1 . I’ve had many opportunities to experience living in a foreign culture. But my first experience came in an ______ place — my own country. When I was 20, I got an internship (实习职位) in New York City. It was my first time to ______ outside of my home state of Texas.

With my moving north came culture ______. I grew up in a big city in Texas. But it was no comparison to the tightly ______ New York with their 8 million citizens. I was used to life at a ______ pace; New York moved fast. The saying is true — this city never ______. I had to adjust.

My first reaction was fear: I feared I would ______ at my new internship in the 54-storey office building; I feared I would get lost on the subway; I feared that the locals wouldn’t have ______ for my frequent moments of confusion. My fear ranged from reasonable to silly. But I ______ my fears and kept trying.

I learned quickly never to ______ a New Yorker always speaks English. New York is home to people of all walks of life, from all corners of the world. At weekends, I would spend hours ______ along Canal Street in Chinatown — the closest I’d ever been to an Asian country.

“By the end of my internship, I was a little older, a little wiser and_______ of big city life. I hated the skyscrapers, tourists and the high price I had to pay for a cheeseburger and fries. But I had ______ too. I was quicker, smarter and more independent. I knew I would ______ that feeling of having the world right at my doorstep. It was good ______ for the life of travel I’d soon begin.

2 . Mom looked at the awards banquet (宴会) invitation as though she had received ________ news. Her lips tuned down at the edges and her eyebrows twisted together as she read the paper again. “Baby, it might be a ________. Sometimes they accidentally send these things to the wrong people.” She spoke with apology in her voice.

The year before I’d started kindergarten, my mom bought pre-school workbooks. She began my education with ________ that was visible in her smile but only ________ shouting. Her voice and face made me think I had done something very ________. So, whenever she tried to teach me anything, from writing ABCs to tying shoes, I was ________ by the process of learning.

Mom expressed her ________ about me possibly having a learning disability to the teacher. But I made it through kindergarten just ________. Then fist grade. My ________ progress was never a topic of conversation. I had no idea where I ________, below average or smart .I didn’t care. I just ________ doing all the worksheets and activities. I wasn’t ________. I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t frustrated. ________ I wasn’t bringing home gold starred medals, either.

At the awards banquet, I sat by my best friend, ________ all through the meal. But Mom looked like still expecting bad news. The further we got into dinner, the ________ she became. All the subject awards were given out, but “Rebecca” was still not celled. I caught my mom’s ________. She was near tears.

The over-all achievement medals were given out last Mom’s head ________ in her hand. She ________ over to me “T tell you what. Let’s go get some ice cream and forget this whole thing. Sweetheart.” Seconds later, “Overall achievement for first grade—Rebecca!”

I ________ heard my name because I was thinking about ice cream. Later I returned with my medal, still not understanding its ________. I had outperformed every first-grader at my school that year, and I was smart! I asked, “Can I still have ice cream?” My mom nodded, crying and laughing at the same time.

3 . My brother and I were driving home together and started a conversation. Because of this _________, my brother took a wrong turn.

The mistake took us towards a _________ and we had no way to turn back. _________, my brother paid the toll (通行费) and drove on. He was obviously _________ by the waste of $4.

We _________ reached an exit and, as we took it, my brother noticed an old car by the side of the road. A young guy was standing nearby, trying to _________ someone. My brother _________ and asked the guy if he needed any help. And he _________. He had a flat tire and needed a wrench (扳手) to get it off.

My brother gave him one, and then _________ to help him change the tire. We started getting to know the young man. He said this had been a __________ week for him. Earlier he had gotten into a car accident, and now this __________. But he called us "a breath of __________ air". After we finished the job, he __________ into his pocket and pulled out a 20-dollar note and tried to give it to us.

"No," my brother said. "We were never supposed to even get on that bridge. But now we know __________ we did. Thank you for turning our mistake into an opportunity to __________."

8 . When she was 86, Mom moved to our city. My husband, Kevin, and I found a lovely apartment for her. I was happy to help take care of her _______ she arrived.

The day after she moved in, she called me to _______ about the food at the facility. “The pizza was like rubber. I couldn’t _______ it.” “Mom, you’re complaining to me. Wouldn’t it make more sense to tell someone who can _______ the problem?” We hung up. This was only her second day here! And week after week, Mom found more to complain about.

When with my friend Beth, I spent 20 minutes sharing how Mom’s attitude _______ me. “She seems _______. After everything Kevin and I do for her, all we hear is what she doesn’t like.” As the words spilled from my lips, I realized that I’d developed the same _______ of complaining that annoyed me so much in Mom.

I decided to keep a better watch on my _______. Things went fine for a few weeks. But soon I felt powerless to _______ by myself and couldn’t help complaining to Beth about Mom’s ________ again.

A few days later, I received a journal from my friend Torry. On the first page he had written, “Jeanette, I use such a journal every day to ________ things I’m thankful for.” I wrote three things I was ________ for. Contentment filled my heart. Maybe this was it. It was a joyous ________ that helped me overcome the complaining — gratitude.

Over the next few months, as I continued, I noticed little things I’d ________. Life was handing out gifts continuously, including Mom, complaints and all. I couldn’t change her; I could only ________ her.

9 . I often read about incidents of misunderstanding or disagreement. I’m left _________. Why do these people create _________, especially with those from other races?

I was _________ up in Kuala Lumpur in 1960s, when children from different races living in _________. My family lived a stone’s _________ from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was an immigrant — we just _________ our differences. Perhaps, our elders hadn’t filled our heads with differences.

Ismail and I soon became friends. During the school holidays, we would _________ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to _________ the unexpected. We almost traveled everywhere and met many interesting things accidentally. Because Ismail and I lived near each other, he would go shopping in town with my family. We were really glad of his _________. When I was at middle school, my family moved to Johor. Later, I lost touch with Ismail.

One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. When I stated my destination, the driver didn’t move off. __________, he stopped the car in place for a moment and then called me, “Raddar!” I was astonished at being so familiarly __________. It was my childhood name. __________, it was Ismail! Even after two decades, we still __________ each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a sense of true affection, something hard to describe.

If we can allow our children to be themselves without __________, they’ll build friendships with people __________ race, who will be by their side through thick and thin. The society is built on such friendship, where we can truly experience warmth, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”