1 . “Just sign here, sir,” the deliveryman (送货员) said as he handed Oscar Reyna a package.

The package consisted of (装有) a long, narrow box ______ wrapped in brown paper. ______ the box, Oscar saw an umbrella inside—a very old one with a beautifully carved handle. ______ he had not seen it for more than 20 years, he recognized it immediately.

Oscar was 16 when he first saw the ______ umbrella. He had gone to a concert with his grandparents. As they were leaving, he noticed an umbrella on an empty seat. Impressed by its ______, Oscar felt a strong desire to find its owner.

Oscar ______ the manager to look in the record of advance ticket sales. Just as he thought, a name matched the seat ______ Oscar had found the umbrella. The name was Mrs. Katie O’Brien.

Oscar talked his grandparents into going by Mrs. O’Brien’s house on their way home. He rang the bell, the door opened, and an elderly woman appeared. “May I ______ you?” she asked. “I’d like to return it if it’s yours,” Oscar said, ______ the umbrella as if presenting a gift that had long been wished for. “Why, yes! it’s mine, “ replied Mrs. O’Brien with a ______ smile and shining eyes. “It was given to me by my father years ago. Thank you so much for returning it. May I offer you a reward for your ______?” “No, ma’am.” he said, “my grandmother says that a good deed is its own reward.” “Well, that’s ______ what my father used to say. What is your name, Young man?”

Years later, Oscar was staring at the finely carved handle of the umbrella as he remembered Mrs. O’Brien. It was in perfect condition, considering how ______ it was. Why had it arrived here today? As if ______ , a note fell from the paper. It read: Mrs. O’Brien wanted you to accept this umbrella as a present for a kind, ______ gesture long ago.

2 . After graduation, I decided to take the gym seriously. Accompanied by a friend, I________a routine of walking on the treadmill (跑步机). I was ________with our routine in the gym. My friend, however, became bored.

One day, he suggested that we ________an outdoor sport. I was an uncoordinated (动作不协调的) person, so I_______his idea.

But several weeks later, he managed to ________me to step on to an outdoor racquetball (美式壁球) court. When I hit the ball, I sent it flying in every direction except the direction that I had __________Still, somehow, I tried hard to learn it and became ________after constantly practicing.

“We’re not getting enough________on the treadmill. Why not play tennis to build up our body?” suggested my friend.

“Tennis? I can’t play tennis! That ________real skills!” I firmly resisted (抵制) his new ________.

However, weeks later, I started playing tennis. After several months of________practice, one day, as the ball came flying towards me, my racket and the ball met in what tennis players viewed as the “sweet spot”. I had ________learned how to play tennis properly!

I learned a valuable ________from these experiences：I can do whatever I set my mind on. I just need to put in efforts, and the results will ________. And I become quite________about trying new things and I’m always filled with a sense of excitement.

3 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _______on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _______it.

For most people, that would be the _______ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell found the letter. He had just_______ his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _______ on the ground outside of a hardware store in Manvel. “I _______ it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I opened it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _______ me.” Carrell thought the letter would _______ someone’s day and that maybe he could find the owner, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, _______ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s ________,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t ________ you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to ________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally met on Thursday night.

“Eventually the letter made it home,” said Alvarado. “We are ________ for what James Carrell did.” We often forget the power of ________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a ________impression.

5 . Kyungho Jeon was drawn to music from an early age and dreamed of playing in an orchestra, but his teacher ________ it would be too difficult because he couldn’t ________ a conductor’s movements.

Jeon never gave up and kept applying himself to music. The ________ that he was born blind didn’t prevent him from becoming a marimba performer. However, it still made his ________ hard to achieve. Feeling ________, Jeon started to imagine ways to feel a conductor’s movements ________.

Two years ago, he met Vahakn Matossian and his father Rolf Gehlhaar, the founders of Human Instruments. Together, they created a high-tech baton (指挥棒) that would allow blind musicians to ________ the movements of conductors while not ________ anything that the other musicians do.

Jeon finally ________ in an orchestra. The conductor used the baton as he would use a ________ baton, but this baton was different because it could turn different kinds of movements into vibrations (震动) and Jeon could ________ the vibrations through receivers that he wore on his body.

Matossian was filled with ________ as the baton would open doors for so many others hoping to join orchestras. “There are millions of blind performers like Jeon around the world. Now with this ________, there’s no excuse for orchestras not to ________ blind members,” he said.   

Now Jeon has another plan: to conduct an orchestra. “This baton allows new ________, ” he said.

6 . I met my art teacher Ms. J in the seventh grade and she changed me.

In her first class, she encouraged us to _________ what art meant. During the discussion about facial structure and paintings, she _________ the “golden ratio(黄金比例)”, a beauty standard and explained how Da Vinci applied it to his works to ensure they were visually(视觉上)attractive.

