1 . Robert Mendez Jr. is a football coach. Despite being born without limbs (四肢), he has spent his life on what he can ________. And this spirit was what drove him for more than a decade toward realizing his dream—becoming a coach.

This year, Robert ________ the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, presented to “a ________ member of the sporting world who has overcome great difficulties through determination.” Nobody could have been a better ________.

As Robert accepted the ________, he thanked a number of people for helping him. Then, true to his character, this passionate coach ________ a piece of his wisdom.

He said, “If there’s any ________ that I want to give you, it’s to look at me and see how much passion I put into coaching and how ________ it’s gotten me. When you open your mind to different possibilities and ________ what you can do, you really can achieve something.”

When talking of ________, he said, “The best part of it is seeing someone’s ________ and making them realize what’s possible. So for anyone out there not ________ about their abilities, I’m here to tell you that you can do it. It can ________.”

Robert may have been born without arms or legs, but he was ________ born with the amazing ability to ________ others. As he’s already well aware, there’s nothing this man can’t do!

2 . Biar Kon, a 17-year-old student, whose parents were working in neighboring Sudan, moved to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to attend school. Once he _______, he needed to get some documents from the Sudanese embassy(大使馆). But when he went to look for the embassy, he couldn’t find it. He asked a few people for _______, and no one knew where it was. Then an older woman tapped him on the back.

The woman told Kon that she had seen him asking questions of multiple people as they _______, and she wondered if he needed money for food, or a place to stay. Then Kon realized that the woman thought he was _______.

They cleared up the _______, and the woman was able to offer her help. The woman’s _______ left a deep impression on Kon. And it inspired him to _______ five years later, when he moved to Boston, Massachusetts. One day, outside a coffee shop, he _______ a man who was begging for change. Kon _______ that moment five years earlier, when the woman in Nairobi had ________ him for a homeless person. So he went up to the man to see what he could do. “He told me why he was on the street—because he made a（n） ________ mistake when he was in high school, and he couldn’t get a ________ now,” Kon recalled. Kon bought the man some breakfast, and gave him a little bit of money.

Today, it’s an encounter he ________. For him, it is a ________ that you never know what people are going through unless you talk to them ________ — the way the woman in Nairobi made an effort to talk to him.

3 . Courtney Rich is a mother of two, whose journey through the Big Cottonwood Marathon was a familiar marathoner’s battle. Her _____ was tested with each pace towards the uphill finish. The 1.7-mile race was a hard dance of patience and will, a dance Courtney knew well. Her legs, heavy with effort, threatened to betray (背叛) her ______.

Then, from the sidelines ______ the 10-year-old “dynamo” (发电机), Avery. Her sudden appearance put a burst of energy and emotion into the scene. Full of determination, her thin figure ran ______ towards her mother, who was visibly ______ from the marathon. The crowd watched in awe as this young dynamo took charge.

As Avery ______ Courtney, their hands held tightly and the marathon’s final act was suddenly rewritten. Avery, a burst of energy personified, became her mother’s anchor (精神支柱), and her small act of support was ______ in its impact. With a determined look, Avery grasped her mother’s hand. She didn’t say a word, but her actions ______ a lot. They started running together towards the finish line, their hands firmly held together.

The onlookers ______ them, inspired by the ______ of love and support between mother and daughter. It was a heartwarming moment, making everyone ______ that sometimes, unexpected ______ from the ones we love can ______ the strength to overcome even the most discouraging challenges.

As they approached the finish line, the crowd’s applause grew louder, and Avery’s mother’s tiredness began to ______, replaced by a renewed sense of determination. Together, they crossed the finish line hand in hand, sharing a ______ moment that they would remember forever.

4 . The email hit me like a punch in the gut. It came from my ________ and when I saw it had several paragraphs, I frowned. Quickly scanning for the vocabulary of bad news, I discovered words like “________”, “I’m sorry”, and “end”. Sure enough, my column—Science Careers was being canceled.

But despite my________ shock, I wasn’t as sad or mad or ________ as I might have been in the past. Previously, when I have been ________, I embodied (表现) the loss by ragging on and thinking________ about myself: “They” don’t value me because I don’t have value. And indeed, when I got the message about the________, my instinct was to immediately blame myself, dumping me into the familiar hopeless desert of ________.

But then, I surprised myself by quickly ________ to a new mindset. It wasn’t actually a failure, was it? Instead of letting the disappointing news start________, I was able to take a positive ________.I set out to make this not the day I was fired, but the day I was fired up and________to move my career to the next level.

Sometimes life sucks and things happen, and we cannot ________.Business decisions often impact our careers and yet have very little to do with our outputs. This decision wasn’t a ________ of me and my value. So when I heard that the column was a ________, I knew I was going to grow.

5 . I was in first grade in Mrs. Bauer’s class at a time when elementary schools held student gift swaps. I was to _______ toys with Paul, a boy I knew little about.

I bought a Matchbox car for Paul. After all, all boys _________ such toys. However, the gift Paul _________ for me was a small plastic Santa Claus on green snow skis. It surely cost much less.

As Paul and other boys raced their new Matchbox cars delightedly in the classroom, I tried to hold back hot tears. Though I felt _________, I started racing my skiing Santa alongside the Matchbox cars. Truthfully, I wasn’t trying to erase any _________ Paul might have felt for giving such a cheap gift. I _________ didn’t want to feel left out.

When school was over, Mrs. Bauer asked me to remain behind for a moment. I sat _________ at my desk, having no idea what I’d done wrong. When we were alone, she said to me with great _________, “I’m proud of you for not showing your _________. That would have hurt Paul’s feelings. You gave him a very nice __________ that made him cheerful, and you should be __________ about that.” Mrs. Bauer’s message, which I didn’t fully __________ at that time, was that it is better to give than to receive.

Afterwards, I became __________ with Paul. I found his socks always had holes in them. He shared a tiny bedroom with two sisters, and his dad had died. That skiing Santa might have been all Paul could __________ to give. I suddenly realized it was far more __________ than any other gift.

6 . Christmas is a time for giving and receiving. However, is it ________ for close family and friends? Do we even spare a ________ for those in need? Our children receive so much throughout the year.

As parents we want our daughters to be ________ for what they have and to think of those who don’t. That’s why my husband and I want them to ________ the spirit of giving back from a very young age.

Through their school, the girls have a charity which they ________ . Every Tuesday they take two loaves of bread to the school food bank. Twice a year they donate ________ clothes, toys and books to shelters. They also volunteer on weekends. As my husband is a regular blood donor, the girls ________ to donate as well. Unfortunately they are too ________ as the start age is 16.

Children mirror the ________ of their parents and if you often reach out to others by giving generously, they will ________ . Christmas is the perfect time to teach them to give back to those less ________ .

Teaching the gift of giving back not only promotes personal growth, it also ________ them a sense of belonging and pride. It will create ________ that they are making a difference in someone else’s life no matter how small the ________ . It teaches them love, kindness, patience and so on. These ________ will help them carry it forward in their adult life.