1 . Only positive thinking is not enough to attain our goals. Our _________ act as beacons (灯塔) that tell us where we want to go, but we need some “negative” thinking to light up that _________ and to expose the obstacles we will face along the way.

In the 2008 summer Olympics, Michael Phelps was ready to _________ his own record for the 200-meter butterfly swimming race. After Phelps’s first turn, his goggles (游泳镜) _______ water and he couldn’t see. To stop and _________ his goggles would mean disqualification. _________ without his sight, how was he supposed to know exactly when to turn? This misfortune could cost Phelps _________ seconds each lap (圈). So, what did he do? Had he done anything to _________ him for this moment? Yes. Phelps had been practicing something he _________ for himself: negative visioning. During his training. Phelps had already imagined in __________ how he would respond in this moment of crisis. He already knew __________ how many strokes (划水) he would take before he reached the next wall. So, though unable to see, he __________ his strokes and made quick turns. And at last he won the gold medal.

In psychology, the __________ of balancing learned optimism with practical realism — or acting against the __________ thought with the “negative” one —is called “mental contrasting”. It __________ us to lower our strong expectations about a (n) __________ outcome. So we can make wiser __________ and maintain motivation while working toward our goals.

Mental contrasting can make sure we consider realistic obstacles when __________ our plan for the future. In this way, the obstacles in our way __________ us to think more critically and __________ become the means by which we achieve our goals in the first place.

2 . My first class in college was philosophy, and it changed my life forever. Our first _________was to write a paper on Albert Camus’s essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” I was instantly _________because I didn’t know the right way to do this assignment. Even more _________ was that the professor refused to give us any guidelines on what he was looking for; he gave us total _________.

Full of anxiety, I first _________ to read Camus’s essay several times. I did my best to take careful _________. Yet even after I _________ the essay inside out, I still did not find the right answer. Next, when I sat down to _________, the words just did not come to me. I _________ to try every prewriting strategy I could find. I brainstormed, made idea maps, and even wrote a(n) __________. Eventually, my ideas became more __________ and the words fell on the page. I __________ my paper and turned it in simply hoping for the best.

Then, a week or two later, the professor gave our papers back with __________ and comments. I remember feeling __________ and eager to get the paper back. It turned out that I had __________to worry about. The professor gave me an A on the paper, and his notes suggested that I wrote a(n) __________essay overall.

I never expected to __________ a philosophy class. This class and assignment, however, gave me self-confidence, critical-thinking skills, and the courage to try a new career __________. I left engineering to study law and __________ became a lawyer. More importantly, that paper helped me learn to see college as a place to first learn and then __________a career.

3 . On a beautiful Wednesday morning, I awoke in a shared room in the hospital. Long curtains had been pulled around my bed, ________ me from the other patients. I had broken my right leg the night before. It was still summer, but mine was ________.

On the other side of my bed curtain, I heard a patient cheerfully ________ every nurse as they entered the room, as if welcoming each into his home. He called them by name and asked ________ about their families. I never heard this man whisper a word about his own ________.

That night I wept (哭泣). I thought about how my schoolwork would be ________ and all the things I could, temporarily, no longer do.

I awoke early the next morning, ________ of the uncertain days ahead. The ________ of the room was soon broken by a quiet voice from behind the curtain. “Good morning,” the voice said calmly, clearly ________ at me. “Are you doing okay?”

The man must have heard my ________ the night before. Hesitantly, I responded. From there he drew me into a(n) ________. We talked endlessly through the curtain to pass the time, without seeing each other. Every day he would greet me with cheer, “Good morning, Caroline. You are going to ________ this.”

This stranger became my cheerleader, as if it was his mission to lift me up from my ________. He ________ me to find the best in all difficult circumstances. Life is not always easy, he would say, but you have to ________ and look for the positive.

Days later when the curtain was drawn, I saw this ________ old man for the first time. ________ his own ill health, he continued to coach me from his hospital bed in the days that followed.

My discharge papers (出院证明) were finally signed and I waited ________ to get home. As I was wheeled out of the room, I said my final goodbye to the old man.

I often think of my exceptional roommate and of what a(n) ________ he was to me. The impact he made during those difficult days in hospital still ________.

Thank you for being my ray of sunshine!

4 . Once upon a time there lived a king who ruled a prosperous kingdom. The people of the kingdom lived a ________ life.

One day, the king decided to ________ various places in his kingdom. He went to ________ places on foot.

Traveling long distances on foot was a(n) ________ experience for the king. He got to ________ with his people and learn about their life and problems. Many people were very ________ to meet the king and expressed how they were very happy under his rule.

However, the king wasn’t ________ long walks. He got severe ________ in his leg as he walked through rough paths. He ________ to his ministers that the stony roads weren’t comfortable. The king also expressed his ________ for the people who had to walk along those roads every day. For the convenience of the people, the king ordered to cover all the roads in his kingdom with ________. The king believed that this would make his people’s lives more ________.

The ministers were ________ by the king’s crazy order. Not only was the king’s fantasy of leather roads expensive, it would ________ the lives of many cattle to get sufficient leather.

The wise king’s advisor came to the king with a better ________. He measured the king’s feet and made a nice pair of ________ leather shoes. He made the king wear these shoes and walk on the ________ paths. The king admired them and did not feel any pain while walking. The king was ________ for the genius idea that saved money and thousands of cattle’s lives.

Many times, we blame things around us for the ________ in our lives and never remember to look inside ourselves. Remember, it’s not the world that needs to ________; it’s ourselves.

