1 . How Running Helped Me Turn My Life Around

I’ve never been an athlete. Besides being good at all academic performances at school, my main goal was to ________ PE lessons at all costs. In my twenties, I went for an occasional yoga class, but that was really the ________ of all my athletic

That was until the end of 2016, when I was unexpectedly fired. The possibility of getting a new job soon was not in my ________ and dark thoughts of not being good enough started to ________. I was feeling depressed but pushed myself to go and ________ for the TCS Marathon runners as the course was going through our neighborhood.

However, while being there, I got extraordinary ________ from all the runners, smiling and applauding constantly. Not a runner myself, I thought maybe I could give running a ________, just to try to use my neglected gym membership and see where it ________ me. And so I tried. I went to the gym the next morning and got on a treadmill. I was breathless by minute five, but I slowed down, walked for a bit and then restarted. I came back the next day, hoping to ________ a few minutes longer. Two weeks later, I could successfully run for 30 minutes.

While I saw my body look more toned (协调的), I also noticed my negative thoughts didn’t occur that ________. And it sparked a thought—what if I could set a running goal and sign up for my first race? I did and races sort of became a new hobby.

In the meantime, I secured a few freelance (自由职业的) projects. They offered me a good ________, and most importantly, the time to work out for the big race. I got my full-time job ________ at my dream company just several weeks before the half-marathon. Although I got an injury before the race, I still went for it and finished within my ________ time.

I still have a long running ________ ahead of me—I’d love to work on my speed, my technique and I dream of running a marathon outside of the US. Running gives me ________ that I can do anything I set my mind to.

2 . Recently, I have been struggling to connect with my dad because our conversations have seemed unimportant to him. In a half-hearted attempt to find something that could ________ him, I pulled out my phone and showed him a few ________ of Jay, my new pet rabbit.

“Did mom tell you I got a bunny?” It was an unusual question. To my surprise, my dad’s ________ were lifted. “A black bunny!” he called out, getting closer to ________ the photos. He wanted to know more. I hurried to find more photos, holding on to this ________ opportunity.

I shouldn’t be ________ that it was a bunny that broke through the ________ between my dad and I. Growing up, we never talked much. ________, our time together centered around animals, like catching crayfish at the river and caring for turtles and crabs. ________ animals has always been our thing.

A few months later, I came up with more photos and videos of Jay on my laptop so my dad could see them more ________. I had been ________ that his initial interest in Jay was a one-off event, but he ________ again when I showed him the new stuff.

Our love for animals is the ________ that connects us. There was no ________ to start having deep conversations if that had never been our style, just finding ________ together in a photo of a bunny was enough.

3 . Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class fun homework — to draw picture of something for which they were _________.

Most of the class might be _________ economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the boliday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her students’ _________. And they were.

But Douglas made a _________ kind of picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the tescher’s true child of misery (不幸) , weak and unhappy. As other children played in the playground, _________, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those _________ eyes.

Yes, his _________ was different. When _________ to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand, nothing else. Just an ordinary hand.

His strange image captured the _________ of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a __________ because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a police officer’s because the police protect and __________ people. Still others guessed it was the hand of God for God feeds us. And so the __________ went on—until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.

When the children had gone on to other pictures, she walked up to Douglas’ desk, bent down. and asked him whose hand it was.

The little boy looked away and muttered (低声说出). “It’s yours.”

She __________ the times she had taken his hand and __________ with him here and there, although she had the other students. How often had she said, “Take my hand. Douglas. We’ll go outside.” Or “Let me show you how to __________ your pencil.” Or “Let’s do this together.” Douglas was most thankful for his teacher’s hand.

4 . Hansen and his 10-year-old son Chase search the streets of Salt Lake City every weekend for the homeless to take to lunch. They started Project Empathy(共情)four years ago to ________a meal, listen to their stories and figured out how they could ________ help.

“Just start with a smile, a hello. It really just starts with that. If you do it, you can make a connection. A small gesture can have a ________ impact on others less fortunate,” Hansen ________ in an interview.

Some of these shared meals have turned into stronger ________ .Ward, a homeless, was ________ in a flat. He credited the Hansens with helping him ________the difficult process of moving off the streets. “It is great to have friends who make us feel ________ and I’m impressed with the pair,” Ward said.

