1 . Turning 13 can be painful. Sure, pimples (粉刺) are a problem. _______ it’s the feelings of insecurity that really _______. “I would gaze into the bathroom _______ and ask myself, ‘Is this the sum of my 13 years?’” author Gary Soto says of his _______ self. “We all doubt ourselves — _______ we look, how we play on the field, how we dress, how we do in school.”

These _______ form the basis of Soto’s latest book, Mercy on These Teenage Chimps, which is _______ in bookstores.

Soto tells the story of two 13-year-old friends, Ronnie and Joey, who are self-conscious about their _______ appearance. In the mirror, they see the _______ coming out of their chins doesn’t improve the look.

It gets ________ when the coach at school embarrasses Joey in front of a girl. ________, Joey returned to his childhood hideaway in a tree. Soto understands the need of a place to ________ it all. “I remember my childhood street from tree level. It was an escape from the ________.”

The trouble is that Joey has no intention of ________ his sanctuary (避难所). It’s up to Ronnie to convince his friend to face the world ________. In his search, Ronnie stands bullies and nosy neighbors, and ________ from more than one roof.

“This book is a call for mercy for young people ________ self-doubt,” Soto told TFK. “It’s a comic novel about ________. Ronnie concerns his friend and knows he must do ________ in his power to return him to his optimistic, fun-loving spirit. That’s ________ a friend does.”

The moral of the story: You don’t need to be the best-looking chimp in the jungle. All you need is a loyal friend who will stick by you, even when the going gets a little, well, hairy.

2 . The silence of the Reference Library was broken only by the sound of pages being turned over. There were about twenty people in the room, most of them with their__________bent over their books. The assistant librarian sat at a desk in one corner.   She had a look at Phillip as he came in, then went on with her work.

Phillip had not been to this part of the library before. He_________around the room almost on tiptoe, _______of disturbing(打扰)the readers with his heavy shoes. The shelves were filled with thick books: dictionaries in many languages, biography and some others. He found nothing to interest him, _______he came to a small area on photography, which was one of his hobbies. The books in this area were on a high shelf out of his__________, so he had to fetch a small ladder(梯子) in order to get one down. Unluckily, as he was _______down the ladder, the book he had chosen slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a__________crash. Twenty pairs of eyes looked_________ at him together. Phillip felt himself go red as he ________up his book, which did not seem to have been damaged by its________.

He had just sat down when he found the young lady assistant standing alongside him. “You _____be more careful when you are holding these books,” she said seriously. Satisfied that she had done her duty, she turned to go back to her desk. Then a sudden________struck her. “By the way, how old are you?” she asked Phillip. “Thirteen,” he told her. “You’re not________in here under the age of fourteen, you know,” the assistant said. “Didn’t you see the notice on the door?” Phillip shook his head. He _________the assistant to ask him to leave. Instead, in a more _____tone(语气) , she said: “Well, never mind. But make sure that you don’t disturb the other readers again, or I shall have to ask you to leave. ”

3 . Chad and I spent about 15 years celebrating our anniversary the old-fashioned way. He’d give me _________, I’d give him a card and we’d go out for dinner. _________ we both enjoyed our child-free time together, I finally _________ that I didn’t even like red roses, and his card ended up in the garbage can.

So we_________ a new tradition called the Every Other Year Anniversary. We alternate years planning a _________for each other. A celebration of a marriage should be _________, and we intended to make it so.

I was perfectly _________ to go first, planning a weekend getaway to Hiawassee. I chose all the activities—it was _________ for Chad to think of anything. As for Chad, the _________ added to his excitement. And, he didn’t have to call the flower shop at the last minute to __________ flowers.

The next year was my turn to be surprised. Chad, though traditionally not a romantic person, __________ successfully, planning a weekend in Nashville. We went on a comedy bus tour that made us__________a lot; we visited the Grand Ole Opry and downtown Nashville. Chad __________ endured (忍受) some shopping just because he knew I would like it. We ate at a very excellent restaurant and __________ each other’s company more than ever. For once, I didn’t have to make any decisions. I could __________ Chad had put a lot of thought into where we went and what we did.

We agreed at this point that the new __________ would be topping (超越) each other the following year. __________, we manage to do it every time. Of course, some years have been better prepared than others, __________on finances or the children’s schedules.

We have now been __________ for more than 20 years. The Every Other Year Anniversary has made our marriage loving, complete and, __________, fun! I can’t wait to see what’s in store next year.

