1 . Last summer, I was suffering from too much stress. I’d just graduated from a(n) __________doctoral program and was exhausted from the years of research, study and writing. I took a __________to celebrate, but the academic intensity had become a __________. Sitting on the beautiful lawn of the hotel on Mackinac Island, I just felt like I should be studying or working __________.

Generally seeing natural beauty would have __________ me, but I couldn’t slow down. I couldn’t help looking at my cellphone __________in case I missed something important. “Enough,” I murmured. I needed to unwind, but why couldn’t I?

A dragonfly (蜻蜓) buzzed around me.With each __________, this creature’s wings __________ color — blue one moment, green the next. Dragonflies usually fascinated me with their quick movements that __________ me of acrobats (杂技演员) in the wind, but I wasn’t in the __________ that day. What I needed then was stillness, not movement. Suddenly, the dragonfly came to rest on a blade (叶片) of grass in front of me.

I watched that dragonfly carefully for many minutes. So did the dragonfly. “It’s not a matter of relaxing,” it seemed to say. “Life is so short.Be here in the __________ and let the mood take care of itself.” Suddenly, it __________ me that this beautiful creature, which only had months to live, was “instructing” me about the __________ of life and I felt much relaxed. The dragonfly seemed __________ that its message had been delivered. It sprang from the grass and flew away. I didn’t see it again. But I would never forget what it taught me: Be here and _____________ yourself.

2 . In high school I had a math teacher, Mrs. Davies, who took her job seriously and expected her students to put forth the same degree of commitment (付出). Strict but fair, she held our attention with her great method. One of her classes was for students who were more advanced academically. I chose to _________ it and soon realized that the course was a bit over my head. I _________ with complex problems that others seemed to learn without much effort.

One Friday we were tested _________ our ability to use a theorem (定理) that no one in the class thoroughly understood. The teacher would grade our papers based on our ability to progress through the problem which easily filled two pages of formulaic notations (公式符号). I was absolutely _________. Finally, I didn’t use the required theorem. Instead, I decided to use more familiar theorems to arrive at an _________. I knew I had failed because I hadn’t done the required assignment. I became resigned (顺从) to my fate.

Our test papers were handed back the following Monday. Everyone received a “C” except for me. To my surprise, I received an “A”. I _________ that there must be a mistake. I watched _________ as the teacher approached my desk, smiled, and asked for my test paper back. She went back to copy my work onto the blackboard, showing the class how I have arrived at the correct answer. “Mathematics is meant to be a creative tool, pushing our minds to a rewarding answer,” she said with confidence. _________ I didn’t use the required theorem, she seemed really proud of how I’d worked through the problem.

My teacher would have been justified (合理的) in giving me a _________ grade. Instead, she used the opportunity to deeply influence a student who often struggled. And after forty years, I still cherish the memory. I opened up to a broad boundary of possibilities which has made my life an adventure. She understood that teaching went beyond strict demands and could be used to __________.

3 . My earliest memory of dad is grabbing his hand while we walked together. As I _______ older, I remember my father and I listening to basketball games on the radio. I always fell asleep_______ the game was over. When I woke up in the morning the score sheet with the _______ score on it would be lying next to me. I’ll always remember that.

On cold mornings my father would bring his bread truck by the house. I used to ride on the floor of that bread truck as he delivered the bread to the stores. The _______ and the warmth from the bread made my mouth water and kept me warm. I’ll always remember that.

My father would _______ all my games. One night before an important game my father told me _______ that he wouldn’t be able to watch the game because he had to deliver the bread far away. The next day as the game time approached I thought about my dad. I happened to look across the field and _______ saw his bread truck pulling into the stadium. He managed to _______the game. I’ll always remember that.

Years later I had become a teacher. I’ll never forget the voice on the phone early one morning telling me dad had just been _______ in a traffic accident. I could hear my heart beat in my ears. I hung up the phone and went back to my bedroom. After that nothing really ________to me. I still taught in school ________ I couldn’t focus on my teaching. One day I was on the playground ________ a little boy walked up to me and grabbed my hand. His hand held mine the same way I used to hold my father’s by the last two ________. At that moment I found my ________in life again. You see even though my father was gone, he left something with me. He left me his smile, compassion and touch. From that day on I started. I’ll always remember that!

