1 . I have been in love with Yoga for many years. The practice of Yoga can lead to a ________ between mind and body. In the training, there is a ________ motion that has been one of my favorite poses. Each time I participate in this practice, I feel a deep sense of ________ with all those in the group.

Instead of standing alone, the class stands in a ________ close enough for us to hold hands. Each of us gives and ________ trust and support from one to another. As a unit we shift our ________ to one foot, resting the other foot against our ankle or our leg muscle. Slowly we ________ the hand position so that we are palm to palm. We ________ our arms and create a crown (王冠) of hands above our heads.

A slight ________ may start and soon we realize we have the ________ of each person in the circle, trusting them to protect us from ________. We feel a sense of security, closing our eyes knowing we are ________. In time we return to standing on two feet before shifting to ________ on the other foot.

As we finish, there is a moment of silence for us to ________ absorb the love and support we have received. Balance with support makes standing together ________ in community. So much better than standing alone.

2 . I had accepted an invitation from my friend John to visit him and his family on the dairy farm. Upon arrival, they told me that one of their cows would be _____ soon, which absolutely aroused my interest. “John, come out!”, his father yelled. We all _____ ran out to see what was happening. Surprisingly, the cow had wandered away from the field and slipped down into a creek(溪流). We dashed there while John’s brother _____ to the barn(谷仓) to get the tractor.

The poor cow was drowned up to her neck. She was in _____ birthing mode, in the middle of the creek. Everyone was enveloped with _____. Some tried to get a rope around the cow to pull her up on the bank, but the fast running current _____ it.

Immediately, I jumped in! When I entered the water, I was _____ by the icy coldness.

Within minutes a sixty-pound calf was born right into my arms! We managed to _____ the newborn calf to safety. The others successfully _____the cow and pulled her up with the tractor.

Then came our next _____: how to get the calf warmed up! As I _____ him fiercely, my thoughts were totally focused on his _____. He made it! However, since the cow had given birth in the water, her afterbirth, along with her scent(气味), had washed away. The new mother might not _____ the baby.

_____, the cow took only a short while to recognize her calf. All I had wanted was to see the birth of the calf, but to _____ as fully as I did was one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had!

3 . There are times in life when we don’t have the energy or faith to solve our problems. We can’t find the way to ______ . That’s when our friends carry us. When we are weak, they become our ______ . When we are down, they lift us up. Friends remind us through their actions that we are not ______ , they stand with, pray for and comfort us. Even when some friends don’t know how to help, they ______ to be there for us.

Author Parker J. Palmer in his book, Let Your Life Speak, shares about the time he was ______ depression at home. He recalls that some people who visited him tried to ______ him up. They said, “It’s a beautiful day. Why don’t you go out and take a walk?” Although he understood their ______ , it made him more depressed. Others ______ him that he was a teacher and writer who had helped many people. They said, “Try to remember all the good you’ve done and surely you’ll feel better.” That advice, too, left him depressed.

Then one friend named Bill asked Parker’s permission to drop by his ______ in the afternoons. Bill would sit Parker in the chair, ______ his shoes and socks and for half an hour, massage (按摩) his feet. Bill would simply do that and almost say nothing. When he talked ______ , he would not offer any suggestion but ______ Parker’s feelings. That simple act of ______ was what helped Parker ______ his dark time.

We are thankful to the friends who stand by us in uncomplicated ways. And we are thankful for the opportunity to be the ones who are ______ for our friends when they are in need.

4 . When I was in third grade, I watched a video that recreated the _________ of an ancient tomb. I remember the archeologist John peering through a narrow hole in the tomb with a candle. A workman asked what he could _______: “Wonderful things!‌” John said. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

Today, I’m lucky to work as an archeologist. I _________ the lives of people who lived in ancient times. It’s     _______ work. Sometimes you find something that was _________ three thousand years ago. Holding a piece of history is an amazing feeling.

So I decided what I wanted to be at the age of nine, and I made it happen. Seems easy, right? Not quite! The road wasn’t _________. I did my studies—university, then a Ph.D. But along the way I was told many things: I was too young, and I wasn’t _________. I should get _________ and have kids. I also needed money, so I _________ for six grants. The first five replies I got said no. Six months later the last reply came: This time it was yes. Finally, I could start my own __________.