4 . Better starve free than be a fat slave. There is nothing worth so much as liberty.

There was once a Wolf who got very little to eat because the dogs of the village were so wide awake and _________. He was really nothing but skin and bones, which made him very_________ to think of it.

One night this Wolf happened to fall in with a fine fat House Dog who had _________ a little too far from home. The Wolf would gladly have eaten him then and there, but the House Dog looked so_________. So the Wolf spoke very humbly to the Dog,_________ him on his fine appearance.

“You can be as well﹣fed as I am if you want to,” suggested the Dog. “Leave the woods; there you will live miserably _________ you have to fight hard for every bite you get. Follow my _________ and you will live a beautiful life.” “What must I do?” asked the Wolf. “Chase people who carry walking sticks and _________ at beggars. _________ you will get delicious food of every kind — chicken bones, meat, sugar, cake and much more, besides, not to speak of kind words and care.”

The Wolf had such a beautiful vision of his coming happiness that he __________ wept. But just then he noticed that the hair on the Dog’s __________ was worn and the skin was red and sore.

“What’s wrong with your neck?” “Nothing at all,” replied the Dog. “What? Nothing?” “Oh, just a trifle!” the Dog added, “Perhaps you see the mark of the collar __________ which my chain is fastened.”

“What? A chain!” cried the Wolf. “Couldn’t you go wherever you want to go?” “Not always, but what’s the __________?”refuted the Dog.

“All the difference in the world! I don’t care about your feasts and I wouldn’t take all the tender young lambs in the world at that __________. ” insisted the Wolf. And __________ ran the Wolf to the woods.

5 . Relaxing under a sun umbrella, I felt comfortable. My friend Chickie went for a swim.

The ocean was as smooth as glass. I thought,“I can float (漂浮) on my back as if I were in a swimming pool.” Then I ______ it. I closed my eyes and ______ the gentle rocking under me.

I floated peacefully until the water under me rolled and splashed (溅起) over my face. I opened my eyes and ______ around. How did I get so far from the ______? I hadn’t realized how ______ the sea was carrying me.

I ______ swimming as quick and hard as I could. I cried for help, but I was completely ______ in the water. Far off on the beach I could see people ______ their umbrellas. I thought, “It must be the time for lifeguards to leave work. I’m going to ______ here and nobody even sees me!”

Two young men suddenly came near me. One of them ______ my arm. The other held his arm. ______ they pulled me toward the beach.

“You were caught in a riptide (激流),” one man said.

“Thank you so much for ______ me,” I said.

Slowly I got up to walk back to my ______. Chickie had come back. I looked back at my ______ and found they had simply disappeared. Then I sat down with my friend to tell her about my ______.

6 . Pericles said, twenty-four centuries ago: “Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on insignificance.” We do, indeed! Here is one of the most interesting stories that Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick ever told--a story about the battles won and_________by a giant of the forest.

On the slope of Long’s Peak lies the _________ of a huge tree. Naturalists tell us that it _________for some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador, and half _________when the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth. During the course of its long life it was struck by_________fourteen times, and the endless storms of       _________centuries thundered past it. It _________them all. In the end, _________,an army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the_________ . The insects ate their way through and__________destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their__________but constant attacks. A forest giant fell__________before beetles so small that a man could easily kill them between his forefingers and his__________.

Aren’t we all like that battling__________of the forest? Don’t we manage somehow to survive the rare storms and lighting__________, only to let our hearts be __________by little beetles of worry——little beetles that could be killed between a finger and a thumb?

To __________ the worry habit before it breaks you, here is the rule:

Let’s not allow ourselves to be__________small things we should ignore and __________. remember “Life is too short to be   __________ .”

7 . I met Nancy two years ago and we immediately became friends. Rarely would a day go by when I wouldn’t see her outside of work. I was ________ by her intelligence and sweetness. In the beginning, she was very supportive of my efforts and made me feel ________ about myself. After about a year, she told me that she is an alcoholic. This ________ prevented me from wanting to be her friend, but after she ________ that she is such a person, she became more ________ getting drunk around me when I visited her home. She would call and text me nightly asking me to come to her house, and I would ________every time. I felt obligated (有义务的) as her ________ to be with her when she was completely drunk. I was partly worried that something ________   would happen to her, and part of me was also very ________ , and I needed to have someone to care about me.

