1 . I was then in my early twenties. Even though I was armed with a degree in Education, finding a ______ teaching job was not easy. I had to try some temporary ones.

This year, when a golden opportunity ______, I ______ it and took things seriously. The job was to teach 5th grade students in a local school. I ______ myself with lesson plans, taught with enthusiasm, and stayed ______ with the students. I had no hesitation in ______ the kids when they got the answer right, and encouraged them if they didn’t.

One day when the kids were ______, a girl approached and handed me a ______ before she went home. On it was a lovely drawing full of childlike wonder, ______ by the words, “You are the best teacher I have ever had!” It really amazed me that one of my kind comments had ______ that girl’s heart greatly. I took that note home and ______ put it in a folder, looking on it as a ______ because it was very important. Anytime I was feeling down I would look at it and it proved to be a ______.

That experience showed me the ______ of just a single kind word. It encouraged me to continue to try my best each day to ______ love and kindness through my words and actions. Wish the same for others.

2 . A few years ago, LaQuista Erinna’s seven-year-old son, Jackson, suffered from autism (自闭症). One of the most _______ things was getting a haircut. It was typically a bit hard to _______ him to sit down. And he’d get so _______ later that he’d start kicking and screaming. Erinna had to change barbers (理发师) _______ until they met Ree.

Jackson was _______ at first and started running around the shop. It was so tricky that Erinna was about to _______ the attempt and call it a day. But Ree _______ her to give it a few more minutes. To Erinna’s great amazement, Ree made the haircut into a _______. She would shave little hair off Jackson’s head, and then he would take it off. “He doesn’t like the hair to get on him, so it transfers (转移) his _______ from haircut,” Erinna said. When Ree ________ her work, Jackson flashed her a smile, saying, “Well, can we come back tomorrow and play again?”

It meant a lot to Erinna that Ree took time to figure out a ________ to give Jackson a haircut. “She was the only person who showed ________ and care for him. Other people would get unwilling. They don’t necessarily want to ________ such a difficult kid. However, I can totally ________ Ree. I know she’s going to ________ my son and make sure he’s looking the best,” Erinna said.

3 . It was 1:20 a.m. I had just gone to bed, a bit _________ after celebrating my 31st birthday. Before dinner, I’d placed _________ outside my garden door and prepared the cell phone just_________. After all, it had been _________ that week, resulting in flood warnings.

I was awakened by the _________ of rushing water. When I swung my legs off the bed, I was shocked to feel cold water already up to my knees and _________ fast.

Shaking in darkness, I _________ my phone and turned on its flashlight. Then by the light I could _________ water was from the garden door. It must have breached (在……上打开缺口) the sandbags. The river, usually such a quiet, slow moving river in my region, had _________ burst its banks. And now I had to __________!

I took __________ action. Any effects of the alcohol before sleep were gone; __________ sobers (使清醒) one up. After I went outside, I learned the river had flooded the neighbourhood. Therefore, if I had woken up just a few minutes later, I would have drowned.

In the end, I think the experience made me __________ and determined to live each day to its fullest. I came very close to drowning that day. But rather than dwell on (沉湎于) what happened, I prefer to __________ what my mother told me afterwards, “Don’t remember the day when you lost everything. Remember the day you __________. That day marked the beginning of a new chapter in your life.”

5 . During the winter of 1986 I was working at a construction site near Oakland, California. It is not _________ for construction workers’ hands to become very painful. My hands were no _________ that year. They were bleeding at the joints of the fingers and thumbs.

_________ work because of hurting hands is simply not a good choice in the construction industry. You grit your teeth (咬紧牙关), keep working, and finish the job. One morning I left for work at 5 a.m. and arrived at a _________. As I got out of my truck, I saw a newspaper delivery car and the driver struggling with newspapers. I took a second look, _________ that the man had no forearms. I was _________ to see him doing a job that would require a(n) physically gifted person. Still, he was somewhat having _________ with the larger bundles (捆) because his arms weren’t long enough.

On my way to pay for the gas, I stopped and asked him if I could _________ him. He politely _________ my offer. A few minutes later while I was refueling, he said, “Hey buddy, would you mind tying (系) my shoes for me?” As I was tying his shoes, he went on to ____________ that tying his shoes was the only thing he couldn’t do for ____________.

I stopped and looked back at him as he was getting into his car. I looked down at my ____________. Suddenly it hit me: I had been complaining about my hurting hands for weeks. That experience made a difference to my hurting hands. Every ____________ when my hands start cracking and bleeding, I think back to that ____________ in 1986. And just like magic, my hands don’t ____________.

6 . At a family picnic for employees of the company where my father worked, they held a contest for children. I was 13, full of enthusiasm, so I ________ myself into it.

The host gave each child a cloth handkerchief and told us the winner would be the one who cast it the ________. The first throwers, took mighty wind-ups (挥臂投掷), but when the cloth left their hands, it ________ and landed on the ground a few inches in front of them. The crowd roared with ________. Not until then did I realize it was not meant to ________ any real skill, but simply for laughs. However, it stimulated my ________ for thinking outside the box.

It ________ me to see the kids throwing harder when the handkerchief always caught the air and died. It was obvious that using the same ________ would not work. Suppose I tied a ________ inside the handkerchief? When they inspected it, I’d be ________. So I began tying the handkerchief around itself to make it small and ________ packed together to keep it from unfolding. When I approached the line, people were already laughing, ________ a big strong-looking boy like me casting it just a few inches.

I took a long wind-up, and the balled handkerchief ________ off maybe 60 feet away. The laughing ________ in collective shock. I had not broken the rules. What I learned from this contest was that, in order to live creatively, you have to ________ the less-used parts of your brain, and not accept stereotypes (刻板印象), slogans and unquestioned ideas.

7 . One day, I had a serious quarrel with my father. I felt he was always trying to _________ me and I wanted to break free. After we exploded in_________, I stormed out of the house and went back to school.

All that day, my mind was racing with _________ thoughts. After all, he hadn’t even finished high school, but here I was a mighty college student! How dare he try to _________ me on my life and plans?

Suddenly, I realized that I didn’t do the assignment that was _________: a thought card. Dr. Simon always _________ us to think deeply by raising all kinds of questions about social issues, political issues, personal issues etc. _________for something to write, I could only think of the _________ I’d just had with my dad.

“I am the son of an idiot (笨蛋) !” I wrote and then _________.

The next day, Dr. Simon gave back our cards. On the card, he wrote, “What does ‘the son of an idiot’ __________ with the rest of his life?” His question got right to the   __________ of the issue: Whose responsibility was it?

I felt like someone had __________ me in the face. Again and again, my parents didn’t   __________ me and I blamed them for this or that, but how could I get away with blaming them for my life?

Slowly, my thinking __________ and my relationship with my father improved. Instead of controlling, now I saw him as caring. And it all started with the innocent-seeming __________.