1 . During my first three years of college, I put on about 30 pounds of weight. Between classwork and a part time job, I had zero time for _________. On top of that, I ate a lot of fast food. Not surprisingly, I _________ a fat stomach.

After leaving college, I _________ to take exercise. Invited by a friend, I _________ working out with exercise machines three times a week. I was the kind of person who did not try something _________. I ate the same foods; I did the same things. Clearly, I _________ my routines (习惯). My friend, however, became _________. One day, he said, “We’re not getting enough exercise. We should play tennis instead.”

Me? Play tennis? No way. I was strongly against his _________. I was not good at sports. Besides, I was _________ the exercise machines. __________, weeks later, I found myself standing on a tennis court (球场). As I held my racket (球拍), I felt __________. I gave my friend some looks that could kill. I ran after every ball he served to me, completely __________ about 90% of them, and hitting the rest into the other court. The first few months were quite __________. But one day, as the ball came flying to ward me, my racket and the ball finally met in the place where it is most effective to hit a ball. I watched __________ as my return landed where I had aimed (瞄准) it. I had finally __________ how to play tennis properly!

Tennis would finally become my __________. I played it for several years, only __________ because of a knee injury. I learned a __________ during my journey toward learning to play tennis: I can do whatever I set my mind to. I just __________ to put in the work, and the __________ will follow.

3 . Passion, like life, is about the journey, not the destination. Kimberly and I have been planning a trip to Europe for a year. This was a/an ______ of ours. We took our friends Frantoise and Stein Eriksen with us.

The most   ______ part of the journey started with a train ride that had some curveballs (不顺利). When we were trying to get on a   ______ from Zurich to Croatia, we had gotten the departure time wrong and had to ______ around the station to make it in time. We had a tough time finding a taxi to ______ it to the ship. We finally found a taxi and arrived an hour late. ______ , they waited for us.

Once we got onto the ship we ______ it was not like a large hotel with great service. It was tight quarters. The bathroom was very ______ . The shower was a spout (喷头) connected to the bathroom sink. You ______ it on and sprayed yourself, along with the rest of the room.

The week-long ship ride was full of ______ . There were people from different nationalities speaking different languages. We stopped on islands of all sizes. We bicycled 30-40 kilometers. Then there were high winds-so high that the buses couldn’t ______ because they might blow over. So we took an expensive taxi, and ______ back to make our flight home.

While we loved the more predictable parts of the trip, our real passion was in the ______ —the missed rides, the ______ ship, the mixture of cultures, and even the ______ .

Sometimes people are so ______ it scares them to do something different. ______ when they do get out of their comfort zone, the different experiences they once thought were ______ are what stand out. Mixing things up, trying new things, seeing something through another person’s eyes, being ______ to adventure—this is how you create ______ .

4 . It was nearly half past five in the afternoon. No one was left in the museum, and John was walking around to_______if everything was all right. _______ he saw a painting lying on the floor. John didn’t know how to deal with the painting, so he picked it up and _______ it to the director of the museum.

The director knew they had no such painting in their museum and called several others to _______ and see if it was a stolen painting, but _______ claimed (认领) it. So the director decided to _______ it in the museum. All the experts were _______ to come to look at the painting. Each one said it was _______ and had very deep meaning. The director was _______ to have such a painting in his museum and congratulated John on his ________.

Some weeks ________ a woman and her little son came to the museum. ________ they were looking at the new painting, the little boy began to ________. The director felt there must be some ________ and went over to ________ ask him.

“________ are you crying, young man?”

Hearing the words, the boy stopped crying, ________ to the painting and said, “The painting on the wall is mine and I want it ________.” The director felt very strange and a little embarrassed, but he didn’t believe what the boy had said.

“Yes,” said the boy’s mother, “It was indeed my son who painted it, and he left it on the floor a few weeks ago. If you look ________, you can see his ________ on the painting.”

5 . Two years ago, something happened that changed the way I look at the world. On my birthday, my grandfather fell and hit his ________ on the sidewalk. Just as we were leaving to meet him for ________, we got the call that he was in the ________. At first, I thought ________ of it, but when I heard the whole story,   I couldn’t believe it. He hit his head so ________ that it had to be operated on ________. Everyone thought he would ________.

