1 . I have a degree in business. But it was my father’s _________ for me to seek to attain a business major. He thought that having a business major would guarantee (保证) me more available choices and make me more _________ in entering a global labor market. I _________ his advice. However, even though my college experiences were _________, I had no interest in any field of commerce, let alone having a long-term career as a businesswoman.

After I _________, I worked as a marketing planner at a computer company. My _________ and working environment were great; yet I still didn’t feel happy doing something that had little _________ for me. After two months of working there, I made up my mind to _________ and decided to do what I love, namely teaching history. I have now been doing this job for over twenty years. I am _________ of being with my students.

If you are in a __________ where you don’t love what you are learning or doing, please ask yourself what you are really __________ about, and what you truly want for your life. Don’t __________ to get yourself a quick answer. Take some time to think about what career could bring __________ to you.

I like this motto “Success is not the key to happiness. __________ happiness is the key to success.”

Happiness __________ the inside of you, not from the outside. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

3 . I grew up in northern Arizona, where it has the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Until I was invited to _______Guizhou province by the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour, I realized how _______ Guizhou can be in poetic (有诗意的) detail. There is _______better than seeing things with one’s own eyes. I will attempt to do so here.

My father used to ask my brothers and me on yearly fishing trips around Arizona. We would _______ to catch the largest fish, and those who succeeded would be rewarded. I remembered sitting in a small boat in the middle of the lake, mostly _______ my bored tongue, while my father tried to _______ me the whispers of the wind, or a fish dancing on the surface of the lake. He vividly described to me everything that he _______in nature. On my trip to Guizhou I had the _______ to kayak(皮划艇) on Wanfeng lake. At one point I rested, _______ floating at the center of the lake, listening to the spaces between silence and ________the surrounding karst (喀斯特) mountains. I thought about my childhood, and ________ I had listened more closely to my father’s ________ feelings.

I’ve ________ Arizona for 10 long years, creating my own destiny in China. I’ve managed to build myself a family, a career, and join in ________ activities. I feel as if I have everything I need. For a moment, in Guizhou, I felt ________.

5 . The day I met Hani Irmawati, she was a shy, 17-year-old girl standing alone in the parking lot of the international school in Indonesia, where I teach English. She asked if I could help her improve her English. I could ________ it took much courage for the young Indonesian girl to ________ me and ask for help.

“I want to go to a US university,” she said with confidence. I was surprised.

I agreed to work with her ________ a volunteer basis. For several months. Hani woke each morning at five and caught the city bus to her public high school. During the one-hour ________, she studied for her regular classes and finished the English ________ I had given her. At four o’clock in the afternoon, she arrived at my classroom, extremely ________ but ready to work.

When I met Hani’s family at their ________ little house, I realized they would never be able to afford the expenses of a US university. Hani’s enthusiasm was ________ with her language ability, but I was becoming more and more discouraged.

One day I received the announcement of a(n) ________ opportunity for a major US university. After reading the requirements, I knew Hani couldn’t meet the qualifications. I told her that there was only a ________ chance of her getting the scholarship and encouraged her to be more “realistic” about her dream. But she remained ________.

“Will you send in my name?” she asked.

I couldn’t ________ her down. I completed the application, with the painful truth about her academic life, but also with my ________ of her courage and perseverance.

Three weeks later, just before Hani went to Jakarta to take the Test of English Fluency, she received a letter from the scholarship association. She had been ________.

I leaped around the room, overjoyed and shocked. Hani stood by, smiling. I realized that it was I who had learned something Hani had known from the beginning: It is not intelligence alone that brings success, but also the ________ to succeed, the commitment (投入) to work hard and the courage to believe in yourself.

6 . In December 1992, I was a happy husband and father of two young children. A month later, _______ I suddenly developed a serious illness, Luekemia (白血病) . Two years of _______ in the hospital helped me get better, but my body was still _______ and lifeless. I sometimes even needed help lifting my arms or holding up my head.

I took up running as a way to exercise my body. After six months my _______ came back. That’s when I _______ to join a program that trains people to run a marathon while raising _______ for Luekemia research.

On October 27, 1996, along with many other brave souls I started on a 26.2-mile journey that I will never _______.

I saw my wife Palty at the six mile _______ : she seemed happy that I was still looking _______. At mile 17, my mind was going back to those two horrible years that tried to ________ me and my family. I saw her again. The ________ in her face told me that she knew I was starting to struggle. I felt we were thinking the same thing—if I can finish the marathon, those last few years will be ________ us.

That thought alone pulled me forward. 3 hours and 41 minutes after I started, I ________ the finish line. That night the Luekemia Society gave me a pin (胸针) that ________ says, “Luekemia 26.2”.

My cancer may once again take away my hair and my strength, maybe even my ________ but it can never take away my pin, or the fact that I am a marathoner.

7 . Passion, like life, is about the journey, not the destination. Kimberly and I have been planning a trip to Europe for a year. This was a _________ of ours. We took our friends Frantoise and Stein Eriksen with us.

The most exciting part of the journey started with a train ride that had some curveballs (不顺利). When we were trying to get on a _________ from Zurich to Croatia, we had gotten the departure time wrong and had to _________ around the station to make it in time. We had a tough time finding a taxi to make it to the ship. We finally found a taxi and arrived an hour late. _________, they waited for us.

Once we got onto the ship we _________ it was not like a large hotel with great service. It was a tight quarter. The bathroom was very _________. The shower was a spout (喷头) connected to the bathroom sink. You turned it on and sprayed (喷洒) yourself, along with the rest of the room.

The week-long ship ride was full of _________. There were people from different nationalities speaking different languages. We stopped on islands of all sizes. We bicycled 30-40 kilometers. Then there were high winds — so high that the buses couldn’t run because they might blow over. So we took an expensive taxi, and headed back to make our flight home.

While we loved the more predictable parts of the trip, our real passion was in the _________ — the missed rides, the _________ ship, the mixture of cultures, and even the __________.

Sometimes people are so __________ that it scares them to do something different. __________ when they do get out of their comfort zone, the different experiences they once thought were __________ are what stand out. Mixing things up, trying new things, seeing something through another person’s eyes, being __________ to adventures — this is how you create __________.

9 . One day recently, Laurie Fenby was ________ at a garage sale in Rochester New York and as she was leaving, she found a ________ on the ground.

Laurie looked inside and ________ a Jamaican (牙买加人的) driver’s license, some American cash and some Jamaican ________ . She tried all the usual ways to find the man, whose name was George. She ________ for suggestions through Next door, a community website. One lady advised her to contact (联系) a little ________ that is known to have many Jamaican migrant (移民) workers as ________ . Laurie called the store and found that yes, indeed, there was someone named George who ________ his wallet.

When George contacted her, he was able to ________ everything in the wallet and Laurie was able to ________ it. But it didn’t stop there. Laurie asked George, “What do you and the migrant workers ________ ?” He said they need some warm clothes. Laurie ________ contacted the community and was able to organize a clothing ________ . Many people donated lots of ________ , shoes and other supplies. Recently Laurie met George and the other migrant workers in Rochester. They were so ________ to Laurie and her friends.