1 . 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.

2 . 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.

3 . A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful_________, and knowing her husband could _________it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the_________ , her husband told her how_________he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He_________her a beautiful gift package(纸盒). She opened it and_________ a Bible. _________, she raised her voice and said to her husband, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” She was so_________that she left him.

Many years passed and the lady was very_________in business. She owned two large companies. She__________her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to__________ him. But before she could, she__________a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions(财产)to her. She needed to come back and__________ things.

When she arrived at his house, sadness__________her heart. She saw the still new__________, just as she had left it years before, With__________, she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring__________from the Bible to the floor and a __________could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words “LUV U ALWAYS”.

__________your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it’s because it is better packaged the way it is! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the__________.

4 . One little girl in Dayton, Maine, has unknowingly changed the culture of her school when she became the first and only deaf student to attend.

Morey Belanger, 6, was diagnosed(诊断) with a rare disease when she was one year old. The disease is so rare that it doesn’t even have a name. One of the side effects the disease can bring about is _________loss, which Morey has already suffered. Therefore, she has to use sign language (手语) to _________.

When she reached the age to go to school, her parents were _________ about how she could receive education in normal schools. _________, they met with Dayton Consolidated School. The school was_________ to learn sign language and provide the services she needed.

Still, Morey’s mother Shannon only_________that the teachers teaching her daughter would learn sign language. Never did she imagine that all the students would also learn it. “It makes our whole family just_________.” Shannon says.

Apart from her classroom, Morey also goes to the gym class and the library, and people throughout the school are trying their best to_________what’s best to her.

The school made efforts to make Morey feel she was_________and loved. For example, it hung sign language posters in the hallway and held parties at which sign language____________were given.

“We did these things____________they are the right things to do. She is one of our students,” says Kim Sampietro, the school’s headteacher.

But even if these things were simply the right ones to do, nobody at the school could deny(否认) the____________that Morey and the need to learn sign language have had on the school.

“She’s just brought something to our school that wouldn’t have been there. I think it’s a chance for learning and growth when we have a child who has something____________,” says Sampietro, “She’ll be with the same class through the 5th grade, so I imagine all these kids will____________to learn sign language. It just makes her feel like she’s part of the school and she’s____________as she is.”

5 . We have all heard how time is more valuable than money, but is it possible to have too much time?

I remember back in high school I spent most of my day at school since I also _________ a team sport. By the time I got home, I only had a few hours to do my homework, so I had to do it at once.

When I got into college, things _________. I suddenly found myself out of class before noon time. Because of all this extra time, there was no need to do my school work immediately. I waited until it later became a habit. Once that happened, I just kept _________my studying further and further back in my day. Then I got to the point where I have to _________ really late at night to get my work done.

One day I met a former classmate of mine who was _________ a lot of money running a sideline (副业). Since his regular job was _________, I asked him why he just didn’t do his sideline full-time. He said without the job, he would _________ have too much time and would just do what I did back in _________. He said that if he quit the job, he would lose his drive (干劲) to work and succeed.

So, try to _________ up your time with other work. That is why there is a __________that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.

6 . There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school (寄宿学校). Before being sent away this boy was the ______ student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. He was a ______.

But the boy ______ after leaving home and attending the boarding school. His grades started ______. He hated being in a group. He was ______ all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like ______ himself. All of this ______ because he felt worthless and no one loved him. His parents started ______ the boy. But they did not ______know what was wrong with him. ______ his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat ______ the bank of the lake near the school. The father ______ asking him casual (随便的) questions about his classes, teachers and ______. After some time his dad said, “Do you know, son, ______ I am here today?” The boy answered back, “To ______ my grades?” “No, no,” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about ______. I care about you. I care about your happiness. You are my world.” These words ______ the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He ______ his dad. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this ______ who cared for him deeply. He ______ the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!

9 . Over the years, I never thought of my father as being very emotional. He never was, ________ not in front of me. My father never told me he loved me when I was a child, and never held it against him. I thought that all I really wanted was for my dad to take________in me.

On November 9^th, 1990, I received________that my National Guard unit would be sent to the front. I went on to my father and gave him the news. I could feel he was ________about my going. We never________it much more, and eight days later I was gone.

A few days after Thanksgiving I was able to call my wife. She told me that my father said his usual Thanksgiving prayer (祷告). But this time he________ one last sentence. As he lowered his voice and a tear ran ________his cheek, he said, “ Dear Lord, please________over and guide my son, Rick, with your hand in his time of need as he ________ his country, and bring him to home________.” At that point he burst into tears. I had never seen my father cry, and when I heard this, I couldn’t help but cry myself.

Eight months later, when I returned home from________, I hugged my wife and children in tears. When I came to my father, I gave him a huge hug. He whispered in my ear, “ I’m very proud of you, Son, and I love you.” I looked at that man, my dad,________ in the eyes as I held his head between my hands and I said, “I love you too, Dad,” and we hugged again. And then together, both of us cried.

Ever since that day, my ________ with my father has never been the same. We have had many ________ conversations. I have learned that he’s always being proud of me, and he’s not afraid to say “I love you” any more.________ am I. I’m just sorry it has taken more than 30 years and a war to find it out.