Last year, the cold, hard truth ________ me. I would always be there for her when she was drunk and help her use the bathroom, or walk up the stairs. I was letting her know I was OK with her alcoholism. I would listen to her problems and respond ________ advice. One night my dad was in the ________ because of heart problems. I was sad and anxious. I ________ Nancy, but she was so extremely drunk that she couldn’t even understand what I was saying. That night I learned this relationship was completely ________ . I could comfort her, but I couldn’t expect to be comforted in return.

She has chosen not to seek help for her alcoholism. ________, I need to end my relationship with her.

8 . David and Case are 12 and 11 years old. Like most _________, they don’t have much money. They get a little pocket money from their _________ for doing chores. And of course, they wish they had more _________ to spend on comics and candy.

One day, the two friends were walking through a parking lot when they saw something on the ground. It was a wallet. They _________ the wallet up and looked inside. The wallet was _________ loaded with cash. _________, there were $500 in bills.

The boys _______   to find the rightful owner. They didn’t even think about touching the money. _________, they found a driver’s license and _________ a plan. Case stayed at the __________ where they had found the wallet, while David took the wallet to a nearby __________ station. Pretty soon, the police officers were able to __________ the owner of the wallet.

Scott Ames was so __________ to get the wallet back. It wasn’t __________ the money. The wallet also had some __________ in it, such as a photo of his late mother. And of course, Ames was amazed to __________ that not one of the bills had been removed.

__________, a person with strong morals had found his wallet, he __________. When the police told him that two pre-teen boys had found the wallet, he was __________. Sure, there was no reason for him to be surprised that two boys were pillars (栋梁) of the community. But it didn’t exactly __________ the stereotype (刻板印象) of young people.

9 . When she first looked for her wedding dress, Gwendolyn Stuglis had a budget or $1,000. After trying on several dresses, she was _______ a champagne-colored dress with long sleeves by the salesclerk. “I got _______ in my eyes because it was the dress I really wanted,” she admitted. The only _______: it was triple her budget. After some encouragement from her mother-in-law, Stulgis _______ it. She explained, “Although I hadn’t enough money, that dress was _______ made for me.” She wore the gown with _______ when she became a Stulgis.

As most brides do, she hung her wedding dress in her closet when the _______ was over. Realizing the dress would be _______ if it continued to sit there, she decided to give it away. Stulgis turned to Facebook to search a _______ bride. In the post, there were two ______________: the bride must have their ceremony within three months and the dress must be ______________ others. More than 70 messages ______________ into Stulgis’ mailbox immediately. Margaret Hyde had planned on making her own dress before she saw Stulgis’ Facebook ______________. She told her sister-in-law, Alycia Ashley, that she wanted to enter but was ______________. So, Ashley secretly emailed Stulgis, ______________ Hyde as the most selfless person she knew.

Stulgis was moved by Ashley’s ______________. On June 4, Hyde was told she was chosen. “It was unbelievable,” she said ______________. Hyde promised to follow the traveling dress requests. After her post, Stulgis ______________ a Facebook group called Shared Dream Dresses. Since June, 200 dresses have been given away. Stulgis’ community of bridal donations started with such a ______________ emotion. She shared, “I want people to feel like they are worth something. I want them to ______________ their dress dreams without worrying about buying one. A dressing shouldn’t be kept in the closet.”

10 . Confucius would be happy if he lived in the modern world. He would see his works and philosophies(哲学) still _______________ among teenagers even though they live in an_______________ of information.

In Changzhou No.2 Middle School, Jiangsu, all senior 3 students now_______________ a course in Lun Yu once a week. The school aims to improve students’ appreciation of the Confucian heritage(遗产)as well as_______________   Chinese civilization.

“Students’ attendance in this course will _______________   30 percent of their Chinese score on the final exam.This reward_______________ their interest in the course, which is _______________ but full of wisdom,” said Cao Yongzhong, a Chinese _______________ at the school.

_______________won’t be easy for students to enjoy The Analects(文选) of Confucius ________________ ancient Chinese as they________________   so many other subjects to learn and exams to ________________.

Cheng Yun,18, didn’t like the”additional burden”________________, but now it turns to be a course ________________ she looks forward to.

“I thought it would ________________ my time for homework, but it doesn’t.________________ sentences are short and concise(精练). I even use some of his wise   sayings in my compositions, ________________   makes my writing more attractive,” Cheng said. ________________ the fact that all students are required to learn some chapters of the book when in junior school, they may be ________________ young to understand the truths revealed(揭示)by Confucius.” Although I ________________ the language we use nowadays to Confucius, what the master said in the book does help me shape my personality.”said Zhang Junzhuo,18.