1 . I’m 19 years old and studying at college. I’m a(n) _______ student on campus. That was because my father once said to me, “Education is a _______ weapon, for one can overcome all difficulties of life using knowledge from books.” Since then, I’ve always encouraged myself.

I used to dislike learning. My parents, who had no college education, always _______ me to study, but I didn’t understand their _______ for my bright future. _______, time taught me that my parents were demanding of me because they expected me to live a good life.

Once I was _______ by my relatives in front of my father because of my poor academic performance at school. They also blamed me. They disliked me as I was the only child in their eyes who showed no _______ in studies. When people started to _______ my family, considering us ignorant, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

From then on, I _______ to study hard to make my parents respected. I tried to read books, which gradually became my hobby. My curiosity for reading never ________. It grew and enriched my mind with priceless knowledge. I also completed my homework on time. I ________ leaving any work for the next day. One of my teachers said, “ ________ leads to success.” I believed in it and formed a ________ of working regularly.

In fact, my parents always help me when I need them. I also help them do housework ________. My parents are my world, and they have taught me ________ values: self-discipline and responsibility.

2 . “If after the first 50 pages of a book you don’t get engaged, you’re allowed to stop reading and try again later when you feel ready for it,” my father told me.

My father holds this ______ responsible for his lifelong love of literature. As a busy labourer, he has regarded reading books as an almost sacred ______. He feels a strong, perhaps, irresistible ______ to read frequently and a lot.

I don’t think my father ______ to hand the advice down to me. He’s not the sort to give advice and I’m not the sort to ______ it. But I find it’s the advice that’s delivered ______ that.is most likely to be listened to.

I like this advice “reading first 50 pages”, for the generosity and respect it extends to a book’s ______ and their craft. A reader, it suggests, needs a little ______ to adapt to a book’s particular tone and voice. Meanwhile, this advice gives a person permission to ______ reading. Nobody, it implies, need force themselves to struggle through a book they’re not ______.

I particularly like the ______ advice to return to a book “when you feel ready for it.” It’s a ______ that reading is naturally relational and that the readers need time.

Even when I’m more than ready to stop reading by page 50, ______ the exercise feels worth doing. Just like stopping swimming halfway makes the muscles in my legs ache ______ it uses them in a different way from cycling. But in both cases, it’s a satisfying kind of hurt because it’s a ______ of getting stronger.

3 . Rodney started mowing (割草) yards for free in 2015 to help neighbors in his community, including senior citizens, single parents and individuals with disabilities. The idea _________ him when he drove past an elderly neighbor _________ to mow his lawn. Rodney _________ and offered to finish the job for his neighbor. He soon set a goal of mowing 40 lawns by the end of that winter, but increased that goal to 100 lawns as he quickly surpassed his _________ target.

“I’m _________ of cutting grass because I’m young and strong,” explained Rodney. Once he reached his 100-lawn goal, he realized he could _________ more people by creating a program that included youths as _________. He founded the Raising Men Lawn Care Service and began recruiting (招募) local youths aged 7 to 17, as he said, “Show them the importance of _________ their community.”

Rodney started the nonprofit lawn program while still in college. He now holds a master’s degree in social work and _________ his nonprofit organization full time. Children can get __________ by sending in a photo of themselves holding a sign that reads, “I accept the 50-yard challenge.” __________ participation, the organization will send the child a shirt, safety glasses and ear protection. Once the child completes the __________, the organization delivers them a brand-new lawn mower.

The program provides a valuable service for community members who have difficulty __________ mowing their own yards. The lawn challenge also provides an opportunity for youths to build a __________ with neighbors. The service is a __________ for the youth volunteers and community members.

4 . The teacher asked, “Is everybody ready?” I _________ wasn’t ready. It was the early 1980’s. I was in my high school typing _________ and totally confused.

I had taken it as a (n) _________ course because taking French or Spanish language seemed too difficult. _________, I wished I hadn’t chosen it. I was on _________—my fingers were shaking and my heart was beating wildly. I had thought we would just be learning to touch type (盲打), not be tested on speed and accuracy. Besides, I was the only freshman in the class, and the other students were _________ to me. My young body felt too nervous to be typing so quickly and _________.

