1 . It was an extremely hot summer day. A thunderstorm had passed and now the clouds were cleared and the sun returned. Steam was coming off the ____ sidewalk as I parked my car. I ____ into the local store to buy my son a shirt. The air conditioner there was welcome ____ from the heat outside. 

Having made my ____,I walked back into the heat. I got into my car but had to wait to ____ because all the cars were lining up at the red light. I looked out of my car window and saw something on the pavement. A single butterfly was ____ fluttering (拍打) its wings but couldn’t get off the ground. Besides, it was right in front of a truck’s tire. Without a second thought, I got out of my car, ____ my hand so that the truck driver wouldn’t move ____,and then bent down to look at the butterfly. One of its legs was ____ in what looked like spilt soda. I reached down and ____ the butterfly in my hands ____. I lifted its leg and it was ____. I opened my hands and up it flew towards the shining sun. My own eyes shined brighter and my own heart was ____ as I watched it. 

Lots of people might wonder why I would step out into traffic like that to ____ a single butterfly. All I can say is that my heart was ____ me at that moment. And when I had done it, I felt more like my true self than I had all day.

2 . My name is Miranda Gibson. I have been at the top of a tree for five months now. Some people might wonder________on earth I would choose to do that.

I have walked through this forest many times. On December 12, 2011, ________rolled into the forest and the destruction (摧毁) began. I couldn’t________the thought that these forests would be________ forever. So, on December 14, 2011, I packed up my life, ________of my job plans, and climbed 60 meters to the top of this tree. I have been here ever since.

Life in the tree top can be________at times. I have times when I feel frustrated (沮丧的) and wish I could________, to anywhere, just have a ________of scenery for a minute! There are times too, when I feel terribly________.I miss my friends and family.________these times, I find myself loving the________.

Living on the tree has been inspiring. I am willing to________ here for as long as it takes,________I honestly hope it won’t be too________before I can put my feet on the ground below and stand in a forest that will never be________.

3 . When 12, I knew my teen years would be the _______ years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt _______ alone in my small town. _______ , by doing volunteer work when 14, I turned my _______ into a chance to help others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel my life had a greater _______. The more _______ energy shared, the more kindness and appreciation I _______. I realized my purpose in life would be to help people, especially teenagers, feel less alone.

Books were my true friends back then. I was so _______ that the authors wrote those books. The _______ they offered with their books saved my life. My biggest dream was to become an author to write books that would ________ other teenagers as those books helped me.

After ________ terrible experiences at school and at home, I chose to take the positive road in later steps of my journey. I have been a full-time ________ of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach ________ to readers every day.

Kindness saved me ________ I needed help the most. Small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is ________. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.

4 . When Dave was eighteen, he bought a secondhand car for $200 so that he could travel to and from work more _________ than by bus. It worked quite well for a few years, _________ then it got so old, and it was costing him so much in repairs that he decided that he had better _________ it.

He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly _________ to buy a cheap car, but they all knew that it was falling to pieces, so _________ of them had any desire to buy it. Dave’s friend Sam saw that he was _________ when they met one evening, and said, “What’s wrong , Dave?”

Dave told him, and Sam gave a(n) _________, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? That way you may _________ more than the cost of the advertisement!” Thinking that Sam’s _________ was reasonable, he put an advertisement in an evening paper, which read “For sale: small car, __________ very little petrol, only two owners. Bargain at $50.”

Two days after the advertisement, there was no __________. But then on Saturday evening he had an enquiry (询问). A man rang up and said he would like to __________ him about the car. “All right,” Dave said, feeling happy. He asked the man whether ten o’clock the next morning would be __________ or not. “Fine,” the man said, “and I’ll __________ my wife. We intend to go for a ride in it to __________ it.”

The next morning, at 9:45, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door, __________ to wait there for the people who had __________ his advertisement. Even Dave had to __________ that the car really looked like a wreck (残骸). Then, soon after he had got the car as clean as it could be, a police car stopped just behind him and a __________ got out. He looked at Dave’s car and then said, “Have you reported this __________ to us yet, sir?”

5 . My mother left the field of education formally after I was born. However, she did not leave it _________. She made learning a _________ part of my life. I never watched television, not because I was not _________ to, but because it was more fun writing stories with my mom.

