1 . My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of ________. Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some ________ to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little plant in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either.

We decided to let it ________ growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ________ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to ________ the weeds (杂草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something ________.The sunflower had not ________ where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the ________.

That’s when I ________ that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we ________ ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we ________ to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ________ to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had ________ in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be ________ of who and what we are, and then the environment will begin to ________ us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.

2 . It was an extremely hot summer day. A thunderstorm had passed and now the clouds were cleared and the sun returned. Steam was coming off the ____ sidewalk as I parked my car. I ____ into the local store to buy my son a shirt. The air conditioner there was welcome ____ from the heat outside. 

Having made my ____,I walked back into the heat. I got into my car but had to wait to ____ because all the cars were lining up at the red light. I looked out of my car window and saw something on the pavement. A single butterfly was ____ fluttering (拍打) its wings but couldn’t get off the ground. Besides, it was right in front of a truck’s tire. Without a second thought, I got out of my car, ____ my hand so that the truck driver wouldn’t move ____,and then bent down to look at the butterfly. One of its legs was ____ in what looked like spilt soda. I reached down and ____ the butterfly in my hands ____. I lifted its leg and it was ____. I opened my hands and up it flew towards the shining sun. My own eyes shined brighter and my own heart was ____ as I watched it. 

Lots of people might wonder why I would step out into traffic like that to ____ a single butterfly. All I can say is that my heart was ____ me at that moment. And when I had done it, I felt more like my true self than I had all day.

3 . My name is Miranda Gibson. I have been at the top of a tree for five months now. Some people might wonder________on earth I would choose to do that.

I have walked through this forest many times. On December 12, 2011, ________rolled into the forest and the destruction (摧毁) began. I couldn’t________the thought that these forests would be________ forever. So, on December 14, 2011, I packed up my life, ________of my job plans, and climbed 60 meters to the top of this tree. I have been here ever since.

Life in the tree top can be________at times. I have times when I feel frustrated (沮丧的) and wish I could________, to anywhere, just have a ________of scenery for a minute! There are times too, when I feel terribly________.I miss my friends and family.________these times, I find myself loving the________.

Living on the tree has been inspiring. I am willing to________ here for as long as it takes,________I honestly hope it won’t be too________before I can put my feet on the ground below and stand in a forest that will never be________.

4 . When Dave was eighteen, he bought a secondhand car for $200 so that he could travel to and from work more _________ than by bus. It worked quite well for a few years, _________ then it got so old, and it was costing him so much in repairs that he decided that he had better _________ it.

He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly _________ to buy a cheap car, but they all knew that it was falling to pieces, so _________ of them had any desire to buy it. Dave’s friend Sam saw that he was _________ when they met one evening, and said, “What’s wrong , Dave?”

Dave told him, and Sam gave a(n) _________, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? That way you may _________ more than the cost of the advertisement!” Thinking that Sam’s _________ was reasonable, he put an advertisement in an evening paper, which read “For sale: small car, __________ very little petrol, only two owners. Bargain at $50.”

Two days after the advertisement, there was no __________. But then on Saturday evening he had an enquiry (询问). A man rang up and said he would like to __________ him about the car. “All right,” Dave said, feeling happy. He asked the man whether ten o’clock the next morning would be __________ or not. “Fine,” the man said, “and I’ll __________ my wife. We intend to go for a ride in it to __________ it.”

The next morning, at 9:45, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door, __________ to wait there for the people who had __________ his advertisement. Even Dave had to __________ that the car really looked like a wreck (残骸). Then, soon after he had got the car as clean as it could be, a police car stopped just behind him and a __________ got out. He looked at Dave’s car and then said, “Have you reported this __________ to us yet, sir?”

6 . Yesterday, a salesman called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don’t like spending time on those things, I _________ myself that I couldn’t talk yet and _________that he call me back at 6 pm.

That’s what he did. So we talked about 20 minutes. He _________ to me his different phone plans. While listening to him, sometimes I was _________in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _________that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit_________. But I stayed calm and _________ until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he said the following to me: “Thank you, Olivier. You are the first person in a long time with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. _________, people shout at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 am, I hadn’t had a phone _________ without an offense (触怒). I know you had a long day at work and you could have __________ in front of your TV. But you listened so carefully to me. I am __________ and I sincerely thank you.”

It set me thinking. He had been the __________ of verbal violence (语言暴力) all through his working day. Physical __________ do not exist in this situation but dehumanization (非人性) seems to happen. __________, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of __________ that I hadn’t treated him so rudely.

7 . There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school (寄宿学校). Before being sent away this boy was the ______ student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. He was a ______.

But the boy ______ after leaving home and attending the boarding school. His grades started ______. He hated being in a group. He was ______ all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like ______ himself. All of this ______ because he felt worthless and no one loved him. His parents started ______ the boy. But they did not ______know what was wrong with him. ______ his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat ______ the bank of the lake near the school. The father ______ asking him casual (随便的) questions about his classes, teachers and ______. After some time his dad said, “Do you know, son, ______ I am here today?” The boy answered back, “To ______ my grades?” “No, no,” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about ______. I care about you. I care about your happiness. You are my world.” These words ______ the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He ______ his dad. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this ______ 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 sad!

9 . I lifted my wet woollen gloves to my face and wiped the snowflakes from my eyes. I could not feel my nose and my ________ formed a thick fog in the air. The biting wind was making me ________. I was fed up! I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to go home. But Mum and Dad had ________ me to go for a Sunday afternoon walk in the park. I could see my ________ in the snowy path, like a trail of breadcrumbs (一串面包屑) in the forest showing me the way ________.

I stopped and listened to my ________. I could ________ the wind crying like a homeless dog hungry for a delicious ________. The once-green tree ________, which used to wave gently in the breeze, had become bare, and the grass was covered with a ________ blanket of fresh snow. Then I saw a broken spider’s web shining golden beneath a pale sun. My breath was like silky soft ________ floating up into the freezing cold air.

Suddenly there was Mum, ________ handing me a big cup of hot chocolate. Her big smile immediately ________ my heart.

“Here you are, Jo. This will keep you ________,”she said as she placed a comforting arm around my shoulders and ________ her cheek against mine.

I slowly took a mouthful of the hot ________ and felt it slowly dripping down my throat like lava (熔岩) ________ down a mountainside. My wet woollen gloves were now warm, not ________. My breath warmed, and I was ________ fed up or cold. I was happy and ________.