4 . Are all inventors scientists? No. Anyone can make a(n) _________. All it takes is a(n) _________and some hard work. A person must be willing to try again and _________ the invention works. That’s just what happened to Murray Spangler in 1907.

Spangler was a janitor(清洁工) at a department store. He _________ to work every night after the department store closed. He _________ his job, but it was a lot of work to clean all that space. He was_________. He wished that there was a better way to clean the store’s floor.

Each night as he worked, he thought about the _________. What kind of machine could he make? After a while, some ideas formed in his head. He got a group of _________, including an old box, a tape, a pillowcase, an electric fan, a broom handle, and a paint roller. Then he spent weeks fitting them together. He tried it at home. It_________! At last, he was ready to take his invention to the __________.

A police officer was walking down the street. He glanced at the department store window. He saw Spangler ________ his invention. The officer went to the owner’s house, __________ the owner that Spangler was doing something with a(n) __________ machine that made a lot of noise. He thought that Spangler had lost his mind.

The __________ rushed to the store. He told Spangler that he was fired for messing around __________doing his job. Spangler told him that he was doing his job __________ than ever before. He asked the storeowner to let him show him how his machine worked. __________, the man agreed. He was __________ when Spangler moved his machine over dirt and gum wrappers. They __________! Spangler had just built the first vacuum cleaner. The next year he sold his invention to a firm named Hoover. Before long vacuum cleaners were as __________ as stoves in homes.

5 . “Tom, you have a hairless spot on the back of your head!”Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.

I tried to shrug (耸肩) it off. “It’ll grow back. ”I worked to sound ________.

At first, the loss was minimal. ________the spot with my fingers became the top priority every day. No new hair, smooth as an egg. Weeks later, the spot was a little larger, and there was still no_________of any hair becoming visible through the skin. I began to________, but continued to try to be cool about it.

As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more. ________ my fingers through it, I would stare at the alarming quantity of hair in my hands, willing this to ________ happening to me.

We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection ( 注 射 ) to try, which would be ________ to the head skin. I underwent several costly injections over a few months, but in vain.

________, the injection began to trouble my sleep, and we finally had to stop the __. My hair still didn’t grow back.

I had to wear a wig ( 假 发 ) to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would________. Though aware that I should ________the fact to my friends, I was scared, not knowing how they would handle the information. ________, hesitantly, I told them what was happening after days of struggle. To my surprise, they all thought nothing of it. This was a(n) ________ for me.

I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel________of. I am learning that being bald doesn’t change who I am, and if I don’t let it affect myself ________ , then other people are much more likely to accept me as I am, too.

6 . After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

7 . Contact between adolescents (between the ages of 15 and 19) and their peers (同龄人) is a universal characteristic of all cultures. However, the nature and the degree of such contact ________ a great deal. In American contemporary society, adolescents spend much more time with their peers than with ________ or adults.

This pattern of age segregation (隔离) in American society did not become usual until the beginning of the industrialized society. Changes in the ________separated children from adults, with adults working and children attending school. The dramatic increase of mothers in the workplace has ________ contributed to (促成) the reduction in the amount of time adolescents spend with adults. School reform efforts during the nineteenth century, which ________ age-segregated schools and grades, have reduced the amount of time adolescents spend with younger children. Finally, the changes in population are considered a(n)________that may have contributed to the emergence of adolescent peer culture. From 1955 to 1975, the adolescent ________ increased dramatically, from 11 percent to 20.9 percent. This increase in the number of adolescents might be a contributing factor to the ________ in adolescent peer culture in terms of growth in size as well as in terms of its impact on society’s other cultures.

Research ________ the view that adolescent s spend a great deal of time with their peers. Reed Larson and his colleagues examined adolescents’ daily ________ and found that they spend more time talking to their friends than engaging in any other activity. In a typical week, ________, high school students will spend twice as much time with their peers as with adults. This gradual withdrawal (退出) from adults begins in ________ adolescence. In sixth grade, adults (excluding parents) account for only 25 percent of adolescent social ________ . Another important characteristic of adolescent peer________ is its increasingly autonomous (自治的) function. While childhood peer groups are conducted under the close supervision (监管) of parents, adolescent peer groups typically make an effort to ________ adult supervision and usually succeed in doing so.

