1 . I have wanted to be a writer since I was eleven. Not just any writer, but a _________ published writer. I remember sending a copy of my story to Puffin Canada. Several weeks later, it sent me a _________ encouraging me to continue writing, and also _________ that they did not publish short stories. It was ___________ of the publisher to write back, but the truth was that I had come no closer to my ___________ of becoming a world-famous author.

Yet I am ___________ a hopeful writer. The only ___________ is that now I am 17, and my English classes are no longer spent ___________ imaginative short stories. I ___________ those sixth-grade classes when I was given the freedom to write whatever I liked.

Last year, some of this inspiration left over from my childhood ____________ into what seemed a brilliant idea for a ____________. I worked late each night, eager to finish my first novel. I got little sleep and my homework load was increasing, ____________ I refused to allow anything to block my success as a published writer.

When I had over 80 double-spaced pages, sadly, it became increasingly difficult to write on. It was terrible to see months of work ____________. My dreams were not one inch closer to __________ than five years before. Perhaps by now I have finally learned the truth about writing: it ____________ more than a dream. Perseverance and brilliance are right up there, too.

2 . Holly Cooke wasu't a fan of weekends. Whenever Friday rolled around, she felt ________. She had no one to spend her spare time with.

She moved to London a few years ago and ________ to make new friends. Despite having high hopes of going to restaurants and the theater, she didn’t want to do those ________ alone. Cooke was especially longing for ________.

She finally found herself searching online: “How to make friends in London?” The _____proved mostly useless. Actually, Cooke found a few other women in London who were sharing the same ______. She created a Facebook group called “The London Lonely Girls Club” and invited those women to join, hoping to ________ the situation. She then encouraged them to meet for lunch.

At first, Cooke was afraid that no one would _______, as saying that you don’t have people around was really scary. ________, all five women showed up and got along well. It was a _____, and Cooke realized she wasn’t the only one experiencing ________ and she could help others in her position. After that, Cooke ________ scheduling meet-ups, and word slowly spread about the _______.

The London Lonely Girls Club has attracted a lot of people to its events, and Cooke said she lost count of how many women have established ________ through it. “It’s the reason why I’ve carried on,” Cooke said. “We won’t ________. As long as there is a need, we will be here.”

3 . Sarah sat in her office, carefully reviewing the financial (财务) records of her small company. She suddenly discovered a hidden ________ in the invoice (费用清单) from one of her suppliers. The supplier had mistakenly ________ her for a substantial order of goods, which would result in a significant financial gain for Sarah if left unnoticed.

Sarah found herself faced with a difficult ________. The extra funds could provide a much-needed boost to her ________ business. However, deep down, she knew she would think ________ of herself if keeping it a secret or pretending not to know it. She couldn’t live with a(an) ________ self and she had to make the right decision even if it ________ the loss of a chance for her depressing company to grow.

Thinking of this, Sarah picked up the phone and called the supplier, politely ________ him of the mistake and offering to pay the ________ amount. The supplier, ________ by her frankness, agreed to renew the invoice.

Word of Sarah’s ________ spread rapidly and she earned ________ of the business community. Soon her business began to take off.

The incident served as a constant ________ to Sarah of the importance of moral conduct in face of setbacks. It facilitated her belief in the power of honesty to build ________ relationships in a competitive business environment. Honesty is not only a virtue but a(an) ________ of a just and trustworthy society.

4 . I grew up in Kazakhstan. Before I moved to America, I never expected that I would experience a culture shock.

The first thing that ________ me was how Americans tend to be very ________. They will start a ________ with passengers on the bus and say hello to strangers on the street. Americans become friends first and build up ________ later. However, for Kazakhs, they have to ________ that someone is good and honest before having a harmonious ________. That’s why at first we may appear ________ because we have to know someone in order to ________ them, but once we do, we are very warm people.

Another aspect of American culture that I found different from my culture was a sense of ________ and personal space. Americans feel ________ when others stand too close. In America when friends greet, they shake hands or give a short hug and immediately step aside to have some ________ for conversation. Also, Americans do not ________ to be asked their age, weight, or personal matters. In Kazakhstan we greet each other with a hug and a kiss and personal space is not a ________. Kazakhs would rather speak sitting or walking quite close to each other. Moreover, it is ________ to ask about someone’s age or weight.

Part of the excitement of living in a new culture is knowing how it differs from your own culture. By learning to ________ the culture of another country, we become more open-minded.

6 . Praying for Bea

I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with Bea on my mind. I could not seem to _________ her name or her face from my thoughts so I decided to pray for her. I had no idea why but I knew that I should pray.

Bea had been my son’s _________ writing teacher three years earlier. We were just acquaintances (相识). I didn’t understand why I had such a strong _________ to pray for her.

The next morning, I had my usual Bible study group to _________. It was at the church where my son had attended kindergarten.

When I arrived early and entered the meeting room, a friend called out to me to see this woman who had to decide whether or not to _________ a heart transplant. She needed it badly, but her husband had just _________ and she worried about who would raise her four young boys if she didn’t _________ it through the transplant.

The woman was Bea. In shock, I told my friend, “I have been _________ for her all night.”