For anyone thinking about a career, I would say: Never __________. If you want to do something, keep trying. If people tell you no, use that-it will __________ you. At the beginning, it hurts. But the next no hurts a little less. It makes you __________ and actually helps you.

Second, focus on your goals. And I stress yours. You don’t have to __________ other people. If they say something has never been done, make it happen. You may be the first to do it! There are always __________, but you overcome them in the end.

5 . I first heard of Alex Haley around 1967. My brother Paul, who was a student at West Virginia University, told me that this man had given a(n) _______ lecture on campus, which was part of a book the author would be _______.

“It’s Roots”! Paul said. My mind began _______. What a brilliant title. I had been interested in my own “roots” _______ I was nine years old, when I interviewed my parents and _______ my first family tree, on the very day after we buried my father’s father.

When I read Roots in 1974, I was _______. I had a serious period of _______ toward Alex Haley. I wanted to be like him. Alex Haley called finding out roots “a hunger to know our heritage” in his _______ successful book.

My Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) series, Finding Your Roots, which I _______ showing respect for the title of Alex Haley’s book, can trace its own roots to that family tree I ________. And a letter I received from an African American geneticist explained that scientists can now do what Alex Haley ________ to do in Roots. After my DNA was tested, I got the idea for the ________, which from the beginning was a huge hit. So how would Alex Haley feel about this ________ technology?

Roots continues to be important because we are a nation of immigrants. That’s one of the ________ truths in Finding Your Roots. Today, all of us who stamp on the exciting path in search of our roots stand on the ________ of a brave author named Alex Haley.

6 . Veteran (老兵) Willenbring has always been a fighter. She grew up with her parents on the West Coast during an adolescence she describes as sometimes _______. But the military struck Willenbring as a way to _______ the aggression she says built up during an unstable upbringing. In 1998, she joined the army and was _______ to a foreign country.

“We were actually part of the initial _______to go into the country,” she says. “And I can’t even describe the _______.” In the scenes of destruction, Willenbring recalled some ordinary sights that briefly woke her from the stress of the war every night. As her mission came to an end, her luck ran out. She ended up severely _______ and had to be taken away in an air ambulance.

She _______ returned to her home country, and spent three years living in her hometown, a city called Salem. She _______ to adjust to civilian life. Fireworks would _______ particularly difficult episodes. “I had PTSD (创伤后应激障碍) so badly that I could not ________ living in a city anymore,” she says.

Instead, in 2010 Willenbring ________ on a plot with sheep in rural Oregon. The sheep, she says, have helped her manage her trauma symptoms. She’s surrounded by animals that ________ her emotions and can tell her own mood.

The ________ rural life is an apparent contrast to the chaos of battle. Willenbring hasn’t had a major ________related to her PTSD for eight years. Farming has its dramas, she says, “but it is also something that is about creation, about ________ over death rather than death over life.”

7 . Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers to their boarding gates. The free trains run ______ all day long. Not many people consider them ______ , but I heard laughter that day. At the front of the first carriage were a man and his son who was about five years old．

“Here we go! Hold on to me tightly!” the father said. “Look out there! See that pilot?

I bet he is walking to his plane.” Hearing that, the son ______ his neck to look with curiosity.

As I ______ , I remembered something I’d wanted to buy. I was ______ for my flight, so I decided to go back. I did and just as I was about to go back to the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had ______ , too.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father asked, “You’re not ______ ?”

“Not at all. It is fun! Fun!” his son pleaded, looking into his father’s eyes ______ . “All right,” the father agreed, and when the door opened we all got on. I realized that the father and his son were just riding this train together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s ______ .

At this warm ______ , I was lost in thought. Some parents afford to send their children to study abroad alone, ______ they end up going on the wrong track. Some parents live in million-dollar houses and ______ to meet their children’s every need, even unreasonable ones. As a consequence, their children become ______ .

What’s wrong? The answer is so simple: parents should care enough to ______ some time with their children, to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, but it is the most ______ thing in the world.