Father and son’s ________have developed into a passion project that ________ faith and community, which emphasizes the ________ community members can have in uplifting the homeless. They know they can’t settle the homeless ________ alone. They’re hoping empathy will ________.

“My hope for the future is to ________ more connection across our country. We could and we will succeed ________ we have other people join in and help the homeless,” Chase said.

5 . My local supermarket is always busy. The first parking space I found was convenient, but I’d noticed a woman in a blue car ___________ for a while. As I was ___________, I let her have it. On the ___________ of the car park I backed into the next available spot — it was a tight fit.

Pretty soon, I’d made my way through the supermarket and was back in the fresh air. Feeling good, I ___________ my purse change into the hands of a homeless man and helped a ___________ woman reverse park (倒车).

Just as I ___________ my car, I saw the woman I’d let have my car space ___________. She was giving a mean odd _____________ — half puzzled, half intent (热切的). I smiled and wished her a pleasant day. As I squeezed back into my car, I ___________ the same lady looking in at me. “Hello,” she said, hesitantly. “This might sound crazy but I was on my way to ____________ some of my mother’s things off at the charity bins. You are just so much like her. You helped those people, I noticed, and you seemed so happy.” She looked at me meaningfully and passed a box in through the ____________, “I think she would like you to have it.” Shocked, I took it from her ____________. She smiled and walked away.

After a pause, I opened the box. ____________ was a beautiful gold necklace with a large grey pearl. It was the nicest gift I’d ever received, and it was from a complete ____________. The necklace was around my neck, a warm ____________ of human kindness.

6 . Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new _________ in high school.

_________, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to the cheerleading tryouts (选拔赛). She was competing against very talented (有天赋的) girls, and she knew it would be _________ for her to be chosen. Two hours later, the judge read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart _________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling _________, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was _________. She moved on to English and history, and was happy to find that she didn’t have any trouble with these subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to _________ math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school newspaper but was told that they had enough _________ for the newspaper already. Jenna smiled _________ and left. “Why is high school so ____________ ?” she sighed.

Later in ____________ class, Jenna tried to figure out the problems that had given her so much ____________. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she collected her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to ____________ at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to ____________. High school was just as her mum had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond. The challenge is to become the ____________ fish you can be.”

7 . Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience: the iPad.

Instead of looking at nature, I________my email. Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading________newspapers each morning. And that was the problem: I was acting as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation but my________wasn’t.

So this year I made up my mind to try something________: getting away from the Internet. I knew it wouldn’t be________, since I’m not good at self-control. But I was________. I started by handing the iPad to my wife. Then, a stroke of luck: The mobile phone________at our cabin was worse than in the past. I was trapped, forced to carry out my plan. Largely________from e-mail and my favorite newspaper websites, I had little way to________the world. I had no________but to do what I had planned to do all along: read books.

With determination and the strong support of my wife, I succeeded in my vacation struggle against the Internet. I finally________that it was I, of course, not the iPad, that was the________.

I knew I had________when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. “Don’t need it.” I said. ________, as I return to work, a test begins: Can I survive when I’m back at work? I don’t plan to________my iPad completely. But I hope to resist the temptation (抵抗诱惑) to use it every five minutes.

8 . When I was young our family lived right beside a set of railroad tracks. I can remember the whole house would shake when the trains ________. Later the rails were out of service, ________, so I often spent my summer afternoons walking along the tracks. What impressed me most was the first time I tried to walk on a single rail and ________ myself. The rail was so narrow and slippy that I didn't have much ________. First I tried holding my arms out and ________ my feet when walking, which only led to me falling off after a few ________. I decided to walk backwards once but quickly slipped off and ________ my ankle on the rail. It was only when I started looking ahead that I managed to walk steadily on the rail.

Looking back on this, I'm now ________ that it gave me a wonderful ________ about living. You can't go through life watching and being ________ about every move you make, it only results in your lack of ________ and your doubting yourself again. Looking behind is even worse-you can only stand still and stay ________ in your regrets. It's only when you look ahead that you can really ________.

Therefore, in life, we need to ________ ourselves of looking ahead to pursue the life we want to lead. Then each move we make is ________ with self-trust and we will walk on with a light heart.