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 . I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be _________ Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d _________?” Just when I started to _________ that there would not be a Christmas gift that year, three women _________ at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of _________ that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t _________. Somebody had thought _________ of me to bring me a gift.  

Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my _________ Christmas there special and memorable, I _________ remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of __________ for as many children as I could possibly reach.  

So I __________ a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans(孤儿)at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colourful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies, __________ with a child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were __________. Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I __________ them that they couldn’t open their presents __________ every child had come forward. Finally the __________ they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three. Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles __________ up the room. The __________ in the room was obvious, and __________ wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling — the feeling I knew __________ that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.

3 . One of the most exciting archaeological (考古的) discoveries in history was made in November 1922, when Howard Carter was _______ in the valley of the Kings in Egypt. After many months of digging, he finally _______ an unknown tomb.

_______ with his friend Lord Carnarvon, who was providing the money for his work, Carter entered the _______ tomb. At first there was _______, because the tomb was _______. It was clear that it had been robbed at some time in the past. _______, one of the workers eventually uncovered a small stairway that led down to another door that had not been _______.

Carter went down the dark staircase, walking _______ in case there were any traps. As he opened the ________, Lord Carnarvon asked if he could see anything. He replied, “Yes, ________ things.” It was clear at once that they had discovered what they had been ________. The tomb of King Tutankhamun was full of treasures of ________ value. There were over 5,000 objects of silver, gold and precious stones which had lain there ________ for thousands of years. Lord Carnarvon’s ________ at discovering the treasures did not last long. Many of the local people were afraid of ________ the Kings' tombs, and believed that the kings would punish anyone who ________ them. Lord Carnarvon had paid little attention to these ________, but only a few weeks later, he ________ fell ill and died; at the exact time of his death, all the lights in Cairo went out all of a sudden, and far away in England, his dog also ________.

4 . Jim and his sister May walked in the street, and then they noticed a pet store. It was a very small pet store that didn’t have many ________. The owner of the shop, Mr. Smith, greeted Jim and May when they ________. May said, "We would like to buy a dog." "Ah, well, our shop is not very ________," Mr. Smith told her. "So we only have two dogs to choose ________."

They asked Mr. Smith to ________ them the dogs. Mr. Smith took them to see the two dogs. One was a big Bulldog named Buster. The other was a tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. May wanted Teacup, ________ Jim wanted Buster. They walked outside to ________. They couldn’t agree on a dog. May ________ they race home for it. The one who ________ the race could choose the dog.

Jim agreed, and then told May her shoelace（鞋带） was loose. When May __________, he ran off to get a head start. Jim ran as __________ as he could because he really wanted that Bulldog. When he looked back, he found May was so __________ behind that he couldn’t even see her. Jim finally got home. He was _______ but happy. He knew he was the __________. May arrived a few minutes later. She congratulated him and they __________ the pet store together. However, when they arrived they _____ saw Teacup. They asked Mr. Smith where Buster was.

Mr. Smith gave them a(n) __________ that a few minutes after May and Jim left, two boys walked in and bought Buster.

Jim looked at May, and she couldn’t help ________. Jim __________ and turned back to Mr. Smith. "Sometimes you win the __________, but not the prize!" Jim smiled sadly. "We'll take the Chihuahua, please."

5 . I wasn’t particularly great at school. And 1 wasn’t the _________ boy because was quiet and shy. Mrs Kerswell was my English teacher. It’s hard to _________ her exact age. When you’re a child, every adult is _________. She must be past middle age, with grey hair and a(n) _________ face. Her lessons were in a totally stress-free environment. However, I was really _________ because I went from a _________ school with 28 people up to the sort of bigger town junior high school.

I didn’t _________ anyone. No one from my _________ school went there because we all went to different schools. I really struggled in my first year to _________. Thanks to Mrs Kerswell she was really the sort of humorous teacher you could have chats with, who read materials that weren’t on the syllabus (教学大纲) just for ____________.

She managed to make Beowulf interesting to a number of ____________. She was key in keeping my love of reading going. It certainly wasn’t a ____________ thing for a boy of that age to love ____________ as an entertainment. Actually, I just treated it as a learning task. But she reminded me that books were fun and they weren’t just about learning or the ____________.

When I was 13, I wasn’t excellent at writing. But she allowed and ____________ me to write in a natural way. Unlike my other teachers, she told me not to use the fanciest ____________. “Writing is not about flowery language but about real communication. ____________, you’re having a conversation on a page,” she said. So it made me realize that I didn’t have to ____________ about it too much.

I saw her once, over 10 years ago. My writing career was going well, and she was proud of my achievements and ____________ as a writer, and I really ____________ her for keeping the fame on.

6 . In a small village there lived a lazy Brahmin Ramdas. He would do _____ but daydream whole day.

One sunny afternoon, Ramdas was very ______. He said, "What a beautiful day. How I wish I could go back to _____. But then, I will have to go out and get my food." After bathing, Ramdas took out a bowl and out to ______.

By begging the whole day he managed to get a pot full of ______.

"It is this pot of milk that is going to make me ______," he thought. "I will use it to make butter. From the butter, I will be ______ to make ghee (酥油). I am really clever!"

