1 . Usually, someone would come up and ask, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” This kind of question is often raised when we have _________ with families as children.

Well, it started out being a cowboy or super hero. Later it was fireman, policeman, lawyer... As I grew older, my dreams of the future _________. Before I was in college, I was asked, “What will you _________ in?”

By then, I had my heart set on _________ a teacher as my father. So, I studied and prepared for that life. I _________ nearly full time on my career. Although my physical disability after an accident prevented me from working full-time, I still insisted (坚持) on _________. I am content that I could realize my dream and perhaps have a(n) _________ influence on someone’s life. My kids are now on the way to _________ their goals, which makes me delighted.

However, for many, there is a “thief”, which goes around _________ our dreams. Sometimes, the __________ will come as a parent, a relative, a friend or a co-worker, but the greatest thief is, so many times, just __________.

We find ourselves just about reaching our __________, and a “small voice” inside says, “You’ll never make it,” “You can’t __________ do this.” “Very few have ever done this successfully.” And on and on the “small voice” predicts (预测) some kind of __________. Failure, though, is exactly how dreams are realized. It is one of the most important tools we have, because it teaches us __________ lessons. And, when we learn these lessons well, we are ready for success.

2 . While many cats love to go outdoors, they usually do not venture far from home. But some cats are the _________. One cat has even made a busy railway station in the UK her second _________.

Although Nala, a four-year-old cat has a home in Hertfordshire and a loving owner, she always loves _________, with an adventurous spirit. Her owner, Natasha Ambler fitted her with a GPS tracking device. And Nala’s favorite place to _________ is the Stevenage Station where she _________ commuters every day.

She comes in every day to greet hundreds of commuters. Ambler says that Nala goes to the station when it is the busiest because she enjoys the _________.

The staff at the station have grown very _________ of Nala. They say, “Her _________ always makes people smile and encourages cheerful conversations between the staff and passengers.”

Nala wears a collar with _________, including her name and owner’s phone number. Ambler says that she received around 20 calls a day from people telling her they __________ her cat. She had to make a second tag (标签) to tell people that Nala was not lost but just on a(n) __________.

Nala is so popular that Ambler __________ a website page where people can post photos of their __________ with the cat. One passenger posted, “She __________ my day when I get the train to work.” Another said, “Nala is __________ a real celebrity of the Stevenage Station.”

4 . Emma and Zoe are both good swimmers. With great _______ and quick thinking, the two teenagers recently became _______ while swimming in Barbados.

The incident happened when the girls heard a _______ cry for help while relaxing on the beach after their swim.

“I heard someone shouting for help in the distance. I then looked around and _______ her, about 50 feet out from where I was,” Zoe, 13, told Global News.

The anxious woman, _______ as Belinda Stone from London, England, informed Zoe that her husband, Robert Stone, was even _______ and struggling to swim. Without hesitation, Zoe and 14-year-old Emma quickly _______ , risking their own safety to rescue the Stones.

After _______ Belinda back to shore, the girls started a five- or six-minute swim through challenging _______ to reach Robert, who was about 150 feet from shore. “When we reached him, he was trying to swim but we could tell he was struggling. He was breathing very ________ ,” Zoe stated. Despite the difficult ________, they successfully brought him back to safety.

Emma shared her experience, saying, “It was a long and ________ swim. I learned from both my parents that when there is a really strong current, you should never swim against it. You should swim parallel (平行) to shore until it ________ or you are completely out of it; otherwise, you will be pulled out into deep ________ .”

The grateful Stones expressed their ________ , “We are just extremely grateful to Zoe and Emma. They saved our lives.”

5 . Even with the heated water splashing on my shoulders, a chill (寒意) still ran through me. My son was swimming _______ along the bottom of the pool. He surfaced and said, “I’ll show you how to swim underwater.”Usually I was a(n) _______ student, but not this time.

I just couldn’t trust my body to _______.My anxious mind would not let go. Over the years, I had learned not to sink, but I had never found the _______ of swimming that came easily to my friends. Self-doubt hardened into a _______:I couldn’t swim underwater.

But my son George wouldn’t _______ this. “Can you try?” His waiting face was open with possibility. I thought of the_______ things we had asked of him. The days I left him at preschool, he wept bitterly as I _______.The times he bared his arm for shots from the doctor. Earlier times in pools when he, too, _______ deep water.

I couldn’t say no. “Try to swim to me. It’s not very far.” he said, ________ above the water.His voice,calm and encouraging,   ________ me. “When I count to three, you start, OK?” I didn’t move. “Let’s try again,” he said in his teacher voice. “One, two, three!”

