1 . When I was a teenager, I was invited to a formal dance party. I was _________, but also nervous about what to wear. Mom suggested I wear high heels (高跟鞋).

“Mom, I don’t know if I can wear these,” I said, feeling _________. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Just take small _________ and keep your weight centered,” she suggested.

As I arrived at the party, I tried to be _________ and act like everything was fine. But _________ struck when I stepped onto the dance floor. I _________ my own feet, falling to the ground in front of everyone.

I quickly got up and laughed it off, pretending like it was _________. But deep down, I felt like a tomato, wanting to _________.

My friend Lilly helped me _________ that incident and managed me another high heels as a support so that nobody would understand my hesitation. But a little bit __________ continued in my mind.

When I returned home, I told Mom I felt like a complete __________ at the party. “It’s okay. You tried something new, and it didn’t go as __________. But that’s how we learn and grow. Don’t be too __________ on yourself and wear what you feel __________ in,” Mom said, giving me a hug.

From that day forward, I stuck to flat shoes. I learned to __________ my true self and not worry about what others thought.

2 . Like many people, public speaking once filled me with fear As a writer, I felt much more ________ expressing myself on the page, rather than on the ________. Strangely, I found that the feelings of ________ to be perfectly tolerable; ________, I was concerned with the ways that others would perceive my nervous energy. A slight change of ________, the unconscious biting of my lip — I assured that I’d be ________ for any nom-verbal signal that showed my lack of ________. I was experiencing anxiety about my anxiety—consequences that made the whole task feel much more ________.

You might have ________ this yourself before a job interview or important work meeting in front of senior colleagues. And the more you try to ________ your feelings, the more obvious they appear to others.

According to a striking new study, however, these concerns may be ________. Jamie Whitehouse, a research fellow at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, has shown that visible signs of stress are often ________, leaving others more likely to like us and treat us ________. If so, then we need not try so hard to ________ a calm-and-collected poker face, safe in the knowledge that people will relate well to our ________.

3 . On the night of the speech contest, I was worried about the shy girl. My heart _________ when I knew the boy on stage previous to her, _________, was fairly successful with his humor and personal style. The whole audience burst out a wave of _________ almost every 30 seconds.

My palms (手掌) began to _________. It was the first time that she had been on the stage, so I couldn’t blame her for any _________. The strong spotlight made her so insignificant that nobody _________ she had been on the stage.

But the moment that _________ me occurred. I clearly heard a _________ voice, “Now, your _________, please!” The whole audience fell quiet. Small and thin as the girl appeared, the __________ look on her face instantly caught everyone’s eyes. Then her speech was on, logical and well-organized. Words of power __________ freely out of the girl like magic. When her speech __________, a thunderous applause sounded from the audience. When the competition was concluding, all of us waited __________ for the winner’s name to be called. Tears of joy __________ my vision when the host announced she won first prize. Holding the medal tightly, she gave me a brilliant smile. I __________ her into my arms, too excited to say any words.

4 . I was a stay-at-home mother and there never was enough money to go around. So on my mother's birthday, I had no money to _________ a present. So I decided to make some cookies for her and leave a _________ .

Sitting down to write a few words of good wishes got me to _________ . There were many things that I did appreciate（感激）, so I decided to list all of them. Pretty soon, I had several pages of _________ thoughts, so I wrote a letter to my mother expressing my appreciation for the things she and my father had _________ us as children.

My mother taught us to be good neighbors by _________ others if they needed a hand. My father taught us how to work. The _________ went on and on.

I put the cookies and the letter on the table in her kitchen. That evening, she called and _________ me. She said it was a wonderful birthday _________ .

Two years later, she passed away. While cleaning out her house, I __________ a photocopy（复印件）of the birthday letter. I was __________ as to why she would make a copy.

But then I got my __________ . Room after room, I found eight more photocopies of the same letter. When I __________ the drawer（抽屉）beside her bed, I __________ an old handkerchief（手帕）with a piece of paper in it.

It was the original birthday letter. I realized that the letter was the __________ present I could have ever given to my mother.

5 . When Amanda Moore noticed that the new student from Mexico always sat alone at lunch, she decided to befriend Rafael Anaya. She also noticed that he________ to understand English. Then she used the Google Translate app to hand-write a letter in Spanish asking him to________her for lunch. Her action________her the “Student of the Month” award for October at school.

Actually, Rafael always________ because he felt so lonely. “He always ate lunch alone and I felt ________ about that，” Amanda said. She knew he spoke Spanish and he seemed lonely. She spent the whole afternoon ________ writing the letter, using the app to help her.

The next day Amanda handed the letter to Rafael and waited for his________.It wasn’t until their math class that he said “yes”. The two had been________together for lunch ever since. The letter helped Rafael feel more comfortable and encouraged him to________his English harder. “I think for Rafael it made a huge________，”said their teacher. “He really wants to learn English to talk to Amanda. The two used hand gestures and Google Translate for ________now but they hoped it would become ________ when Rafael's English improved. And, Amanda was learning some________.

Amanda’s mother felt________moved by her daughter’s action. “It is just so sweet，”she said. I think this ________ is special.”