1 . I grew up in northern Arizona, where it has the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Until I was invited to _______Guizhou province by the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour, I realized how _______ Guizhou can be in poetic (有诗意的) detail. There is _______better than seeing things with one’s own eyes. I will attempt to do so here.

My father used to ask my brothers and me on yearly fishing trips around Arizona. We would _______ to catch the largest fish, and those who succeeded would be rewarded. I remembered sitting in a small boat in the middle of the lake, mostly _______ my bored tongue, while my father tried to _______ me the whispers of the wind, or a fish dancing on the surface of the lake. He vividly described to me everything that he _______in nature. On my trip to Guizhou I had the _______ to kayak(皮划艇) on Wanfeng lake. At one point I rested, _______ floating at the center of the lake, listening to the spaces between silence and ________the surrounding karst (喀斯特) mountains. I thought about my childhood, and ________ I had listened more closely to my father’s ________ feelings.

I’ve ________ Arizona for 10 long years, creating my own destiny in China. I’ve managed to build myself a family, a career, and join in ________ activities. I feel as if I have everything I need. For a moment, in Guizhou, I felt ________.

4 . Dressed up as Captain America for parades sometimes, Timothy White could have saved the day with his shield (盾牌) if he were the superhero. But in real life, when he saw _______this September afternoon, he wasn’t wearing his costume and couldn’t depend on superpowers.

White was driving home in Harrisburg when he noticed something hard to _______. A truck on the opposite side of the street was moving from side to side uncontrollably and the driver appeared to be _______. Referred to as Captain Harrisburg, White had to stop that _______before accidents.

Having made a U-turn, White faced the same _______ as the truck and tried to overtake. No luck with the heavy traffic. _______, Captain Harrisburg ran like crazy to catch up with the truck and leaped in through its open window. The man behind the _______, 64-year-old Todd DeAngelis, was barely awake and quite _______by a stranger near him. White took _______ of the stick shift and forced the truck to park. DeAngelis, a diabetic (糖尿病患者), said he was not well. White ________ down a police officer. An ambulance ________ DeAngelis to a hospital, where it was ________that had his blood sugar gone lower, things could have been much worse. After his ________, DeAngelis credited White with saving his life.

White’s actions that day were not out of ________. He ran a nonprofit and he once tried to save people on fire. He was from playing a ________ to becoming one in real life.

6 . Afraid to have a start, I was walking slowly into my first school in America. I had _______ a long way from India in order to join parents. They had been here for three years, and hoped America would help my future. My father decided that I would go to school here, so I found a local high school in my new town.

With _______ on one hand and fear on the other, I arrived at the classroom. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the classroom. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the _______ and asked if it was the right class. With a _______ voice, he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted (安慰) me a little. He gave me a piece of _______ called “course requirements”, which I would never get in India. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I chose the _______   closest to the door instead of the corner where all of the boys were sitting. I didn’t _______ want to pick a seat. In India, the teacher _______ the seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the picture produced by the overhead projector (投影仪).

_______ it was my first day, I was confused (困惑的) about which hallway (走廊) to use, but I ________ to get to my classes without asking anyone. I was very confused about when I would have ________. It was noon when I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the normal process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. Feeling ________, she said, “That is the lunch bell.” I felt a little awkward. Without another word, I headed for the cafeteria (食堂).

At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus stop. I realized that all the ________ was like the difficulty I had to ________ to reach my goal. I ________ my bus and sat down inside happily. I said to myself: Today isn’t so bad.

9 . I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid behind my older sister, whenever I had to speak to a (n) _________ person-including the McDonald’s cashier, or even a distant relative.

_________ asked to speak in class, I could hardly _________, much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (羞怯的) voice earned me jokes-about being a girl.

Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I _________ voice lessons. After a little bit of _________, I did-as long as it stayed a secret. I began a series of vocal (发声的) exercising. After exercising a lot, I finally gained _________ in my voice.

A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people. I thought I would do better than before _________ the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and -nothing. I couldn’t remember the words of the song! My face turned hot. The _________ pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing.

Then the thought _________ me: I’ve embarrassed (尴尬) myself enough in front of this __________. There’s really nothing else to lose. So in my second song, I just __________ and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.

After that, I started singing to myself as __________ as I could in my own room. That’s something I would never have done before.

On a recent school trip, I was asked to sing again. It was __________ how much people liked my singing. One classmate __________ said that I should be in the school’s talent show.

I am not a shy person any more. __________ has made me more outgoing. Today, I’m almost a loudmouth. I can meet people without being afraid. I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.

10 . I usually start my day with a coffee from 7-Eleven. Every morning a ______young man in uniform ______ at the cashier’s area. It seems that he always works happily.

What ______ me was that he always seems happy. At first I thought he was just putting on a good face, making the best of a(n) ______ situation. After all, he couldn’t possibly ______ working at a store, right?

Later from our conversation I realized that I was ______ the biggest part of his appeal originally: He does enjoy his job, and that is the reason for his______. My life doesn’t always look like what I want it to be. I spend weekdays   ______ alone in my living room when I’d rather work in a beachside office with my friends. I drive a(n) ______ old Toyota when I’d prefer something that doesn’t have roll-up windows or a cassette player. But the world doesn’t ______ much even if I have more money, a different ______ , a better job or a nicer car. The way I feel about myself, how often I choose to smile ______ because it feels good — neither of these things ______ my living situation as a writer. This guy shows me that you can be who you want to be, no matter what your ______ looks like. Happiness is about how you treat the present situation, and how willing you are to enjoy simple ______ even if things aren’t perfect.