"I will then go to the ______ and sell the ghee " his dream _____. "With the money I get, I will buy a pair of goats. They will have ______ after six months. Soon I would have an entire herd of goats."

"How ______ I am," he thought. "The day I become a rich businessman I will build a big house _____ in the middle of the village. There will be a splendid garden and a swimming pool in front of the house. Early morning I will ______ in the blue waters of the pool.

Deep in his _____, he struck out with his foot, breaking the _____, and drenched （使湿透）himself with the milk. He saw the broken pot and ______. He lost whatever he had because of his ______ and day dreaming.

Laziness is the biggest ______ of our life. If you are lazy then you will not acquire any significant ____ in your life and will always have nothing. Laziness is a _____ who slowly steals everything from us. If you want to become successful in your life and career, please overcome the devil laziness.

7 . After growing up in the foster care system (寄养制度), Shante Elliott is working to help others come out of it. Shante Elliott is no _________ to the foster care system. _________, it was a system Elliott once moved around. She was forced to change schools, because she had to _________ with different homes over and over again before she finally _________ a long-term family at the age of 13.

After such a(n) _________ start in life, Elliott became the first member of her family to graduate from college. She _________ a foundation (基金会). She made use of her personal _________ to help others within the foster care system.

Elliott knows the teenagers in the foster care system face _________. “Often, these teenagers are not _________ as children but as adults,” said she. “Most __________ want to adopt a baby child.” Finding a long-term family is still what foster children __________ most. And for those who age out of the system without finding those forever homes, there are __________ challenges to face. These kids are at greater __________ of homelessness, health problems and dropping out of school, all of which can make them __________ more difficulties.

Elliott wants to see that shame __________. It’s a reality that Elliott wants to help others. The need for protection, love, chance and safety has no __________ limit. If more teenagers were adopted, youth would have more __________ results after foster care. And it’s why Elliott has devoted much of her life to __________ these kids and cleaning out the __________ that may prevent themselves from getting a chance.

Although she feels good about the work she is doing, she said she wanted to do more. “I am interested in creating a long-term __________ for children in the foster care system,’’ said Elliott.

8 . Even though it was only October, my students were already whispering about Christmas plans. With each passing day everyone became more ______, waiting for the final school bell. Upon its ______ everyone would run for their coats and go home, everyone except David.

David was a small boy in ragged clothes. I had often ______ what kind of home life David had, and what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so ______ for the cold winter months, without a coat, boots, or gloves. But something made David ______. I can still remember he was always ______ a smile and willing to help. He always ____ after school to straighten chairs and mop the floor. We never talked much. He _____ just smile and ask what else he could do ,then thank me for letting him stay and slowly _____ home.

Weeks passed and the______over the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of _____ before the holiday break. I smiled in ______as the last of them hurried out the door. Turning around I saw David ______standing by my desk.

“I have something for you” he said and ______ from behind his back a small box.______ it to me, he said anxiously, “Open it.” I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it. I lifted the lid and to my ______   saw nothing. I looked at David’s smiling face and back into the box and said, “The box is nice, David, but it’ s _______”

“Oh no, it isn’t” said David. “It’s full of love, my mum told me before she died that love was something you couldn’t see or touch unless you know it’s there.”

Tears filled my eyes ______ I looked at the proud dirty face that I had rarely given _____to. After that Christmas, David and I became good friends and I never forgot the meaning ______ the little empty box set on my desk.

9 . It’s 27 years since my last conversation with my mother, who didn’t finish school like many of her contemporary girls. She often told me, “I never got my ________ but one day you will.”

Pointing to a tree or cow, she asked me to ________ their English names after her. Feeling ________, I asked, “Mama, why do I have to learn these ________ phrases?” She held her pen right before my eyes. “Hold it firmly,” she ________ me, “for this pen and the new foreign language will be your compass to ________ around the world.” Sadly, my mother died of breast cancer when I was six.

Turning seven, I traveled 30 miles to live closer to my school. But “closer” is a ________ term in Uganda, which ________ I had to get up as the ________ sun rose and then ran 8. 8 miles barefoot to school. Also, I needed to carry a stick in ________ of snakes and dogs. During the ________ season, the path to school was ________ daily and I’d swim with one hand, using the other hand to ________ the book bag on my head.

Research shows 70 percent of poor children don’t ________ primary school in Uganda. Reasons for this ________ dropout rate includes the long ________ some children must ________ among many other reasons.

Fortunately, I’ve made it. Whenever I see the sun rise, I am ________ of the wisdom of my mother, who ________ me to dream big and to use the ________ of the pen to make my dream come true.

10 . All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we’ll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time ________, the girls start to have a ________ about what they’ll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys ________ hardly talk about it. As for me, I ________ for my photos to be taken by the sea.

When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I ________ her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look ________ by taking photos in a different way, ________ I’m less than 1.6 meters tall. To my ________ she responded, “I will make no ________ to make you look like someone you’re not. You look good in your own way.” She ________ that she wouldn’t try to edit the photos either.

I was shocked by what she said. Girls always ________ to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your ________ by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily ________ your look by making you appear any you want to. ________, that’s not the case here. Seeing I was ________, Annie explained: “Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to ________ your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of ________ photos.”

It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn’t ________ photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are ________ special and natural. But what’s even more special are Annie’s ________, which will always stay in my heart.