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 . Nevins had his legs seriously injured in a war and had both legs amputated (截掉) and spent several years going to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The years left him _______ and restless. He was often woken up by bad dreams. He knew he needed _________. To find a way out, he called a friend, Anna Dennis. She told him, “You need yoga (瑜伽) in your life.” At first, Nevins laughed at the advice. “That’ s the stupidest thing I’ve heard,” Nevins said. But he decided to have a _________.

A yoga teacher, Dennis decided to give him three ___________. At his first lesson, he found himself feeling sad because of his artificial (人造的) legs. It was painful to keep balance, and he was angry __________ she kept telling him to press his feet into the ground.

Finally he told her: “___________ saying that word! I don’ t have any feet!” And then, he __________ his artificial legs and threw them away. It was a big move because he was afraid for people to see him without them—only his doctors had seen him like that. However, when he raised his arms, he felt good. “I became a ___________ person,” he said.

When the day was over, he couldn’t ________ his next lesson. Although it began as a ____________ exercise, yoga finally became Nevins’ s saving grace (长项).

Nevins __________ others to learn yoga. “All of us are living with wounds (伤口)”, he said. “Yoga helps you to ________ the things that aren’t useful to you any more.”

Now he travels the world as a yoga teacher, hoping to bring peace and ________ to those who have suffered from the wounds of war. He teaches about twelve classes a month.

“I have a great life. On most days, I ________ that I’ m a disabled (残疾的) person. That’ s because of yoga. Life goes on. I’ m _________ for every breath,” said Nevins.

4 . 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 . English idioms can be interesting and in some way not easy to understand. A year ago, I paid _______ attention to English idioms, though my English teacher stressed the importance _______. But by and by, the importance of the idioms was _______ in a funny experience.

One day, I happened to meet _______ in the street, and I went forward and we began to talk. As I was talking about _______ I was getting along with my English study, the foreigner seemed to be surprised, gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say.” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a _______ topic.

“Well, I’d better _______ the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, _______ we talk about the Great Wall? _______, have you been there?” “Certainly, everyone __________ home will laugh at me if I leave China __________ seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was __________ in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the __________ of the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was __________ again by his order — “You don’t say.” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t ask you to do so,” he answered, greatly __________. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say’?” Hearing this, he laughed out __________. Then he explained, “You don’t say” actually means “Really?” It is a(n) __________ of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay much attention to English idioms.” Not until then did I know I had made a __________ of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. When I meet an idiom, I will not __________ the meaning simply. Instead, I __________ of it.

6 . 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.

8 . A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, but unluckily two of them fell into a deep pit(坑). All the other frogs _________ the pit. When they saw how _________ the pit was, they told the two frogs that they might as well be dead.

The two frogs _________ what the others were saying and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their physical _________. The other frogs kept telling them to _________. Finally, one of the frogs paid attention to the comments, _________ considered them, and gave up. He _________ down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as _________ as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs _________ him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally __________ it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog __________ to them that he was a little __________. He thought they were encouraging him the __________ time.

This story teaches two lessons: First, there is power of life and death in the __________. An encouraging word to someone who is __________ can lift him up and help him make it through the day. Second, a destructive word to someone who is down can be __________ it takes to kill him. Be __________ of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

The __________ of words is great. It is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that __________ to rob another of the spirit to continue in __________ times.

9 . Working in a pet hospital, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound(爱尔兰猎狼犬) named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very _________ about Belker, and they were hoping for a _________.

I examined Belker and found he was _________ of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do _________ for Belker but perform the euthanasia procedure(安乐死) for the old dog. Ron and Lisa _________ and told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to stay _________ Belker. They _________ as if Shane might learn something from the _________.

Before the procedure, Shane seemed so _________, petting the old dog for the last time, that I __________ if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker left the world __________.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s __________ without any difficulty or puzzle. We sat together for a while after my work, __________ about the sad fact that animal lives are __________ than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, __________, “I know why.” Surprised, we all __________ him. What came out of his mouth next __________ me. I’d never heard a more moving __________. It has changed the way I think and live.

He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a __________ life—like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The six-year-old __________, “Well, dogs already know how to love others, so they don’t have got to stay as long as us.”

10 . A man was driving when he found a lady needed help. So he stopped. When he was coming up to her, she was worried______nobody had stopped for hours. Besides, he didn’t look safe as his appearance was so ugly and ______. He could see how scared she was, so he tried to ______ her, “I am here to help you. Don’t worry. My name is Bryan Anderson.”

The car______, so he had to crawl(爬)under the car to repair it. When the job was done, she asked how much she should ______him for his help. Bryan smiled, “If you______want to pay me back, the next time you see someone who needs help, ______the person help. And think of me.”

Several days later in a small ______, the lady saw a waitress nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的). The waitress gave her a friendly smile although she was______after spending the whole day on her feet. Then the lady______Bryan. The lady paid for her meal with a﹩100 bill. When the waitress got______and came back, the lady had gone. She______a note on the napkin(餐巾纸), “You don’t owe me______. Somebody once helped me, ______like now I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let this chain of______end.” The waitress found four more﹩100 bills under the napkin.

That night the waitress came home earlier, ______ how the lady could know how much she and her husband needed money when the ______would soon arrive. She knew her husband worried about that, so she was very ______to tell him the news. Then she kissed him and______, “Now everything will be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

The help you give to others shall always get back to you, so please don’t______to offer a helping hand whenever someone needs help.