The teacher said, “Hands on home keys. Eyes on books. Ready, type!” Suddenly, the room was alive with 30 electric typewriters’ keys _________ on. I tried my best to _________, but it was obvious that being a secretary wasn’t in my future. While I didn’t __________ many errors, my typing speed was horribly slow. And I knew I wasn’t going to get a good __________ on this test. I really __________ taking this class and wished I could be learning French instead.

Now years later, I’m a novelist. I’m so happy that I took that class and learned how to type. It has helped me write countless __________ flowing through my mind and into my __________ through keyboards. It has helped me to write e-mails full of kindness to __________ with friends and family. It has helped me to do what I should do and share what I was meant to share in life.

5 . One of my major life-turning points happened during my exchange study in Finland. At the University of Economics in Prague where I studied it was extremely _________ to get on an Erasmus exchange trip abroad since the demand was _________. Everyone wanted to go!

Regardless, I decided to sign up early for my last semester, just to see what the process was like to be better prepared for _________ again in a year. I did make it through all the three rounds and _________ got a spot at a University in Turku, Finland! I was _________. The success brought its own _________, but once you set your eyes on the goal, nothing can stop you.

And I had the time of my life in Finland. I met the most amazing people, traveled a ton, partied a lot, and _________ with friends from all over the world. _________ I was one of the few people there who really needed to pass all the courses and additionally write the papers, I _________ to run on an impossible sleep schedule of four hours per night. But I __________ it! My study in Finland opened up my __________, too.

After the exchange study, I __________ my life in Finland. This adventure led me to choose a life of __________ made up of remote work and plenty of travelling. I couldn’t have asked for a better __________. And it gave me one of my favorite __________ that I can now share with others.

6 . Dave Hall led Surprise Squad, an organization to bring surprise to those in need, on a mission to spread joy at a local Albertsons store. Their _________ was simple yet influential: to pay for the groceries of _________ customers. Among the customers was Stephanie, a disabled veteran(退伍军人)who relied on her wheelchair.

She _________ to Dave that she was shopping for food for herself and her dogs. She was down to her last $50,_________ of how she would manage after that. Dave, thrilled to help, paid for all her groceries, a _________ that left Stephanie extremely grateful.

Dave _________ a man standing beside Stephanie. _________ mistaken for her husband, Larry turned out to be a friend of Stephanie’s husband and a fellow veteran. Despite his own financial _________, Larry was determined to support Stephanie.

He stood in the checkout _________ with just a bottle of dish soap and a piece of candy—all he could afford. Dave, moved by Larry’s situation, __________ buying him groceries. Larry’s eyes were filled with tears as Dave accompanied Larry back into the shelves, filling a __________ with food and toiletries(洗漱用品), far more than Larry had __________that day. As they finished checking out, Larry __________ that he had never spent so much on groceries before. The gratitude and emotion on his face were __________.

He thanked Dave wholeheartedly and left the store, carrying not just groceries but a moment of __________ that would never fade.

7 . He Cuiying lives on a mountain peak in Yunnan province, at an altitude of 3,000 meters. Every morning, the 91-year-old woman is _______ by floating fog, which creates a fairy-tale landscape.

Four years ago, He Cuiying opened a homestay (民宿) in her yard with the help of her granddaughter, He Qingmei. Ever since, she has _______ her stories, the beautiful scenery and the _______ culture of her village with visitors from across China and other parts of the world.

He Cuiying is a member of the Naxi ethnic group, while her husband is from the Tibetan ethnic group and he is a _______ in Tibetan Buddhism. In Qibie village, He Cuiying’s home, eight ethnic minorities live _______ in the same village, where local people _______ 102 homestays.

The villagers say they have turned “houses into homestays and people into _______”. They speak the Naxi language, _______ Tibetan customs and warmly welcome tourists from all over the world. In just eight years, they have developed a _______ multiethnic (多民族的) homestay village, becoming a key demonstration project for cultural ________ in Yunnan.

