2 . As everyone grows, they realize there will always be someone who is better.I learned this _______ in the second year in high school.The shock this experience brought was so great that I felt my pride was left on the side of the road for dead.That was all it took: one year and one person _______ everything.

Her name is Jenny.She was the girl who always raised her hand and had useful comments about everything.When teachers needed challenging problems answered, they _______ her.And if students needed answers, they went looking for her.I didn’t _______ her, but I admitted her presence annoyed me.In the first year, as a model student, I was the person everyone_______and all the teachers trusted.Then she came out of_______! We also had two classes _______.There I got to see what everybody thought of her.When an exam finished, it became a _______that she got the top grade and it didn’t matter to my classmates whether I was right there, _______I also got an excellent grade.They would cross a desert and __________her! I was left being denied my presence.__________, I felt like not trying anymore.

I stopped trying to put on a show because no one was __________anymore.Later, I volunteered at the graduation ceremony.She was called to make a(n)__________and discussed her difficulties.I realized all her hard work got her there, not her desire to__________.It finally hit me that Jenny __________the attention she got.She showed me how big the world is and how small a world I used to live in.I’ll do my best because I know it will pay off.

3 . Kindness is a key value that God desires us to have. When you give kindness to others, it will be returned to you. Finally, we _________ having the whole house painted today. It was hard to work in this situation. But I _________ good coffee and beautiful biscuits, which made our work easier. We didn't complain and moved the furniture each night, so the painting could be completed _________.

I became friends with this young _________ over the two weeks while he painted. We weren't going to paint the bathroom area _________ painting there possibly made it inconvenient to use the bathroom. Instead, we planned to paint it later. But he _________ a suggestion about getting it _________ quickly for me and also painted the front door in this shiny paint.

When we went to _________ him, he refused my money. He said the bathroom and the door were free of _________, which was a gift to me. Because I had never experienced such things before, I felt surprised. He explained that I had made him so __________ that he wanted to do this.

On the last day, I also bought him a __________ to go to the entertainment center in the city in order to __________ himself. We went there. A meal was part of it and the seats lay back, which were very safe and __________ to sit on. He was thankful and satisfied. I told him that I wanted to show my __________ on how well he had been working in my __________. I said I would really like to thank him. He loved my treat. We did have a good time there.

4 . There was a boy who was sent by his parents to a boarding school（寄宿学校）.Before being sent away, this boy was the _________ student in his class. He was at the top in every _________ , always with high marks.

But the boy changed after _________ home and attending the boarding school. His grades started _________ . He hated being in a group. He was lonely all the time. And there were especially dark times when he _________ committing suicide（自杀）. All of this was because he felt worthless and no one loved him.

His parents started _________ about the boy. But they even did not know what was _________ with him. So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him some casual questions about his classes, teachers and _________ . After some time his dad said, "Do you know, son, why I am here today?"

The boy answered back, "To _________ my grades?"

"No, no," his dad replied. "I am here to tell you that you are the most __________ person for me. I want to see you __________ . I don't care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE."

These words __________   the boy's eyes to be filled with tears. He __________ his dad. They didn't say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He __________ the whole world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him __________ !

5 . My dad is a truck driver, and when I was little, he was always _______ in delivering supplies most of the time. Arlene and her husband, Bill, lived next door. Arlene spent a lot of time working in the _______ , and I was always talking to her from our yard. I think what _______ me to Arlene and Bill is that they never get _______with listening to me. I also think Arlene saw a lot of herself _______ me. It was a wonderful _______ .

It became a somewhat monthly _______ that they watched me when my parents went out on a date. When I was about five, I knocked on their door and asked, "Can I _______ you as my grandparents?” They started crying and enthusiastically _______, Soon after, they printed out a certificate and it ________ on their living room wall from then on.

They took my offer so ________,which made me surprised. They could have ________ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly __________about a child offering up her love and adults being so excited to accept it.

Arlene died in 2013. After the funeral, Bill gave me the ring he'd ________ to Arlene on their 25th wedding anniversary. It's a simple gold band that I wear on my finger as a ________of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.

6 . Every weekend, my father would go to the park to feed the homeless. I really didn't understand my father's _______ into it. But I was glad I didn't have to _______ him, because I knew how much trouble my father had just getting everything ready.

Then, one Friday night I was _______ a whole wonderful weekend by myself again when my dad came in.

"I need your help tomorrow. Some _______ won't make it.”

“Dad. I can't." I _______, but failed.

When we arrived, people were already there _______ us. I was _______ that my dad knew most of them by name and even what each one needed. While my father was feeding them, I started handing out some _______. It was at that time that I _______ a girl about my age was barefoot （光脚）.I looked into her clear eyes for a moment, ________ believing someone of my age could live like this. It was lucky that we took some ________. “Thank you!" she cried happily when I ________ her the shoes. I felt all ________ inside as I watched her leave.

Now I ________ why my father did so much to help the homeless. I could ________ he loved seeing their smiles of happiness. I did too.

7 . My daughter is only two years old and, like most girls, already has a nurturing spirit growing inside of her. She tries to _______ everything that she has. She already has favorite suits, favorite toys, and even a favorite blanket.

This blanket is a pink one that was purchased for her before she was born. It seems to be the one she _______ the closest. I always see her dragging that blanket around. She sits and eats with it, and even jumps right out of the bath to run to it. She won't turn it _______ ! It gets washed many times in the course of a week yet it is almost always _______ .

Normally I just laugh at the thing but recently my daughter has had a cold. Any parent will tell you that germs can get into the things the child _______ and cause them to stay sick instead of getting better. So, unwillingly, we _______ the blanket out of my daughter's daily life. Of course, she wasn't _______. It was something that she loved, _______ was hers, and had established familiarity with. However, since the blanket is gone, she has a better _______ of getting over her cold faster and not getting sick again. She doesn't know it but the blanket is part of what was keeping her trapped in a state of sickness. We, as ________, know a lot of things that are keeping us from our true purpose, or even, true happiness. But we won't let them ________ We have friends, habits, and guilty pleasures that keep us trapped in a state of sickness, disappointment, suffering or ________. We'd rather keep them ________ because they are familiar. But sometimes change is beautiful. ________ our security blankets is a tall order but a ________step for us to grow.

8 . When you walk through the doors of Morton Plant Hospital on an early Tuesday afternoon,you’ll be greeted by the comforting voice of Mary Ellen Owens.

Owens, who is now 98, started _______at the hospital after her husband died nearly 20 years ago. “ My husband was a ( n) _______here, off and on for about six weeks over four years, ” she _______. “ Everyone at the hospital had been so good to us when he was sick. ” To show her _______, Owens wanted to give back in a big way. “ I don’ t have several million dollars, but I can give my _______, ” she said.

Owens is approaching 7, 000 hours in volunteer time. “ I used to give three days a week,”she said. “ Now I’ m _______. So I don’ t get around as much as I _______, so I only give one day a week. ”

To get to her weekly four-hour _______, Owens receives a ride from a volunteer who she now calls her friend. “ Every _______, Richard picks me up from my home and brings me here, ”she said. “ I don’ t believe people of my age should be ___________. ”

In her younger years, Owens used to walk up and down the fashion runways in New York City and Richmond, Virginia. She also had a( n) __________to be in the 1939 film classic Gone with the Wind. Because she had other work at the time, however, Owens _________to turn it down.

“ What I didn’ t do in my life is more __________ than what I’ ve done” , she laughs. __________ she’ s in her golden years, Owens plans to continue to live her life with __________by greeting each patient with a smile.