feels so ______ to live in this type of world, full of love and kindness.