1 . On a bright afternoon, Jordan, Mahir and Mahir’s father gathered at the foot of a mountain. “Hey, Jordan, over here!” Jordan’s best friend, Mahir, waved his hand, pointing to a crack in the side of the mountain. “We could _______ this!”

Jordan tied his safety harness (系带) and checked his rope. He weighed one of them in his hand, determining its weight. Then he looked for _______ locations, considering the difficulty of the task. “That crack is _______ narrow. I don’t think we’d get up very high.”

“At the time of a test, a person rises or falls.” said Ghanim, Mahir’s dad. Shaking his head in _______ over the foreign proverb (谚语), Jordan examined the crack. It was nothing more than a sliver in the solid face of the cliff. He shifted in his harness as Mahir gave the proverb his own explanation: “If you’re not reaching the _______, you’re not trying hard enough.” Jordan recognized the bit of advice from a previous climbing lesson.

His own father’s voice resounded in his thoughts, as if in a half-forgotten dream. “Climb a mountain, son, and you climb the insecurity in your own life. You climb over your shadow, climb over your _______.”That was five years ago, before the automobile _______ that took his dad’s life. Jordan’s father swiftly turned his car and effectively _______ a car from going over a cliff (悬崖). The sudden move had saved the people in that car. But his father’s car went off a cliff. _______ with the difficult situation, Jordan’s dad had never hesitated before making the decision.

And now Jordan wouldn’t either. ________ on his balance, he took a deep breath and began to climb. Finally, they made it to the peak of the mountain.

2 . One winter, a homeless dog called Shavi was left to die on the streets of south-west Russia after being _______ by a driver. With two broken legs, she was taken to a pet clinic for _______ by a volunteer from One Green Planet. After launching an appeal to find someone who could look after Shavi, the vet found Nina who _______ her and nursed her back to health, working on regaining her confidence and _______.

Due to work commitments, Nina couldn’t keep Shavi and instead found her a new _______ 185 miles away, near the Russian border. However, after just a few days, Shavi _______ from there.

Two weeks later, while walking along the road outside her home, Nina felt something brush up against her leg. Realizing it was Shavi, she was so _______ and excited. The dog had made the almost 200-mile journey back to the woman who had saved her life and legs.

The pair lived together and moved into a bigger apartment so Shavi had plenty of room to play. “Of course, she has now remained with us for good. I would never give this kind of friend away again. _______ are the most loyal and loving companions in the world. For every drop of human love, they _______ give all of theirs in return, and I know that from personal experience. Shavi is just like a __________ to me.” Nina said.

3 . A school bus driver returned to college to become a high school history teacher, thanks to some _________ students.

Clayton Ward is a history lover, and as such,_________the time he’d spend chatting with students about their history classes as he _________ them to and from school.

“After several of these discussions, some of the students would tell me they wanted me to be their _________.” he said. “That small mention from those kids… it _________ me and gave me the motivation to complete a goal I had started years ago.”

_________, Ward went to college after his highschool graduation; but after a year, he had to leave and soon started driving buses. But he still valued _________, and talking with the students on the bus route renewed his sense of passion for expanding and teaching young minds.

Ward enrolled (注册) at a community college in May 2019, and _________ to take his classes full time while also still driving his bus.

“It wasn’t always _________. I would drive my route in the morning and afternoon, take classes in between shifts and take night classes,” he said. “I would think of those students and all the years I wanted to make this happen, and it helped me focus my energy.”

“You wouldn’t think that kids can do something like that, to give me the __________ and ambition to go back to school,” Ward said. “It’s kind of crazy that such a small thing can make such an impact on your life.”

4 . I was ready to pay for my bananas at the grocery one night, when fear seized me. My wallet was gone. I could only have left it on the G9 bus, which was now speeding in the dark to some _______ station. How much time and money would it cost to replace the contents of that little wallet? The credit cards, the driver’s license, the cash, all lost to the bus.

Two hours later, I heard a knock on the door. My husband answered it while I was on the phone. In my husband’s hand was my wallet, with not a penny _______. She left before I could even make it to the door to offer my thanks.

After sharing the story online, someone identified the lady as Erin Smith. Without _______, I called to thank her. She said she _______ my wallet on a bus seat. “If I were in that situation, I would want someone to try to find me,” she said.

This one stranger responded beautifully to my small _______, but she actually wasn’t the only one. Right after Erin took my wallet on the bus, she posted a picture of my driver’s license to an online forum, trying to see _______ anyone knew me. No sooner did she leave my doorstep than I had emails from two women whose kids go to my son’s nursery and who recognized my face. I’ve never _______ words with those moms beyond small talk, but they wanted to help. I read that people are more divided than ever, but that’s not how the people I _______ tend to act.

Erin had gone _______ what almost anyone would have done, finding my house on a bitterly cold night, and for that I was extremely __________.

5 . See Me

The sun prepared to rest for the evening. Saying goodbye to the clan (家族), I headed back to camp. I looked forward to setting my _______ aside for an evening to reflect on my time in Ethiopia.

“Photo, photo”, a voice behind me called. A young Surma boy followed closely at my heels as I breathed a tired sigh. Over the past four days, many in the camp had wanted their photograph _______. I had no energy left after this long day, but the boy kept appealing, “Photo, photo.” He managed to catch my gaze. With eyes full of _______, he asked me once more: “photo?”

As I looked at him, an idea flashed before me. I knelt in the cornfield and instructed the boy how to _______ . Suddenly, he became shy, losing his _______. No matter how I instructed him, I couldn’t capture the shot. Frustrated, I _______. I looked at the boy, who seemed _______.

In an effort to cheer him, I said, “You were great.” Others from his clan gathered around, cheering and clapping. The boy’s face broke into a smile. I intuitively took shots of the moment. That photograph turned out to be better than the arrangement I’d imagined because it was _______.

Reflecting on my experience, I realized I had been caught up in my own ideas and wants. When I agreed to take the shot, I was looking for a particular end _______ for myself. But all the boy had really wanted was to be __________. That was the moment that needed to be captured.

8 . 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.