2 . About five years ago my family moved to Iowa and I started going to a new school. I was a little _______, but I worried I would never be _______ than the other eleventh graders. Lucy, a girl in my class was not_______for the change. I thought she didn’t_______me from the start. In fact, I was sure that she hated me. When I asked her a _______, she answered me impatiently as if I was a total fool. My teacher made us_______next to each other in the last semester. Lucy didn’t like that _______. I didn’t wear make-up (化妆), and I didn’t wear those awesome (可怕的) jeans everyone else was wearing. I didn’t exactly_______ the coolest girl. However, I kept smiling at her, _______ she rolled her eyes at me (翻白眼). I kept telling her she looked ________, even if she was angry. ________, Lucy let me talk to her, even in front of her "cool" friends. She started ________ me how beautiful I looked. I still remember the first time when she________ at me saying that, and I smiled right back, telling her a joke. Lucy ________ me to her house for parties, and talked to me all the time. Lucy, the girl who had ________ me, called me her best friend. I will never forget a sentence written by Abraham Lincoln: "Am I not destroying (消灭) my enemies when I make friends of them?"

4 . I always pictured myself graduating from college, getting a cool job and even having a cute little place of my own. So far, I have a master's degree and the coolest job ever as a physician assistant. But instead of waking up in a pretty apartment, I hear the early morning sound of my parents making coffee downstairs. At 27, I still live with my parents, and I love it.

As a physician assistant, I make a good salary and would be able to live on my own comfortably if I needed to do so. By the time I finished graduate school, I had had a ＄150,000 debt from both undergraduate and graduate education. My father calculated that my loans were increasing by ＄15 a day in interest (利息) alone. At this rate, it would take me 30 years to pay off my student loans. At last, I decided to live with my parents.

Several of my physician assistant friends are in the same boat as I am — we are all highly educated, white collar employees who live at home. Our coworkers in the medical field think it is a great idea because many of them are facing the same piles of debt. They often say if they could do it all again, they would do the same thing.

There's a stigma (耻辱) that comes along with this arrangement. Some people might think that we are too lazy to find a job. I don't think my neighbors understand it, as they continually ask me when I am going to graduate and if I am old enough to look after their children. My mom just tells them that I'm successful, well educated and that I save lives.

5 . At an airport I overheard a father and a daughter in their last moments together. It had announced her plane's________ and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, “I love you. I wish you enough. She said. “Daddy, our life together has been ________ enough. Your love is all I ________ needed. I wish you enough, too? Daddy. They kissed good-bye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I ________. I could see he wanted to cry. I tried not to ________ his privacy（隐私），but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone you love, knowing it would be forever?, “Yes, I have,” I ________. Saying that brought________ memories I had of expressing my love and ________ for all my Dad had done for me. After thirty seconds of silence. “Forgive me for asking, but why is this a/an   forever good-bye?" I asked. “I am old and she lives much too far away. The _______ is that her next trip back will be for my funeral(葬礼), ” he said. “When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, "I wish you enough” May I ask what that means?" He began to ________.

“That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My ________used to say it to everyone. ” He paused for a moment and _______ as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. “When we said I wish you enough, we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to support them," he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from ________.

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude________. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger . I wish you enough gain to ________your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you have. I wish enough Hellos to get you through the final “ Good-bye.” He then began to sob and walked away.

Pumpkin (南瓜) carving at Halloween is a family tradition. We visit a local farm every October. In the pumpkin field, I compete with my three brothers and sister to seek out the biggest pumpkin. My dad has a rule that we have to carry our pumpkins back home, and as the eldest child I have an advantage-I carried an 85-pounder back last year.

This year, it was hard to tell whether my prize or the one chosen by my 14-year-old brother, Jason, was the winner. Unfortunately we forgot to weigh them before taking out their insides, but I was determined to prove my point. All of us were hard at work at the kitchen table, with my mom filming the annual event. I’m unsure now why I thought forcing my head inside the pumpkin would settle the matter, but it seemed to make perfect sense at the time.

With the pumpkin resting on the table, hole uppermost, I bent over and pressed my head against the opening. At first I got jammed just above my eyes and then, as I went on with my task, unwilling to quit, my nose briefly prevented entry. Finally I managed to put my whole head into it, like a cork (软木塞) forced into a bottle. I was able to straighten up with the huge pumpkin resting on my shoulders.

My excitement was short-lived. The pumpkin was heavy. “I’m going to set it down, now,” I said, and with Jason helping to support its weight, I bent back over the table to give it somewhere to rest. It was only when I tried to remove my head that I realized getting out was going to be less straightforward than getting in. When I pulled hard, my nose got in the way. I got into a panic as I pressed firmly against the table and moved my head around trying to find the right angle, but it was no use. “I can’t get it out!” I shouted, my voice sounding unnaturally loud in the enclosed space.

It was five or six minutes though it felt much longer.

The video was posted the Monday before Halloween.

I’m a student of Senior one.

Yours,

Li Hua

10 . I sat down at my desk and started writing a letter of thankfulness, but when it came to actually putting the letter into the mailbox... I _______ ...I couldn’t do it. I suddenly felt a sense of ________ and insecurity (不安).

The letter was to an old teacher with whom I kept in _______ on Facebook. For months, I read about what she _______ on her Facebook page, which helped me to live my life differently. Her volunteer (志愿者) work wasn’t huge. _______ , she was doing small, local good deeds. ________ , she changed my views on the world and for some reason, I felt I should let her know how her example _______ influenced me.

I could have easily sent her an email but that seemed not enough for such an important thank-you. That’s why I ended up ________ the letter before. But now here I was, standing before the mailbox, unable to put the envelope inside. What was stopping me? It suddenly hit me that I was ________ of being too nice. I guess I felt strange _________ it wasn’t like she was my best friend or a relative. But I think my ________ was too heartfelt. Thinking this over, I put the envelope in the mailbox _________.

Weeks later I received a message from her. It turned out she was ________ a hard time and my note _________ a lot to her. She said she had no idea she was playing such a big _________ in others’ life.

Not only did this letter make her happier, but her response(反应) to it brightened my world and ________ my level of happiness as well. I was so _______ that it had such a great influence on her that I decided to write a(n) _______ letter to someone each month. Now it’s easier for me to _______ the goodness in others and be more _________ for this beautiful life I’m living.