On my first day of kindergarten, I was excited, but _________. During snack time that day, I sat quietly and opened my _________. Inside, I found a note from my mother written on a napkin(餐巾纸). The note said that she _________ me, that she was proud of me and that I was the best kindergartener in the world! Because of that napkin note I _________ my first day of kindergarten successfully and many more school days to follow.

There have been many napkin notes since the _________ one. There were even napkin notes _________ to me in college, far away from my home. __________ I changed majors, changed the way I looked at the world, there was one thing that never __________ — my mother’s encouragement, support and __________ in napkin notes.

This year, my mother __________ to go back to school to earn her degree in teaching. Although I was in __________ of my mother for following her dreams, I wanted her to __________ that she didn’t need a(n) __________ to make her an excellent teacher.

So I gave her a __________ for school: a lunch bag filled with her favorite foods. She laughed as she __________ the lunch bag. Then she pulled out a napkin with __________ on it.

As she opened up her “You can do it!” napkin note from me, tears began to run down her face. When her eyes met mine, I saw she __________ my unspoken message: My mother is, and always has been, a teacher.

6 . I was a shy girl and I was afraid to talk to people I didn’t know. I enjoyed the______of exploring nature. ______, at school I had to spend all day in the company of others. My ______ was reading. I spent a lot of time studying and was ______ good grades. My only failure was Spanish—I’d get all As on my written work and tests, but Ds and Fs on the ______ part.

Eventually I went to college. During my third year of college, I had ______ of being shy and determined to change my outlook and behavior. One day while at school, I noticed an advertisement for ______ on the local classical music radio station. I had ______ listening to classical music, and I could easily pronounce names such as Tchaikovsky and Chopin.

I had no background in radio, and absolutely no hope of getting the job. The idea of ______ thousands of listeners in “radio land” terrified me. However, I ______ survived the interview. I was given brief descriptions of symphonies (交响乐) and a public service announcement to read, and a list of composers’ names to ______. It wasn’t hard for me. I left the recording session (录音场次) with a sense of relief and a sense of ______. About two weeks later I actually landed the job. It was a ______ job, but I grew to ______ it greatly. I began to feel comfortable talking to people.

Although I now spend many hours each week talking with people, I’m ______ basically a quiet person. Perhaps it is my soft voice and my ______ nature that helps draw people out when they respond to my questions when I ______   them. My former shyness is a ______, as I can relate to people who feel discomfortable when they talk to reporters. I still enjoy moments of loneliness and the ______ found in nature. But I’m also glad I decided to make a ______ in my life that has opened many doors and opportunities that I never knew existed.

9 . “A” for Attitude

English was always my favorite subject. In my freshman year of high school, I could write a killer composition. In my second year, my teacher _________ me to give spelling tests to the class. I had a _________ time of my junior year. Mrs Alexander _________ me to sit at her desk and take over the class when she had to leave the room. But my senior English class was _________, as we had a teacher right out of college who _________ college-level work. Every student received a “C” or “D” grade the first quarter. But English was still my favorite subject.

I graduated from high school, _________ early and had children. _________ about my English, I often helped my kids with their English homework. And I wrote long articles and beautiful poetry as a columnist (专栏作家) for a newspaper. Fifteen years later, I went to college, and because I had been an “A” student, I remained an “A” student. I _________ up to my own expectations.

Yesterday, I _________ my high school report cards when I was reading old papers. That bundle of report cards __________ back the old days. I remembered sitting in my advisor’s office, __________ that I had always be excelled at English, and recommending that I did not deserve a “D” from that inexperienced teacher of my senior year. The advisor was __________ but unable to change a(n) __________. Reading through my old report cards revealed something else too. I wanted to __________ them or hide them. I was not an “A” student in high school English! Somehow, I had __________ myself of this, when the grades clearly reflected an average student with an __________ “A” or “B” but mostly “C” s.

If I had denied myself according to those grades, I would have never confidently __________ my writing career. If I had __________ my early grades instead of myself, I would have allowed my fear of failure to __________ enthusiasm and damage my creativity. Instead, I __________ my younger self as an “A” English student, except for that undeserved “D”.