3 . A professor entered the classroom and told the students about a surprise test. All students were_________ and waited for the test to begin. The professor gave the test papers to all students with text facing down at the desk. Once he was done with _________ the test to all students, he asked them to_________ the test paper and begin.

Students were ___________ to see that there was just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor told them, “I want you to ___________ about what you see there.” The students were___________ confused but got started with the test. At the end of the class, the professor collected all answer sheets and started reading each answer from each sheet in front of all students. All of them___________ about the black dot and tried to explain its position.

Now, professor began to explain, “Here everyone_________ the black dot and wrote about it_________ no one wrote about the white paper. The same is with our lives. The white paper stands for our whole life and the black dot __________problems in our life.

Our life is a __________ given to us by God, with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate—our friends around us, the job that provides us with everything we need. However, we just focus on day to day ____________ like health issues, lack of money, poor relationships, but we seldom see that these problems are very small __________to everything we have in our lives.”

We should try to take eyes __________ our problems and enjoy each moment that life gives us. Be happy and live your life ____________.

5 . Kristin Schell turned a delivery mistake into a way to connect with neighbors. Ten years ago, her family ________ to a new home in Texas. One day, Kristin ________ a few picnic tables online for a party in her backyard. The deliveryman set one table down in her front yard ________ , and Kristin couldn’t get the ________ out of her head. “After the party, I painted the table turquoise (青绿色) — my favorite color — and put it in the front yard, just a few feet from the sidewalk,” she said.

That turquoise table became the place where Kristin and her kids ________ . They used to do activities at the kitchen table, but they now did them out front at the picnic table. “We got ________ about where we spent our time,” Kristin said.

Neighbors began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Kristin asked people to ________ her at the table for coffee. “It was a simple ________ to slow down and connect with others,” she said. The turquoise table was ________ and had a shared feeling.

People often ________ to invite others into their homes. They think their house is not spacious, or they don’t have enough time. Kristin’s picnic table takes away the pressure and the excuse. ________ by the act, neighbors put a picnic table in their front yard too. A movement was ________ .

A decade after their Texas beginnings, thousands of Turquoise Tables ________ in the country. Not all of them are actually turquoise. Texas Christian University in Fort Worth has several purple tables to ________ their team color. “No matter what ________ it is, it’s a friendship table,” Kristin said.

7 . I always carry a Rubik’s Cube (魔方) in my backpack. Solving it quickly is a start of a(n) _________. I’ve been asked to solve the cube on the subway of New York and at a cafe in Paris. And learning to solve it is a start to _________ the biggest problem of my life.

Holding a Cube, people usually don’t know where to begin. That’s _________ what it was like for me to learn how to read. Letters and words were out of order and mixed together. Nothing made _________ because I’m dyslexic (阅读困难的). It’s _________ to admit this, but I still couldn’t make a consistent spelling of my full name when I had to leave public school after the fourth grade.

It was at that time that I taught myself to solve the cube, which made me _________ that sometimes you have to take a few steps back in order to move _________. This was a _________ of my own life. As a fifth-grader at a new school that is especially founded for those who have language-processing disorder, I had to _________ from memorizing symbols for letters. I spent another four years learning how to learn and finding __________ that allowed me to return to my district’s normal public school with the ability to express my ideas.

The Rubik’s Cube taught me that to__________ something big, it helps to __________ the big matter into smaller pieces. Things can often look like an unreasonable mess before you suddenly hit upon a way to untangle the mess. I believe that there are surprises around the corner. Like a(n) __________ text or sometimes like life itself, the Rubik’s Cube can be a frustrating puzzle. So I carry one in my backpack to __________ myself that I can attain my goals, __________ what obstacle I may face.

8 . It was already half past seven and I was running late again for the dinner appointment with my wife, Eleanor. We had _________ to meet at the restaurant at seven o’clock. I felt a little uneasy, but to my _________, I had a good excuse: A business meeting had _________ and I’d wasted no time getting to the dinner.

When I arrived at the _________, I apologized and told Eleanor I didn’t mean to be late. However, my _________ seemed to make things worse, which finally made her _________.

Several weeks later, when I _________ the situation to my friend Ken Hardy, he smiled, “You didn’t _________ to be late. But that’s not the point. What is _________ in your communication is how your lateness affected Eleanor.” He pointed out that I focused on the intention while Eleanor focused on the result.

Thinking more about Ken’s words, I __________ realized why Eleanor was angry. It’s the result of the action that really __________. I should have started the conversation by expressing __________ my actions affected Eleanor and __________ the discussions about my intention for later, much later and even never.

Later on, after talking to Eleanor and really __________ her experience of the results of my lateness, I’ve managed to be __________ a lot more frequently.

10 . Several months ago, a tornado fiercely hit our city without any signs before. We hadn’t prepared for it in advance, so we were just forced to go into our _________ actions. I happened not to be in the classroom when it _________. Hearing the _________ screaming, I rushed _________ as fast as I could back to the classroom.

Never did I imagine that we would put our regular _________ to use. Never did I imagine that my students had _________ against the wall and crouched (蹲) down on their knees. Their eyes were obviously filled with _________ as they asked if their parents, pets, and friends would be okay. I, along with other teachers, tried our best to _________ them, though we actually didn’t know what the result would be.

I couldn’t _________ the tornado more. However, I’m very proud of my students who performed so well. In such a __________ and dangerous situation, they behaved beyond their ages. Never in my life had I seen them __________ instructions so quickly, without any hesitation. Though some tears were dropping and some hearts were beating fast, the kids were incredibly __________. I’m extremely proud that they struggled to calm down because of their __________ in me.

Because of the tornado, I realized that my job as a teacher meant a lot. Behind every well-behaved student are a long line of teachers who have made it their life’s __________ to educate them with safety, courage, calmness and trust. Though the tornado has presented __________, I’m sure we can handle them one by one.