1 . At 20 years old, I was a confident and handsome student at the University of California at Berkey.

But that year, I ________ a bump (肿块) in my right nostril (鼻孔), and when it didn’t go away, I made an ________ with a doctor. It turned out to be a tumor (肿瘤). Then I underwent surgery. Fortunately, the procedure was ________, and I returned to classes soon.

But six months later, a new bump appeared. Numerous ________ confirmed it had reproduced a horrible, life—threatening tumor. I was advised to have another operation and ________ that I might lose part of my nose. I was too young to think about death then, but the thought of disfigurement (毁容) made me feel ________.

I awoke from the surgery with a scarred, disfigured face. As I re-entered the real world, I noticed adults ________ and children pointing—and sometimes laughing—at me. The occasional and ________ negative reactions from my friends also hurt me. My self-respect sank increasingly lower, and I constantly asked others, “Do my looks ________ you?”

Five years and 20 reconstructive surgeries later, I ________ a man receiving treatment. After hearing my question, he criticized me. My problem, he ________ me, was not my physical appearance, but my emotional insecurity. His ________ helped me realize my mental scars were far more disfiguring than my physical ones.

I began examining myself from the inside out. Later, I volunteered at a cancer support organization to offer inspiration and hope to those ________ cancer

Now, I am ________ for who I am—a much stronger person than before. To you, I offer this message: Avoid making judgements about people at ________.

2 . When handball was introduced to Sri Lankan schools in 2010, I wanted to bring it to my school in a remote village. This became a(n) _______ task as the sports teacher was unwilling to initiate anything _______ traditional sports like basketball. Despite being an English language teacher before _______ my post as deputy principal (副校长), I was _______ to start this game at any cost.

40 students aged between 13 and 19 _______ to play. I had the support of their parents but I still couldn’t _______ the sports teacher to agree. _______ , I used my position to get the game going.

Heshan Pradeep, an alumnus (校友) and member of the Air Force handball team, volunteered to _______ the team. Although handball is an indoor game, we trained outdoors due to limited _______. Training started early in the morning before class and ________ after school until it was dark. The boys loved the game and were ________ training. After three months of devoted training, we were able to send an under-19s boys’ team to ________ with 50 other schools. Our boys played remarkably well and ________ the semifinals. The following year, nobody could ________ our team from winning the all-island schools handball championship.

The ________ sent the whole village into carnival mode. Heshan and I were much honored to have shown the boys that dreams can be fulfilled.

3 . Like many young people, Jessica wants to travel the globe. Unlike most of them, this 25-year-old is doing it _______ . She and her husband have spent the last two years traveling the world, stopping everywhere from Paris to Singapore. It might sound like one long, expensive _______ , but the couple has an unusual way to make their travel _______ .

They’re part of a new form of the _______ economy: an online group of house sitters. Throughout their no-cost stays in _______ homes, they feed pets and water plants in the homeowner’s _______ .

It’s not all sightseeing. The two travelers carefully _______ their trips, scheduling their days around the pets that are sometimes difficult to _______ . But house sitting also offers a level of _______ they can’t find in a hotel. “It’s like ________ at a friend’s house,” Jessica says.

The couple has a high ________ rate in getting accepted as house sitters and they always go beyond the homeowner’s ________ . For Jessica, that means ________ plenty of pictures of happy pets, keeping the house ________ and leaving a nice small gift before heading to the next house. “You want to make the homeowner feel that they made the right ________ ,” she says.

4 . In September 2016, six people came out from a small solar-powered building on the side of a volcano in Hawaii. They were _________ of a simulated (模拟的) mission to Mars, and they had been living in the building for nearly one year, _________ from the rest of the world.

This mission to Mars was part of an ongoing _________ to see how people would deal with the challenges of living on another planet. Based on the _________ of the experiment so far, here are four abilities you would need to _________ on Mars.

The first is Resourcefulness (足智多谋). When the water system broke, the group had two _________. They could figure out how to fix it or they could _________ months for supplies to be delivered from “Earth”—by which point they would be dead. So they _________ it themselves.

The second is Imagination. The group members have said boredom was a major _________. On Mars, you wouldn’t have Netflix or Xbox, so you’d have to __________ other forms of entertainment (娱乐活动).

The third is Tolerance (宽容). The building is only a quarter of the size of a basketball court. If you’re __________ annoyed by people, life on Mars might not be for you. Whether eating, working, exercising, or relaxing, you would hardly be __________.

