2 . Do you wait for people to inspire you or do you take action to inspire yourself?

If you wait, it may take a long time to _______ or it may not happen at all. If you inspire yourself, the frequency and _______ are all within your control.

W. Mitchell is a _______ example. He _______ burns to over 65 percent of his body in an accident and was paralyzed (瘫痪) a few years later, but he never gave up. While Mitchell rose like a phoenix (凤凰) from his suffering, Australian skier Janine Shepherd also _______ back with self-inspiration.

Shepherd was training for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics when a truck hit her. She had a broken neck, back and many other injuries. It was a miracle (奇迹) that she survived. She was told she would never _______ or ski again.

“Never” was a word Shepherd could not accept. She _______ any negative thought. She fought back even when a further setback, a blood disease, _______ .

She_______ herself to live with pain. She didn’t want to be robbed (剥夺) of her life aims.

Every time she heard planes ________ , she lifted her fighting spirit to a higher level.

“If I can not walk, I am going to fly, ”she decided. She ________ to fly even one leg unable to operate a pedal (踏板). Shepherd now gives speeches nationwide, encouraging people not to let go of life.

Mitchell and Shepherd could have given in to their suffering. But no, they did not want to ________so easily. They did not want to ________ or be defeated without even trying in their ________ circumstances. ________ always favours those with determination.

3 . During my last stay in France, I got used to biking down a quiet road. Round a corner, I _______ a little house. In its yard, there was an elderly woman. I waved at her as I went by, and she must have thought I was some _________ tourist, because she didn’t wave back.

The _________ thing happened the second day. But on the third day, the old woman _______ a wave, and by the fourth day, she nearly got out of her chair as I _________ to her.

“Good morning, Madam!” It became a small ritual (礼节) between us.

On my last ride there, however, I didn’t ___________ the lady there. Back at my house, I told Roger, the gardener, of my missed _________.

“She has a bad leg and has gone to the hospital for _________, ” he said.

“Who is she? ”I asked.

“The ___________ road used to be a railway, and the lady’s husband was once the stationmaster,” Roger explained, “Several times a day, ____________ a train passed, the couple would see passengers waving to them excitedly. __________, the station was moved away. Everything is ________ except for this couple. She has ________ the trains and the waves. And you just brought them back to her __________.”

By reaching out, in a way that cost me nothing, I had given more than I had __________ .

5 . Careers in science are often considered as difficult for students lacking talent or intelligence, yet the experience of Scott Kelly, commander of the International Space Station, stands as an example to prove it’s _________

As a child, he displayed little interest in science or any other _________ . He spent most of his school days daydreaming because he was unable to _________ the lessons. As a result, his grades were terrible and he barely graduated from high school, doubting whether he would ever _________his dreams.

That all _________when he picked up and read The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe’s book of the pioneering Americans who first explored space. _________ at last, he was determined to be an astronaut, which meant doing well in science classes. Therefore, he _________ his mind to perform well in his science classes.

After years of daydreaming, it was not a(n) _________ task. But he approached it like a game. The more he_________ his study skills, the more he gained knowledge and improved. __________ , it became a personal __________to see how capable he could become. No one was more surprised than him when this __________ daydreamer began to get straight A’s in his science exams, which is significant for him to become an astronaut.

We’d better stop __________ the statement that science is just too hard. If you are a student who has been told “you’re not a science person” or “your mind doesn’t function that way”, just__________ such comments! Anyone who desires to learn can master these subjects —they just need to be __________to do the work.

6 . About four weeks ago, our dear little Persian cat Ashleigh Faith passed away at the age of 16, for which we felt extremely sad. We ________ her when she was five weeks old and bottle-fed her until she was able to ________ on her own. She was ________, weighing only six pounds at her highest weight. She was our baby, ________ all over the USA with us in our motorhome, then ________ at our home in Custer. Her passing left a huge hole in our ________, and she had been my constant companion during the ________ months of my chemotherapy (化疗).

