1 . I was never very neat while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but my always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Overtime, Kate got neater and I got my merriser. She moved to push my dirty clothing over and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

Who broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! why under my bed!” Suddenly I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up. She quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. Obviously. that was something she could not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart.

Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bad. Cleaned the suckers and swept the floor even on her side. I got so absorbed into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching. Her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”

Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

2 . 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, and 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________.

3 . From Mozart to Metallica, tons of people enjoy listening to various types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Many believe that music helps increase creativity, but an international study done by English and Swedish researchers is challenging that notion. Their findings show that music actually prevents creativity.

To come to their conclusions, researchers had participants complete verbal problems designed to inspire creativity while sitting in a quiet room, and then again while music played in the background. They found that background music “significantly damaged” the participants' ability to complete tasks connected with verbal creativity. The research team also tested background noises such as those commonly heard in a library, but found that such noises had no effect on participants' creativity.

The tasks were simple word games. For example, participants were given three words, such as dress, dial, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word connected with all three that could be combined to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be “sun” (sundress, sunflower, sundial). Participants completed the tasks in either a quiet room, or while listening to three different types of music; music with unfamiliar lyrics, instrumental music, or music with familiar lyrics.

“We found strong evidence of damaged performance when playing background music in comparison to quiet background conditions,” says co-author Dr. McLatchie of Lancaster University. Dr. McLatchie and his colleagues conclude that music(even familiar music with well-known lyrics) damages the verbal working memory processes of the brain, blocking creativity. Also, as far as the library background noises having seemingly no effect, the study's authors believe that was the case because library noises create a “steady state” environment that doesn't affect concentration.

“To conclude, the findings here challenge the popular view that music strengthens creativity, and instead show that music, regardless of its types, consistently damage creative performance in problem solving,” the study reads.

5 . I never meant to be a teacher. I watched my mother over the years, and I knew it wasn’t for me.

Going back to school to learn French and then teach the language, our mother changed the center of her world when we are little kids.

I saw how hard our mother worked, the long hours she kept as she graded papers when we went to bed. I knew how worried she could be over her students when they were troubled and how much of their stress she took on herself.

What I didn’t realize was that this life she’d chosen offered her wonderful things in return.

As I grew up, I fell in love with a French-speaking Swiss man who asked me to marry him and move to Switzerland. Years later, when I found myself back in my hometown with a small child and a love of my second language, a chance came up for me to join my mother’s world of education, and I accepted it.

I found a teaching job in a primary school in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. From the first week, I knew I’d stick with teaching. This is the most challenging experience I’ve ever had, and absolutely the best. I teach French, and I have never felt so much excitement as when I receive smiles from children, or praise from other teachers.

Most of my students have not travelled outside the town where they live, and for some, a trip to the city museum proves the most adventurous experience in their lives.

I work late into each night creating lessons and activities for the following day, trying to come up with ways to attract my students and connect them to the larger world. I also plan to go back to school for further study so that I can also teach science, math, social studies, reading and writing.

7 . For most people, getting a car opens up a new world of freedom and allows you to go wherever you want and whenever you want. Getting a car did________ these for me, and it also brought my best friend and me________. But then it tore us apart.

My best friend lives not far from my________. Soon I seemed to become her________ when I turned 16 in December, since her________ is in late summer, seven months behind me.

And so I________ her up for school and took her home. We made ice-cream________, shopping and to the movies—all in my car. I would drive to her house just to sit on her bed, read magazines and have a good laugh. I went to her house so________ that she gave me a key to her house.

A week after I began to________, she was with me when I had my first accident. She was there and________ me and we kept it a________, since I didn't want people to________. From then on, through thick and thin, it was just me, my car and my best friend.

High school is a time of________, but for a long time I couldn't________ how we became so distant(疏远的). Finally, my best friend________ her dream car. With its________, the passenger seat of my car became________. Our car trips became less frequent until I didn't________ drive down her street.

It's funny how a car can change a(n) ________ so much. I had wanted her to get a car, but once she did, I________ it. I wanted her friendship back even if it couldn't be the same.

At each stage of our life, we meet different kinds of people. Some are funny; some teach us lessons in life while others occupy a special space in our heart. The people     1     (call)“best friends” are just these special     2    (friend).

In our childhood, “best friends”might have meant the persons who are always by our side, whether it may be in the classroom or in the dining hall. However, as we are getting     3     (old) than before, our definition(定义)of “best friends” changes. In my opinion, best friends are those who love you     4     who you are and help you become who you should be. People in our life come and go, but some people stay. They are the people we should never lose.

True friends are those     5     will never leave you when you need them most. They are always there waiting for you and they love you when you forget to love     6     (you). The best feeling in the whole world is knowing that there is     7     person who always prays for us and always keeps us in his/her thought. Friendship may not     8     (necessary)be based on age, but it is based on     9     (understand). Even our parents also can be our best friends! So let us build our friendship and try our best     10     (see)the good side of everyone!