1 . We moved there on my third birthday. My first ________ is our neighbor Arlene handing me strawberries from her garden through a hole in the chain-link fence. She and her husband, Bill, lived next door.

One day, my parents asked Bill and Arlene whether they’d watch me ________ they were out on a date. This ________ well for everyone, so it became a somewhat monthly occurrence. Arlene and Bill didn’t have kids. They had a ________ room in their house, which became “my” room. I had a cabinet and boxes of toys and books in that room, Arlene and I would do crafts together. Bill taught me how to ________ the lawn tractor and eventually a car (stick and automatic).

When I was about five, I had an idea. My parents were watching TV when I spit it out: “What if I adopt Bill and Arlene as my ________?” My parents said I could go over and ask them. I ________ on Bill and Arlene’s door, sat down in their living room, and said, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and ________ accepted. Soon after, they printed out an adoption ________, and it hung on their living room wall from then on.

I remember being surprised that they took my ________ so seriously —not because I wasn’t serious but because I was just a kid. They could have ________ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly magnificent about a child offering up her love and ________ being so excited to accept it. Every child in this world ________ enthusiastically responded love.

Arlene passed away in 2013, two days before our adoption anniversary. Bill gave her eulogy (悼词). At the end, he said, “Arlene ________ her husband, Bill. And the greatest joy of her life, her granddaughter, Katie.”

After the funeral, Bill gave me the ring he’d gifted to Arlene on their 25th wedding anniversary. It’s a simple gold band that I wear on my ring finger as a ________ of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.

2 . My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of ________. Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some ________ to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little plant in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either.

We decided to let it ________ growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ________ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to ________ the weeds (杂草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something ________.The sunflower had not ________ where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the ________.

That’s when I ________ that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we ________ ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we ________ to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ________ to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had ________ in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be ________ of who and what we are, and then the environment will begin to ________ us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.

3 . It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital. I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for all appointment(约会)at 9:30. The nurse had him take a _______ in the waiting area,_______ him it would be at least 40 minutes_________someone would be able to see him. I saw him_______his watch and decided, since I was_______busy—my patient didn’t_______ at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment. The gentleman said no and told me that he_______to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his_________. He told me that she had been_________for a while and that she had a special disease. I asked if she would be____________if he was a bit late. He replied that she __________ knew who he was, that she had not been able to __________ him for five years now. I was____________, and asked him, “And you__________go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?” He smiled and said. “She doesn’t know me but I know who she is”. I had to hold back __________ as he left.            

Now I __________ that in marriages, true love is____________of all that is. The happiest people don’t__________have the best of everything, they just__________the best of everything they have. ____________isn’t about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

4 . A little boy told his mother that there was a teacher-parent meeting in his school. To the little boy’s_________, she said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teacher met his mother and he felt _________of her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar (伤疤) that_________nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to_________why or how she got the scar.

At the meeting, the people were _________by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother_________the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed (尴尬的) and_________himself from everyone. He, however,_________ a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

The teacher asked_________, “How did you get the scar on your face?”

The mother replied, “When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of__________, so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked __________but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She __________the burned side of her face. “This scar will be permanent, but until this day, I have never__________what I did.”

At this point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and appreciated her great __________of sacrifice (牺牲), He held her hand __________ for the rest of the day.

14.

A．honour

B．spirit

C．happiness

D．pride

5 . One day, I was on my way to work. Suddenly, a truck knocked me down and completely crushed my ____ . It wasn’t the driver’s ____ . There was something that ____ his vision. People around ____ me to the hospital quickly. Even though it happened around 9: 30 am, I was only operated on at 5: 30 pm. The doctors ____ to save my leg. But after a few days it got ____ and it had to be amputated (截肢). When the doctor told me, I tearfully asked him, “Why did you take so long?”

What ____ me through this disaster was acceptance — that this is my fate. And now I can either ____ to cry about it, or take it positively. I chose the ____ . So when people used to come to visit me in the hospital and get ____ , I would tell them jokes to make them laugh!

Afterwards I took the treatment, and began to learn how to ____ all over again. My fear was that I wouldn’t be able to play ____ which had been my passion since childhood. However, even though it was ____ for me to walk, I could still play badminton. I began winning some marches. After ____ the suggestion of one of my friends, I decided to ____ a national level. Although I worked as a software engineer, I still ____ five hours a day. And I went on to win several ____ at the national competitions. ____ , I almost completed my training in scuba diving. And I also ____ all over India.

When people ask me, “How do you do so much?” I just ____ with a question, “What’s stopping you?”

6 . Owura Kwadwo Hottish teaches computer science in a school. It is a normal school except for the fact that it didn’t have______

Owura became famous after he posted photos of him on the Internet. In the picture. people could see he was teaching his students by______ an entire computer on the blackboard.The photos showed the______level of education for children in Ghana. People were______ that Owura made sure each button was drawn correctly. He would come to school half an hour ahead of______every day. He drew the computer on the blackboard, but at the end of his class, it was______off to start the next class, so he had to______it the next day! Owura’s efforts______when Microsoft took______of his act. They first took him to an international educators’ meeting in Singapore. He made a______about his teaching methods at the meeting and ______a standing ovation(欢呼) after the speech.

