1 . I started cooking when I was thirteen. Both of my parents worked, so I was usually _______ after school. One day, my parents forgot to _______ dinner before they went to work. As we were short of money, eating out was beyond _______. So I decided to be the _______ of the day.

A few moments later, I _______ to cook fried rice, the best option out of _______ resources, including my cooking knowledge. After _______ a pan on the stove and turning on the heat, it soon began to sizzle. I was so hungry that I _______ and threw everything into the pan all together. In went rice, pieces of meat and vegetables. Little did I know that the _______ of ingredients (原料) was crucial in cooking. I ________ waited for the meat to be thoroughly cooked, but other ingredients were ________. At first, I mistook it as steam from cooking, but I soon ________ something went horribly wrong when smoke ________ to fill the kitchen.

Later that day, my mother told me, “You cannot rush yourself when cooking.” Rather, I should take steps, turning to the basics, such as learning about the ingredients and ________ the recipe.

I’ve learned that the first ________ seems hard but we should just start and let the journey teach us.

2 . When I was a teenager, I was invited to a formal dance party. I was _________, but also nervous about what to wear. Mom suggested I wear high heels (高跟鞋).

“Mom, I don’t know if I can wear these,” I said, feeling _________. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Just take small _________ and keep your weight centered,” she suggested.

As I arrived at the party, I tried to be _________ and act like everything was fine. But _________ struck when I stepped onto the dance floor. I _________ my own feet, falling to the ground in front of everyone.

I quickly got up and laughed it off, pretending like it was _________. But deep down, I felt like a tomato, wanting to _________.

My friend Lilly helped me _________ that incident and managed me another high heels as a support so that nobody would understand my hesitation. But a little bit __________ continued in my mind.

When I returned home, I told Mom I felt like a complete __________ at the party. “It’s okay. You tried something new, and it didn’t go as __________. But that’s how we learn and grow. Don’t be too __________ on yourself and wear what you feel __________ in,” Mom said, giving me a hug.

From that day forward, I stuck to flat shoes. I learned to __________ my true self and not worry about what others thought.

3 . For me, becoming an Olympian was not developing a gift of natural athletic ability, but an act of will.

In the summer of 1979, I started _______ for the Olympic trials(选拔赛) to be held the next year.I felt happy as I made progress towards my big _______. But then in November, an _______ situation appeared. I injured my back and couldn’t move. I had to leave the _______. Everyone felt _______ for me. Everyone but me.

I never believed this would _______me. However, my _______ was slow. With only a few months remaining, I knew I would never make it _______ I did something. So, I started training in the only way I could in my mind.

I bought films of the world­record holders in pentathlon (五项全能运动).Sitting in a chair, I _______ them over and over.I lay on the bed and imagined the experience of ________ at the trials. Some people thought I was crazy, but I wasn’t ready to ________ yet. I trained as hard as I could without moving a muscle (肌肉). I ________ this practice with all my heart.

By the time the trials actually began, I had been ________ enough to compete. ________,as I walked across the field, I heard a voice on the loudspeaker announcing my name.I could hardly hold back my ________ as the announcer said, “Second place,1980 Olympic Pentathlon: Marilyn King.”

5 . Afroz Shah, a lawyer in Mumbai, hasn’t had a weekend off in four years. But he hasn’t spent this time preparing for _________.

His mission? Saving the world’s oceans from _________ pollution.

It’s a calling he found in 2015 after moving to a community in Mumbai called Versova Beach. He had played there as a child and was_________to see how much it had _________. The sand was no longer _________ because it was covered by a layer of garbage more than five feet thick — most of it plastic waste.

“The whole beach was like a_________of plastic,” he said. “It hurt me. The _________ mess.” What Shah had seen is part of a global environmental crisis. More than 8 million tons of plastic _________in the world’s oceans each year. It’s predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. “Plastic in the ocean is a _________. And the sea species have no choice at all, ” Shah said. “We are ______________ their habitats.”

In October 2015, Shah began ________________ up plastic waste from the beach every Sunday morning. At first, it was just him and a neighbor, and then he began calling on others to join in. Word ________________ and with the help from social media, more volunteers got ________________.

For Shah, the work has always been a ________________ journey, but it has earned global attention. After he was ________________ as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations in 2016, Shah now devotes nearly all of his free time to this ________________.

He’s now spent 209 weekends on this mission, ________________ more than 200,000 volunteers, some of whom are young students, to join him in what’s been called the world’s biggest beach cleanup. By October 2018, Versova Beach was ________________ clean and Shah’s cleanups expanded to another beach as well as a stretch of the Mithi River and other regions of India.

“This world talks too much. I think we must talk ________________ and do action more, ” he said when interviewed by CNN in October 2019.“We are a smart species. Well adapt. We’ll learn. And with these youngsters rising up, I see ________________.”

7 . Different colors usually stand for different feelings. Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like _______. Red is used for signs of _______ such as STOP signs and fire engines. Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a _______ color. They associate orange with happiness. Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful color. They associate yellow with happiness too. Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing color.

In general, people _______ two groups of colors : warm colors and cool colors. The warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Where there is warm color and a lot of light, people usually want to be _______. Those who like to be with _______ like red. The cool colors are black and blue. _______ are these colors, people are usually worried. Some scientists say that time seems to _______ more slowly in a room with warm colors. They suggest that a warm color is a good way for a living room or a _________. People who are having a rest or are eating do not want time to pass quickly. ________ colors are better for some offices if the people working there want time to pass quickly.

8 . 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.

9 . 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.

10 . It was Mother’s Day, but our mother was far away from us. I decided to drive to the ______ with my wife and our children to gather flowers.

After we arrived, we went hiking, played games, and collected all kinds of flowers and so on.How happy we were! Finally, though, we had to ______ our car and got ready to go back home. While the kids chatted and I drove, my wife sat behind me, surrounded by her flowers, a(n) ______look in her eyes.

Suddenly my wife ______to me, “Stop the car.Stop right here!” ______ I could ask her what had happened, she was out and went up a nearby grassy hill with the lilacs (丁香花) still in her arms. At the ______ of the hill was a nursing home and, because it was such a beautiful spring day, the patients were outdoors talking with relatives.

My wife went up the hill, where an elderly patient was sitting in her ______, alone with her back to most of the others.My wife ______the flowers to her and said something. The patient raised her head and smiled. They talked for a few ______before my wife ran back. As the car ______ away, I found in the mirror the woman ______ with the lilacs.

“Mom,” the kids asked, “Who was that? Why did you give her our _______ ? Is she somebody’s mother?” My wife said, “I didn’t know the old woman. But it is Mother’s Day. And she seemed so ______. Who wouldn’t be cheered by flowers? ______,” she added, “I have all of you, and I still have my mother, even if she is far away. That woman needed those flowers more than I did.”

Now, every May, our own yard is _______ with lilacs. Every Mother’s Day we drive to the countryside to gather flowers and sow more seeds in our yard. And every year I remember that lonely old woman in her wheelchair, and her smile on her face.