1 . Early last year, I was troubled by an anxiety that damaged my ability to do anything. I felt like a storm cloud hung over me. For almost a year I _______ on, constantly staring at this wall that faced me. My perfectionist tendencies were the main root of this: I wanted to be _______ at whatever I did, which obviously in life is not possible, but it _______ me.

One day, I attended a _______ by wildlife conservationist Grant Brown at my high school. His words not only awed and _______ me, but also helped emerge an inner desire to _______ in the world. I joined a pre-presentation dinner with him and that smaller setting allowed me to speak with him easily. This first _______ was where my story began.

A month later, Brown invited me to attend the World Youth Wildlife Conference. Looking back, I now see that this would be the first opportunity that my _______ self would have let go, but this new and more confident me _______. Shortly after I received his invitation, applications to join the Youth for Nature were sent around through my high school. I decided to ________ to completing the applications, and soon I was a part of a growing global team of young people working to protect nature, which continued to grow my ________.

I am writing this just six months since my journey began and I’ve ________ that my biggest obstacle this whole time was myself. It was that voice in the back of my head that has ________ so many people from reaching their potential: I can’t. They say good things come to those who wait; I say: grab every opportunity with everything you have and be ________. After all, nature does not require our patience, ________ our action.

3 . The Justice of the Court

The purpose of the American court system is to protect the rights of the people. According to American law, if someone _________ a crime, he or she is considered _________ until the court proves that the person is guilty. _________, it is the responsibility of the court to prove that a person is guilty. It is not the _________ of the person to prove that he or she is innocent.

In order to arrest a person, the police _________ be reasonably sure that a crime has been committed. The police must give the suspect the reasons why they are arresting him and tell him his rights under the law. Then the police take the suspect to the police station to “book” him. “Booking” means that the name of the person and the charges against him are _________ listed at the police station.

The next step is for the suspect to go before a judge. The judge decides whether the suspect should be kept in jail or _________. If the suspect has no previous criminal record and the judge feels that he will return to court rather than run away — for example, because he owns a house and has a family — he can go free. Otherwise, the suspect must _________ bail (保释金). At this time, too, the judge will appoint a court lawyer to defend the suspect if he can’t afford one.

The suspect returns to court a week or two later. A lawyer from the district lawyer’s office presents a case against the suspect. This is called a(n) _________. The attorney (律师) may present __________ as well as witnesses. The judge at the hearing then decides whether there is enough reason to hold a trial. If the judge decides that there is __________ evidence to __________ a trial, he or she sets a date for the suspect to appear in court to formally admit guilty or not guilty.

At the trial, a jury of 12 people listens to the evidence from both lawyers and hears the testimony of the witnesses. Then the jury goes into a private room to consider the evidence and decide whether the defendant is guilty of the crime. If the jury decides that the defendant is innocent, he goes free. __________, if he is guilty, the judge sets a date for the defendant to appear in court again for __________. At this time, the judge tells the convicted person what his punishment will be. The judge may send him to prison, order him to pay a fine, or place him on probation (缓刑).

The American justice system is very complex and sometimes operates slowly. However, every step is designed to protect the rights of the people. These __________ rights are the basis, or foundation, of the American government.

4 . Last year, I decided to explore Antarctica alone. To get some experience, I _________ for a two-week training course. I learned all the _________: how to camp in the snow and what clothing to wear.

In October, I flew to Antarctica from Punta Arenas. I’d planned to finish the adventure within 70 days, which would make it the longest _________ one-way exploration across Antarctica. I just took such basic _________ as food and clothing, and set off alone.

The first few days were _________. The wind was as fast as about 60 mph, and my sled weighed more than 120 kg. Even if the visibility (能见度) was good, I couldn’t _________ much-it’s white everywhere. I was on the move for 13 to 15 hours a day. Then, the conditions became even worse. During the last 40 hours, the wind blew so hard that I _________ about 14 times every two hours. After I _________ 922 miles, I felt too weak and had to ask for a helicopter to pick me up. The _________ I felt when I saw the helicopter in the distance was unbelievable.

Although I fell more than 100 miles short of my __________, I am proud of what I’ve __________. After the trip, I have realized that it’s __________ to change our initial goals. I don’t __________ with those who insist on conquering (征服) somewhere. Instead, I think we should treat places with __________ and hope they’ll allow us __________ passage.

6 . When we talk about healthy brain ageing we are really discussing one of two things: how to minimise ongoing damage to the hardware of the brain, mostly by keeping its blood supply as good as possible; or how to improve the operation of the brain’s software. Many ways of doing this have been suggested, but few have _______ weight behind them. There is currently no magic bullet to protect the brain, but one area that has been best researched, and about which we can say with reasonable _______ , “this will help”, is mental activity.

There is plenty of evidence that older people who stay mentally active, by learning a new language, doing crosswords or taking part in other _______ challenging activities, preserve full cognitive function for longer. They have spent more time doing cognitively demanding activities over a lifetime, and they are, to some extent, buffered (缓冲) from the _______ effects of brain ageing and degenerative (退行性的) diseases. We call this buffer “cognitive reserve” — a(n) _______ reservoir of brain function that can _______ from the consequences of brain damage, allowing us to continue to perform well. _______, people with a higher IQ, longer education or cognitively challenging employment have been found to have a(n) _______ risk of developing dementia. This is despite the fact that their brains actually show normal amounts of age-and disease-related _______.   In fact, studies have found that people with higher cognitive reserve who do get dementia exhibit less severe symptoms even when they have more brain damage than those with lower cognitive reserve.

Yet there’s still much to discover about the _______ of cognitive reserve for optimising the brain’s resilience. The more we understand about its role in protecting our brain and how to boost our reserve, the more effective we will be in designing _______ to keep the human brain healthier for longer.

The good news is that cognitive reserve isn’t _______ to those who have the IQ of a genius or who’ve devoted their life to theoretical physics. We think it can be _______ throughout life for everyone. _______, taking part in cognitively challenging activities, learning new skills and continuing to “use it or lose it” probably apply no matter how old you are. Crucially, it’s never too late to _______.

7 . A winter storm dropped huge amounts of snow overnight on January 16 in western Pennsylvania. ________ Brian Delallo, who worked on a local high school football team, decided to call off his players’ weightlifting ________. He texted his ________ saying: “Due to the expected severe weather, Monday’s weightlifting workout has been ________. Find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel (为……除雪) their driveway. Don’t ________ any money — that’s our Monday’s workout.”

The players received the ________ and went out to work on the more than six inches of snow that fell overnight. They said that they removed snow from dozens of ________. Some players texted their coach afterwards to tell him how ________ it was. “We all feel great about it,” said team captain Gavin Moul. “It’s not only helping them, but it’s helping us to become a better team.”

Many of the people whom the team members approached couldn’t believe that the players refused any payment. Sometimes people even ________ their help because they wouldn’t take money for it.

________, it was not the first time for the team to have shoveling workout. It was started by a coach more than two decades ago. It was one of the many ________ the team kept.

“It’s about community.” the coach said. “It is an inspiring way for us to interact with our community and show that it ________. Shoveling snow is just one of those opportunities to show ________ to the community that supports us.” The team got a workout and gave back to the community by doing these acts of ________ at the same time. It was a ________ for all.