Word came that the annual school sports meet would take place next Friday through Saturday. At the exciting news, the whole class burst into cheers. Without any hesitation, we set about making     1     (arrange) for the grand gala for us students.

With the sports meet     2     (approach), we could hardly concentrate on our daily routine. Every day, we spent much of our spare time talking about the weather for fear that the sports meet might be postponed again. Then finally came the big day, when the sports meet was held as scheduled. The sports meet was pretty impressive. One of the highlights     3     (be) the parade before the start of the race. Students were marching past the podium with slogans high up in their hands, while spectators were screaming     4     (crazy). Shortly after the parade was over, the race started. Well known for running in junior high school, I     5     (recommend) to enter for the 3000-meter running race, representing my class.

Time was ticking away.     6     I knew it, it was my turn to step onto the track. But all of     7     sudden, I felt a bit panicky. As I hadn’t received any training recently, I puffed and panted halfway. I was about to quit when my classmates cheered me on all the way. Anyway, I made it to the finishing line. Unable to earn a single point for my class, I was     8     low spirits.

However, my friends came over and encouraged me to cheer up. It was their encouragement     9     helped heal the pain of failure.

Now two weeks have passed, but the memory still stay fresh in my mind.     10     (disappoint) as I am, I never regret taking part in the race. After all, being part of the sports meet is what I really care about.