The last is Independence. During a mission, there is no real-time __________ between the group and anyone on “Earth.” They have email, __________ messages are on a 20-minute delay (延迟), simulating how long it would take messages to __________ between Earth and Mars. So you would be removed from the lives of your loved ones back on Earth.

5 . William was one of my students. He adored plants but struggled with his reading. After the mid-term test, William’s ______ showed no sign of improvement. Until the last few weeks of the year, when we ______ the life cycle of plants, William excelled. I'd never seen him so ______ in the classroom.

As a class project, each child planted a sunflower seed in one of the containers and ______ its growth. I did this every year, with varying ______. Planting the seeds was exciting for many of the students, the ______ part much less so. It took too long to see results from daily watering, and most kids lost ______ and interest. As a result, they forgot to ______ their sunflowers-to-be.

But not William. Every afternoon, William made sure all the containers were ______ and nurtured (培育). By the last week of school, the ______ were about four inches tall, which really ______ me. In years past, few seeds successfully produced new shoots. And those that did had never gotten so tall. But these were ______. These were William’s sunflowers.

This is what it means to be a ______. At that moment, I knew I didn’t have to ______ William. I’d seen that special seed planted inside him. Others would too. And, one day, he’d start to ______, mature and shine —just like his sunflowers.

6 . I loved my first grade teacher, Mrs. Gross. She had such a sweet smile and a ________ way about her, I wasn’t sure what her age was at the time but she already ________ very grandmotherly. She was soft-spoken and had a very gentle ________ of humor. Unlike some teachers she never ________ at or punished her students. To me it felt like having a second grandmother as my teacher. Every day I arrived at her classroom and sat ________ at my desk with a big smile on my face. Throughout all my years of school I always ________ the time in her classroom the most fondly.

One such memory is still with me to this day. We were doing math problems that were ________ on the blackboard while Mrs. Gross walked through the classroom ________ our work. I finished first and lifted my head up just as Mrs. Gross walked up behind me. She looked at my work and ________. Then she said, “This is rally good work, Joe. You are a very ________ boy.” As she walked on, she ________ touched my shoulder and I felt ________ in my heart. It felt so good to be ________. It felt so good to be appreciated (欣赏). From that moment on I always tried my best. I always ________ my study. I always wanted to be as smart as she ________ I already was.

7 . Yesterday, my daughter had to go to work earlier than usual. Since the gym where I work out is not far from her ___________, I decided to take her to work and then go to the gym.

At quite an earlier hour, the gym was ___________ full of men and women of all ages, working out. I ___________ go to the gym at this early hour, and was ___________ to see so many people. It seems that many go to the gym before going to ___________. Some want to lose weight, others want to ___________ their body, and a great number of people like to build their muscles (肌肉). I know how difficult it is for most people to start exercising. Most people know it is good for their body, ___________ they are too lazy to go to the gym, ___________ in the morning. They ___________ to spend an extra hour in bed before starting their ____________. In the afternoon, they are too ____________ after work, and want to stay at home or go out to meet friends.

If you’re one of them, you need to overcome (克服) your ____________. If you ____________ going to the gym and exercising, you will start to ____________ it. This usually ____________ when you see you’re losing weight, that your body is getting into a better shape, and that you feel stronger.

It is the same in every other area of life. Everything becomes easier if you have great motivation.

8 . A woman is volunteering in ashelter. It all started because she missed her own _________ .

Sandy was at a loss when her beloved Angus died last year — terribly lonely, yet not quite______for a new dog in her life. ________, she decided to volunteer at the local animal shelter and spend some quality time with furry friends who, like her, were ________ their old buddies (伙伴).

Remembering that her dog had loved being read to, she brought along a ________   there.

It's now been 18 months sinceSandy first began ________ her chair beside the dog house. Shelter workers say it really calms down the dogs, but Sandy says it does more ________ to her than it does to the dogs.

Sandy was ________ that photos of her reading to dogs were spreading on the Internet until the media started calling. Kathleen, a fellow shelter volunteer was so touched by the sight of her     ____ to an old dog that she took a photo and posted it on the Internet. She was so ______ with the dogs — I watched her read to several — and they just loved being ________ by her, "Kathleen said.

Inspired by Sandy's style of _________, the shelter has announced that a reading marathon is being ________ for next September. The plan is to get kids in the neighborhood ______ in reading to the animals, with the added benefit of reading practice for the two-leggers, along with plenty of friendly _______ for the four-leggers.