8 . When I was a teenager, my dad did everything he could to discourage me from becoming a brewer (酿酒师). He’d spent his life in local breweries, _________ making a living, as had his father and grandfather before him.

So I did as he asked. I went to business school and got a highly paid job at a business- consulting firm. _________, after working there for five years, I was haunted by _________. Is this what I want to be doing when I’m 50?

I remembered that some time before, my dad had been cleaning out the attic and _________ some old beers _________ . “Today’s beer is _________ water that can hold a head,” he’d told me.

I agreed. Americans pay good money for inferior beer, I thought. Why not make good beer for Americans using my family way?

I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. When I told Dad, I was hoping he’d put his arm around me and get _________ about continuing tradition. Instead, he said, “Jim, that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”

As much as Dad objected, in the end he became my new company’s first _________, coughing up (支付) $40,000 when I opened the Boston Beer Company in 1984. Going from my fancy office to being a brewer was like mountain climbing: exciting, liberating and _________.All my safety nets were gone.

Once the beer was made, I faced my biggest __________ yet: no one had ever heard of it. I needed a name that was __________ and elegant, so I named my beer __________ Samuel Adams, a brewer and patriot (爱国者) who helped to found the Boston Tea Party.

The only way to get the word out, I realized, was to sell direct. I filled my briefcase with beer and hit every bar in Boston. Six weeks later, at the Great American Beer Festival, Sam Adams Boston Lager won the top prize for American beer. The rest is history. It wasn’t supposed to work out this way — whatever does? — but in the end I was __________ to be a brewer.

My advice to all young entrepreneurs is simple: Life is very short, so don’t __________ to make decisions. Life doesn’t let you __________.

9 . Martin is my youngest son. He likes staying alone and be seldom laughs. As the boy’s mother, I was _______ about him. I took him to see the _______ in many hospitals, but it didn’t work well.

Nothing could make him happy except the recycling truck passing by my house. Every afternoon, he raced to the front of the house, waiting for the _______.

When we were late and _______ the truck, Martin would be very disappointed. One day, I stopped the truck and _______ myself.

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Vince.” The driver greeted me in a happy _______.

“Your coming is the most exciting moment for my son.” I smiled.

After knowing our story, he said, “Could you please give me your _______ number? Maybe I can send you a message _______ I arrive.”

Then began our _______ with Vince.

Recently, I said to him, “It’s my little boy’s birthday tomorrow. Can you do something special for him?”

The next day, as I was standing by the driveway with Martin, we saw the ________ truck running down the street with a loud beep. Like a superman in a movie, Vince stopped and walked towards us with a box in his hand.

“Today is your birthday, Martin, and here’s a gift.”

He handed the box to my son. Inside, there was a green model truck like his. My son, surprised, looked up ________ and thanked him.

After chatting for several ________, he was about to leave for work. I tried to give him some ________ for his help. He kept shaking his head and ________ my money, saying, “Today you, tomorrow me.”

I was deeply moved by these ________ words. And I have been ready to help others whenever I can. You will never know when you’re going to be the one that needs help.

10 . “I just think, a year ago, at 54 years of age, I couldn’t swim. I was terrified at the thought of going into the water. Now, I have just _________ my 200 meters. It is all thanks to Everyday Swim.”

It’s never too late to learn swimming. Angela King, 55, is a perfect _________ of it. In August 2020, the family went to an attraction they hadn’t _________ for 15 years. Angela thought, “All this time, I still can’t swim. When I get back home tomorrow, I’m going to find out more about swimming _________.”

In the cold light of day, she felt a little _________, but her husband David searched the Internet for swimming classes. He found Everyday Swim at the local Hadleigh pool and _________ Angela to sign up. When she turned up for her first training, she said, “I felt a bit sick and _________, but this soon passed. The instructor really put me at ease; so did the other people in the class.”

As the lessons _________, she learned to become more _________ in the water. At first, it was a simple __________ of learning she wasn’t going to sink. Then during the third lesson, the Olympic gold medal winner Duncan Goodhew turned up to offer __________ “I couldn’t believe it. He held my hand and we all held hands in a circle and splashed under the water. What he did made me believe that I could __________.”

When the 10 lessons for £ 100 offer finished at the pool, she __________ to sign up for lessons. In fact, from originally being __________ of the water, Angela is now becoming a regular swimmer and __________ some certificates (证书) along the way