1 . For as long as I can remember I’ve been making art. That meant spending hours at the kitchen table, as a child, drawing women in beautiful gowns and dogs wearing clothes eating in fancy restaurants. Because I was encouraged and praised, I _________ that talent.

In college-thinking that I was going to _________ education-I had an amazing professor in an elective drawing class who encouraged me to _________ my major to fine art. As someone easily influenced by praise, I took her advice and got my _________ in painting and drawing.

Even before I graduated, I had begun showing my art in any _________ that I could. I started out in small coffee shops and farmers markets; it was a perfect way to discover my style and _________ art lovers. _________ , I began showing at galleries and in larger art shows. It was at one of these shows that I met my art publisher, with whom I _________ working for five years.

The art publishing world was a great way to get my work in front of wide _________ , selling at stores like Target and Home Goods. It was also at this time that a number of my paintings were used in feature films. __________ my art on the big screen was definitely one of the most   __________ moments of my career.

I sometimes wonder what other visual artists do when they’re feeling burnt out and __________ with their craft. I feel so lucky to have writing to turn to when the well of my visual creativity runs __________ . Visual arts and writing are different enough that they don’t feel like they draw from the same __________ of creative inspiration.

People always tell artists to ‘find their own voice’. While I do agree with this, I don’t know if it’s something you can just go out and find. To me, it’s important that your voice __________ you.

2 . When a bowl or teapot falls and breaks into pieces, we throw them away regretfully. Yet there is an alternative, a traditional Chinese practice that ________ and enhances the breaks thus ________ value to the broken object. It’s actually called golden repair.

This traditional technique uses a precious metal like liquid gold or liquid silver to ________ the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. The technique ________ bringing pieces together and giving them a ________ look.

With this technique, it’s ________ to create true and always different works of art, each with its own story and beauty, ________ the unique cracks (裂缝) formed when the object breaks, as if they were wounds that ________ different marks on each of us.

The technique ________ many things. We shouldn’t ________ broken objects. When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean that it is no longer useful. Its ________ can become valuable. We should try to ________ things because sometimes in doing so we obtain more ________ objects. This is the most important quality of adaptability. Each of us should look for a way to deal with unpleasant events in a ________ way, learn from negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that exactly these experiences make each person ________ and precious.

3 . Many years ago, I knew a man named Bob who was friends with my boss. He showed great _________ for learning languages and could speak several fluently(流利地). And he was a very _________ man.

My desk was right at the front, _________ I could see everyone who came in. One day, a man, who looked tired and sad, came in, speaking broken English. After a short _________, I knew he wanted to sell office supplies. _________ , I told him our supplies were sent from our main office. So we couldn’t buy anything.

Bob was just _________ my boss, and he heard the man talking to me. Bob came and asked the salesman a question in a language that sounded _________ . The man answered him with a look of _________. Then they sat down and talked for several minutes, and the man grew _________ by the minute.

Later, Bob __________ that the man was from Italy and that they talked in Italian. Besides, Bob told the man he was from there, too. “Are you really from Italy?” I asked. “No,” he said. “I __________ to him. I’m Irish. But he needed to talk to someone from home, and it didn’t __________ him to think I was Italian.”

Bob’s words have left me a powerful __________ and stayed with me through the years. It’s true that sometimes we just need to talk to someone from home to __________ our spirits. Bob could have __________ the man, but he took the time to make him feel better, and maybe a little less homesick.

4 . Kai Ture, at 11 years old, is a budding (崭露头角的) actress. All of her acting roles mean that Kai has to ________ her acting and school life. ________, she doesn’t let those ________ upset her and takes a positive attitude to them. For her, going to auditions (试演) and getting acting roles mean that she is only ________ her acting career.

When Kai isn’t ________, she focuses on putting her ________ and community first. ________ her hard work, she was able to be ________ into a school for top students. Despite all her acting credentials (证书), Kai still regards her educational achievements as her biggest ________. Acting isn’t her only fine arts skill—Kai can ________ play the violin and piano.

Kai has worked hard to help her local community as well. With the help of her Girl Scout group leaders, Kai was able to ________ some of Atlanta’s homeless communities with food in a community service event. Kai remains ________ when helping the homeless and is working again with her Girl Scout group to organize a larger ________.

Kai enjoys her ________ schedule, doing all the activities she loves. Kai first started off in smaller roles and has been able to get larger roles. Start off with some small steps and you’ll ________ achieve your biggest dreams!

5 . A proud granddaughter named Chelsea Dyck shared how her grandparents decided to plan something sweet for their 75 th wedding anniversary (周年纪念日), recognizing it may be their last chance to celebrate together. She claims her grandparents’ love is so _______ that even the most _______ Hollywood stories would be overshadowed(使人黯淡失色).

Chelsea’s grandparents _______ when her grandmother was 14 and her grandfather Jerry was 15. The wife _______ they had dinner before playing a game of tag (捉人游戏) outside that day. While playing, she took the handkerchief (手帕), he tried to get it back, and they _______ back and forth. To this day, that handkerchief still remains in the wife’s _______. “I’ve kept it to this day, 80 years later!” she _______ said.

To celebrate their 75th anniversary, they decided to _______ their wedding day. Chelsea shared pictures of her grandmother wearing her beautiful dress from years ago. She walked toward her husband of 75 years, who had the _______ smile on his face wearing a black suit.

