1 . Gabe and I were taking a road trip from Hamilton to Nelson. At around 5:30 p. m. , we were ________ on a mountain road. I was texting my family. We weren’t ________ there’d recently been flooding in the area.

When I ________ from my phone, I saw a wave of mud (一波泥浆) racing down the mountain. Gabe tried to brake (刹车), but it was too late. The mudslide sent our car ________ down the cliff. It ________ on its side among some trees.

I don’t know how long we were unconscious, but I woke up to the ________ of Gabe moaning (呻吟). We had no phone signal, so all we could do was ________ for help. But my chest hurt too much to even ________. So Gabe started shouting as loud as he could.

Luckily, four men spotted us and went to our ________. On our way up, Gabe was in ________, slipping in and out of consciousness, and I ________ didn’t think he was going to make it.

When the medical team finally reached us, they ________ us into separate ambulances. I was swearing a lot as they took us away — I didn’t think I’d ever see my boyfriend again.

We spent weeks in hospital. Even after ________, I’ll walk with a limp for the rest of my life, and Gabe lost the vision in his left eye.

Before this all happened, we were happy-go-lucky people. We’re even more ________ now. Despite the ________ we suffered, we’re grateful that we’re still living a pretty good life.

2 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _________ on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _________ it.

For most people, that would be the _________ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell _________ the letter. He had just called his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _________ on the ground outside of a hardware (五金器具) store in Manvel. “I realized it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I _________ it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _________ me.” Carrell thought the letter would brighten someone’s day and that maybe he could find the _________, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, _________ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s reply,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t __________ you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to __________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally __________ on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado’s wife’s birthday.

“__________ the letter made it home,” said Alvarado “We are thankful for what James Carrell did.”

We often forget the power of __________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a(n) __________ impression.

3 . I was given the book Running on Faith written by Jason Lester as a birthday gift last month. After I started ________, I really couldn’t keep my eyes off it. It is always ________ to read a story of someone who has gone through difficulties to reach his ________.

Jason Lester is a ________ extreme athlete. When he was twelve years old, a fast car ran a red light and ________ him. Then he was sent into the hospital with twenty broken bones and a(n) ________ injured arm. Jason had always ________ to become a famous baseball player, but at that time that dream was ________.

However, Jason loved sports and he still wanted to be a good ________. He began running and ________ duathlons (铁人两项比赛) in high school. Years later in 2004, he decided to start ________ for the Ironman (铁人), and has competed in many extreme ________ since then. In 2008, Jason became the first disabled athlete to ________ the Ultraman (320 miles of biking, swimming and running), and it led him to an ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability in 2009.

If you are in a bad ________ and don’t know what to do now, Running on Faith is a good book for you. If you love running and want to reach some race goals, this book is good for you, too. Anyway, this book is ________ reading for everyone who loves reading and wants to turn dreams into reality.

4 . The idea of donating mosquito nets (蚊帐) to millions of Africans came to Katherine Commale’s mind when she was only five years old. She _______ a documentary about Africa, which _______ that on average, every 30 seconds one child died of malaria (疟疾) there, which can be caused by mosquito bites. This made her astonished, but it also _______ her to do something to save their lives. _______, Katherine started raising money for mosquito nets so that Africans don’t have to _______ malaria. She sent nets to Africa through an organization called Nothing But Nets. By making hand-decorated _______ with her family and giving them to those who donated money, Katherine inspired people to join her. Her _______ was posted on the website of Nothing But Nets. People were touched by her _______, which went beyond age and race. _______ were pouring in from around the world.

However. Katherine still seemed ________. She and her friends wrote letters to the ________ who were on the list of The World’s Billionaires hoping they could contribute money. After receiving the letter, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ________that it would donate three million dollars to Nothing But Nets. ________ , to have more people know Katherine’s deeds, the foundation invested (投资) in filming a public welfare documentary.

Thanks to Katherine, the frequency of children’s death ________ from malaria in Africa has been decreased to one person every 120 seconds. Katherine’s kindness influenced the world even though she was only a little girl. She showed that no one is too ________ to change the world into a better place.

5 . Several months ago, a tornado fiercely hit our city without any signs before. We hadn’t ___________for it in advance, so we were just forced to go into our___________actions. I happened not to be in the classroom when it attacked. Hearing the alarm screaming, I rushed___________as fast as I could back to the classroom.

Never did I imagine that we would put our regular_________to use. Never did I imagine that my students had ___________against the wall and crouched(蹲) down on their knees. Their eyes were obviously filled with___________as they asked if their parents, pets, and friends would be okay. I, along with other teachers, tried our best to___________them, though we actually didn’t know what the___________would be.

