1 . Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on paper? Words — beautiful and fascinating. But you know what is better than putting your imagination somewhere? In my case, to win the competition for the best novelist.

That was a small tournament organized by my school annually to _________ our creative writing and vivid imagination. Since I had a burning passion for _________, I decided to show my power. I thought no one could _________ me.

I finished a long story and e-mailed it. As I _________ the email every day, my eyes were wandering to _________ the line “Congratulations! It is a great pleasure to inform you that…” _________, no such thing came.

I was not accepted. I _________ my abilities. The next day at school, I tried my best to be _________, avoiding the usual contact. But in the corridor, I _________ Stacy Williams, my school rival. Could she be the __________? I started walking sneakily. In class, I was just looking out of the window at the __________ clouds which were a reflection of my soul.

Thankfully, a film that night — Forrest Gump lifted my __________. I wouldn’t let a stupid competition __________ my future. I could win on the next one or even at a better tournament. The important thing was to __________ my head and face my challenges without losing hope when everything seemed __________.

4 . Two years ago I was a typical girl with a rather plain life. When _________ to a local voluntary organization called “Peer-to-Peer” by a poster, I had no idea what this group was about. _________, to learn more about it, I decided to attend a meeting, which changed my life.

Just like the _________ suggests, everyone is considered a peer, including regular members and our leaders. This means we can _______ our leaders by their first names. We can also ask our leaders for help in _________ life situations, which we know they will never _________! When it comes to conversations about awkward topics like love, we are encouraged not to be ashamed of ourselves.

This organization’s meetings _________ in our local library. We usually gather and communicate about _________ topics concerning our society: education, equality and safety…. This kind of communication helps us to make the right choice and _________ our mind. Sometimes we’ve gone outside in order to participate in meaningful events. One event we had, __________ was “Give a cigarette — Take a candy” intending to decrease smoking.

At this organization we are friends with each other and are a __________community. I’ve also gained a lot of __________ experience by communicating with people and working in the team.

With time going by, I have found an abundance of other __________ organizations such as “Give Good” and “Youth Initiative Center”. All of them have __________ me a great chance to develop my own personality and make my life unbelievable. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of wonderful __________about my youth with me getting older.

8 . On March 18, 2018, I was alone at home in San José, Costa Rica, drinking a cup of tea, ________ that my life was about to change. I received an e-mail ________ with the subject “scholarship selection result”.

My heartbeat quickened as I read through it, and I was mad with joy: I had been chosen to receive a(n) ________ scholarship for a master’s degree in conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Finally, I would be able to gain a deeper understanding of the ancient tales of dragons and the old legends of China, which had always ________ me.

Five months later, I arrived in Shanghai, ________ an entirely new world. At the airport, two of my Costa Rican friends were waiting for me and accompanied me to the ________ at Lingling Road.

I remember clearly when I approached dorm building No 3, I was ________ by the sweet melody of a dizi(Chinese flute), which was totally different from all that I used to hear in my ________.

In Costa Rica, I learned the conducting technique well. ________, it was my professor, Cao Tongyi at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who ________ me in promoting my skills. His teachings ________ not only careful attention to detail but also the art of letting the music flow as gracefully as T’ai Chi.

In my opinion, that’s the ________ of life in China. You can see it on every ________ when you notice how the traffic flows or on the way people walk to the subway, and even on how the delivery system works throughout China. ________, music can surpass the boundary of notation (符号) and paper, ________ from the musician to the audience, enriching the world one note at a time.

9 . Dexter lives in Ouray, Colorado, where, for the past few years, the two-footed dog has been turning heads wherever he goes. His owner, Kentee Pasek, says ________ on two legs isn’t a trick she taught him. Rather, it’s a(n) ________ he made after a near-death experience.

When Dexter was a puppy, he escaped his yard, dashed into the ________ and got hit by a car. He lost his front legs. Everyone ________ he would need some kind of adaptive equipment to get around. He did use a ________ for a while until one day when Pasek set the dog at the foot of her porch (门廊) without it.

Pasek ran in to get a cup of coffee, came out and ________ found that her dog had climbed the stairs. She ________ her cellphone, put Dexter back at the bottom of the stairs and ________ him walking up the stairs on two feet without the wheelchair.

In the six years since, Dexter has become a full-blown celebrity, ________ in parades and building a group of social media ________, who now come to the dog’s hometown just hoping for a glimpse of Ouray’s most ________ “citizen”.

The whole thing isn’t considered as a ________ for many people. People praise Dexter for his option to stay ________. He shows where humans see ________, dogs sometimes beg to differ. And Dexter’s action has proven that sometimes getting ________ is the only way to see how tall you stand.

10 . Growing up, singer-songwriter Trevor Martin knew his childhood was a little different from those around him.

When Martin was born, he wouldn’t ________ bleeding (流血). When he was two days old, he was ________ in an ambulance to a hospital, where he was diagnosed (诊断) with severe hemophilia (血友病). Speaking to Martin now, he remains ________. Having hemophilia was a ________ that would set the stage for his approach to life.

Martin was 8 years old when he ________ his love for singing and performing. He sang a song with a local orchestra (管弦乐队), his first time singing for an audience of a thousand, and he got a standing ovation (热烈欢迎). It ________ his eyes. By the age of 13, he had ________the guitar and was writing his own songs. Now, at 25, he’s an up-and-coming pop-country ________.

Music has always been a ________ personal expression for Martin, and living with hemophilia has ________ some of his songs. “The first single I ever ________ was written and produced with the father of another boy with hemophilia,” he said. “That was really ________to make that connection in the hemophilia world and put that music out there.”

As a (n) ________ voice in the hemophilia community, he’s feeling positive about the future. Right now, he’s working on more songs to release later this year. “I’m so honoured that I have the ________ to show others that the difficulties in our lives don’t have to hold us back from pursuing (追求) our ________.”