5 . The most important life lesson I’ve learned from running is to run at my own pace. This lesson has guided me in many ways. _________, it made me challenge the fixed expectations of retirement and aging.

Running is a metaphor for life. I realized this while _________ for a marathon to celebrate my 60th birthday. All the other runners being faster than me made me _________. But my coach shared some valuable advice: run at your own best pace. Setting a goal or target time could be a _________. He was right. _________, I ran more easily and faster. I also enjoyed the experience much more.

I have _________ this principle to other areas of my life. Finding a rhythm is not about _________ or how many things I can get done in a day. It has more to do with what I decide to do at this stage in my life.

Running carries its own set of expectations, including what it meant to be a strong runner. But expectations also _________ to other areas of life, including what people at certain life stages should be doing or not doing. Expectations at my age can _________ how leisure time is spent, decisions about employment and even the role of a ____________.

I used to think it was young people who bore the brunt (冲击) of ____________, but older adults can experience it too. This is ____________, because often later in life is a time when we are less inclined to care about the opinions of others.

That is the message my running coach was trying to convey. ____________ what others are doing.

Their pace is not ____________ the pace you should run at. Run in your own way. It’s not better or worse -only ____________.

6 . It was the golden season. I could see the _________ leaves falling with the cool wind. For others, it is a harvest season, while for me, it is a(n) _________ season. I was _________ for the Postgraduate Entrance Examination. But so many unhappy things made me so tired, so I decided to have a walk along the Yanjiang Road in my university.

“Autumn is a lonely season and life is uninteresting. The days in this season always get me _________”, I thought when the sound of a guitar flowed into my ears, like a stream flowing from the mountains. A young girl, sitting on the lawn, was lost in playing her guitar. She was a beautiful girl, _________ when the wind blew her long hair. I had never seen her before. The music was so attractive that I listened quietly.

Lost in the music, I did not _________ that I had been standing for so long. But my existence did not seem to disturb her. Leaves were still falling. Every day when I passed by the lawn, I would see her playing her guitar. She was the only _________ and I was the only audience. During the rest of the days in the season, life became _________ and I could review the courses carefully.

Autumn was _________ over. One day, when I was listening devotedly, the sound suddenly stopped. To my surprise, the girl came over to me.

“You __________ like the music,” she said.

“Yes, you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

Suddenly, a(n) __________ expression appeared on her face.

“I came here just to have a rest because I __________ in the college entrance examination. I felt very disappointed. And it was your listening every day that __________ me,” she said, “and I have to go tomorrow.”

“In fact, it was your playing that gave me a __________ autumn and helped me believe that I have the ability to pass the Postgraduate Entrance Examination.” I answered, “I think it was God who gave us the __________ to know each other and we should be good friends.”

She smiled and I smiled in that beautiful autumn.

7 . Family meals are an important part of living with a family. A recent survey shows that most American children and their family ________ a meal at least four times a week. This is a(n) ________ sign, in my view. It is ________ dining together is able to _________family members.

Firstly, having a meal together can help a family stick together, which helps strengthen each family member's sense of ________. Family meals can teach younger people about their ________ by eating traditional foods. Family members can also ________ together during this time, temporarily leaving the worries behind, and enjoy each other's ________ . Routine socializing helps family members show each other ________ which cannot only be expressed on Thanksgiving Day.

Secondly, family meals also play an important part in a child's ________. For example, parents are able to ________ their children's psychology (心理) at this time based on their deeds and expressions. If parents ________ to lead kids to tell something about it, they can eventually figure out what their psychology looks like. If there is something wrong with it, parents and kids can discuss about it and find the ________. Studies show eating together means that kids had little ________ to smoke, get into frights, or commit suicide. Children who eat with their families are more likely to ________ high grades in the end than those who do not eat family meals. And such kids are probably to be more ________ , and make more friends.

Through family meals, parents can also ________ that their children are eating ________ foods to have strong bodies. It's because children who eat together with their families can be taught to be not particular about meals.

These families ________ to eat more fruit and vegetables, ________ often eating at fast food restaurants like the others.

8 . Rehn Staton recently found out he was accepted to Harvard Law School—as well as to law schools at Columbia, UPenn, USC and Pepperdine. For Staton, the sky's the limit, _________it wasn't always that way. He once worked as a sanitation worker in Maryland before _________ his dreams and applying for law school.

Staton, 24, was raised by a single father who worked hard to _________ him and his brother. Staton said growing up was _________ and he used to struggle in school. One teacher even _________ he switch to a special education class. But with _________ from a tutor, who worked with Staton for free, he ended up excelling（突出）.

Staton was a high school _________ , focusing on martial arts and boxing. After suffering an injury, Staton said his _________ for college dwindled（减少）."It ruined the chances of me turning _________ in sports. So, that being said, when applying to college, 1 got denied by every single one ," he said.

Instead of pursuing higher __________ Staton started working at Bates Trucking &Trash Removal, which he said changed his life in ways he never __________ . He said he wanted to work there __________ there was something he could do to help his father pay for the mortgage （按揭贷款）"What I didn't expect to __________ was, most of the people 1 worked with were formerly imprisoned....So, it caught me __________ surprise how much they uplifted me and really wanted me to make __________ of myself. It was the people that were on the __________ of （he hierarchy（等级）who really lifted me up," he said.

His __________ encouraged him to enroll in Bowie State University in 2014, and in 2016, he transferred to the University of Maryland. "After started doing well there, I just knew I wanted to go and __________ law." Staton said. He took the LSAT and applied to nine schools —getting __________ to five and wait listed at the other four. Ultimately Staton decided to commit to Harvard

Law School — and he'll __________ forget all the people who helped him get there.