1 . My dad is the kind of parent that expects my best. He would never be angry if I failed at something as long as I tried. He never changes his mind after he makes it, which sometimes makes him seem too stubborn. My dad's strictness comes from the way he was raised. He grew up working long hours on his family farm. His dad was bad-tempered, and he would get angry enough to throw wooden boards at my dad when he did something wrong. In high school, my dad woke up at four in the morning to get his chores (家务) done and walk to school so that he would make it to basketball practice by five.

Through all of the duties my dad had at home, he played three sports and went to school on top of it. School would have been easy , but my dad had dyslexia(读写困难) which made it nearly impossible for him to read. Since dyslexia wasn't recognized back then, every teacher my dad had passed along thinking that he was just unable to learn. My dad struggled in school until one teacher took the time to sit down and teach him how to read and write.

The best part about my dad is his attitude toward daily life. Even though he likes things once right, he also knows how go to with the flow and have a good time. My dad doesn't worry about things he can't control. When he comes home from a terrible day at work, he always puts on a smile on his face because he knows family is a lot more important than any other thing.

I know that I get my best qualities from my parents and the way they raised me. My dad has shown me that with discipline and hard work I can achieve anything, and have fun while doing it.

2 . I was in France to visit my grandmother. To make her know how _________ she was, I cooked for her, and read her stories. I gave her a foot massage (按摩), which I was _________ to discover that was her first ever!

Before leaving, I was looking for a(n) _________ to leave something meaningful behind. So I wrote her five different love notes to let her know how much she _________ to me, and hid them in different places where I knew she'd _________ find them. One was put on her pillow. One was put beside the lamp _________ which she would read in the evening. Another one was put beside her toothbrush. One was put in her _________ she eagerly checked every day. And the last one was put on her car's steering wheel(方向盘).

I left with _________, knowing that these cards would surely _________ her up after I left. She__________ me as I was travelling back to Paris to catch my plane back to the US and said, "I found your three cards! By the time I __________ the third, I was laughing out loud! They did me so much __________. Thank you so much!" I __________ to myself, knowing she __________ had two more to go! It was Sunday, so my __________ was that she hadn't checked her mailbox and hadn't yet driven her car!

As I was sitting on the plane back to the United States, I __________ that one of my friends' guiding principles is to __________ others likes his family. So I was thinking about ways to __________that in different settings, including on a plane ride. I __________ that on my next flight, I'd bring and write five anonymous appreciation cards for different people on the plane, including the pilot who probably doesn't get __________ enough for taking us safely.to our destination.

4 . I moved to Arizona about two weeks before the start of my junior year of high school. Not only was this a new school for me but also a new state, _________ I did not know anyone.

During lunch on the first day of school, I sat down at a(n)_________ table in the canteen. As I began to eat, I looked around and saw a girl who was also sitting alone. I decided to _________ with her, thinking there was no reason for me to have a whole table to myself, and maybe I could _________ a friend. I walked to her and said, “Excuse me, do you _________ if I sit with you?” She was _________ at first, but then smiled and said, “Sure!”

After that, we became close friends throughout the next two _________. In our senior year, she told me that she'd been _________ to a college and would be moving away after graduation. I was sad, I knew I would _________ her. But at the same time, I was really __________ for her.

She then shared a(n)__________ with me. “Do you __________ the first day of school when you came over and sat down with me during lunch?” she asked.

“I want you to know how special you are and how much of a __________ you made.”

I was very __________ that day and even made detailed plans on how I was going to __________ myself. I was bullied (欺凌) for the whole first half of the day, and it had just __________ me. But when you reached out, it __________ me. If you hadn't done that, I would have probably killed myself when I got home. It might be hard to __________, but you saved my life and all it took was being a friend."

It has been almost 15 years since this incident. I still chat with her occasionally on Facebook. I can't help but __________ every time. It showed me that a simple kind act has the incredible (不可思议的) __________ to change lives.

8 . “I have a letter for you,” my friend Kirsten told me on the phone. "I think it's from your mother. "I was ______ , since my mother had been dead for seven years.

A few weeks later Kirsten handed me the ______ dated Aug. 30, 2002. Around then I was preparing for my pilot course's final exam at the ______ school. The students finished the training on ______ days.

I was the first to ______ . My mother's letter ______ after I left. Kirsten picked it up from my mail-box, to keep ______ she next saw me. _______, a few days later, when it was her turn to leave, she ______ the letter among the piles of papers she ______ packed into boxes. It ______ there for a decade, during which my mother died. In 2013, when Kirsten ______ some dusty belongings from her flying school days, she ______ the letter.

It's been two years since Kirsten gave me the letter which I've ______ on my long flights. But I haven't ______ it yet. When I told some friends this, they ______ their heads. They said they wouldn't have been able to wait a second. Of course, I ______ how could I not? -about her ______ in the envelope. Surely, I think, she had written to wish me luck, ask about my life and tell me the news from ______ to make me at ease. However, for now it's ______ to look at her handwriting on the envelope, and to remember that until I open it, I know I'll hear from her once more.

10 . There are all kinds of enemies, and one of the arts of living is to learn to tell them apart. There is a kind of enemy who ______ meant to be an enemy at all. He’s not mad at you; he’s mad at the world, and you are wandering around on his lonely battlefield and ______ lines of fire.

Let me tell you about one of them. Years ago, I ______ my two girls from South America and put them in school. They talked a ______ language that was neither English nor Spanish, and their ______ gave them a hard time, especially Lolla.

Pat and Peggy came home ______ almost every day, so I decided to cheer them up by ______ a party. Their tears dried ______. Right away they got ______ and offered many ideas. However, when I ______ which friends to invite, the tears started again. They said they had nothing but _______________. Then I had one of my rare ______. “Let’s invite all your enemies and we’ll fill them up with ice cream and cake.” Little Pat and Peggy ______ knowing looks.

The party was a(n) ______, and the best time was had by the ______ enemy, Lolla, who rolled on the floor and screamed with ______. Pat and Peggy never came home crying from school anymore.

One day Lolla’s father ______ and said, “I came to thank you for asking my little girl to the party. ______ ever did it before.” His ______ left me deep in thought. Are the Lollas left out because they are enemies, or do they become enemies because they are left out? Love your enemies and do good to them, because ______, it works!