1 . It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn’s house. But she_______that I come to see something at the top of the mountain.

So here I was,_______ making the two-hour journey through thick fog. Nothing could be worth this,I thought as I_______ along the dangerous highway.

Turning down a narrow track, we___________and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens (常青树)_________over us.Gradually,the peace and silence of the place began to_________ my mind.

Then we turned a corner and stopped at the top of the mountain and I was entirely held in_______. There across fields and valleys were rivers of fully-opened yellow flowers from the light one to the most brilliant. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and_______ the mountainside in gold.

_______ occurred to my mind.Who created such beauty? How? When? As we approached the house that stood in the center of the property, we saw a________ that read: “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking.” The first answer was: “One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet and Very Little Brain.”   The second was:“____________at a Time.” The third: “Started in 1958.”

As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had seen that I could________ speak.“She changed the world,” I finally said, “one small plant at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the ________ of an idea, but she kept at it.”

The wonder of it would not let me go. “Imagine,” I said, “if I’d had a dream and________it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished?” Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. “Start tomorrow,” she said, “______________yet, start today.”

2 . The malls were filled with people seeking Christmas gifts. Behind the ________ aspect of shopping for gifts lies the idea of caring, being attentive to the desire of special people in our lives. ________, to use a well-worn play on words: it is our presence, not our ________, that truly counts.

Giving attention to each other is, to a large extent, what human civilization is ________. This perhaps explains the runaway success of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. ________ we use such sites for “micro blogging”, “idea voicing” and “status updates”, the reality is that we are often doing no more or less than fulfilling our basic human drive for attention exchange.

I friend you, you friend me. The ________ ease with which we can now get and give attention is why many people appear overly ________ to their smart phones. It is also a vicious(恶劣的) ________. As even more people are busy exchanging attention online, there is ________ less attention to be paid in the real world, which forces more people to seek their attention exchange online, or else risk attention-starvation.     

The very nature of attention exchange is being rapidly ________, and there is a danger that some of us will develop unhealthy practices. Just ________ eating red meat every day is a bad idea, so it is with too much attention exchange. The ________ consequences of our technological advancement in food production are highly visible: heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The consequences of our changed attention exchanges will be psychological and social, and so may take longer to ________, but they will be equally damaging.     

Face-to-face attention is becoming ________, and therefore more valuable. And it is a gift that can be given ________.

3 . The first attempt of even the most talented artists, musicians, and writers is seldom a masterpiece, If you consider your drafts as dress rehearsals (彩排), or tryouts, revising will seem a natural part of the writing _________. What is the purpose of the dress rehearsals and the out-of-town previews that many Broadway shows go through? The answer is adding, deleting, replacing, reordering, _________ revising. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Phantom of the Opera underwent such a process. When Lloyd Webber began writing in 1984, he had in mind a funny, exciting production. However, when Phantom opened in London in 1986, the audience saw a moving psychological love story set to music. The musical had _________ several revisions due, in part, to problems with costuming and makeup (戏服和化妆). For instance, Lloyd Webber _________ some of the music because the Phantom’s makeup prevented the actor from singing certain sounds. When you revise, you change aspects of your work in _________ to your evolving purpose, or to include _________ ideas or newly discovered information. Revision is not just an afterthought that gets only as much time as you have at the end of an assignment. _________, it is a major stage of the writing process, and writers revise every step of the way. Even your decision to _________ topics while prewriting is a type of revising. However, don’t make the mistake of skipping the revision stage that follows _________. Always make time to become your own __________and view your dress rehearsal, so to speak. Reviewing your work in this way can give you __________ new ideas. Revising involves __________ the effectiveness and appropriateness of all aspects of your writing, making your purpose more clearly, and refocusing or developing the facts and ideas you present. When you revise, ask yourself the following questions, keeping in mind the audience for whom you are writing: Is my main idea or purpose __________ throughout my draft? Do I ever lose sight of my purpose? Have I given my readers all of the __________ , that is, facts, opinions, inferences --- that they need in order to understand my main idea? Finally, have I included too many __________ details that may confuse readers?

4 . Last year, I told my family that I didn’t want or need anything for my birthday. Instead, I ________ them to think of a way to share a ________ in their world for me. My husband and my daughter did something different, but ________.

The week of my birthday my husband went to a local cafe and told a waitress that he wanted to ________ pay for the breakfast of a family. The waitress was ________ and said it was her last day at work there and this had never ________. When the family finished eating, the waitress told them their ________ had been paid. The mom started crying and the dad stood up, trying to ________ who might have done it, but my husband was outside ________ the whole thing. He told me he had such a wonderful ________ in his heart and he would like to ________ it a few more times.

My daughter was on a tight budget(手头很紧) so she________ the week smiling more at people, and letting someone go before her at the market. She just took the time during my birthday week to slow down and be ________ and kind to a stranger and her co-workers.

When we finally all got together for Mother’s Day and my birthday, everyone was in tears as each person________ what they had done. As you can see, it was the ________ birthday ever!

5 . Getting birthday gifts as a dad can be a great time, especially if you can give ideas on what you want _________. You may think I’m a bit ideal, but I’m talking specifically about something that you as a dad will always _________. I have two teenagers and they both asked me _________ I wanted for my birthday early this year. Well, I had just bought a DVD player, so I thought about some DVDs I might want, I also _________ some books I had been wanting to read and so on. But then I began to _________: what could they give me that would be a _________ we both would appreciate?

So I decided on photos and stories. I asked my son to _________ a collection of photos that he thought I would like. He did a great job and now I have a pleasant _________ of our time together when he was a toddler crawling around, an 8-year-old with a front tooth _________ and a few others when he was beyond cute! He had a good time picking them out and I have a good time looking at them. A __________ you could say for both of us! __________, it only cost him the price of a frame.

I then asked my daughter to write down a __________ of us and put some thoughts to it. It is a perfect gift as well. It will always make me feel __________ and it will last forever!

Both gifts were inexpensive but will lighten my heart any time I __________ them. Being a dad has many great __________ and making them easier to remember is priceless.

8 . My palms were sweating. I was sure that I could hear my heart beating fast. This was the worst. I _________ feeling this way, but I had to do what I was about to do. I drew on a small bit of my inner strength and opened my _________.

“Excuse me. I was just _________. Would it be possible to maybe get that table over there by the window _________?” I asked. My voice sounded strange to me, as if a stranger from a _________ had asked the question instead of me. I _________.

“No, I’m sorry, but that table is reserved,” the hostess replied kindly as she _________ me into the dining area. _________ I followed her to my table, I realized that the earth had not opened up and swallowed me. I had not passed out or died of _________. The entire population of the restaurant was not laughing at my bravery for asking for a table by the window. I had asked and been told “no.” That was all. Nothing more.

For someone like me, who is always __________ and unconfident, asking for a different table was a huge __________. But I’ve started doing it on a regular basis because of a simple piece of advice my mother told me: “The worst they can say is ‘no.’ ”

And so, I’ve learned to actually __________ for what I want. I’ve learned to reach for my dreams and pursue my goals. I got a job that I wanted. I’ve even gotten prices __________ on a huge variety of items. Because I asked. Because my mom was right.

Sure, I have been turned down. I can’t say I have never been __________. I have been, but I keep__________. I will continue to ask for what I want out of life and from other people. What could happen? The worst they can say is “no.”