2 . Long ago, poems were recited loud instead of being written down. Back when the Greeks first started the Olympics, they held poetry _________ as well as athletic competitions.

Now, poetry competitions have been revived. This year 120,000 high school students competed in the first Poetry Out Loud national recitation competition,_________ poems from memory for $100,000 in prize money.

The first competitions were held in classrooms. The winners went on to school wide contests, and then they competed in city and state competitions. _________, the 50 state champions, along with the _________ of the District of Columbia came to Washington D.C. last week for the last showdown. After the 51 champions competed _________ another, 12 went on to the _________. Then the field was narrowed to five. The final five had one last chance to “perform” a poem. The overall champ, Jackson Hille, a high school senior from Ohio,_________ a $20,000 scholarship. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation _________ Poetry Out Loud, because they realized that hearing a poem performed is a different experience from _________ it on a page.

It’s not just a matter of saying the words in the right order. It’s the tone of __________, the pauses, the gestures and the attitude of the person performing that bring the__________ to life. “Each time we hear somebody recite a poem, we understand again what we found __________ and interesting about it,” said National Public Radio Broadcaster Scott Simon, master of ceremonies for the finals. Hearing it in a new voice offers something new to the listeners.

Not only do the people hearing poems have a(n) __________ experience, but__________ and presenting poems helps the participants understand those poems in a new way. Another __________ of a competition such as Poetry Out Loud is that the participants learn public speaking skills that can help them for life.

6 . It’s a rare thing now to get into a new neighborhood and find yourself welcomed by the locals. Yet, Katie and Patrick Smith were accepted with truly _____ when they relocated to Newton. The residents _____ with plates of cookies and dishes.

Katie got pregnant before the _____ and within months of settling in, she gave birth to Rebecca. _____, tests discovered Rebecca was born deaf. The Smiths knew _____ Rebecca was going to take some serious work and _____.

The neighborhood was still _____ to welcome Rebecca with them, but they realized what a(n) _____ the situation was for her parents. They wanted to make things _____ for the family. Learning sign language to help Rebecca learn to ______ as she grew was a great idea. The neighborhood agreed to ______ the task of mastering an entirely second language for the ______ of their youngest member, although it was indeed ______. When 3-month-old Rebecca learned at a center for the deaf, the 18 residents ______ an instructor, who would help get all of them to be______ in Rebecca’s growth. Neighbors kept things ______ for as long as possible to give the Smiths a surprise. They wanted ______ to interact with Rebecca. Finally, the time came to show the Smiths what they’d ______. As soon as the family arrived, they found the welcoming ______ of their neighbors surrounded them.

Now at every turn, in the street or the grocery store, Rebecca feels ______ special language — she’s part of this community.

7 . A little boy wanted to meet God. He thought it was a long trip to where God lived, _______ he packed his suitcase with lots of food and drinks and he started his_________

When he had gone about three blocks, he _______an elderly man. The boy sat down next to him and ________his suitcase. He was about to take a drink when he noticed that the man looked _______, so he offered him a drink.

The man________it and smiled at the boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he ________him another one.

The man ________smiled at him. They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy ________it was time to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he______, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man________him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy_______home a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of ________on his face. She asked him what made him so happy.

He replied, “I had lunch with God, and God’s got the most beautiful ________I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the elderly man returned to his home. His son was________by the look of joy on his face and asked him the ________question as the little boy’s mother. The elderly man replied, “I ate and drank in the park with God.” However, he _______, before his son responded, “You know, he’s much _________ than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the_______of a touch, a smile, a kind word, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. We should treat the people we meet________; they come into our lives for a reason. Embrace all equally!

8 . Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were the first people to climb the West Face of the Siula Grande in the Andes mountains. They reached the top _________，but on their way back conditions were very _________. Joe fell and broke his leg. They both knew that if Simon _________alone，he would probably get back ___________. But Simon decided to risk his_________and try to lower Joe down the mountain on a rope.

As they_______down，the weather got worse. Then another _______occurred. They couldn't see or hear each other and，_________，Simon lowered his friend over the edge of a precipice（峭壁）. It was_________ for Joe to climb back or for Simon to pull him up. Joe's __________ was pulling Simon slowly towards the precipice. __________，after more than an hour in the dark and the icy cold，Simon had to __________. In tears，he cut the rope. Joe ________ into a huge crevasse（裂缝） in the ice below. He had no food or water and he was in terrible pain. He couldn't walk，but he ____________to get out of the crevasse and started to __________ towards their camp，nearly ten kilometers __________.

Simon had ____________the camp at the foot of the mountain. He thought that Joe must be __________，but he didn't want to leave __________. Three days later，in the middle of the night，he heard Joe's voice. He couldn't __________ it. Joe was there，a few meters from their tent，still alive.

9 . Many years ago, there was an emperor(皇帝). One day he told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and _________ as much land area as he liked, he would give him the area of land he had covered._________ enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and _______ as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.

He _______ riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. Even when he was _______or tired, he did not stop _______he wanted to cover as much area as possible. When he at last covered a large amount of land, he was exhausted and was _________. Then he asked himself, “Why did I _______myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only _______ a very small area to __________myself.”

The above story is __________ to the journey of our __________. We push ourselves very hard every day to make more ____________, to gain power or recognition. We neglect(疏忽，忘记) our ____________, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding __________and the things we love to do. One day ______________ we look back, we will __________that we don’t really need that much, ________________ then we cannot turn back time for what we have ______________

Life is not about making money. Life is definitely(肯定地) not about work! Work is only ____________ to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life.