Although Jerry had been getting __________, he still made sure to dress up for the __________. It was a special for him and his wife. __________, it was extra special for their entire __________, as they didn’t think Jerry would __________ it to this day. Chelsea shared: “The love and __________ in the room was obvious. We all felt excited as my grandfather moved into a hospice (临终关怀医院) only a short time before their big celebration.”

6 . The Olympic spirit is about a lot more than winning medals and setting records. Just look at the story of _________ Eric.

The boy from Equatorial Guinea found his_________ for swimming shortly after high school._________ he found it difficult to get a swimming pool to learn swimming. Eventually, he_________ a 13-meter hotel pool that he could only use three hours a week. On days he could not practice in the pool, he_________ in rivers. After about eight months of swimming, he_________ the chance to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

On the 100m freestyle, Eric was in the first_________ along with the other two strong swimmers. Both swimmers were_________ to carry on competition for starting too early,_________ Eric as the only man in his race. Not only were the eyes of the 17,000__________ at the scene entirely on him, but the billions__________ the Games that day, from all over the world.

When he heard the crowd shouting, encouraging him to ‘Go, go, go.   he gathered all his__________ to finish the race with a time of 1:52.72,the slowest__________ time in Olympic history. But the fans did not care,__________ him as if he had broken the world record.

Although he is not outstanding in performance, he has made__________ for his motherland and has left an everlasting chapter(篇章)in the swimming field.

7 . A poor boy wanted to study medicine from a well-known master. The master asked him, “What can you do?” He answered, “I have no______except that I once learned to play chess.” The master said,“ Good. Now let’s play a game of chess. If you _____me, I will accept you.” The boy was confused. He couldn’t______the two — medicine and chess.

Then, the game started. At first, the boy made some _____in moves. However, he focused completely on the game later and______the dangerous situation. When the boy came close to a winning level, he thought,“ The master is a highly respected and well-learned man. It’s______for him to win the game. If he loses, it will______him a lot.” So the young boy took a _____step on purpose. And he lost.

____, the boy was about to leave. Then the master said, “You make it.” His words greatly______the boy. Then the master explained, “I played chess with you in order to _____you. Now I have found two points. When you were losing, you turned your _____to the game rather than the ____ . And when I was about to lose, you had pity on me. You______to lose the game. These two points are ____ for a good doctor.”

The boy nodded. And he felt so lucky to have such a great teacher.

8 . Two sisters have a debate about which life is better: city or country life. The elder sister, who lives in a city, ______ that city life is much better, ______ they don’t have to toil (辛苦工作) in the soil, and can enjoy lots of ______. The younger sister states that, their life in the countryside is rough, but they don’t waste their time on useless things, such as meeting with traffic jams (交通堵塞), and have no other worries.

The younger sister’s husband, Pahom, has the same opinion with her. He thinks that everything is good with their country life, except that he ______ a bigger piece of land, so that he does not have to fear the Devil (恶魔). Pahom luckily ______ to buy more land. ______, with more land, his heart wants even more land. ______ gain more, he travels to the Bashkir land. The Bashkirs have a ______ with him that he can have as much land as he walks during the ______, for a thousand rubles (卢布). Their only ______ is that he must come back to the starting point at the end of the day. Pahom’s ______ to achieve more makes him walk so much that he loses his strength. So when he ______ reaches the starting point, he has no strength to live and dies. The Bashkir chief laughs, and Pahom’s servant states that he now needs only that much land that is enough to ______ him.

Man is never satisfied, and he often becomes greedy in an effort to ______ more. How much is more can’t be defined, and it is up to him to ______ how far he must go simply to achieve something he wants at the expense of others.

9 . You may think that speaking English to yourself is a silly idea. In fact, it is one of the most ________ ways of improving your speaking skills.

First off, speaking to yourself will ________ you of the fear of making mistakes and feeling ________ as you probably would when speaking with another person. You don’t even have to speak loudly. Yet, this will help you ________ the sound of your own voice when speaking English, which you may find strange at first.

If you are wondering what there is to ________ about, you can always start by expressing the ________ you are having at the moment. What you say isn’t important; it’s ________ that you simply keep talking. Another thing you can try is ________ that someone is asking you questions so that you can answer them. This is an excellent way of practicing to ________ in English.

Perfect your talking-to-yourself ________ by using a mirror to make short 2-3 minute impromptu speeches. Pick any topic you like, and speak about that ________ for several minutes straight, without ________. It’s important that you don’t stop speaking even if you feel that you have nothing else to ________ or that you can’t find the right word. Go around and express your ideas in a(n) ________ way. In time, you will realize how ________ this exercise really is.

10 . In April last year, I saw a post on the PNP (Pilots N Paws) website from a family in Topeka. They had to move to Virginia but they were on a very tight _______. They could not afford to pay for _______ for their dog, Tiffy, and _______ wanted to take her with them.

It just _______ that I was planning another PNP flight with another pilot, Karen, who _______ to take Tiffy from Kansas City to Virginia. What I was to do was fly to Topeka to _______ Tiffy.

When I met Tiffy’s owners, they seemed very _______. George, the husband, was trying to be calm, but I could tell this was _______ for him, having to leave his dog to a _______ and trust that everything would __________.

After some goodbyes, I asked George and his wife to help me __________ Tiffy into the plane. I promised to take care of Tiffy and __________ them as soon as we got to Kansas City.

The flight was __________, and Tiffy was a great passenger. The next day, she __________ with Karen and made it back to George in Virginia within a few days. He was so __________ and sent me a nice e-mail with pictures. It felt great to know that I had helped bring this family together again.