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 . A sailor(船员) in one of Christopher Columbus’s three ships is eagerly(渴望地) looking for land. In the sailor’s eagerness to_________land, he makes his_________. He thinks that a cloud on the horizon (地平线) is land. The sailor, with great excitement, calls out, “Land!”

Greatly excited, the rest of the ship’s sailors run to the side quickly. They are_________at the thought of land.They have_________nothing but a very large area of water for weeks.

As the ship moves forward, the sailor’s mistake is made_________. The “land” is nothing but a cloud.So the sailors make a_________. They say, “You just saw the dirt under the cooking_________!”   The response (答复) may not seem_________at all today, but it was a humorous response to the living conditions on_________long ago.

When Columbus____________from Spain in August 1492 across the Atlantic Ocean, he travelled in three small, wooden ships. The living conditions were____________. Most of the sailors slept fully­clothed under the stars on the hard decks (甲板). Without a____________, food had to be cooked on the open deck at risk of____________the wooden ship.To prevent the ship from catching fire, the cook would always spread____________under the place where the cooking was done. The others would joke with a sailor who had wrongly____________he had discovered land. And they usually told him that what he had really seen was the dirt spread out by the cook for preventing fires!

4 . 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 . I was late for my flight. Sweating and out of breath, I quickly made my way to the _______. After boarding, I greeted my _______: a middle­aged woman sitting at the window, and a little girl sitting on the aisle (过道) seat. I took my place _______ them. I began a conversation with the little girl who was busy _______ her book. I found it _______ that such a young girl would be traveling alone, and I decided to _______ her to make sure she was okay.

Suddenly, the plane began extreme turbulence (颠簸). The pilot told everyone to remain calm, because we met _______ weather.

Several times the plane made sharp downs and turns. Some people began _______, many sitting restlessly (烦躁地) and praying. I was sweating with each increasingly _______ shake of the plane. Meanwhile, the little girl was sitting ________ beside me in her seat. Her coloring book and crayons were put away neatly, and her hands were calmly resting on her legs.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the turbulence ________ soon. The pilot came on a few minutes later to announce that we would be ________ soon. As the plane began its descent (下降), I said to the little girl, “Tell me, dear, how could you remain so calm while all of us adults were so ________?” Looking me in the eye, she said, “My father is the ________, and he’s taking me home.”

Yes. If we recognise the power of ________, we will fear nothing.

6 . Mr. Glen is a millionaire. Years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he _________his company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his extra expensive “school” fee. He always owes his success to it.

At that time, Glen, who already got a Ph. D. degree, _________ to return home, starting a company. Before leaving, he bought a Rolex watch with the savings made through years. At the airport he had to accept the routine customs (海关) check. The watch on his wrist was also required to be taken down for _________. Glen knew that carrying such goods out had to pay the tax, and he worried about paying _________ for his watch. So while checked, he told a lie that his watch was a _________ fake (假货). When he was proud of his “smarts”, immediately, in the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch, _________ cost nearly 100, 000, into pieces _________ hearing Glen’s words. Glen was _________. Before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined _________. For many times of entry-exit __________he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully, and __________him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if__________ reusing and carrying fake goods, he would be charged by law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after __________ the plane for long.

After that, he often told the story to his family and his employees. He said that this made a deep __________on him, because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of __________, which he would remember as the secret of his success forever.

7 . 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.

8 . 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.

9 . One evening, Catherine was at home as usual. As her ____ swung between what she was going to do with her life and their dinner plans for the evening, she was unexpectedly ____ by an urgent call from her sister. “Get over here! Turn on NBC and check these guys out. They are just like you...” One Facebook message and a phone interview later, Catherine _____herself on a bus with 8 strangers in the middle of the sweltering desert heat of Utah, picking up trash and _____awareness about zero­waste and climate change.

With a deep love of the environment, Catherine, Davey, and a group of   ____“environmental pick­up artists” went on a coast­to­coast roadside trash pick­up. As they walked, sometimes only _____0.9 miles in an entire day, they _____and steadily made their way across the United States for three years, picking up a total of 201, 678 pounds of trash.

Catherine and Davey _____with us wonderful stories of hope and inspiration that fueled their ____ to continue their journey. After spending weeks silently worrying about how she would have enough ____ to fly home for their two­week spring break, Catherine found a blank, unidentified envelope ____ with $850 in cash in the desert. Just enough to get her home and back. After their bus _____outside of Denver, they unexpectedly got help and arrived in Yosemite National Park three weeks later, just in time for the “Yosemite Facelift” where ____ from all over the state came together with a purpose of cleaning up trash all over the park.

Being at the right place at the right time became almost normal, and they realized that much of what they ____ was more than just a coincidence. Together, their team learned to simply ____ themselves to their task，and surrender to the journey.

10 . I enjoy feeding birds in my garden. About three years ago, a baby chipmunk (花栗鼠) named Chip came to this festive display. Over that summer, I watched it _________. The next summer, the chipmunk was back, and I wondered whether it would _________ me to feed it by hand or let me pet it. Before Chip would approach, I’d _________ its favourite food, bend down and keep very _________. I’d leave my open hands _________, unmoving, so it would know I wouldn’t _________ it. I continued doing this for a few weeks.

_________, late in that second summer, Chip did show more trust. One day as I _________ a seed with my fingertips, it approached and _________ took the seed into its mouth. It never bit my fingers — Chip and I had made a(n)__________ of trust.

After about two months of this __________, I went further. With my index finger, I __________ its back once gently. I’m not even sure Chip felt it, but it didn’t __________. I then moved my two fingers slowly and gently over it. __________, Chip stayed calm, eating seeds, before running quickly back into the bush.

Today, the chipmunk comes out of hiding when I call its name, and lets me __________ its soft, silky body.