1 . Power of Perseverance (毅力)

There was once a young man named David. Born into a humble family, David had to _________ to make ends meet(维持生计). However, he was determined to rise above his _________ and achieve greatness.

When David was in high school, he faced bullying (欺负) from his schoolmates, which left him feeling _________. But instead of giving way to the negativity, he chose to see the situation as a chance for _________________________. He _________ throughout the tough times and found strength in overcoming his difficulties.

After graduation, David had a dream of becoming a successful businessman. However, he had no money or _________ in the business world. But he refused to give up.

David _________ his first business project with just a few hundred dollars in his pocket. It was a struggle at first, but he struggled on. Slowly but _________ his business began to _________. As time passed, his company __________ into a multi-million-dollar enterprise (企业). His __________ and hard work paid off. David learned that tough conditions are not a __________ but a powerful driving force that can __________ us to achieve great things.

David’s __________ indicates that we all have the __________ to turn our difficulties into opportunities for growth and success.

2 . Eighteen-year-old David Aguilar from Andorra was born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition but that has never stopped him from doing anything he wanted to do including typing on a computer with his partial arm.

Like most kids, David was a LEGO fan and he loved building cars, boats, planes, and motorbikes. But David also knew that he looked different and wanted to do something about it. “As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn’t stop me believing in my dreams,” David said. “I wanted to... see myself in the mirror like I see other guys, with two hands.”

......

David plans to create affordable prosthetics for people who need them, saying, “I would try to give them a prosthetic, even if it’s for free, to make them feel like a normal person.”

3 . It isn’t easy to climb the Old Man of Hoy, one of the tallest in the United Kingdom. It is even more dangerous if you happen to be a blind climber, as Jesse Dufton is. The 34-year-old was born with a rare genetic disease (遗传病) that left him with less than 20 percent of his vision (视觉), which then kept dropping over the years. He chooses to climb, because it’s better than sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself, right? Climbing is not the most dangerous thing I do on an average day; crossing the road on the way to work is far more risky than Hoy.”

Dufton has been climbing mountains since childhood. As a skilled climber, his father would take him out at weekends. He was always physical then, always up for adventure. He played sports at school, though quickly grew frustrated (沮丧) with many of them. Badminton was a joke for someone like me, and even blind cricket — with a ball with a bell in it — annoyed me. “Instead he was attracted to climbing and skiing, and insists that climbing is one of the safer activities for a blind person to undertake. “True, you can’t see the handholds, or the footholds. You can’t see where the opportunities are, or where to place your hands and your gear (齿轮), so you just have to take it slowly. You search around until you can feel for something to hold onto, and then basically repeat the process over and over again. To keep calm in these situations helps.”

It was Jesse himself who made a documentary happen. He told the filmmaker Alistair Lee about his pastime, believing it might be worth capturing on film. I realized my story was quite unusual,” he says, adding that he felt almost duty-bound to share it. If somebody like me watches it, and they find it inspirational, then it wouldn’t be right for me to keep that from them, wouldn’t it?”

4 . I was 68 when I first stepped on stage as a standup comedian in 2003. I’d never set foot in a comedy _______ before. I’ve always been a(n) _______ — I’ve worked as a singer, actor and musician — but all that came to an end after 9/11. I live in New York, and we watched the _______ towers fall from my apartment building. For a year afterwards, nobody wanted to go out or be _______.

It was then that I started to think about comedy. I realised people needed to laugh, to enjoy themselves again, and thought that with a little _______ I could do it. I took a few classes, tried to work out a routine, and finally _______ the courage to get up on stage. That first time was terrifying. I had no idea what the audience would _______ of me.

In New York, comedians are _______ young men with beards. It’s hard enough to _______ through as a woman, even harder as someone old enough to be their grandmother. As I stepped on stage that first time, people laughed nervously. They were clearly ________ to see me. I introduced myself, stated my age and tried my first joke. There was ________. But by the time I got to the third line, people were properly laughing. I was ________.

Now my sets differ. I might be on stage for 10 minutes in front of a dozen people, or my one-woman show is a full hour in front of a crowd of 100.

After a show, people young and old come up to me, saying what a(n) ________ I am. They say they want to be as active as me when they ________ my age. I’m pleased I can show that as an older person you don’t need to take a ________ seat in life.”

5 . It was a need that he first _____ back in 1906 when young Dale was a junior at State Teachers College in Warrensburg. To get an education, he was struggling against many difficulties. His family was poor. His dad couldn’t afford the _____ at college, so Dale had’ to ride horseback 12 miles to attend classes. Study had to be done between his farm-work routines. He stopped taking part in many school activities because he didn’t have the time or the _____. He had only one good suit. He tried for the football team, but the coach turned him down for being too light. During this period, Dale was slowly _____ an inferiority complex (自卑感) which his mother knew could _____ him from achieving his real potential. She suggested that Dale join the debating team, believing that _____ in speaking could give him the confidence and recognition that he needed.

Dale took his mother’s advice, tried desperately and after several attempts_____ made it. This proved to be a _____ point in his life. Speaking before groups did help him gain the confidence he needed. And his hard work paid off. By the time Dale was a senior, he had won every top _____ in speech. Now other students were coming to him for coaching and later they, in turn, were winning contests.

Out of this early struggle to overcome his feelings of inferiority, Dale came to understand that the ability to ______ an idea to an audience builds a person’s confidence. And, with it, Dale knew he could do anything he wanted to do and so could others.

8 . Six-year-old Ismail Zulfic was born with no arms, but that doesn’t prevent him from swimming better than _________ kids

Zulfic used to be scared of going into the water after a(n) _________ in a splash pool. He even _________ to get into the water for regular therapy on his back, which he needed in order to be able to feed himself and write.

But all of that _________ when the little boy met Amel Kapo, a swimming coach. He set up a local swimming club after noticing how disabled kids _________ to swim in pools, where there was no special _________ for them.

Kapo is the one who _________ Zulfic to swim. After a few months of _________, the little boy was able to dive in and swim the _________ of an Olympic-sized pool without any help. A year later, Zulfic is like a fish in the water. He even won a gold medal in a local swimming competition for disabled people, _________ well ahead of other swimmers, and some were nearly twice his ___________

Zulfic’s parents never dreamed that their shy boy would become a medal-winning swimmer. “I’m proud of my kid. He has a strong winning __________, and he hardly accepts any __________ and does everything to win,” said his mother.

This butterfly without __________ shows that desire, will and perseverance are things that really __________. Zulfic also hopes to compete in Para-swimming competition on the world stage in the future.