1 . I checked my equipment one final time. It was my first ______to climb the highest volcano in the world, Ojos del Salado, in South America.

I’d ______ to climb with a local guide. I left camp just after midnight. “You go first and I’ll be behind you,” he said. As the hours passed and the terrain (地形) became more dangerous, I wondered if I’d made a huge ______ . Looking into the_______ behind me, I listened out for the sound of my guide’s steps but I was all_______ . Finding my way by ______, I knew the icy conditions were merciless. Breathing heavily, I realised I’d run out of ______ soon.

Back home, 11,000 km away in Melbourne, my dad was following my ______with my GPS tracker. ______ , now alone on the side of a volcano, all I could do was to ______ my energy as I climbed higher and higher.

Reaching the top was the ultimate goal, but really it was only half the ______ . As my breathing became more laboured, ______ set in. Had I gone too far this time? I knew all too well how frightening it was to be ______ , for I’d suffered from chronic asthma (慢性哮喘) as a child.

Pushing on, I ______ made it to the top, where I ______ the breathtaking views. But I only spent a few minutes taking photos before I went down the mountain. I was ______ to see my guide on the way down and it turned out that he had______ a climber in danger and had to ______ our exploration to save him.

Through blood, ______ and frozen tears, the last 10 years had taken me all over the globe. And with every high and painful low, I learnt more about myself. I’d pushed my ______ , both in body and mind.

3 . I remember, when I was growing up, that my mom would tell me stories about the kind acts my dad had done. One day, my dad met a close, long-time friend of his in the downtown area. They talked for a while and his friend _______ that he didn’t have money for _______ home. My dad gave him the _______ money he had, which was for his own train, so he just _______ home.

I also _______ these kind acts in our home. Dad would let me and my two younger brothers   eat first but he would eat after us. He would _______ whatever was _______ on the table. I remember the days when his older brother would sometimes come to our house and _______ money for his kid’s allowance (零花钱) in school and my dad would give him some. And when it was our time to ask for allowance he would tell us that he had no more money and we should ask our mom.

Dad was a _______ man and even after his death, there were many people who told me kind ________ that my dad had done for them, like ________ them food. He even ________ to help someone fix his roof and buy him a water pump when he had the money.

In my ________ life, I never met a man like my dad. For me, he was the kindest, most self-less man on Earth. He would always give ________ when he could and he gave it with a(n) ________ heart.

4 . The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We________at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags in order to prevent plastic in the________and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we________all our shopping in our arms and left.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more________about my impact and pushed me to adopt different habits to live and________more sustainably.

Our trip to Borneo was another life-changing________that has strengthened my resolution to a zero-waste lifestyle. While traveling in some Asian countries, we came to know that________drinkable water was always a challenge. So we had to travel with our water bottle, and we________to avoid using plastic during our trip.

Besides, we were also________impressed by our stay on Libaran Island. A sustainable turtle conservation________and the community had made big efforts to________ the beaches and creatively re-use plastic for ten years. Despite that, the shore is________daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides.

Facing this global issue________, raised in me a feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into________: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Small changes can________a difference!

8 . Senior high school began with meeting new friends, which was the most exciting part of that period. However, I noticed the _________ from junior high school right away since students around me were trying their best to get good _________.

It was surprising for me to _________ that my friends were no longer willing to meet very often after school. This made me _________ that perhaps I failed to know the true _________ of the three years of high school. I should state that it became especially _________after I talked to my best friend. He told me that he was really _________ because I seemed to have no plan when it came to _________ for college. To be completely honest, he was right.

_________ for me, my best friend was wise and able to explain his point of __________to me. Also, he offered to spend time studying with me and getting me ready for the test to make sure I did not __________anything meaningful from the textbook. This was surprising for me since I was __________ that activities like reading textbooks could not be enjoyable. I was wrong, and this __________ taught me that having fun in high school does not just mean going to parties or spending time in cafés. Instead, you can have a( n) __________experience that will also be worthwhile for your future.

I am glad that I was able to learn from this situation. Now, I am studying harder to __________ more knowledge and try to understand which subjects I am most interested in to find out what I want to study in the future.

9 . A boy was walking home from school when he saw a large, tempting (诱人的) apple on one of the branches of an apple tree hanging out over a tall fence. The boy wasn’t much of a fruit­eater, _______ a bar of chocolate if given the choice, but _______ people always say, the forbidden fruit can be tempting. Seeing the apple, the boy wanted it. The more he looked at it, the_______ he felt and the more he wanted that apple.

He stood on tiptoe, _______ as high as he could, but even as his tallest height he was unable to touch it. He began to_______ up and down, as high as he could, at the _______ of each jump stretching his arms to get the apple. Still it remained out of _______.

Not giving up, he thought, if only he had something to _______ on. His school bag wouldn’t give enough height and he didn’t want to break the things inside, like his lunch box, pencil case, and Game Boy. Looking _______, he hoped he might find an old box, a rock, or with luck, even a ladder, but it was a tidy neighborhood and there was nothing he could use.

He had tried everything he could think, __________ seeing any other choices, he gave up and started to walk __________. At first, he felt angry and disappointed thinking about how hungry he had become from his __________, and how he really wanted that apple. The more he thought like this, the more unhappy he became.

__________, the boy of our story was a pretty smart guy, even if he couldn’t always get what he wanted. He soon started to say to himself, “This isn’t helpful. I don’t have the apple and I’m feeling miserable as well. There’s __________ more I can do to get the apple — that is unchangeable — but I am supposed to be able to__________ my feelings. If that’s the case, what can I do to feel better?”

10 . Around Thanksgiving, I flew to visit my family. A woman across the aisle________to push her suitcase into the tight overhead bin. When we landed, she was pulling, but the suitcase didn’t ________. I asked if I could help, ________ she replied, “It’ll come. I got it in, and there has to be a way to get it out.”

Her calmness and confidence inspired me, ________ me as a recipe for cultivating (培养) resilience (抗逆力) in life. Resilience is the ability to ________ challenging circumstances, refocus and find ways back into a positive life. The woman’s reaction to her ________ luggage was a beautiful example of cultivating resilience: “________ seeing crises as unsolvable problems. ”

The ________ situation might not be a “crisis”, but you know how ________ a plane aisle can be when everyone is trying to get off the plane. The woman never kept herself ________ by recognizing her problem had a solution.

The ________ reminded me of something that happened to me this past fall, when I took a solitary (单独的) hike along a rocky ocean path. I was enjoying myself in the fresh air, feeling________ as I picked my way from rock to rock and congratulating myself when I reached the end of the dock. Then I turned around and saw how ________ I had traveled, I felt myself slipping into nervous self-doubt. What if I ________ and twisted my ankle?

I took a deep breath and, like the woman on the ________, realized with relief that I could certainly make it ________. When I finally stepped back onto the shore, I not only felt ________, but also confident and accomplished.

When ________ plant seeds of “I can’t” in your mind, maybe you’ll remember the woman on the plane. Wherever life has brought you, consider that there is a(n) ________ to coming back to yourself. You have the power of resilience within you whenever you are ________ it.