He Cuiying loves ________. Whenever guests visit her home, she sings songs and offers blessings continuously. Her favorite song is Chairman Mao Is Like the Sun. She remembers how the remote village was liberated and ________ poverty under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, so she has a sincere ________ for Beijing as the capital city.

Now, as He Cuiying gets older, He Qingmei and her cousins are gradually ________ the homestay. They hope to share the beautiful scenery and stories of Grandma’s home with more people through the ________ of guests from all over the world.

8 . Sarkar is a nanotechnologist (纳米技术专家) and assistant professor at MIT. She is conducting her research on brain diseases that _________ the minds of millions of people worldwide.

Born in Kolkata, India, Sarkar credits both of her parents as early _________. Her courage as a researcher comes from her _________, who as a young woman went against social norms (常态) in her village by _________ to fund her own education. Meanwhile, Sarkar’s father _________ her interest in engineering. Sarkar recalls her father finding time for his _________, fashioning devices to make home life more _______, including an electricity-free washing machine. “That got me very _________ in science and technology.” Sarkar says.

After _________ a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad, Sarkar __________ California to study nanoclectronics. There, she tested new ways to __________ nanodevices that could reduce the amount of __________ consumed by computers and other everyday electronics. __________, she made a breakthrough by developing a standout nanodevice.

Along the way, Sarkar became fascinated with the __________, which she calls “the lowest energy computer”. She hopes to put nanodevices between human neurons (神经细胞) to improve the computing speed of the processor in our brains. “Our brains are __________, but we could be better than what we are.” she says.

9 . Bobby and I had been friends right when we were five. I had a natural talent and _________ for painting, but Bobby’s life was marked by sorrow. While he had lost his parents, we _________ through our youth together, playing, chatting, loving and studying, until we graduated from college.

I was fortunate enough to find a job that allowed me to _________ my passion for painting. Bobby, on the other hand, seemed to wander _________ in his search for employment. Having heard his situation _________ when he fell ill, I decided to put my career on hold to look after him. When I stepped into his house, _________, a single room that he lived in, I saw it was covered with a layer of dust. Bobby’s only _________ during his days at home was a tree outside his window, holding desperately on to a single leaf.

Bobby would often pour out to me, “If that last leaf falls, I probably won’t _________ either.” Determined to lift his spirits, one early morning, I drew a leaf and tied it to one of the branches. It was so _________ that it appeared as if it belonged to the tree. This leaf never fell; it became Bobby’s symbol of hope.

As time passed, under the silent encouragement of the leaf, Bobby’s health began to __________. Eventually, he was hired as a clerk in a bank close to his home and __________ his enthusiasm for life. It turned out that the leaf I had drawn was more than just an artistic creation — it was an unbreakable __________ of our friendship.

Our experience taught us that sometimes, a simple __________ can have far-reaching effects. Friendship proves to be the most __________ power along our path, even when faced with all challenges. This is the very __________ of life.

10 . The summer after my freshman year college, I had to get my first job. This was probably one of the _________ tasks I have ever had to do. I had never held a job when I was in high school because my parents wanted me to put all my _________ into my studies.

At first, it was very hard. I filled out dozens of _________ but got no calls back in the first two weeks. It made sense because I had _________ no job experience. All I could _________ was that being a high school graduate and a year of college.

However, halfway through the third week, I finally got a call back from one of the places I _________. We had set up a meeting time, and after my _________, I was more than ready to start working the following Monday. I was _________ at the chance of working for my wages.

When I started, it was very clear that I was not _________. I made mistakes with orders and often __________ sales promotions (推销). My parents made a bet I would not __________ the first two weeks, and I would be back looking for more __________. However, I stuck with it.

After working a while, I got better at orders, and always __________ the cheaper options for customers. A couple of weeks later, I had been told by the manager that I had __________ the award of the best employee of the month. It taught me a lot about responsibility and gave me the __________ of working.