Music is one of the most     1     (power) things in my life. Listening to music can help to motivate me in trying time. When younger, I     2     (have) no great love for music as I do now. I mainly listened to what my parents were listening to. Whether I was in the car, the house,     3     anywhere else there was sure to be some Beatles, or Buddy Holly constantly playing in the background. Now as I’m     4    (old), I enjoy it for the reason that it allows me to remember my childhood.

I believe music has the power     5     (express) all sorts of emotion. The song “A little bit longer” by Nick Jonas is     6     an emotional and inspiring song that when I hear it, I always come close to     7     (drop) down tears, especially when I watch it being played live. The effect     8     music can have on our emotions is great, as it can bring people to floods of tears or bursts of     9     (laugh).

I believe music affects people in many ways. To me, music is     10     (extreme) important in my life. I think it brings me closer to my friends and family.

Last week I     1    (take) on a difficult task of showing kindness. The idea came from a few posts on a website. I decided     2     (reach) out to a few people I hadn’t talked to for the past few years.

One was a cousin,     3     I had lost touch with for 25 years. She was very happy when we got     4     touch. The other two were friends I hadn’t talked to in nearly 10 years. It was really good to talk to     5     (they) both.

With one of them, I reached out at a great time for him. He had forgotten my name     6    (entire) but remembered I disliked     7    (run) when young because I had asthma（哮喘）. He was grateful that I called him and said some very kind     8     (thing) to me about our past. I am glad our friendship mattered to him.

I think     9     is good to be the one to take the initiative（主动性）to be kind and reach out. Even if it seems difficult at the time, in the end it offers     10     (wonder) rewards!

I love reading. So the library is my favorite place in my spare time. Whenever I am free, I will go there and bury me in the books, which makes me relaxing. One day I went to the library as usual. I was selecting books while a little boy caught my attention. Stand in front of a shelf, he was doing his best to put the book back in place. However, he was so short to place it. I walk to him, asking him if he needed help. He thanked for me and handed me the book, which name was A Short History of Nearly Everything. I said that I was glad help him, a boy who was thirsty for knowledge. Hearing this, he smiled.

5 . Age has never been a problem for 16-year-old Thessalonika Arzu-Embry. After all, she’s already got her master’s degree.

The North Chicago-area teen started homeschooling at the age of 4. She began having an influence on others soon after. When she was 6 years old, she was an inspirational speaker at an organization called Tabitha House Community Service, which is for people who were forced to leave their homes because of earthquake, flood and other natural disasters.

At the age of 11, she graduated from high school and then earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2013. She completed those classes online as she was traveling for church events and leadership meetings.

She doesn’t stop there, though. The teen plans to focus on aviation psychology (航空心理学) for her further study, a decision inspired by her father who is a pilot. She grew up around airplanes and took flights all the time. Her goal is to use it to help pilots deal with problems that could have deadly results once the plane takes off — a topic that has been in the news lately. For her, it’s a mix of two of her interests.

In her free time, Thessalonika enjoys playing tennis, swimming and being active in her youth group at church. She also has three self-published books, which are on her site. Jump the Education Barrier is written to help students finish college, and In the Future aims to help business owners with trends. Her third book The Genius Race is designed to help people to be talents in various areas of life.

6 . In the dictionary of Jessica Cox, a woman aged 36 from Tucson, Arizona, there seems to be no such words——can’t or impossible. How does that _______?

Jessica was born without _______ but that has only _______ her doing one thing: using the word “can’t”. While she _______ prosthetic limbs (义肢) as a child, she finally gave them up and used her feet to _______ everyday tasks. “Prosthetic limbs can never _______ the tactile (触觉的) ability of flesh and bone——but my feet have that ability,” she said.

She has lived with her _______ since birth with no explanation of why she was born _______ what most of us _______ as essential (基本的) parts, she has been proving that she can do ________ people with arms can do, ________ what most people are proud of. With her feet, she can eat with chopsticks, type on a keyboard, play the piano and even surf on the sea. To our ________, she became the first armless black belt in the American Tae Kwon Do Assocaition. But what ________ people most is that in 2008, she became the first ________ to fly a plane with her feet, ________ her a Guinness World Record.

Now Jessica and her husband are working together touring the world as Jessica gives encouraging speeches. “I wanted to ________ others not to let fear stand ________ of their opportunities.”

So, next time you are ________ to tell yourself, “I can’t possibly …”, remember this ________   woman and change the vocabulary in your ________.

7 . Have you ever looked at a fashionable item of clothing and felt confused? If so, your confusion may have made sense.

Several months ago, high fashion brand Balenciaga released a “T-shirt shirt”, which is a shirt sewn on the front of a T-shirt. The unusual design has certainly confused a lot of people.

But the “double shirt” isn’t fighting alone on the frontier of strange fashion. Ever since US shoe manufacturer Crocs released its famous hole-filled foam shoes, the so-called “ugly fashion” hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down, the Business of Fashion website noted.

British designer Paul Surridge believes that the rise of ugly fashion is a sign that people are bored with looking perfect all the time. “Fashion thrives(蓬勃发展) on novelty”, he told the Financial Times.

Indeed, fashion is all about changes. Something that’s considered uncool one minute can then turn out to be the latest must-have fashion item the next.

And in the eyes of US fashion writer Megan Collins, ugly doesn’t necessarily mean the design of the item is ugly. After all, ugly is something subjective. “Ugly fashion means ‘not the mainstream’——it is not what everyone’s wearing; it is not what the general population considers as ‘in’ right now,” she told style news site Fashionista.

But throughout the history of fashion, when any new trend appears, most people tend to hate it, before it eventually becomes loved. As Italian designer Miuccia Prada told The New York Times, “Maybe because it is newer, ugly is attractive. Ugly is exciting.”

Meanwhile, popular social media fashion bloggers also help people to pick up new ugly fashion trends. These bloggers express themselves through their clothes, showing their unique personalities and making comments on their clothing choices. However, as Clever-ish Magazine noted, just being comfortable in your own skin could actually be “the best look”.

“I personally love having a unique expression because without ugly fashion and diversity, we’d all look the same,” Australian fashion influencer(网红) and model Zanita Whittington told Fashionista. “I appreciate anything that’s out of the norm(规范).”