______,Owura got the thing he always wanted for his students—some companies______computers to the school. Not a single child in the school had seen a real computer in their lives. Thanks to their teacher’s______the world took care and treat them with ______

7 . As a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbors to ________ a little pocket money.

One day I ________ on the door of an elderly woman and asked ________ she needed me to clean the yard. She asked why I was not in ________ and I showed her my worn ________, which no longer kept me warm. She ________ me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, “I suppose you want to be ________ now.” She then ________ a jar filled with dollar bills and said, “I’m glad you’ve done a ________ job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to ________ new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to ________ me with your report card and I will ________ you when I see you have worked hard and have some good ________. Now reach our your little hands and take out as much ________ as you can.”

I put my hands in the jar and ________ so much money that it was ________ for me to buy what I badly needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she ________. She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I ________ her that I had an “A”.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighbourhood. I will never forget the huge ________ this wonderful lady made over my life with her ________. This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

8 . One day, I was preparing for an important exam in the library and people kept disturbing me. I was getting more and more _______ and of course, the more upset I got, the less I was able to _______. The last straw (稻草) was when I heard someone singing _______ me. I turned around and saw a girl who seemed very interested in what she was reading. The fact that she looked like a friendly girl didn’t _______. However, it made me even angrier. I _______ my books, glared at her and whispered angrily, “because of your noise, I’ve been unable to study. You’re so _______!”

I left the library _______ hurriedly that I left my most important textbook behind. It was only when I got home two hours later _______ I realized it. I was so _______ that I almost cried. Just then, the phone rang. A gentle __________ introduced the speaker as Jenny. Jenny said that she had __________ I’d left my book in the library and, as my name was in it, she’d asked a __________ to get my phone number from their files (档案). She said that she could bring it around for me.

Of course you’ve guessed who Jenny was. She was the girl I had shouted at for singing. When I recognized her in the street, I was filled with __________ and apologized several times for my rude behavior. Jenny just laughed and told me she was glad to see that I’d __________ left my glare in the library! I couldn’t help __________ at this and invited her back to my apartment for a cup of tea.

We got along really well and ever since then we’ve been best friends.

9 . A man was employed to paint a boat. He brought paint and _________ and began to paint the boat as the owner wanted. While painting, he _________ there was a hole in the body of the boat and decided to repair it. When he finished painting, he received his _________ and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat visited the painter and _________ him with a cheque(支票), much higher than what he was paid for the painting work. The painter was _________.

“You’ve already paid me for painting the boat, sir! he said.

“This is not for the paint job. It’s for repairing the _________ in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service.” the man said. “Certainly it’s not worth paying me such a high amount for something so _________!”

“My dear friend,” the owner said, “You don’t understand. Let me tell you _________ happened. When I asked you to paint the boat, I _________ to mention the bole. When the boat dried, my kids took it and ____________ a fishing trip. They did not know that there was a hole there. I was not at home at the time. So when I ____________ and noticed they had taken the boat, I was hopeless. Imagine my ____________ and joy when I saw them returning safely from fishing.”

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You now see what you did? You ____________ the life of my children!”

Each of us has a moral duty to offer help, wipe tears, listen carefully and repair all the “hole” we ____________ in our life journey, because a small act will make a big ____________ in the future.

10 . From the window of my room, I could see a tall cotton - rose hibiscus (木棉树). In spring, when green leaves were half _______ by mist, the tree looked very attractive. _______ with red flowers. This inspiring neighbor of mine often _______ my mind working. I regarded it as my best friend _______.

However, when I opened the window one morning, to my amazement, the tree was almost _______ beyond recognition as a a result of the storm _______ the night before. I was seized with a sudden sorrow at the thought “all the flowers are to fall” I could not help _______ with emotion: the course of life never runs _______, for there are so many ups and downs. _______ twists and turns. The process of my life saw my beloved friends parting one after another. Isn’t it ________ to the flowers falling off the tree in the wind?

This event ________ from my memory as time went by. One day after I came home. I found the room hard to breathe in and opened the window ________. Something outside caught my ________ and impress me. It was a plum tree (李树) with flowers ________ beautifully by the sunset. The surprise discovery filled me with pleasure. I wondered ________ I had no idea of some tough life restarting over the fallen petals (花瓣) when I felt sorry for the hibiscus.

When the last petal ________, all the admiration for the hibiscus disappeared as if nothing was left, until the landscape was again decorated with the red plum flowers to ________ people of life’s alternation and continuity. Can’t it be said that life is actually a symphony, a harmonious ________ of loss and gain.

Standing by the window lost in thought for a long time, I realized that no scenery in the world remains ________. As long as you keep your heart bathed in the sun, every dawn will present a fine start for you and the world will always be about ________ hopes.

Tell anyone who has inspired you how they have inspired you.