1 . Another person’s enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.

I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words: “I would like you to meet the fellow who is _______ for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no _______ than tomorrow morning.”

My stepmother walked over to me, _______ my head slightly upward, and looked at me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied, “You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, but the smartest one who hasn’t yet found an _______ for his enthusiasm.”

That _______ began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my _______ as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.

She changed many things. She _______ my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father’s career could be more _______ and my brother and I could be better _______.

When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand ________ and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I ________ it, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her ________ and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of writing that great day I went to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life’s work later. I wasn’t the only beneficiary (受益者). My father became the ________ man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.

What power enthusiasm has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one’s purpose and is ________ strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible force which poverty and temporary defeat can never ________.

You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.

3 . You can actually catch a good mood or a bad mood from your friends, according to a recent study in the journal Royal Society Open Science.But that shouldn't stop you from____with pals who are down in the dumps,say the study authors:____,the effect isn't large enough to push you into depression.

The new study adds to a growing body of research suggesting that happiness and sadness-as well as lifestyle and behavioral factors like smoking,drinking,obesity,fitness habits and even the ability to concentrate-can____across social networks, both online and in real life.But while many____studies have only looked at friendship data at one point in time, this is one of the few that measured social and mood changes over time.

The new research involved groups of junior-high and high-school students who took part in___ screenings(筛查） and answered questions about their best friends, many of whom were also enrolled in the study. In total,2,194 students were included in the____,which used a mathematical model to look for connections among friend networks.

Overall,kids whose friends suffered from bad moods were more____to report bad moods themselves- and they were less likely to have improved when they were screened again six months to a year later. When people had more happy friends,____,their moods were more likely to improve over time.

Some symptoms related to depression-like helplessness,tiredness and loss of interest-also seemed to follow this____,which scientists call “social contagion.”But this isn't something that people need to ___,says lead author Robert Eyre,a doctoral student at the University of Warwick. Rather, it's likely just a “____empathetic response that we're all familiar with, and something we recognize by common sense,"he says. In other words,when a friend is going through a rough patch, it makes sense that you'll feel some of their ___,and it's certainly not a reason to stay away.

The study also found that having friends who were clinically depressed did not __     participants' risk of becoming depressed themselves. “Your friends do not put you at risk of illness," says Eyre,"so a good course of action is simply to____them."To boost both of your moods, he suggests doing things together that you both ___-and taking other friends along to further spread those good feelings,too.”

4 . The scars of love

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the ____ water, he ran out of the back door, ____ behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, not realizing that as he ____ toward the middle of the lake, a crocodile was swimming toward him. His mother in the house was ___ the window and saw the two. In great ____, she ran toward the water, shouting to her son as ___ as she could. Hearing her loud voice, the little boy became ____ and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the crocodile reached him. From the ____, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the crocodile snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The crocodile was much ____ than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard their screams, raced from his truck, took aim and ____ the crocodile.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the ____ of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to ____ to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, ‘But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them ____ my Mom wouldn’t let go.’

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from a crocodile, or anything quite so ____. But, the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to ____. In the midst of your struggle, he’s been there holding on to you.

5 . “Just the man I was looking for,” said a voice at Winston’s back.

He turned round. It was his friend Syme, who worked in the Research Department. Syme was a philologist, a specialist in Newspeak. Indeed, he was one of the enormous team of experts now ______ in compiling the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak dictionary.

“How is the dictionary ______?” asked Winston.

“Slowly,” said Syme. “I’m on the adjectives. It’s fascinating.”

He had ______ immediately at the mention of Newspeak.

“The Eleventh Edition is the definitive edition,” he said. We’re getting the language into its final shape --- the shape it’s going to have when nobody speaks anything else. When we’ve finished with it, people like you will have to learn it all over again. You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re ______words --- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the ______. The Eleventh Edition won’t ______ a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050.”

His thin dark face had become animated and his eyes had grown almost dreamy.

“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. It isn’t only the synonyms, there are also the antonyms. After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other words? A word contains its ______in itself. Take ‘good’, for instance. If you have a word like good, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well --- better, because it’s an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of ‘good’, what sense is there in having a whole string of ______useless words like ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’ and all the rest of them? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning, or ‘doubleplusgood’ if you want something ______ still. Of course we sue those forms already, but in the final version of Newspeak there’ll be nothing else. In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words --- in reality, only one word. Don’t you see the beauty of that, Winston?”

A sort of vapid eagerness fitted across Winston’s face. Nevertheless Syme immediately detected a certain ______ of enthusiasm.

