1 . My long-distance cycling career of 13 years and 35, 000 kilometres ended as I approached 75. Although I am now no longer strong enough to _________ the long days and big climbs, day in and day out, I have my memories.

The road behind is just memories, some soon to be forgotten, others to be _________ and enhanced with the retelling. A 6000-kilometre cross-country ride initially appears _________, but, once done, it is simply done, much like the challenges that life _________.

Real _________ would come when I was alone on my bicycle. I enjoyed meeting and even _________ the daily targets I had set for myself. I enjoyed the technical challenges faced by tire bursts and loose handlebars, but _________ not at that time. I loved cycling with a strong tailwind pushing me along and hated _________ into a strong headwind. I loved striking up conversations with a diversity of people and sincerely appreciated the support and comfort they _________.

Long distance cycling brings unbearable exhaustion, long hours of anxiety, even fear and desperation, but these __________ into insignificance, compared to the joy and __________ of climbing huge mountains or seeing fantastic sights for the first time. The experiences add newness and __________ to my life and the memories are __________.

Most importantly, cycling taught me to know myself better. It eventually dawned on me that I had more __________ and courage than I ever imagined. The self-awareness and long-lasting memories will give me enormous __________ as I carry on my life journey.

2 . Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默症) in 2013. With Mary’s condition slowly _______, her doctor told her heartbroken 44-year-old son Sean not to fear. “Being _______ and happy, the Alzheimer’s might make progress”, the doctor said. Taking the doctor’s advice, Sean decided to make a trip with his mom to Nepal.

Sean was _______ when Mary started walking and talking again during their trip—even learning new words. He said, “I thought Alzheimer’s was just a decline, but when we got to Nepal she started to _______.”

Seeing the great _______, Sean was determined to keep _______ with her mom for the next 18 months. Mary got to _______ a festival of color in the Himalayas, climb across mountains in Italy, and feel the sand beneath her feet at the tip of South Africa.

People thought Mary would be a _______, but for Sean, it was the least he could do for the mother he loved so much—who had always _______ to others throughout her life. He said: “She was the best thing in my life. Unconditional ________ is a thing you don’t get often, and she always gave it, even though she had a tough life.”

3 . A group of students from Merchant Taylors’ School recently wrote sweet letters to homeless people. Their sweet _________ were attached to scarves and hung around the city _________ people in need would know they’re _________, said Michelle Langan, who started the _________.

About 150 kids between ages 8 and 9 _________ the project. Langan said that she was inspired to create the project after hearing about a _________ concept in Canada. She began _________ scarves with the help of donations, buying others from charity shops. Then, she _________ to get kids involved to educate them on the subject of homelessness, as well as add an additional element of _________. She visited their school to __________ awareness around the subject and then__________ them to write the “love” letters. It was clear from the start that the students were committed to __________.

“The kids really took the project to heart, and thought __________ about how their messages could raise someone’s __________,” Langan said. “They asked a lot of questions about homelessness, and were very __________ about what they could do to help.”

While the scarves would help keep those in need __________, the messages, Langan explained, would __________ help uplift them.

The notes certainly did not __________. Langan said that when she went to distribute the scarves around the area, she was met with __________.

“One homeless man put on the scarf __________ and carefully put the card in his pocket,” she noted. “He said it meant a lot to know that people cared.”

4 . Once there was a little girl who had many misfortunes in life and was struggling with problems. One day she felt so upset that she couldn’t help ________ to her father why her life was so ________.

Sensing her ________, her father, a chef, took her to their ________. He asked her to just ________ till he finished everything. He filled three small pots with water and placed each on a burner. Once the water began to ________, he placed a potato, an egg, and some ground coffee beans in each pot. Curious, though, she kept ________ as her father instructed her to do so.

About twenty minutes later, he turned off the ________. The chef turned towards his daughter and said, “See, the potato went in strong and hard but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was ________, but now the egg became hard. ________, the ground coffee beans were unique. After being ________ the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.”

Seeing the little girl was still confused, he then ________, “The potato, the egg and coffee beans had each faced the same ________-the boiling water. However, each reacted ________. When hardships come your way, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?” Hearing these words, the girl made her choice inside-she would be the ________, which could not only change the whole situation but also change in its own way. After all, life is 10% what happens to you and 90%how you react to it.

5 . Success can mean different things for different people. For some, success may be a large ________ and a nice car. For________, it may be a well-fed and happy family. For college students, it means getting good________ or passing grades in order to________ a degree.   

And there lies a slight________ with some college students. The way in which they________ success may not always be that they________ it. Success________ hard work, and most importantly, honesty. Some students________ to simply gain success. In 2013, news of the largest cheating scandal (丑闻) at Harvard University was________. It is said that the whole class had a minimum of 250 students and possible cheating was discovered in roughly half the take-home exams.

The consequences for those found________ could range from a warning to a________ withdrawal from the university for a year. And some of the students in the course were seniors, so the latter consequence could also mean giving back their degree and maybe even losing the jobs acquired after________. Although such consequence may have a very________ and possibly life – changing impact on some students lives, I believe it is entirely necessary to________ that academic integrity (诚实正直) is a respected and necessary________ for academic success.

Harvard University is________ thought of as the top of higher education, whose highest standards won’t________ cheating.

So take pride when you make the________ to do your best and honest work. Success achieved in that way is great, and success achieved________ is the only success you can truly call your own.

6 . There was once an old man who became very weak and just before he died, he took out an antique watch and said to his son, “This is a watch that your grandfather ________ to me, and it is more than 200 years old. But before I hand it to you, go to the coffee shop around the ________ and announce that you want to sell it, and see how much they ________ you.”

