1 . Lilies (百合) filled my sister Betty’s hospital room. They were her favourites: She knew she wasn’t____________for this world, so her mood was bad, appearing to be ____________. But whether she looked at the lively, bright lilies,____________would wash over her and she would become calm for a moment.

On the last day of her life. I bought all the ____________I could find in the market and ____________ her room with them. She closed her eyes ____________. I knew it was all because of lilies. Several months after her ____________, I was still sad. That fall, my husband Jim bought me some lilies. He hoped that Betty’s favorites could ____________me as it did to her.

The lilies brought me anything ____________peace unfortunately. They only made me ____________Betty in the hospital —the flowers withered easily by time, and how____________were to my sister, who got weaker day by day.

“Why don’t we ____________some lilies outside?” Jim suggested. “If they ____________the cold weather you might feel differently about them in spring.” ____________here is extremely cold. How could weak lilies survive it? ____________, Jim planted some lilies. I didn’t have any ____________on them so I paid no attention.

In spring I was surprised: a green appeared out of all the lilies Jim planted. “Probably it is a weed,” I ____________. But as the plant ____________with more leaves. I knew I was wrong. This strong, brave plant was a lily.

Betty had ____________during the last days of her life, but she would be strong again in Heaven. And she was telling me this by ____________her favourite flower to live through the cold winter successfully. I became peaceful, as I knew my sister was well in Heaven.

2 . Last Saturday, two teenagers, Jim and Bob, went to the Rocky mountains with their parents for the weekend. In the morning, the two boys decided to _________ Cathedral Mountain by themselves while their _________ relaxed at the campsite.

After three hours, they reached the top successfully. However, _________ began when they climbed down the mountain. Bob fell three meters off the path. He was badly injured in his right leg and couldn’t _________. Jim didn’t want to leave his friend and waited for help with Bob.

When the boys didn’t return that evening, their parents became very _________. They got in touch with park workers and began _________ the boys.

While waiting for help, Jim gave Bob his food and water and let him lie on his jacket to make him more _________.As it was getting darker, Bob told Jim to go back to the campsite, but Jim still didn’t   _________. He used his extra shirt to keep Bob warm.

At sunrise, Jim and Bob started the long climb back to their anxious parents with great difficulty. _________, after four hours, they arrived at the campsite. Bob thanked Jim for saving his __________, saying that is the greatest thing a person can do for his friend.

3 . Can you imagine that having spent more than one thousand hours working hard but received no encouragement at all? This was the _________ thing I went through when I joined a new swim team with a Russian teacher, Peter. As a top_________ , I was used to receiving _________ from my former coaches. However, after practicing for a few weeks, I did not _________ any words like “you’re almost there”, or “you’re doing great” that _________ me through those hard practice. I just had to face more _________ when I was waiting for smiles and praises. To me, Peter was a _________ man.

As we got to _________ each other, I learned that Peter had been influenced by his own unusual _________.

He himself had once spent over 1, 000 hours swimming and received no praises and was __________ asked to do more. This method of coaching that seemed so __________ to me was from what he __________ in Russia.

Eventually, I began to appreciate his __________ to give out praises. He did not feel the __________ to say nice things, since he believed one should be __________ without these praises.

It was his different coaching style that made him so __________. He was the first coach who helped me see the __________ of experiencing various coaching styles. They may be __________ at the start but they can help me grow in many ways. Most important of all, he was the only coach who helped me to understand that I learned to swim not for praises but for an even bigger __________ which would bring out the best in me. Decades has passed since we saw each other __________ I still miss Peter so much.

4 . School breaks are chances for me to get away from boring life. For the Thanksgiving break of 2018, I decided to visit my ___________ in Ithaca. It was a(n) ___________ journey from my home to Ithaca by bus—9 hours.

The first leg of the journey, to Scranton, needed about 6 hours. I had to ___________ buses in Scranton for the last leg of the journey. ___________, my first bus got delayed .Then I ___________ my second bus and had to wait for several hours until I could take the next ___________. It was 6 p.m. in Scranton when I waited for the bus. I called my cousin to tell him about the ___________ and mentioned that it might be ___________ when I arrived.

While I was on call, I didn't ___________ that there was a lady standing close by, listening to my ____________. When I got off the call the lady approached me and ____________ about my journey. When she learned that it had already been a long and ____________ day for me, she took out a big cake and ____________ it to me.

This was a kind act but I ____________ the lady because I had something in my backpack. As I ____________ my conversation with her, I ____________ learned she came from a poor family. She didn't have much money ____________ the cake was her dinner. I was ____________. And at this time, I realized how true and kind an act of ____________ was when one gave away what she also ____________.

5 . When I was younger, it was as if my family lived on the road. We were so _______ to packing our truck and trailer and going on the road to our _______ . Typically, these travels would _______ long road trips. Sometimes we would _______ friends. And other times we would be visiting _______ . Although some trips were short-lived, the experiences, _______ , and things I have learned from them would be _______ .

In Mexico, I learned more about the ethnicity (种族) I belong to. Here in the US, I have learned large amounts of knowledge about how culture can _______ from state to state and how it affects everyone else. The people we met on our journeys also contributed to the memories I now _______ of traveling experiences.

As you get older, you start to become ________ of the fact that not everyone was ________ like you and there is more to the world than the ________ bubble we tend to view ourselves in. Taking a little bit from everything ________ the bubble, though. And taking the time to ________ all the new things, we can build our character even more.

Humans have the natural wanderlust (旅行癖), and a strong ________ to explore. We travel every day, even if we don’t ________ it. Going to work or school is just as much traveling as taking a trip to Europe. Everything can be turned into an ________ , and there is something to see at every corner.

Taking the time to ________ that everything we do can be a learning experience can ________ change the way we view our lives. So we should take the time now while we are young to understand this and take ________ of it because we only have so long to live, and there is so much of this world to be seen.