1 . Relaxing under a sun umbrella, I felt comfortable. My friend Chickie went for a swim.

The ocean was as smooth as glass. I thought,“I can float (漂浮) on my back as if I were in a swimming pool.” Then I ______ it. I closed my eyes and ______ the gentle rocking under me.

I floated peacefully until the water under me rolled and splashed (溅起) over my face. I opened my eyes and ______ around. How did I get so far from the ______? I hadn’t realized how ______ the sea was carrying me.

I ______ swimming as quick and hard as I could. I cried for help, but I was completely ______ in the water. Far off on the beach I could see people ______ their umbrellas. I thought, “It must be the time for lifeguards to leave work. I’m going to ______ here and nobody even sees me!”

Two young men suddenly came near me. One of them ______ my arm. The other held his arm. ______ they pulled me toward the beach.

“You were caught in a riptide (激流),” one man said.

“Thank you so much for ______ me,” I said.

Slowly I got up to walk back to my ______. Chickie had come back. I looked back at my ______ and found they had simply disappeared. Then I sat down with my friend to tell her about my ______.

2 . Some people touch our lives, perhaps making us think or smile, often without even realizing it. A few years ago, I worked at a church and since my_________was home schooling, he went with me to the church every day. Most mornings, we’d stop at a local convenience store, getting a chocolate drink for him and a_________for me.

There were other stores we could have frequented, _________we passed many stores along the way. But the clerk at the store we chose to visit refreshed our lives each day, and so we returned again and again. Perhaps the store clerk had_________worked in a fast food restaurant, where she learned to ask, “Would you like fries with that?” Perhaps she’d been_________in another store, where she learned, well, about multiple selling.

I think that she had found her own_________ way of enjoying life and her job. I’m not even sure that she was aware that her_________for life and her job put a smile upon the face of each customer. Customers did, indeed, return again and again for a bit of good cheer as only that special clerk could give.

With my_________in hand, every time I went to the counter, the clerk never asked me if I wanted a cake with my coffee.   _________， she asked, “Would you like some batteries with that coffee?” Of my son with his chocolate drink, she enquired, “Would you like a__________with that drink?”

Yes, life is what you make of it. This clerk’s method of dealing with what some__________is a boring job made the hours in her day more enjoyable. And in doing that, she also__________the lives of others and made them laugh.

Sometimes, if my day at the church had been particularly__________, or if my son’s__________rather difficult, we’d stop at that store before heading home. We’d__________as we left the store, the clerk’s words resounding behind us. “Would you like some shampoo with that soda?”

3 . I got addicted to cigarettes about 11 years ago. As a smoker, I certainly realizes the _________ the cigarettes are causing to my body. I used to be good at running and other sports, but smoking made my physical activity a great _________. It was not that I never thought of quitting but just the _________ of a cigarette would make me go weak at once. Then I _________ another cigarette and started my day.

For so many years I always felt unrested after a night’s _________. The cough was making my life _________. Over and over again, I was _________ asking myself about my own condition: the nicotine in cigarettes not only made my teeth brown, but also _________ my fingers and nails as well. I _________ myself, “Is all this worth it?” I didn’t get an answer.

It was my birthday’s eve and I was back home by 10 pm. Usual birthday calls from friends made me __________ till 1 am. Throughout the day I was thinking of giving myself something as a __________, but I couldn’t think of anything. Suddenly an idea __________ me. I came up with the plan of quitting smoking. This time the __________ was much stronger. I wanted to quit smoking so I can run and __________ my son during soccer practice and have more energy. Habitually I turned to the cigarette pack and it was __________, which was probably a hint(暗示). Quitting smoking is a long and painful process, but I worked hard to fight the __________ to smoke again.

Today it’s exactly 526 days__________ I gave up smoking. I feel much more energetic and I am regaining my __________ which I lost in the past 11 years. All I want to say is that strong willpower and determination really __________ a great difference. Quitting smoking is the best birthday gift I __________ for myself and it makes me feel happy and proud.

4 . It was the start of my second year of university. After _____ for a long time about environmental and social issues, I decided to stop eating meat and fish and become a vegetarian (素食者). Now, being a vegetarian in the UK is generally quite _____ . Almost any place that serves food in Britain has some kind of vegetarian choice on its _____ Sometimes it turns out to be a slightly _____ salad, but the large quantity (数量) of different foreign restaurants means there are many different _____ on offer.

But two years later when I graduated from university and decided to move to Spain, I suddenly realized that I might meet some _____ ! Considering that one of its most famous sports is about killing bulls, animals might not exactly seem like Spain's main _____ . I had been to Spain a few times before becoming a vegetarian, and all I could _____ now was meat, meat, meat.

As you can imagine, I was quite _____ about eating out in Spain. In some ways, I had a ______ to be. A large number of Spanish dishes are based around meat or seafood, the most famous ______ being ham and a rice dish with seafood. Vegetarianism is quite ______ in Spain and Southern Europe, and many older Spaniards have trouble understanding it.

In the beginning, facing many unfamiliar food words that weren't in my Spanish-English dictionary, I did feel very difficult. But as I began to ______ Spanish menus, a whole world of vegetarian and truly Spanish food   ______ itself up to me, and I didn't just mean vegetarian versions of usually meaty dishes. If you _____ , there are more vegetarian treats, and many of them are a little more healthful than these potato-based delights (美食).