I couldn’t help but think that if my _________ had been measured against the “golden ratio”, my score would have been low.

I was born with a facial disfigurement(缺陷)and my face looked _________. After regular appointments with _________, my face was changed many times with little improvement. I _________ seeing myself in the mirror.

People’s strange tones and curious expressions kept telling me that I was _________. Worse still, my photo appeared in a magazine with big letters “Face similar to works of Picasso” right below. I felt ashamed.

I told Ms. J about my _________ and how my face was compared to Picasso’s painting.

“Art isn’t about what you see but about what you _________.” She comforted me and told me that our __________ appearances were our signatures that we left in the world, which set us __________ and made us beautiful. And then she showed me a picture of an old man with long white hair. “You see, Da Vinci doesn’t look too pretty, but his works __________ beauty on us,” she added.

I was touched by her words, and I wondered why I had never thought this way.

“Being compared to Picasso may seem like a shame, but it’s a(n) __________. You are unique and you are a masterpiece.”

       Today, when I look into the mirror, I will remember the words of my teacher, “Beauty is subjective” and I get to know my appearance is my __________.

     It takes me years to __________ that beauty is more than a cold calculation.

7 . Last year, a community theater decided to find someone to act in the production of The Sound of Music. My husband said our daughters might enjoy being a(n)   ________ of it.

“You can try out for the band,” he said.

“I’m not trying out for the band,” I answered. “I’m trying out for the show.” But there was one ________ with my declaration(宣布): I’d never sung ________ .

My daughters wanted to go on, so we prepared to audition (试镜). But when the day came, I started to get cold feet. My children looked to me for courage. ________ would set a bad example. Since I was auditioning alongside them, I had to give them ________ .

“Whether you’re chosen or not isn’t important — doing your best is what matters,” I’d been telling them. Now I had to ________ it.

I sang my song, trying to look comfortable and confident. My daughters ________ quite well. Then we waited. I was excited. Not only was I chosen — I was a lead and we all made it!

To ________, I sang to the cat and the dishes when I was at home alone. I knew I’d have to get over my ________ since I’d never sung in front of so many people.

I told friends and family about the ________ . Everyone wanted to see it since I was in it with my daughters. I didn’t want the theater to be ________ , but I didn’t want it packed either. ________ , if it was full, I preferred to fill it myself with ________ faces.

The show went off smoothly. Friends and acquaintances (熟人) all congratulated us. After that experience, I ________ more auditions and even learned to enjoy singing on stage. And I filled my life with ________ .

8 . Without arms and legs, artist Adama Traore of Abidjan finds a unique way to make his art. He has been ______ a paintbrush in his mouth for years, line by line, color by color.

Missing limbs (四肢) since birth, he was sent to a center for ______ youth at nine. He ______ skills to paint and even drew with markers (记号笔). He was ______ by a lady named Mario Deal in the center. Yet the lady suffered from diseases and passed away. Traore was very sad, ending up ______.

Just getting around was ______ possible for him. Thinking he had no money, none of taxi drivers would pick up a person with such serious disability. But he kept painting colorful landscapes and portraits (肖像), ______ gaining the public’s acceptance. Traore slowly built up ______ from his artwork and used them to open a small art studio. He got married and now goes to work by taxi. The driver ______ by the artist’s courage now gives him both a ride and a bit of a ______ on the fare. Every day he picks up Traore and ______ him off and the next day again. Honestly, money doesn’t matter, but it’s ______.

Traore says, “If I didn’t ______, I don’t know what I would do. I can’t be a carpenter or a builder. If I’m just sitting here, people would say the man is a beggar. But when they see me painting, they regard me as a ______ man.” Traore gets about 84 dollars for each painting. Traore says painting is medicine and lifts spirits. Indeed, painting ______ Traore Adama.

10 . Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? My friend Stella is such an example. Every time we went to a restaurant she would not take a bite until all the dishes we ________ were on the table. Then she would spend five minutes in ________ the dishes in a seemingly random but in fact ________ order. Then the most important part: taking pictures. After that, she would choose one of the ________ and click in the filter app. The food eventually looked 10 times more delicious than it really was, but we had no ________ to really enjoy it—it all went cold, actually Stella’s real life is much less elegant. For example, she hates to wash the dishes, so she leaves them in the sink for days.

Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to ________ others. They find it hard to be ________ and to accept themselves, and thus they are afraid to show their ________ life on social media. What they are trying to prove is ________ what they lack in reality. But this will not bring any ________ to reality, as they still ________ the same old pattern of life.

If they really want an elegant life, they should put more ________ into achieving it ________ fabricating it. Being more confident, ________ themselves and trying their best to be better are much more meaningful than ________ their life on social media.