I couldn’t ___________the tornado anymore. However, I’m very proud of my students who performed so well. In such a(an)____________and dangerous situation, they behaved beyond their ages. Never in my life had I seen them ____________instructions(指示) so quickly, without any hesitation. Though some tears were dropping and some hearts were beating fast, the kids were incredibly____________. I’m extremely proud that they struggled to calm down because of their____________in me.

Because of the tornado, I realized that my job as a teacher meant a lot. Behind every well-behaved students are a long line of teachers who have made it their life’s ____________to educate them with safety, courage, calmness and trust. Though the tornado has presented ____________, I’m sure we can handle them one by one.

6 . Dad was not only my best friend, but my compass. While he was alive, he _______ me with his actions and advice. He taught me one important _______: “Believe in yourself.” If there was one phrase my dad _______ liked to hear, it was “I can’t!” He never got to finish high school and _______ two jobs to support his large family, _______ he never complained. Through education and years of hard work, my dad became an excellent journalist.

When I was in high school, I had a _______ time with maths. He tried to help me, but I _______ struggled. So my maths teacher suggested I meet with him at 7:00 each morning before school for _______ help. I told Dad, “That’s _______! I’m tired! I can’t do that!” He replied, “You’re doing it. I’ll send you to school.” Every morning at 6:45, we’d leave the ________. Despite working 12 hours every day, Dad never once ________ driving me to school.

After months of ________ I was facing the final exam. I was so ________. On the day of the final, my dad hugged me and said, “Luke, ________ yourself. You can do it.” His words made me realize I needed to trust in my ________ and in the hours of work I’d ________. When I got my ________ proudly, the first person I called was my father. He cried, “Yes! You deserve it!” Even now, whenever I ________ that a task is too much for me, I think back to that exam. No matter how ________ something is, if you’re willing to work, you can succeed. I’m forever ________ to Dad for that lesson.

8 . My son Nile has left for university. Even Mother seldom _________ now that her grandchild is no longer around. My home has become so _________ in less than one month.

As a concerned mother who had little to do, I _________ Nile whenever I could. At first it was through emails. Occasionally I _________ the page of the university to learn about Nile’s campus life, and was filled with _________ to see his greetings: “Hi, Mum! So you’re on the net as well!” Since then I’ve been visiting the website regularly hoping to _________ my child.

Recently, our communicating way had another _________. Nile sent me all kinds of articles through instant messaging: novel, modern, funny... I read them _________, like a well-behaved pupil. Meanwhile, I had _________ feelings about that. The kid was __________ to learn something from me not that long ago, but he now becomes my teacher! After __________, I responded with the following email:

“Thank you, my son, for all the interesting articles, though I feel confused about the change of our __________. Despite that, I’ll take it as a loving son’s __________ of his mother. He must be thinking his mother is still young and __________ enough to accept new things. That makes me feel proud.” Now in this way we share ideas, with the instant messages __________ each other.

9 . My son Joey was born with disability. The doctors _________ us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally—but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in _________ with the help of casts (石膏) and braces (支架). By the time he was eight, you wouldn’t know he had a problem when you saw him walk.

The children in our _________ ran around as most children do during game play, and Joey would _________ and run and play, too. We never told him the _________ that he probably wouldn’t be able to run as well as other children.

In seventh grade he _________ his mind to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He made great efforts and ran more than any of the others—perhaps he _________ that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. The entire team ran. _________, only the top seven runners had the chance to score points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make it.

He _________ running four to five miles every day—even the day he had a high fever. After school, I found him __________ by himself. I asked him how he felt. “Okay,” he said. The sweat __________ down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn’t run four miles with a high fever, either.

Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were __________. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had __________. He was in seventh grade—the other six team members were all eighth graders. We never told him he shouldn’t __________ to make it. We never told him he couldn’t do it.

With the strong __________, you can achieve your dream.

10 . We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. Since elementary school, I have always ______subjects like science and math. To me, these subjects, full of discoveries and ______, seem to play more significant role in human progress than humanities. And I always ______thought of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right ______I thought, why bother? But recently I had an ______that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was ______. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve. I imagined getting into pretty long and boring conversations ______intended to reflect on the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite ______.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones — “but you can call me Rob” — was far from the white- haired, buttoned-up old man I had ______. Rather than pulling us into dull arguments about difficult-to-understand philosophical points, Rob ______us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own obstacles. To talk morals, we looked at ______we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most ______ones.

It ______me that if I let go of my ______, I can actually get a lot out of the subjects I once thought little of. The class taught me — in more ways than one — to look at things with a(n) ______mind.