1 . Exercise can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, so there are a lot of great reasons to exercise.

Sometimes exercise can feel like a bit of a ________, something you have to do for health ________. But regular exercise can ________ your life, whether it helps you overcome stress, learn something about yourself, or help you ________ your body. Here are 2 stories from people who moved their bodies in new and sometimes ________ ways, and found out that it changed their life for the better.

I have had depression (沮丧, 抑郁) a couple of times and I also have general anxiety disorder. I found that longboarding around the city really ________ my mood the last time I was going through a ________ of depression. I don’t skate much anymore, but I have picked up ________ the past three years. All I can think about when I am climbing is climbing. It has been a ________ for my anxiety to be able to completely throw away the worries in my head and just think about getting to the top.

When I was 23, my grandpa sadly passed away. Hearing my mom’s message, I was ________. The tears couldn’t stop swimming in my eyes and I ________ control, I was just starting my track season and I decided that I should get a head start and start running. When I felt like crying or screaming or anything, I would get up and go for a ________. That year I ________ my personal best by over a minute and I ran my first half marathon. Since then I ran another half marathon, full marathon, and am ________ training for a second marathon. Running just ________ emotion for me.

3 . If Confucius (孔子) were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of ________. He’d need a fan or a ________ to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, ________ people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even ________ the birthdays of their own ________.

But this doesn’t ________ that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a ________ that foreigners must cross if they want to ________ a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have ________ huge popularity in Western universities. ________, the Chinese government has ________ Confucius Institutes in more than 80 ________. These schools teach both Chinese ________ and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually ________ Chinese art, history and philosophy (哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the ________ of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to ________ Chinese. So they will be ________ for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about ________ to understand their Chinese customers. So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive.

Today China ________ the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his ________ is.

4 . The word “happy” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by hardship. The circular motion (循环运动) between happiness and _________ is the one I’ve been dealing with lately.

A year ago, I developed troubling symptoms(症状) in my left _________. My husband sent me _________ to a specialist who said I had already suffered some everlasting loss of vision and would, without _________, go blind in that eye within months. And I urgently _________ to begin painful eye injections. Almost blind? Painful eye injections? I was _________. What if the _________ medicine didn’t work? What if my right eye developed the same condition? I _________ thought that, amazingly, the medicine was only three years old; before that, patients just went blind.

Over that long week, I _________ myself to casually __________ sadness, to cry and acknowledge my fears about my very fragile body. I __________ to be near anybody but my husband. Fortunately, I __________ pretty quickly, within the week. During this __________ time, I posted my __________ in my blog and receives great care and support from friends online, which filled my heart with __________ and encourages me to receive the eye injections. Besides, the doctor __________ the efficacy(功效) of the medicine. In the end, I bravely received the eye injections and they were very successful. I was lucky enough to see the world again with my healthy eye.

Finally, I gained a __________ insight: being your happiest self isn’t equal to a lifetime of __________ skies, and we are bound to __________ storms of life. Knowing this can help us face difficulties optimistically and __________ the change of life.

5 . There was a boy who was sent by his parents to a boarding school (寄宿学校)______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______. 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______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______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?”

“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______he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He______the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him______!

6 . A decade ago, I was engaged in pet therapy work. As I dug deeper into the job, I had a desire to _______ the pets’ daily work to let more people realize their _______ and efforts. _______, they were unable to communicate with us in oral language. It was when I became _______ with the work of my golden retriever’s (寻回犬), named Clark. As he _______ and went through obedience training, I realized that he would be a good partner.

Clark is 12 now and still works every week. As a(an) _______, he visits two hospitals, a day care center for the _______ whose children work far away, and our library’s PAWS for Reading program. Clark has also helped out a kids’ _______ needs camp. He is so popular that everywhere we go people _______ him, especially the kids he has worked with.

We have seen some very special things through our ________ work. I brought Clark to our local hospital to visit a man who was ________ paralyzed (瘫痪) on his left side from a stroke. One day, my wife, Anna, asked him if he could give Clark a treat. Surprisingly, he ________ right away. And Clark ________ took the treat. Then the man raised his left hand and began ________ Clark. His friend said happily, “He has never ________ that hand since he had his stroke!”

________ it seems appropriate that when Clark visits hospital, he also ________ tricks for the patients with his paw. The best one is when he ________ on the floor and crossed his paws. He stays ________ there and doesn’t move until Anna says “Best wishes”. It’s the best wishes for all the people Clark ________ as well as for himself.

8 . It had been a long business trip. We had already had multiple flight delays, so I was pleased when we ________ boarded the plane on schedule. The flight attendants shut the door,     ________the passengers, and soon after, I heard the sound of the engines firing, which seemed quite ________ to me.

It is common in Atlanta that we had to wait a bit on the ________ for our turn. And then finally we started moving slowly. ________, when we did so for about 10 minutes, suddenly the plane stopped. An announcement came that we’d have a delay, and we’d be in a holding pattern (等待航线) for a little while.

That “little while”________90 minutes at last. It was almost 40 degrees and we were________in the small plane with almost no air conditioning. It seemed like a(n)     ________! So when the plane took off in the end, all the passengers couldn’t help cheering.

Waiting is not something that comes easily to me. I’m more like the sports car with the engine ________ waiting at the crossing. The moment the traffic light turns greens, I will rush out urgently.

But now, as I’ve reached my advanced age, I’ve ________ something: When I have to stay in a “holding pattern”, it will be wise to accept that with ________ and a good attitude.

Sometimes those “holding patterns” are for my   ________. They teach me something connect with someone, or make me wait until things are ________. Sometimes those “holding patterns” seem very long and ________ just like the one on the hot airplane but I should trust everything will be OK. I should know what I can do is just have ________ with the difficult time.

9 . Lainey finished third grade. She had good grades and could read ______ grade level, but she did not like to read. On a family car trip, her Aunt Dede pulled out a copy of Harry Potter, as a surprise for her ______. But Lainey took one look at it, ______ her eyes, and said, “Boring!”

Aunt Dede, a teacher, had read the book to her students, and they loved it. ______ the youngest children in the class were ______ by the story. They ______ with great interest and then ______ joined in grand conversations about Harry’s adventures.

“How can you say it’s ______? Have you read it?” asked Aunt Dede.

“No, it’s too long and it doesn’t have any ______.” complained Lainey.

“Oh, that’s where you are ______; there are lots of pictures. Every page is full of pictures; you just have to read the words to ______ them. It’s like magic.”

“Nice try, Aunt Dede,” Lainey replied ______ from the back seat.

Another ______ was in order. “Well, if you don’t want to read it, give it ______. Maybe your mom would ______ hearing the story.” The book sailed through the air to Aunt Dede and she began to read it aloud. By the end of the first chapter, ______ were coming from the back seat: “Please read a little ______.”

Lainey is an example of an ______ reader. As shown here, Lainey can become ______ about reading when ______ with literature on topics that interest her, and when the people around her model involvement in the reading process.