8 . Early in my teaching career, I heard countless excuses from my students for not having their homework. Many of them were made up and ________. And, yes, “the dog ate it” was one of them. As time passed, I was ________ of hearing “I don’t have my homework because….”. “No excuses. No ________!” I, out of anger, ________ my eighth graders.

Then, one afternoon, Anthony ________ me and said shyly, not taking his eyes off the floor, “I know you said it doesn’t ________ why we don’t have our homework done, but my dad moved out and my mom waits tables at night, so I have to ________ my little brothers.” Feeling shocked and ________ for him, I put my hand on Anthony’s thin shoulder. “Why are you just now telling me...?” I stopped in mid-sentence. I knew why. So I ________ the question, “Would it ________ if you stay in my classroom after school and work on it before you go home?” He nodded.

The next day, I ________ to all my students that I’d offer an after-school study hall. Anthony was the first student to ________. Before long, I had a room full of eighth graders who stayed to work on their homework. I soon had a large collection of “I don’t have my homework because...” ________ like Anthony. All were very ________. Most importantly, I learned that “I’ll ________” works a lot better than “No excuses”.

9 . In 2008, I traveled to a remote region in southwest China to tell the story about the Nu River. The word “Nu” means “angry” in Chinese. Here many ________ lived in the mountains along the narrow river. There were ________ bridges over the river and most people from the villages had to ________ it by zip lines (滑索).

I went to a place closest to a town on a market day. When I got there, a stream of people was already crossing over the ________ waters of the river. They did it ________ or in pairs. Some of them even went with ________ in their arms, such as chickens and pigs. I even saw a goat.

With a camera around my neck, I hooked onto the return line and moved forward until I ________ midway above the river. The waters did look angry below me.

Hanging over the river, I ________ people crossing until those waiting to return home became very ________ . I pulled myself back to the roadside to let them pass, and then hooked onto the line again for another try. Suddenly, I saw a group of people were heading toward the zip lines with a ________!

“What’s the angle? “I asked myself, as I ________ my position. I wanted the river waters in the picture but that was not easy to do. Before I could check all the ________ they tied a rope around the cow, hooked it on the line, and gave it a push. Kicking its legs in the air, the cow ________ the steep line above the angry river.

I reached the line’s end just as the cow closed in. For a second, my camera was in the cow’s face. The view was ________ —completed by the angry river below.

Nowadays, these zip lines have been ________ by modern bridges and government housing projects have been designed to encourage the people to move down to the riversides.

10 . Early in my teaching career, I heard countless excuses—most of them amusing—for why students didn’t have their homework. “The dog ate it” was one of them. As time passed, I grew ______ of hearing “I don’t have my homework because...” So I quit accepting any excuse.

When I was ______ to another school, I took my straightforward attitude with me. “No excuses, no extensions!” I warned my eighth graders on the first day. When a student didn’t have the homework, I never asked why. ______, I sighed loudly, shook my head in disgust and recorded a zero.

One afternoon, shortly after the ______ bell rang, Anthony ______ me. “Could I talk to you a minute?” he asked shyly. “I know what you said about our homework, but I don’t want you to think I’m a slacker(懒虫) because I come to school ______ mine so often.”

Anthony looked up at me, and I could see that his lower lip was shaking. “It’s just that...well, my dad moved out, and my mom works at night, so I have to look after my little brothers. Sometimes they cry a lot, which makes it hard to ______.”

I put my hand on Anthony’s thin shoulder. “Why are you just now telling me…” I stopped in mid-sentence. I knew why. So I ______ the question. “Would it help if you stayed here after school and worked on it?”

He swallowed hard and ______.

The next day, I announced to all my students that I’d be offering an after-school study hall. Anthony was the first to ______. Several days later, Terrell joined him, ______ by twins Sandy and Randy. Before long, I had a room full of eighth graders to work on their lessons. I never asked why any of them were there, but I soon had a large ______ of “I don’t have my homework because...” stories. All were very ______. None were amusing.

The things I learned weren’t taught in college. I discovered not all kids come from homes that are safe and ______. Not all kids have a quiet bedroom with a desk and study light. Some don’t have a home where a parent is even around. And some kids do go to bed ______. Most importantly, I learned that “I’ll listen” works better than “No excuses”.