“You haven’t a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston,” he said almost sadly. “In your heart you’d prefer to ______ to Oldspeak with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year? Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to ______ the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly ______. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not ______ that point. But the process will still be continuing ______ you and I are dead. Every year fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. But in the end there won’t be any need even for that. Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?”

6 . In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents __________ five or more children were common. Over the years, the__________ of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the __________ of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them ____________ dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better __________ and have more money to spend on _________ . The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers _________ away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents ________ . A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling _________ as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children’s emotional and psychological __________ while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and __________ very little time for the parent’s own personal_________ . Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are _________ to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs ___________ that things are getting better. The divorce rate is__________ . The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.

7 . Because conflict and disagreements are part of all close relationships, couples need to learn strategies for managing conflict in a healthy and constructive way. Some couples just ____ and deny the presence of any conflict in a relationship. ____ , denying the existence of conflict results in couples ____ to solve their problems at early ____, which can then lead to even greater problems later on. Not surprisingly, expressing anger and disagreement leads to lower marital (婚姻的) satisfaction at the beginning. However, this pattern of behavior ____ increases in marital satisfaction over time. Research suggests that working through conflicts is an important predictor of marital satisfaction.

So, what can you do to manage conflict in your own relationships? First, try to understand the other person's point of view and put yourself in his or her place. People who are ____ to what their partner thinks and feels ____ greater relationship satisfaction. For example. researchers found that among people in dating relationships ____ marriages, those who can adopt their partner's perspective show more positive ____, more relationship-enhancing attributes and more constructive responses to conflict.

Second, because conflict and disagreements are an ____ part of close relationships, people need to be able to apologize to their partner for wrongdoing and ____ forgiveness from their parents for their own acts. Apologies minimize conflict, lead to forgiveness. and serve to restore relationship closeness. In line with this ____ , spouses (配偶) who are more forgiving show higher mental quality over time. Increasingly, apologizing can even have ____ health benefits. For example, when people reflect on hurtful ____ and grudges (怨恨), they show negative physiological effects, including increased heart rate and blood pressure, compared to when they ____ on sympathetic perspective-taking and forgiving.

8 . In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition of each new   skill-the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his _______ learning rate, but this can set up   dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any ______. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. _______, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

Parents vary greatly in their ______of strictness towards their children. Some may be   especially strict in money matters, others are severe over times of coming home at night or   punctuality for meals. In general, the_____ represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness.

As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To _______ a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality(道德). Also, parents should realize that “_______ is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not _______   what they preach(说教), their children may grow _______ and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled. A sudden _______   of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their   morals can be a dangerous disappointment.

9 . The people you work with are driving you mad and you’d love nothing more than to_______ at them at the top of your lungs. Sure, you’d feel better, but obvious anger remains a taboo（禁忌）at the office. In some cases, it could get you fired. _______, most of you keep a tight lid on your anger.

Office life is increasingly _______ and many workers feel powerless with little control. According to a study, 83% of us have seen a colleague lose their temper at work and 63% of us have lost our temper. The worst office irritants（刺激物）are computer crashes,_______printers, lazy colleagues, inconsiderate bosses and after-hours work email.

But there might be a better solution, one that lets off steam and keeps you _______. “Enter rage rooms”, a trend for a space where you can release your anger with the help of a baseball bat or by smashing items and leaving someone else to clean up the mess. You are given _______ to get angry in a safe environment.

“People are always told not to break things, to control anger, to be well-behaved,” says Stephen Shew, co-founder Battle Sports in Canada. “But in the rage room, they can do just that and not get in trouble. They love to smash printers, as it’s the typical _______ of an office environment, and destroying one is quite _______— think printer destruction in the 1999 comedy Office Space.

The service packages typically cost between $20 and $100 for sessions lasting 10 to 45 minutes. Some clients book a longer one so that they can arrange their chosen items in a particular _______, such as building them into a pyramid.

Then is this really a(n) ________ remedy for stress? Shew says there’s a(n) ________ customer base, from people as young as 19 years old right up to those over 50. Women make up about 60% of rage room participants. “But the room is not a cure-all for your anger,” he warns, “We always tell people that were neither therapists and nor doctors. We’re not saying we’re going to control your anger. These rooms are simply a(n) ________ for dealing with stress.

Professor Brad Bushman of The Ohio State University published a study in 2002 showing Catharsis Theory—acting aggressively or viewing aggression is an effective way to clear anger away-just doesn’t work. It is like using gasoline to put out a flame, which just ________ the flame. It keeps aggressive thoughts active in memory and even   ________     them if people dwell on what made them angry. Indeed, doing nothing at all or doing something irrelevant with anger is more effective. He suggests ________ yourself, such as watching a non-violent funny movie.