1 . Hey! You have a hairless spot on the back of your head! " Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.

I tried to shrug it off. “It’ll grow back.” I worked to sound________.

At first, the loss was minimal. ________the spot with my fingers became the top priority every day. No new hair, smooth as an egg. Weeks later, the spot was a little larger and there was still no________ of any hair poking through the skin. I began to________but continued to try to be cool about it.

As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more. ________my fingers through it, I would stare at the alarming quantity of hair in my hands, wiling this to________happening to me.

We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection to try, which would be________to the head skin. I underwent several costly injections over a few months, but in vain.

________the injection began to trouble my sleep, and we finally had to stop the________My hair still didn’t grow back.

I had to wear a wig to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would________Though aware that I should________the fact to my friends, I was scared, not knowing how they would handle the information. ________ hesitantly, I told them what was happening after days of struggle. To my surprise, they all thought nothing of it. This was a(n) ________for me.

I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel________of. I am learning that being bald doesn’t change who I am, and if I don’t let it affect my self ________then other people are much more likely to accept me as I am, too.

2 . After lunch I was napping near the window when there came a big bang. I ______ sat up and looked out. Across the street, a car had just backed into a chain-link fence, which was bent in exactly the ______ of the car’s back end.

The driver got off. After ______ the damage, the man tried to put the fence back into place. His first attempt ______ and he tried a little harder. He grabbed the vertical support pole and pulled with his full ______. All of a sudden, the pole ______ and the man fell hard onto the ground, the entire fence ______ him. I laughed till I cried. ______, as you could imagine, he climbed out of the ______ fence and went away.

That, I thought, would be the   ______ of it. However, the man ______ minutes later with some tools. For the next hour, I ______ out of my window as he doggedly fixed the fence and even ______   it. Now the fence would be stronger than ever.

This man was actually a hero and I was embarrassed by my ______ judgments. Years later, I still look out of my window at that fence almost every day. It makes me ______ what else that man has improved, and how I can make myself more, like him.

5 . Shortly after I graduated from junior high school, my mom frequently repeated, “Learn to _________ , and doors will open for you.” To her, it was a(n) _________ skill. So she bought me a typewriter. “Thanks, Mom,_________ I can’t type,” I said. “That’s going to change,” she answered. “Soon.”

“Soon” arrived just one week later, when we went to the Crown Business Institute which offered _________ in various office skills: My mom _________ me through the door. Inside, I saw some _________ typists showed amazing performances. I was as impressed as I was _________ that I would ever achieve such proficiency (熟练). Before my objection (反对), my mom had arranged me for six weeks of typing lessons.

As the lessons progressed, my mom made me _________ my typing skills over and over again. Meanwhile Mom also studied my typing practice book, memorized the keyboard and the _________ . She encouraged me when I __________ .

Mom was right. Many doors did open for me. I’ve become as __________ as those students I’d admired the first day I __________ arrived at Crown. My life would have been different if Mom had not __________ my learning to type. I mastered typing __________ , but the key to my success was my __________ who pushed me through one door, so future doors could open.

9 . My daughter Emma complained I always got mad at her. I had to admit I’ve been ________ to every little problem. I couldn’t help looking on the dark side. The doctor said I was ________. I had to find some way to get out of this ________ of negativity.

Soon after, a friend showed me his macro lens (微距镜头), which he ________ to his smartphone to take extremely close-up photographs. His photos made very small subjects look larger than life. I was attracted to it immediately

I got one for myself. I headed out into the yard. I spotted a butterfly. Through my new lens, I could see how it changed its color, depending on the ________ of light. Every day I went to the yard to look for something interesting to photograph. Some insects flew away as soon as I ________ them, so I trained myself to slow my breathing and relax my body. Anything bothering me would ________. Looking through my macro lens took me to amazing things I had walked past without ________ I’d capture a leaf, and a spider. Focusing my energy and lens on something so small brought me the ________ I’d never felt.

Macrophotography became my ________ . It also went into other parts of my life. One day when Emma displeased me, I took deep breaths. Then I ________ explained why her behavior ________ me.

I’ve made peace with depression after I discovered macrophotography. I can ________ darker days now. I can feel my anger or sadness, and then find a way out. It takes ________ and shadow to make an interesting photograph. I think the same is ________ of life.

10 . As I grew up, my grandma, would say things such as: “that is not a ladylike way to sit”, or “that is not a word that ladies use”. My grandma is one of the most _________ women that I know. I _________ to be half the person she is.

I have always considered myself a “lady”. I dress _________. I pay close attention to my manners. I smile at strangers, offer my seat to the elderly, and hold the door _________ for the person behind me. However, I recently met a woman in passing that made me _________ what I have been taught for the last 21 years. The conversation we had was about “girls these days” and how they differ from the way girls were in the past. She said that there was a big _________ between a “lady” and a “woman”. I looked at her curiously.

“A real lady does not give her opinions or feelings, while those who do are women. And women these days constantly make the _________ of offering their opinions, and feelings, and talking out of turn.” I smiled at her politely, wished her a pleasant evening, and we _________ ways.

_________ most conversations one would have with a stranger, this one stuck with me. It turns out that I am not a “lady”. But I have __________ that truth with my whole heart. I take great pride in my opinions, my brain, and the bravery in which I can __________ myself and the things that I believe in. I am this way, because I am a young __________ of my grandma. And I know that she would swear that she is “ladylike”. But, in reality, she is a strong, independent and smart woman.

With this, I would like to __________ young women that it is __________ to voice your opinions, embrace your beliefs, and be independent. Throughout your life, if someone comes along and __________ your voice, makes your opinions feel wrong, or take no notice of your feelings: smile, nod politely, and keep doing what you were doing anyway.