2 . 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.

3 . Don’t let Aurora’s small stature (身材) fool you — her spirit is strong. She is one of 140 chickens _______ from a farm. When we saved her, she was tiny and sick and it seemed _______ that she would survive. Having never got the right care, many of the chickens were sick and some sadly died.

At a young age, Aurora and her sisters and brothers were _______ by their mom. Luckily, another mother took on their care.Aurora seemed the last to _______ food and attention.She grew at a much slower rate than her brothers and sisters. Everything seemed _______ her.

At the young age of seven months, Aurora had lost two moms and was _______ to find a place with the other chickens.

Aurora _______ found comfort from an old chicken named Margaret, staying under her wings during the cold nights, _______ Margaret was so old that a few months later she died.Aurora, in her own way, thinks of Margaret. Every evening you will find her in the _______ spot where she kept Margaret company.________ when the other chickens try to ________ her away, Aurora comes back.

As Aurora grew, we became ________ at her love to simply live. Nothing ________ her.

So remember, when life seems so ________ that you can't take it, think of Aurora. She has lost two moms, watched her sisters and brothers die, and recovered from serious illness. Yet she enjoys the small, sweet ________ life has offered—safety, food, warmth and good friendships.

5 . 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.

6 . It was an extremely hot summer day. A thunderstorm had passed and now the clouds were cleared and the sun returned. Steam was coming off the ____ sidewalk as I parked my car. I ____ into the local store to buy my son a shirt. The air conditioner there was welcome ____ from the heat outside. 

Having made my ____,I walked back into the heat. I got into my car but had to wait to ____ because all the cars were lining up at the red light. I looked out of my car window and saw something on the pavement. A single butterfly was ____ fluttering (拍打) its wings but couldn’t get off the ground. Besides, it was right in front of a truck’s tire. Without a second thought, I got out of my car, ____ my hand so that the truck driver wouldn’t move ____,and then bent down to look at the butterfly. One of its legs was ____ in what looked like spilt soda. I reached down and ____ the butterfly in my hands ____. I lifted its leg and it was ____. I opened my hands and up it flew towards the shining sun. My own eyes shined brighter and my own heart was ____ as I watched it. 

Lots of people might wonder why I would step out into traffic like that to ____ a single butterfly. All I can say is that my heart was ____ me at that moment. And when I had done it, I felt more like my true self than I had all day.

7 . It was a dark day, one of depression, sorrow and anger. As I climbed out of the _____, after witnessing my time in the 100 yard freestyle, I did not feel like speaking to anyone. I saw the bright smiles of swimmers who had just _____ a best time. _____ , I had failed. Or at least that is what I thought at the time.

I was lying on my cool bed when an idea _____ my head. Success is the _____ to go from failure to failure without _____ your enthusiasm. At practice the next day, I told my swimming teammates about my goal time and they all either laughed or replied with a _____ similar response like, “You can’t do it” or “Probably not”. Believe it or not, these are the responses that made my goal _____.

Finally came the day when I had to _____ to myself and others that with ______ there is no limit to your achievements.

With the starting gun ______, I dove with perfect form into the pool. I felt the cool water running ______ my back. I swam like a fish, bouncing off each ______ at the wall as if it was a spring board. On the ______ turn, I came back to the wall with every piece of strength I had. I ______ the final wall with my fingertips and knew that I had swum the ______ race.

I had done it! I had achieved my best time! Joy filled my ______ like water does a cup. I saw the ______ on all of my friends’ faces as I ______ out of the pool: their jaws dropped to the ground. I began to laugh and gave them thumbs up.

I have ______ in life that having belief in yourself opens all gates. Never forget that anything the mind can conceive and believe can achieve.

8 . Yesterday, a salesman called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don’t like spending time on those things, I _________ myself that I couldn’t talk yet and _________that he call me back at 6 pm.

That’s what he did. So we talked about 20 minutes. He _________ to me his different phone plans. While listening to him, sometimes I was _________in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _________that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit_________. But I stayed calm and _________ until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he said the following to me: “Thank you, Olivier. You are the first person in a long time with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. _________, people shout at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 am, I hadn’t had a phone _________ without an offense (触怒). I know you had a long day at work and you could have __________ in front of your TV. But you listened so carefully to me. I am __________ and I sincerely thank you.”

It set me thinking. He had been the __________ of verbal violence (语言暴力) all through his working day. Physical __________ do not exist in this situation but dehumanization (非人性) seems to happen. __________, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of __________ that I hadn’t treated him so rudely.

9 . I always knew that I depended too much on my phone. But I didn’t know how much. So I decided to do this _______ to find out.

Every morning since I got a smartphone, I’ve used The Weather Channel App to find out what to _______. On the first morning I had to dress without guidance, but _______ I was able to guess that the day would be cold and foggy by looking out of my window.

I couldn’t tell what time it was. I haven’t worn a _______ for more than a year, because my phone showed the time. So I was late for _______ friends who had been on the bus for two hours from Santa Monica to Palos Verdes. I was also late for my part-time job. And _______, I couldn’t call people to tell them that I was running late.

Getting places was harder, too. I got _______ because I couldn’t use the GPS on my phone. My driving, though, got a lot _______ because I no longer had my phone in one hand checking directions while _______ with the other.

But the number one trouble was not having my contact list. I forgot to write down my friends’ and family members’ phone numbers before I ________ the challenge. It was sad to realize that I couldn’t remember my brother’s and my mom’s cell phone numbers. Oh, how I ________ to turn on the phone for just a second to look up phone numbers!

Even with all the problems, however, I found ________ not worrying about missing a text message or an e-mail.

This challenge was a(n) ________ learning experience. It surprised me how I’d taken no notice of even the ________ things like remembering phone numbers. We all should ________ some time to think about how we can depend less on our cell phones.

10 . Matthew Shifrin has been building with Lego（乐高）since he was 5 with the help of his friends. When he turned 13 , he got a ________ birthday present from his friend, Lilya Finkel. It was an 843-piece Middle Eastern Lego palace. And with it were ________ that Finkel made especially for Shifrin. Finkel ________ a unique name for every one of the more than 800 pieces in the palace set. Then she spent countless hours ________ instructions in Braille（盲文）that spelled out how to ________ them all together.

His mind was blown. As a blind person, Shifrin had never before been able to complete a Lego set ________. Shifrin knew immediately that he had to help other blind children find the same independence and pleasure. Shifrin said, “For blind people, Lego sets act as small 3-D ________ for real-life buildings instead of two-dimensional photographs. Lego bricks allow me to see things that are ________ to explore by touch.” After that wonderful Lego ________, he together with Finkel created similar instructions for about 45 other Lego sets, all _________ on the website they created, “Lego for the Blind”.

Shifrin began ________ the Lego company several years ago to discuss his work, but it was in 2017, when Finkel died of cancer, that he finally connected with the right person. His years-long efforts ________ when the Lego company released its first audio and Braille instructions. The project is a high-tech version of what Shifrin and Finkel did for their ________. It couldn't have been completed without Shifrin's ________ — or without his determination.

He just ________ Finkel had been here to see it. “I think she'd be very glad that we came this far,” Shifrin said.