I had no idea that Bea had been on the waiting list for a heart transplant at UCLA, looking out a window at Bea sitting in her car making that _________.

I have often wondered since that night how many other people might also have had the same wake-up call to pray for Bea.

Bea decided to get the __________. She told me later that she had asked God if He could please make that transplant last for ten years so that she could raise the boys before it __________

God answered her prayers and the new transplanted heart __________ eleven years. This brought the ages of her sons to eighteen through twenty-eight years of age. They were well past the age of needing to be __________.

Bea received yet a second heart transplant and is __________ doing very well, enjoying her family and her grandkids. And the __________ is that we ended up becoming good friends!

7 . Nguyen Thi Thu is one of the few remaining artists practicing and constantly enhancing the traditional Vietnamese art of sculpting realistic-looking flowers out of papaya (番木瓜树) fruits.

Thu became ________ in carving various flowers from papaya fruits at the age of 15, when she ________ a class on the art of sculpting fruit. She was fascinated by the ________ art form, but then she had to ________ to Russia and stayed there for 15 years. Thu couldn’t ________ her favorite art form because she was too busy working and had no ________ to green papayas. She ________ it with all sorts of other fruits and vegetables, but nothing was quite like the papaya she ________. When she returned to Hanoi in 2009, she ________ got back into papaya sculpting, and she has been practicing the art ever since.

Over the years, Thu has ________ herself to carve various types of flowers, but her favourite by far is also one of the most ________, the chrysanthemum (菊花). Creating a single flower takes between 45 minutes and over an hour,________ the complexity of the design. “I often fall asleep thinking of how to ________ a certain flower, and then I get out of bed to practice,” Thu said.

Apart from ________ her art form during various public events and creating delicate papaya flowers, Thu also holds classes in Hanoi, as a way of ________ the traditional art form.

8 . I have only given blood once. The Red Cross trailer pulled into our school and _________ students to donate. Most of us were attracted by the promise of free cookies. Missing math class was a _________, too.

The process was painless but _________, and the nurse had just removed the needle when the bell rang for the next period to begin. I grabbed my cookies and climbed stairs to the _________. By the time I opened the door, I was lightheaded, with a _________ feeling in the stomach. In the following years, the few times when I tried to donate, the terrible feelings _________ me. Gradually, the idea fell off my radar.

But ideas always change with _________. Early in my cancer treatment while I watched the blood enter my veins, it suddenly dawned on me that for each blood product donated, there was a breathing man who _________ it, just like me. I am_________ by the fact that platelets (血小板) are bright yellow, like the sun. It is surely a __________ that a part of one person can save the life of another. We are designed to be interdependent, to understand that each of us can indeed __________ other people. That’s a remarkable thing, something we often __________ in the fast-paced era when everyone is busy with their own business.

I am grateful for the generous __________ whose kindness has allowed me to __________ my weakened body and live to fight another day. The Greek word agape means “love with action,” which is concerned with the greater __________ of another. And to so many, myself included, that’s exactly what blood donation has been.

9 . Over the past three years, Leah has made many changes to her lifestyle. Today, a large part of her social life is filled with fun activities. In addition to _________, she enjoys hiking, biking, and swimming with her friends.

At the age of 23, Leah was not _________ active. Being overweight, her blood pressure levels were prematurely raised. One day, a program called Minutes in Motion _________ her greatly. Afterwards, she created a wish list. Among her _________ was to improve her health.

She began to _________ herself with 130 minute so of physical activity each day. Initially, her _________ were on fire and her knees hurt. _________, she started seeing the positive benefits unfold. As Leah _________ to push herself, she began feeling better and achieving more goals. She started losing _________, sleeping better and feeling more energetic. Soon, Leah achieved __________ goals she never thought were possible. “I still remember my first race. And seeing everyone run past me, I wanted to ____________. My lungs felt like they were exploding, but I kept telling myself, ‘You can make it! Keep running!’ Crossing the finish line, I was extremely __________ to find I ran my best time ever.” she says.

Leah credits Minutes in Motion for __________ her to make changes that have forever impacted her life. “It is   __________ how much my life has changed,” she says. In the past three years, she has lost 90 pounds. In particular, Leah has overcome multiple medical setbacks — all while __________ her family and friends along the way.

10 . Like many, I travel a lot for work.Unlike many, I never _________ it.On the open road are always _________ people and new places. There is one thing about travel that _________ me, though, and has ever since my early years: the constant waiting. When I travel, I wait in the shop, wait to _________ the plane, wait in restaurants, wait to check into hotels,and on and on.

For years, I have tried to   _________my life in such a way to lower how much time I have to spend waiting,and it has _________: I ask for the _________as soon as the server brings me my lunch; I have all the _________ that helps to enter the waiting hall at the airport quickly; I _________ hotels that have self-service book-in rooms. No doubt my waiting time is __________. But recently, I have realized that despite these __________, I'm not any less upset by the waiting I still have to   __________

This mystery has led me to   __________ that I have gone about the whole problem in the wrong way. I have been trying to __________ the outside world to make it better for me. I should __________ have been working on myself, to live better in a world of waiting.