1 . You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his dogs.

For many years, I enjoyed living with my dogs, Tilly and Chance. Their ______ was nearly enough to keep my loneliness at bay. Nearly. Last year, I started dating, but with ______. When I first dated Steve, I ______ he had a dog, Molly, and a cat, Flora. While I was amused that he was an animal lover, I ______ that three dogs were perhaps too many, and my dogs might attack Flora, the cat.

The next week we walked our dogs together. It was a hot day. When we paused to catch our ______, Steve got down on one knee. Was he proposing (求婚)? I liked him too, but so _____? He poured water from a bottle into his hand and offered it to my dogs. ______, I began to fall for him.

We continued to date, though neither of us brought up the future. And then in late November, Tilly had an operation on her ______. I took the dogs out four times a day, and I worried that Tilly ______ climbing the stairs could reopen the wound. Then Steve ______ his house. All worked ______. The three dogs formed a pack that, with coaching, ______ Flora’s space; Steve and I formed a good team ______ for Tilly. We made good housemates.

A year later, much to my delight, this man produced a little box with a ring and proposed to me. He did not kneel (跪) down, nor did I ______ him to. That’s only for giving ______ to the dogs that brought us together.

2 . Growing up, I always wanted to be an outgoing person because I thought that was the way I should be. I was always attracted to the________ that bigger personalities could achieve more. So I connected outgoingness with________ .            

However, I started________ the idea that outgoingness would help me achieve more when my skills as a leader were put to the________   .            

When I was 16, I volunteered at a summer camp for a week, where I led 12 fifth graders. Although I ________ to solve problems as they came up, it seemed there was always another________ following.

Every night, I was supposed to read bedtime stories. But on Thursday when my campers were getting________ bed, things reached a boiling point when one camper accused (指责) another of ruining the camp. After I called in a teacher, our small wooden house was finally________ . But the hidden anger made me realize that my campers’ experience would become less________   if I left things unsolved.

________ reading stories that night, I decided to________ a good memory that I had of each of my campers. After that, I________ my campers to describe their own memories. Watching the atmosphere (气氛) in our house________ as they described the good moments in the week gave me the feeling that________ my own ways to be a leader could be good enough.

The experience made me realize that I should grow in my own________ rather than forcing myself into a type that never really fit.

3 . If you want to learn a new language, the very first thing to think about is why. Do you need it for a ______ reason, such as your job or your studies? Or perhaps you’re interested in the ______, films or music of a different country, and you know how much it will help to have a ______ of the language.

Most people learn best by using a variety of ______, but traditional classes are an ideal (理想的) start for many people. They ______ an environment where you can practice under the ______ of someone who’s good at the language. We all lead busy lives and learning a language takes ______. You will have more success if you study regularly, so try to develop a ______. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t got long. Becoming fluent (流利的) in a language will take years, but learning to get by taking a lot less.

Many people start learning a language and soon give up. “I’m too ______,” they say. Yes, children do learn languages more ______ than adults, but research has shown that you can learn a language at any ______. And learning is good for the health of your brain, too. I’ve also heard people ______ about the mistakes they make when learning. Well, relax and laugh about your mistakes ______ you’re much less likely to make them again.

Learning a new language is never easy. But with some work and devotion, you’ll make progress. And you’ll be   ______ by the positive reaction from some native speakers when you say just a few words in ______ own language. Good luck!

6 . In 1980, Dad was diagnosed (诊断) with a serious disease. The discase _____ his memory and expression. Dad couldn’t think or process information as fast as he________to. He grew to repeat the same words, which drove Mom_______. On one of my visits home. Dad was sitting in his deck chair. I reached down to______and kiss him. “What’s new? How are you?”

“Oh, you know dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark. ” He laughed, proud of his_____ .

As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She______her head. “I heard your dad and those words! It’s not his will. He just can’t_______himself. ” She stopped for a while before______. “He always says he’s just like a mushroom...” She took a______breath and laughed. “Goodness,” she said. “I’m going to______the adversity (困境) for a long time.”

______Dad never became difficult, or had personality changes. I often felt grateful for that. Dad loved and______everything Mom ever did for him as well, no matter how big or small.

Care-giving comes at a______. Mom was annoyed with Dad, but there was lots of love between them. Through the 21 years of care-giving for Dad, there was______and tears, as well as weddings and babies. Without     ____ , I’m not sure what would have happened to us.

7 . A video about a homeless man went viral. Johal, a video-maker known for his social ________, decided to give a homeless man some money and ________ his reaction.

In the video, approaching a ________ homeless man, Johal carefully places some money on his bag. Minutes later, when the man wakes up, he’s surprised to see the cash and looks excited and grateful. The man walks to a store, steps out with a bag of ________, probably to face the cold nights, and returns to his bench.

Johal sits beside the man, talking on the phone with a friend, asking if he can borrow some money for his daughter. The homeless man ________ listens to Johal. After he hangs up, the man asks if he’s okay. Johal explains he’s getting his daughter some ________ while having a hard time financially.

In a(n) ________ turn of events, the man asks Johal to ________ his bag and leaves with the shopping bag. He returns ________ after returning the items and offers the money to Johal, who is a total ________, comforting he can go by without a blanket but the girl needs the treatment. Touched with the homeless man’s kindness, Johal ________ the experiment, offering $500 to the man, who instantly starts crying in ________.

________ but true, the result proves sometimes, those with less are the ones ________ most. Not all heroes wear capes. In fact, heroes are the ones with a ________.

9 . Jordan has been a sports fan since his childhood. Since his father was a soccer coach, he would never miss out on _________ and would always be on top of his game. Jordan became a(n) _________ player in a very short time. He always knew that he wanted to build a career in sports and _________ to achieve it.

Jordan _________ from Auburn University and was one of the strongest and most competitive players on his team. However, his professional career _________ when he was at his peak — an injury was all it took to bring him down. He suffered from serious damage in his back, due to which he could never _________ to professional playing.

Instead of backing off and going into a period of _________ most athletes do, Jordan made this _________ an opportunity to grow in this field. With his career being ended _________, he promised himself to __________ young athletes on moving properly and taking care of themselves. He became a coach. He __________ his trainees to follow his motto: Do what you do with all your strength.

As Jordan went through the difficult time, he was always __________ by the passion for training and developing healthy life routines for young athletes. He __________ to help them grow and reach their __________ to the fullest and do not repeat the same __________ that he did that ended his career.

10 . I participated in an exchange program where a Spanish student came to live in my home for a few weeks and then I went to live in hers in Spain. I was somewhat _______ but mostly excited about the coming experience.

After the _______ excitement, cultural differences began to affect me, _______ me to feel anxious and homesick. What made culture shock difficult to _______ was the language barrier. My Spanish kills were not at the level of being able to express how I feel _______ .

The most difficult challenge was the _______ and meal time. I usually ate diner at 6:00 pm in America, but in Spain, we ate it at 10:00 pm when I was very _______ ! I was a picky eater, and while I ate meat, I still wasn’t very _______ with it. But there was a lot of meat in Spanish _______ . Almost every meal was filled with rich unknown foods.

One night, I asked what we were going to ________ . Since I didn’t know the Spanish word “conejo” they used, the entire family started acting like rabbits at the dinner table in an effort to help me understand its ________ . I was shocked. Sometimes I just wanted to curl up in my room alone and ________ a pizza, but not the pizza they had in Spain.

Despite the stress caused by some new and unusual foods, I ________ them very much when I left Spain. This trip taught me how to be ________ and leave my comfort zone, and how important it is to ________ new things.