The son left and then soon came back and said, “The ________ offered five dollars, because he said, it was ________.” The father then said to his son, “Go to the bookstore and see what they say.” Again, the boy went out and soon returned, “They offered me ten dollars ________.” Finally, the father said, “Go to the museum and show them the watch.” A short while later, the boy ________ reported to his father, “They offered me a million dollars for this piece!” With all his ________, the dying old man held his son’s hands tight and said, “My dear son, I want to let you know that the right place ________ you in the right way.”

Your life is ________. Your life has worth. There are times in your life when you start doubting yourself and ________ the value of life. When you find yourself in the wrong place, don’t get ________ because you are not valued. Sometimes it is a result of the kind of people that you ________ yourself with. Those that know your value are those who ________ you. Don’t stay in a place where ________ sees your value.

7 . Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of being a model. But back then, girls were meant to be at home and if they wanted to work, it had to be a “_________ job”. So I started sneaking (偷摸) around to participate in plays. I’d try to _________ famous actress Zeenat Aman. I even got a (n) _________ for a movie—I was so _________, but my father didn’t allow me to do that.

I went about _________ my graduation and then got a job as an officer. Soon I got married. I quit my job and got involved in family affairs. I was so devoted _________ being a good wife and a good mother that my life centered around them. I lost my _________.

After 20 years of marriage, I _________ a job as a teacher. Again, it was difficult because I was 45 and they _________ young teachers. But I __________ everyone wrong by winning the “most active teacher” award!

Once, while surfing on the Internet, I __________ a beauty pageant (选美比赛) ad that said, “__________ is no barrier.” That was my moment—I applied __________. That evening, I told my family that I wanted to give this a __________—they were so supportive!

I __________ myself for the pageant and won second prize. And I took part in more pageants and won again and again! And at 50, I became a model.

8 . On January 3rd, I went to Chicago with my husband to watch a football game. While we were catching the train home, I _________ that a homeless woman crouched (蹲) down low on the street. I _________ that the woman was trying to stay warm.

I had _________ countless homeless people all day, but _________, I was so drawn to this woman. I told my husband to please wait for just a moment and I tried to _________ get back across the street to talk with this _________ woman.

When I got _________, I noticed that the woman — whose name I learned was Amy — had a cardboard sign. It read: “I am in need of winter boots and winter clothing items.”

Given the freezing temperature, I had been _________ dressed that day, wearing 4 shirts, 2sweatshirts, 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves, a coat, a hat, a scarf, and my favorite new pair of winter boots.

I took off many pieces of the clothing items while at dinner and _________ them in my bag. As I spoke to Amy, I became __________ of what I had to do. I had everything in that bag that she needed. I handed her the bag of clothing and winter items that I had taken off. And I sat down with her, __________ my boots, and handed them to her. She said they were the best shoes she’d ever had.

The story, __________, does not end there.

When I started to walk away in just my socks, Amy __________ me and said, “I don’t want your feet to be __________. Can I give you my old boots?” I wore her boots all the way home with a sense of __________ that I had never felt before.

9 . Twenty years ago, Eric Moussambani became a global star. He swam a 100-metre freestyle in the Sydney Olympic pool so _______ that it appeared he might drown.

Eric was the first swimmer from Equatorial Guinea to _______ in the Sydney Olympics, because of a programme designed to encourage sport _______ in poor regions. In the 100 meters, three swimmers from the programme competed with each other. The two other competitors were disqualified for false starts, leaving Eric to swim _______. He started well but in the second lap, his freestyle became a crawl. The 17,000 crowd in the Aquatic Centre _______ him home in 1’52”. On that day, Dutch swimmer Pieter set a world record of 47.84 seconds. Yet ‘Eric the Eel’ became the _______of the world.

Eric learned swimming from a fisherman. When he heard the country was _______ swimmers for the Olympics, he went along. There wasn’t even a _______. Eric can only train himself in an irregular-shaped hotel pool for one hour every day.

When Eric first saw the Olympic pool, he thought it was so _______that he could never finish one lap. “During my training in Sydney, I took the ________ to watch how other swimmers moved their feet.” He said. He also lacked ________until his first race. A coach from South Africa saw him wearing Bermuda shorts and gave him a swimming costume and goggles. And that swim ________ Eric’s life.

It made him a symbol for swimming in Equatorial Guinea, where there are now two ________ Olympic- size pools. Being a national swimming coach, Eric tells the young swimmers the ________ he took from his lonely swim in Sydney. “When you have goals, you have to ________ to achieve them.”

10 . “Mom I’m tired of your asking about my making friends!” Denise yelled. “You have to understand that I’m no longer a kid! I have every ________ to do as I wish. “Denise angrily replied her and went to Tara’s house.

Tara’s father tried to persuade her to ________ her parents, but Denise interrupted, “They still see me as a baby! Could this be as a result of their ________? They’re too old-fashioned!”

“Okay,” Tara’s father agreed, but asked her to ________, “They may sound ________. But ask them why they’re on your neck all the way, and you’ll see they ________ the best to you. Now ________ home and greet your parents for me!”

Although Denise was ________ to leave, she gathered the courage to return home. In her room, her parents opened the floor for sincere conversation.

Her father said “I lacked the________ that my parents denied me. Your mom and I have decided to ________ you to be a good girl. I’ll lovingly instruct you to read your books. You should realize how ________ your mom could be in wanting to know your circle of . We’re doing these to let you know that the friends you make and the books you read determine how ________ you’ll go in life.”

________ by their stories: Denise begged her parents for forgiveness and promised she would be the ________ girl they want her to be.