1 . 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.

2 . 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.

3 . 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 ________.”

5 . When I was 19 years old, I decided to pursue my passion for writing as a career. At the time, I knew that it was a _______ choice. It is one thing to turn your passion into a career, but to study writing as a 4-year degree? Was I being crazy or just _______?

The truth is, from the moment I chose writing as my major, I was _______ doubting my decision. I enjoyed my classes, but I couldn’t _______ the anxiety. As my senior year closed in, most of my friends had thought about what kind of careers they were looking for. I, _______, hadn’t even decided what kind of writing I wanted to do.

Then I asked myself why I write. For a while, I did not have a good enough _______. “Because I love it” often came to mind, but it didn’t seem to be a _______ reason to justify (证明……正确) devoting my life. Finally, after many doubts and anxious questions, I found the answer that gave me _______. I have returned to this moment many times to remind myself why I keep _______.

Why do I write? Because it is what I have to ________. I have the ability to share in a way that connects with others. I have the clarity (清晰的思维能力) to see that I can ________ others through the language I use. It is how I can give of myself to the world that has ________ me. And so, I find dignity (尊严) in the work I do.

Every person ________ a passion for something. Whatever they are, it’s worth it to seek out why they matter, and keep seeking until we find an answer that ________. And once you have found the answer, stick to it. ________ to it again and again to remind yourself that what you have to share with this world is uniquely yours to give.

6 . I was shocked when my socially awkward sister, who had suffered from Asperger Syndrome (阿斯伯格综合症), decided to sing in front of our school. I knew she would _______ me in some way, so I disagreed. However, my parents insisted that she _______ and I would have to be part of the audience. I silently hoped that something would happen to save me from watching her _______ face.

As I waited in the hall, sweat (汗水) _______ my face. I comforted myself that no one knew she was my sister and tried to persuade (说服) myself that it would be _______. The lights darkened and the _______ opened to reveal (使露面) my sister standing alone on stage. She seemed _______ , taking a minute to stammer (结结巴巴地说) her name and class. _______ began to be heard in the audience. I shifted nervously in my seat, afraid what was about to happen. But as my sister started to sing, I was _______. Her voice flowed effortlessly and melodiously (悦耳地), filling the hall with its ________. I watched in wonder, realizing I had never known she could sing so ________. I listened carefully to the lyric(歌词) she had written herself, feeling ashamed for doubting her ________. My heart gave way as I heard the heartfelt words.

In that moment, guilt and shame flooded my heart. ________ my unwillingness to support her, she had never taken anything that I had done to her to heart. It was then that I determined to love her ________. It was as if a veil (面纱) had been lifted (移开) from my ________, and my heart was full.

8 . I’ve had many opportunities to experience living in a foreign culture. But my first experience came in an ______ place — my own country. When I was 20, I got an internship (实习职位) in New York City. It was my first time to ______ outside of my home state of Texas.

With my moving north came culture ______. I grew up in a big city in Texas. But it was no comparison to the tightly ______ New York with their 8 million citizens. I was used to life at a ______ pace; New York moved fast. The saying is true — this city never ______. I had to adjust.

My first reaction was fear: I feared I would ______ at my new internship in the 54-storey office building; I feared I would get lost on the subway; I feared that the locals wouldn’t have ______ for my frequent moments of confusion. My fear ranged from reasonable to silly. But I ______ my fears and kept trying.

I learned quickly never to ______ a New Yorker always speaks English. New York is home to people of all walks of life, from all corners of the world. At weekends, I would spend hours ______ along Canal Street in Chinatown — the closest I’d ever been to an Asian country.

“By the end of my internship, I was a little older, a little wiser and_______ of big city life. I hated the skyscrapers, tourists and the high price I had to pay for a cheeseburger and fries. But I had ______ too. I was quicker, smarter and more independent. I knew I would ______ that feeling of having the world right at my doorstep. It was good ______ for the life of travel I’d soon begin.