1 . Chess is a game of make-believe kings and queens, pawns (卒) and rooks (车). So what does that have to do with reality? _______, quite a bit.

Damen Fletcher, who learned how to play chess at the age of 13, grew up in Compton, Los Angeles. After _______ the city to attend college, he came home to find his childhood friends _______. “Some of them had fallen into prison. Gang life and drugs... ‘Why did I have such a different _______?’ I started to _______. And it was chess,” he said. To help kids of all ages in Compton _______ the game of life and find their inner king and queen, he started Train of Thought.

“Every game of chess is 75 to 100 moves, and every single move that your opponent (对手)makes presents a new problem for you to _______,” he said. “And kids are just having fun. They don’t _______ that they’re dealing with problems.”

_______ for 12-year-old Andre, chess is more than just a(n) ________. “I use a lot of stuff that I leaned on the chess board in ________ life, like, think before you ________,” he said. He’s just one of thousands of students from some of Los Angeles’ ________ neighborhoods learning to play chess. “My main thing in class is: be a scholar-being prepared, productive and never giving up,” Andre said.

While the program is ________ in schools in Los Angeles, Fletcher’s dream is to expand it nationwide-and even bring it to schools around the ________.

3 . Nowadays, media and information coming so quickly on the Internet, kids are used to getting things in quick ways, but refuse to read a book.

I remember the wonderful ________ when I realized my 6-year-old niece could read. One weekend, it was bedtime and we were reading Make Way for Ducklings. She ________ a few words. I was ________ to see that she was enjoying reading. Two years later she moved in with me. Our bedtimes were filled with various stories. Now she is 11. However, she is more interested in Tik Tok than in any of the stories. And ________ she certainly can read, she really doesn’t like to unless I threaten to ________ her iPad.

As an educator and writer, this is ________ for me. To my regret, reading has become a ________ in my family.

“Don’t worry too much,” educational consultant Waldinger ________ me when I called to discuss my pain. “As digital natives, our children simply have a ________ relationship with the written word from that of us who came from the typewriter ________”, suggested Waldinger

“Kids do lots of incidental (伴随的) ________,” she told me. “Playing video games and watching a movie like Frozen with closed captions (字幕) are reading. And so is using a(n) ________ to make cookies.”

She said, “You just can’t expect kids to sit down and ________ the encyclopedia (百科全书) like we did back in the day. Accept the fact, stop ________ over reading, and just give children more ________ to read, whether digital or printed.”

5 . In a class many years ago, the teacher gave us the “unpardonable”—the class homework! The _______ was to go to someone you love and tell them you love them. _______ it doesn’t sound like a very tough assignment, I realized that I was _______ the generation of men who were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho” (男子气概的).

You see, five years ago, my father and I had a _______ disagreement and we _______ seeing each other unless it was Christmas or other family _______. But by the time I got home I had convinced myself I was going to tell my father I loved him. It’s weird, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load _______ my chest. So I rushed home to tell my wife my plan. When I told her, she hugged me, and for the first time in our married life she saw me cry.

The next morning, I went to the office early and _________ more in two hours than I had the whole day before. At 9:00 I called my dad, “Dad, can I _________ tonight?” My dad responded with a(n) __________ tone, “Now what?” At 5:30, I was at my parents’ house ringing the doorbell, __________ that Dad would answer the door. I was ________ if Mom answered that I would chicken out and tell her instead.

But luckily, Dad did answer the door. I took a deep breath to __________ myself and said, “Dad, I just came over to tell you that I love you.” It was as if a transformation came over my dad. His face ________, the wrinkles seemed to disappear and he began to cry. He hugged me tightly and said, “I love you, too, son.”

Two days after that visit, my dad, who had heart problems, but didn’t tell me, had a heart attack and ________ in the hospital, unconscious. I don’t know if he’ll make it. So my message to all of you is this: Don’t wait to go to someone you love and tell them you love them and do it now!

6 . At our residence, we made sure a small lawn (草坪) space remained green by watering regularly. I live in an area _________ by a fairly large garden. There are a number of fruit trees _________ here along with many plants and lots of grass. That _________ the flying beauties — the birds visiting the space regularly. At first sight, the garden appears very _________ but actually many birds live in it or visit it _________ . Some people keep birds in _________ to listen to their songs. I say it is _________ better for the birds to live freely.

Every morning I am awakened by the shrill _________ of a magpie-robin. The sound is so sweet and I just lie in bed listening to the songs _________ the bird flies away. Small plants and bushes provide good __________ for insects and very small birds, while larger trees will attract visits __________ more birds and mammals. They come to sing, __________ a bit or look for food. So it is always a(n) __________ to see them. I just sit quietly and they __________ their business undisturbed.

It’s easy to attract birds to your __________   however small and close it is to a city. I have seen the spotted-dove, pigeon and various other little birds which I cannot __________. They sing, dance and __________ their beautiful colors. It is quite a(n) __________. On the other hand there are those annoying little sparrows that come into the house to __________ food.

__________ to say, the surrounding area is being developed and the wildlife is being chased away or destroyed.

7 . My childhood pediatrician (儿科医生) has died recently, who was also my father’s pediatrician. Our family became rather _________ to him over the years.

He came from a _________ generation of doctors, who made house calls and learned how to diagnose (诊断) patients in the days before MRIs (核磁共振) and CT scans.

Most _________ was his unwavering devotion to his patients. Even on weekends and nights, he was working tirelessly for his patients, visiting his _________ at home and in the hospital. To him, medicine was not a job, but truly a _________. Although old age forced him to give up his _________, it did not seem like he ever _________. I saw him frequently at the medical school’s weekly pediatrics grand rounds, always sitting in the front row.

He was one of my main inspirations for _________ to become a physician. I hope to live up to his example, although I _________ I will come close to emulating (努力赶上) his devotion to this __________. As my father remarked, “they don’t make __________ like him anymore.”

During the past year of medical school, I often asked myself, what is my __________ here on earth? How will I leave my mark? It was my pediatrician who first offered me some __________. Medicine can be a(n) __________ profession, and by taking it seriously I __________ to repay my debt (恩情) to him and my obligation to humanity.

10 . This morning, a former student sent me a message, telling me he is living a happy life. He said he often thinks of me and that he especially misses my _________ classes.

My thoughts went back to that shy, overweight boy who _________ to our school in his fifth grade. He was quiet and _________. Some of the boys teased him about his lack of _________ ability. When they played games, Gibby would often be left standing alone. Several times I went to the playground and asked to _________ a team. I would call out several _________ and then, around the fourth or fifth spot, I would call Gibby and a few others who never seemed to get _________ by their peers. My team may not have been the best, but we were the happiest and definitely the most _________ and loyal.

That spring I decided to give my students more _________. We began by running, but after one or two circles around the playground, Gibby would lag far behind, __________. However, after a month, he lost a few pounds and could __________ the group easier. Then we added floor exercises to the program. Gibby was still there, stretching and bending, lifting and kicking, as __________ as ever. He never gave up or made __________. Many students admired his __________ and in time, he gained confidence and began to smile and talk more. He was no longer the new kid.

Messages of this kind always call up sweet memories. Yes, as a (n) __________ teacher, I love all my students and help them become what they can be.