Recently, our neighbor called and ________ if we knew anyone who did cat-sitting, as she was going to visit family out of state for two months. She couldn’t ________ her cat Bella with her. My husband ________ said “we’d love to ________ Bella.” Then we visit Bella each morning and afternoon, and she has been so ________ for us after our loss. Bella is ten months old, and very ________. We took Ashleigh’s laser light toy and Bella loves chasing the red dot all over the house. She now ________ us at the window, then races to the door to ________ us. Spending time with Bella is just what we needed, and it did heal the pain of losing Ashleigh.

7 . One cold afternoon, Tina saw a newborn bird in her garden. Knowing it wouldn’t make it if left _______, she brought it inside. Little did she know of the _______ the bird would make on her.

The family named the little bird “Gracie”. As Gracie grew bigger and stronger under the family’s loving care, an unbreakable _______ developed between them. But the family knew Gracie should _______ to the wild one day. One year later, they _______ the bird with tearful eyes fly off to explore its own world, not knowing it wouldn’t _______ the family.

Years after that, Tina was diagnosed with cancer. Feeling sad and hopeless, she _______ every day.

But much to her surprise and joy, Gracie _______ the day Tina came home from her operation. Though Tina had lost all her hair, Gracie _______ her and landed on her shoulder chattering(唧唧叫) to her. Tina was so excited that she kissed the bird ________. The house was ________ again. Tina began to ________ dramatically. She cried less and laughed more. Two years later, all her tests were ________! The doctors considered it a miracle(奇迹), but Tina knew it was not.“It is Gracie that gave me hope and strength. Without Gracie’s ________ during the hard time, things would have been different. We ever saved its life, and it was repaying the ________.” Tina said gratefully.

9 . Julia found some of her grandmother Georgie's old design sketches (草图) from the 1940s. Georgie told her granddaughter she was proud of the sketches and wanted them to be ________ by more people, for ________ was a big part of her life. “Being alone all day was difficult for Grandma. I think doing something would ________ lift her spirits, ”Julia said.

Julia took some pictures of those sketches and made a post. It became ________ overnight. A lot of replies under the post ________ Julia to physically make her grandmother's designs. Though her sewing (缝纫) skills were ________ , Julia decided to figure it out. And she learned the basics soon.

With the help of her grandmother, Julia spent countless hours ________ the sketches and turning them into complete designs. Despite the great interest her followers had in ________ her grandma's designs, the dresses Julia recreated were not for sale. “We have ________ when we do these projects and we don't like to take this too seriously. Maybe one day that'll become a career, but right now we're just focusing on our ________ . I'm glad to put on the dresses and ________ them to Grandma. I ________ that I will re-wear the dresses. So I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible, ”Julia said.

“You can have your own ________and it's never too late to go after it. You can still follow something ________ in your life at any age. Maybe it won't ________ , but it's worth taking that risk, ”Julia said.

10 . My 14-year-old son sent a postcard to us while we were still away on our most recent trip to Sydney. It ________ our house about a week later. The touching ________ nearly brought me to tears.

“Even though we ________ have two days of adventure ahead of us, I am just so ________ for everything we have experienced together on this trip,” he writes.

Our youngest son is just about to ________ to 12 years old. In those years, we have never taken a true ________ as a family of four to a place we’ve never been. Like most ________, I have no idea where the time has gone. But I also think these are some of the best ages to ________ with kids.

This vacation to Sydney was our very first ________, long-distance trip together. The kids helped ________ the trip with input on things they might like to see and do. They reached for our hands in crowds. I couldn’t remember the last time they held our hands ________.

One of our family bonding moments came when we took a family surfing lesson. It was the first time any of us had tried surfing, although it was something the boys had been ________. The smiles on the boys’ faces were everything. They were so ________ when they stood up on the board and rode the waves one by one.

Those are memories I’m going to ________. And yes, I will remind them of these times the next time I reach for their ________.