Although my grandfather ________ emergency brain surgery, he could hardly talk and he couldn’t walk. Shortly after, he was ________ to a nursing home. Today, he lives at home with my grandmother and is doing much ________, but this isn’t about him. It’s about what I saw at that nursing home.

I saw something that many people haven’t seen, and some do often ________ to ignore it, I saw more ________ in the nursing home than I thought. In that one place were hundreds of old people who were alone and ________.

So what as to be done with the situation of the ________? This is not a/an ________ question, but something must be done. Perhaps our society could keep them in ________ contact. For example, every school could ________ a nursing home. If so, those students could bring them much joy. This is just an idea; we all need to ________.

I wish everyone to ________ a local nursing home. I further expect you to do something about it. You’ll ________ someone’s day, or maybe even his or her life.

6 . Mobile phones are everywhere in big cities. It seems that _________ can survive without one. Mobile phones are a great _________ to stay connected with friends and family. _________, it is important to remember that there are certain times _________ you should not be using your phone, especially as a student, during school.

_________ you are in class, you should not be sending your friends text messages _________ taking phone calls. Your classmates and teachers should not have to deal with this _________ behavior(行为) . Aren’t you at school to learn?

In the United States, students would never be allowed to _________ their mobile phones during class. If you were to send or _________ a text message you would probably be kicked __________ class. It is very disturbing to hear a lot of tones and ringing during __________. There are many more rules for mobile phone use in America and it is to __________ respect for those around you.

As a teacher in China, I have to __________ students using mobile phones every day. I have told my class to __________ their phones, but many students do not listen. __________ to be connected all the time seems to be more __________ than the desire to learn.

It’s easy to understand __________ it is so tempting(诱惑人的) to have your phone on during class. It seems so easy just to send a short text message; it’s not hurting anyone, is it? But you may actually be hurting __________ when you do this. Your teacher knows when you use your phone and may give you a __________ grade. Sending a text message also takes your attention away from what’s going on in class, you may __________ something important.

7 . When I was 25 years old, I had a big dream in my mind and lots of things in my backpack. I wanted to travel around Africa with my ________. So I left my hometown with great confidence and   ________ to Cape Town, not really ________ what to do next. ________ , before my trip actually started, I met a kind, old Nigerian man. He gave me the best travel ________ I ever received: “Be like a student on your way around the world.”

It sounds ________, but it really changed my mind about travelling. He helped me________that travel is about learning and observing different ________ . “It’s far too easy to go into a ________ country for you and believe your ways are better. But if you study, ask questions, and ________ to learn from the locals, you’ll have much richer ________ , ” he promised me.

On other trips ________ I was on my tour way to Cancun, I didn’t know the man so I was just a ________ . I only stayed there for a week to see the ________ and places of interest and then left. The culture didn’t   ________   me. I left the cities and towns without really ________ anyone or anything. Those people and   ________existed in those very places to which I had ________a visit.

This time, I promised myself that I would be a ________ student traveller. After seven months of ________     travelling from Cape Town to Cairo, I returned home. Having a student-like attitude helped me learn a lot. This trip satisfied me more than any other trip ever did to me.

9 . One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. All students waited anxiously(焦急地)at their desks for the test to begin. The professor________the test papers with the papers facing down as usual. After giving them all out, he asked his students to________the test pages and begin.

The students were________to see that there was no question but just a black dot(点)in the center of the page. The professor noticed the________on everyone’s face and told them, “I want you to write about what you________there.”

The students then started the test. At the end of the class, the professor________all answer sheets(答卷)and________reading each answer. All of them gave a(n)________of the black dot and tried to explain its position(位置). After the professor finished reading, all the students were________.

Now, the professor began to explain, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to give you________for this but I just want you to________something. Here everyone ignored(忽视)the________paper and focused on (关注)the black dot-the________is with our lives. The white paper represents(代表) our whole life and the black dot represents________in our life. Our life is a gift given to us with love and care and we always have reasons to________ —our friends around us, the job that provides us with our livelihood(生计), etc.________, we just focus on health problems, shortage of money, and the________relationship with workmates, etc. We never see that these problems are very________compared with everything we have.”

Be happy and live________. We should try to take________off our problems and enjoy each moment that life gives us.