After more false starts, I knew I must ________.I sucked in air, squeezed my eyes shut, and aimed like a torpedo (鱼雷) into the dark. I traveled ________ in this liquid world, just pushing forward. I ________ my breath until I couldn’t anymore. I burst up into cool air. “I did it!” I said, tears of ________ streaming down my smiling face.George smiled too. “Now,” he continued, “try to go a little farther.”

I swam farther.I swam.

6 . I’m interested in a career in _______, so I decided to volunteer for service at the local hospital. I thought it would be the best of both worlds: _______ people while getting valuable on the job experience! So I went to the business office. _______, the hospital director was quite willing to let me help out, and he said I could _______ that summer as soon as I finished my finals.

Soon enough, I _______ for my first day at the hospital. The director gave me a brief tour of different departments (科室) _______ we stopped right in front of the maternity ward (产科病房). I was overwhelmed (受不了的) by the sounds. Women shouted and newborns _______. I got nervous and wondered if I had been in a hurry when I _______ to go for such a _______ job.

My ________ must have shown clearly on my face because the director said, “Don’t worry. You are going to help in the nursery. ” ________ that, we walked down a hallway filled with balloons, beautiful flowers and into the ________ room I’ve ever seen. The soft colors provided a quiet backdrop to the sleeping babies. The nurse in charge of the nursery ________ me, thanked me for ________, and asked me to start putting some baby things away in the drawers. The director gave me a ________ look, which I returned with a quiet nod. I got right to work.

7 . One day, hundreds of people were stuck in traffic on the highway in below-freezing temperatures due to a snowstorm. With the conditions making it _________ for rescue workers to help, many were trapped overnight with no access to _________.

But one stuck driver found a _________ spot in the despair. As she was sitting in her car fearing the _________, Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, _________ a bread truck just ahead of them in the jam. Willing to try just about anything, they called the customer service number listed on the back of the truck and left a _________ begging for the driver to open the back and _________ bread to the hungry passengers around them. It was a last-ditch effort, and the couple wasn’t very _________ about getting a response. But to their _________ they soon received a phone call from the company’s owner, Chuck Paterakis, with the news that he was __________ the truck’s driver to open up and pass out loaves of bread from his cargo. Overjoyed by the news, Holihan and Noe __________ the truck’s driver to bring much-needed things to the cars around them.

The simple loaves of bread were surely a ray of __________ in an impossibly disturbing situation. Holihan herself calls it “one of the __________ moments” she’s ever witnessed. This company could have made a(n) __________ from the bread but instead chose to help the people around them. That is just so incredible that someone chose __________ over profit, especially in a situation where people were so desperate.

9 . “Wanted: Violin. Can’t pay much. Call me at...”

Why did I notice that? I wondered, since I seldom look at such ads. I put the newspaper on my lap and closed my eyes, _______ what had happened many years before, when my family _______ to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin, but we didn’t have the money.

When my arms grew long enough, how I wanted one! But I knew it was impossible. It was not a good year. At harvest the crops did not bring as much as we had hoped. Yet _______ times were hard, I couldn’t wait any longer to ask, “Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?”

Daddy looked _______ . That night, I heard him pray, “…Mary wants her own violin.” One evening we all sat around the table. Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, Mr Finkle, a violinist. When Daddy received a letter from Columbus several weeks later, he announced, “We’ll be driving to Columbus.”

The day finally _______ . After we got there, Mr Finkle, a tall man, opened the door. “Come in!” he and Daddy heartily shook hands at once.

He _______ a case, opened it and lifted out a violin. He said, “Carl, I found it in a shop for _______ dollars. It’s a good violin.” Then he handed the violin to me. I noticed the _______ in Daddy’s eyes. It was mine! I stroked (抚摸) the violin gently. The wood was a golden brown that seemed to warm in the light. “It’s beautiful.” I said, barely breathing.

The day I carried my violin to school for my first lesson no one could imagine the bursting feeling in my heart. Over the months I _______ every day. When I was ready to join the school orchestra (管弦乐队), I shook with ________ . I sat in the third row of violins and wore my white jacket. My heart beat ________ at my first public performance. I felt sure everyone in the audience was watching me. Daddy and Mother smiled ________ at their little girl.

I thought of Daddy, who did all he could to ________ my needs when I was a little girl. I wonder if I had ever thanked him.

At last I walked to the ________ and dialed the number. Later in the day, a man in his 30s knocked on the door. “My daughter wants a violin so badly,” he said. “ ________ are you asking?” Any music store, I knew, would offer me a nice sum. But now I heard my voice answer, “Seven dollars.”