2 . At the age of nine, I was taking swimming lessons at a pool. The day had arrived when I was to be tested to see if I could ______ to a higher level class.

Fifteen of us were to ______ swimming from one side of the pool to the other and back. I watched as my ______ , one by one, tried and failed. Then it was my turn to swim, I mean, my turn to attempt to pass the test. I was about halfway when I got ______ , so I immediately stopped and ______ the side of the pool, ending my test. Our instructor, a college student, was standing ______ me. “Why did you stop?” he yelled, in a less than ______ voice. “I got water in my nose,” I explained.

That’s when this college student ______ me one of life’s great lessons, ______ he probably never realized that. Bending down, he shouted, “So?”

“So?” The question shocked me. It had just seemed reasonable to me that the answer to pain was to remove the thing causing the ______ . My nine-year-old brain had not understood the fact that a valuable ______ is worth achieving, however difficult to get there. Recognizing that, I was ______ nothing would keep me from completing the test. In fact, I did it rather easily on my next attempt. Seeing me ______ the test, almost all the others did so as well.

Life is a journey, and the road won’t ______ be easy. We have to focus on the final destination, not the ______ along the road.

4 . In Ontario, teenagers are allowed to drive at 16! As my sixteenth birthday drew near, I got increasingly ______.

My father served as my driving instructor. The first ______ happened in the driveway. At first, I was afraid. However, he ______ explained everything. For the next lesson, he asked me to ______ the car, and then reverse (倒车). Soon, I felt I was ______ the car! Two weeks passed, and I began to get ______. My father had me drive around the same block repeatedly. When I couldn’t ______ it any more, I asked to move to a busy street. And he agreed.

Finally I was on a busy street. I shifted from first gear (档位) to the second without ______. Then came third gear. When I reached the ______ I wanted, I put the car into fourth gear. I was flying in the car! My father’s ______ brought me back to reality. He said calmly, “Darling, there’s a red light ahead.” Nervously，I did not ______ what to do. I flew through the crossroads.

That night my father was ______. I cried silently. How _______ we hadn’t hit anyone or any car. I waited for him to ______ me, but he didn’t. I realized my fault. Until now I have not ______ that day.

5 . Trees have always held much attraction for people. They are the_________and biggest life-forms on our planet and one of the most beautiful. As a direct_________with thousands of years of history, trees appear in many religions and have inspired artists over the years.

When I was a child I_________a science fiction story that made me think about trees in a new way. In the story,_________ from an advanced civilization come to our planet and their spaceship lands in the middle of a forest.

The aliens (外星人) have a long_________with the trees of the forest and then leave, happy to think that the inhabitants (居民) of Earth are noble, intelligent and peaceful.

Trees_________a lot about being part of a community and how cooperation is better for a society than_________. Scientists are only just beginning to understand how it all_________ but we now know that trees growing together share all of the available resources (资源) with each other. So, strong trees in a good _________will share food and water with__________trees that receive less sunlight. By__________a community of trees makes itself stronger. The roots of giant redwood trees, for example, grow together under the ground. It’s as if they are__________hands. This means that they are__________stronger when there are heavy winds or floods.

We all acknowledge that trees are__________for the environment and the survival of our planet. Perhaps they have even more to__________us in the future.

6 . Jenna had graduated from her middle school and was lucky enough to be admitted to Westwood College, She was ready for new ________ at the college and filled with confidence, ________, she didn’t expect it that college life was quite different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts for cheerleaders. She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be ________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the judge read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart ________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling ________, she walked back to her dormitory carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving at the dormitory, she started with ________. She had always been a good math student, but now she was struggling. She moved on to English and history, and ________ to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to prepare for math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school ________. “I’m sorry, but we have enough ________ for the newspaper already. ”, she said. Jenna smiled ________ and left. “Why is college so different?” she sighed.

Later in math class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much ________. By the end of the class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d   ________ to try to fit in with her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d ________, but she knew she had to try. College was just as her mom had said, “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond ________ a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the ________ fish you can be.”

7 . One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final ________ .

He discovered the youth was ________ and felt satisfied. Then the president asked who paid for his school fees. The youth answered, “My mother did it. She worked as a clothes ________.”

The president requested the youth to ________ his hands. So the youth did. They were smooth. Then he asked, “Have you ever ________ your mother wash the clothes before?” The youth answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to ________.”

“Go and clean your mother’s hands when you go back today, and then ________ me tomorrow morning,” the president said at last.

The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell ________ he cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. It was the first time he had ________ that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled (布满皱纹的). After that, the youth didn’t say a word and washed all the remaining clothes for his mother________. That night, Mother and Son talked for a very long time, longer than any talk before.

The next________, the youth went to the president’s office. The president noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes and asked, “Please tell me how you ________ about helping your mother.” The youth said, “Number One, I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, I wouldn’t be successful today. Number Two, by helping my mother, I realize how ________ it is to get something done. Number Three, I’ve come to realize the ________ of family relationship.”

The president said, “You are ________. This is what I’m looking for to be my manager.”

9 . In Germany, it’s not a necessity to wear school uniform at school. But why did a few schoolmates and I spend two days _________ around the school in uniform? In fact, a rather special event took place then: our MUN (Model United Nations) Conference.

It is a conference _________ for students from all German schools who want to see how the United Nations really works. They get an opportunity to _________ a country and debate with other students from different _________ on real problems the world is facing now. The aim is to write a _________ at the end, which will help deal with them.

The _________ of our conference was “Cross Borders: Discover Peace”, which _________ that the students would _________ breaking down not only physical national boundaries, but also those _________ different nationalities. Of course, this included how to help others who are forced to flee their homeland, for the people ____________ all students.

Not only was the conference a ____________ of thinking about difficult global problems, but also everyone had to speak in English while using correct debating language too. ____________ job! But of course this was a brilliant ____________ for everyone there.

I’d really ____________ joining in a conference if you get the chance, and sharing your ____________. It’s the best way to meet new people and to think about how to make the world a better place.

10 . I was making a stop on my book tour. A sweet woman approached me, and pleasantly _______ she wouldn't buy a book. She said she _______ wanted to ask me a question: How did I get into acting and how did I _______ to stay in it? I was _______the performance, so I didn't want to waste energy with a long response. I said, "Persistence," without thinking.

She laughed and said, "Well, sure. That's true with everything, right?"

A light came on in my brain. She was righter than she knew. I said, "Yes, but not how you mean. Success is a _______of persistence. So is failure. We become whatever we're persistent at. I had friends who were always exactly 20minutes late－persistently late. You could set your _______by them. I know actors who persistently destroy their own chances. They don't _______ enough. They don't learn their lines. Persistently."

A lot of the time our methods of working are a series of habits, good and bad, we _______sometime in the past. Habits feel_______. My ex-acting teacher once said, "Comfort is the enemy of the artist."

I wasn't crazy about his statement back then, because I was uncomfortable, but still wasn't an artist. I see the ________ of it now. People________take the easy path. It's human nature to look for the________ at the back of the book. We often see the effort in finding better habits as a problem to be avoided, but in doing so, we persistently waste our ________.

As actors, we know we can become anything with enough rehearsal. ________look at what you do persistently. If you don't like your habits, change them. No matter what your passion is the power to ________the map of your life is essential.