1 . It was Mother’s Day. Our teacher Amelia said each of us would get a mug (马克杯) later and that we would_________mugs for Mother’s Day. They were white, saying “world’s best mom” on the side. I couldn’t read it at first, but I _________the words quickly. Dad had taught me them.

When Amelia_________a mug to me, I told her I didn’t want one. She didn’t seem to have_________my answer and asked me why. I replied, “Mom _________ two years ago. Even if we missed her, Dad said she wouldn’t come back, so I was _________to give her a mug.” Amelia seemed a little_________about my unlucky experience, touching my head_________. And next to me, Amy had already_________sunflowers all over her mug. It__________me that Dad preferred others to secretly prepare gifts for him and that I also could do one for Dad. In these two years, he was more than Dad. He had been making great efforts to learn to be a__________. Even my nice braids (辫子) were all his works. He__________a gift.

So I told Amelia about my__________and took a mug out of her hands, Amelia hugged me and said in a quite__________voice, “You and your dad both are great!” Her eyes looked full of water. Later, after school, I__________the mug at the bottom of my schoolbag__________I knew how much Dad loved a__________and how long he hadn’t had one. When I met him, I__________presented the mug to him and told him it was a Mother’s Day mug. My behavior was obviously beyond his__________. Dad just stood there, opening his mouth but saying nothing. His seven-year-old girl has learnt to give back with__________to Dad.

2 . In 1980, Dad was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. The disease _________ his memory and expression. Dad couldn’t think or process information as fast as he _________ to. He grew to repeat the same words, which drove Mom _________. On one of my visits home, Dad was sitting in his deck chair. I reached down to _________ and kiss him. “What’s new? How are you?”

“Oh, you know, dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark.” He laughed, proud of his _________.

As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She _________ her head. “I heard your dad and those words! It’s not his will. He just can’t _________ himself.” She stopped for a while before _________. “He always says he’s just like a mushroom…” She took a _________ breath and laughed. “Goodness,” she said, “I’m going to be __________ the adversity(困境) for a long time.”

__________, Dad never became difficult, or had personality changes. I often felt grateful for that. Dad loved and __________ everything Mom ever did for him as well, no matter how big or small.

Care-giving comes at a __________. Mom was annoyed with Dad, but there was lots of love between them. Through the 21 years of care giving for Dad, there was __________ and tears, as well as weddings and babies. Without __________, I’m not sure what would have happened to us.

3 . Cope With Loneliness or Depression

My grandmother, Margaret lived to be 104, spending the last 16 years of her life in a nursing home. Although ______ kept in a wheelchair from severe arthritis(关节炎), she was mentally sharp until her ______. In fact, she was one of the very few residents there who could still think clearly. ______ the passing years, friends and family members died. Yet, when I had the ______ to visit her, she never seemed to be despondent or ______ of being lonely. After my visits, I ______ left thinking “If I lived that long, would I have the same ______? Was there something special or different in the way she thought that prevented her from becoming ______ ?”

By our very nature, human beings are relational. As social beings, we need some sense of ______ to the world around us, whether it’s through people or the ______ world. In what appeared to be the very ______world of my grandmother, she had ______ close relationships with the nurses on her floor. I’ve ______ a lot on the example my grandmother provided during her ______ years. I’ve asked myself many questions about aging and how to ______ a sense of well-being as our world ______ to narrow from the death of family and friends or major health issues. Perhaps what I’ve ______ will help you, too.

Being alone. What does that ______ bring into your mind? The way we feel about being alone has something to do with the way we frame it. For example, you ______ be in a large group of people and still feel very lonely. Yet, some people seem to recharge and actually energize by taking the time to be alone. Once your thoughts and feelings change, it will be ______ for your behavior to change as well.

4 . Cheng Jing, a 46-year-old Chinese woman, recently lost her grandmother, but for the last 13 years of her life, she tried her best to make the old woman believe that her daughter was still _______. Jing’s mother had died in 2003, but considering that letting her grandmother know the news would _______ her, she didn’t want to _______ it and decided to employ someone to _______ her mother’s voice and _______grandma regularly to avoid _______ the old woman’s heart.

Jing’s mother, Cheng Congrong, and her grandmother had always been very _______. Knowing that she developed cancer and didn’t have much time to live, Congrong _______ dozens of voice messages and asked her children to play them back to their grandmother so she wouldn’t be _______ about her. Cheng Jing ________ her mother’s last wish and after her death, she kept playing the recordings.

Cheng Jing soon realized it was only a matter of ________ before her grandmother realized the messages were pre-recorded. Then she made the ________. After hearing Cheng Jing’s story and feeling ________ for the old woman, Chen Weiping decided to help. Weiping would call the old woman as often as she could, offering all sorts of ________ as to why she couldn’t come visit her. Cheng Jing and Weiping ________ to hide the truth for 13 years until the old woman passed away.

5 . Winter goes and summer comes. The tides_______; the tides withdraw. All nature is a circle of moods and I am a_______of nature. It is one of nature’s_______, little understood, that each day I_______with moods that have changed from yesterday. Inside me is a wheel,_______turning. Like the flowers, today’s full blossom will_______, yet I will remember today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s blossom.

And how will I master these emotions so that each day will be_______? Trees and plants depend on the weather to_______, but I make my own weather. I_______it with me. If I bring enthusiasm to my customers, they will________with enthusiasm and my weather will produce a harvest of sales and a lot of gold for me. I will learn this secret: weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who________his actions to control his thoughts. Each day I will follow this plan of battle before I am________by the forces of sadness,________and failure. I will know only those with inferior(较次的) ability can always be________, and I am not inferior. If I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel________I will remember my goals.Yet, some emotions approach me with a smile, which can also destroy me. If I become overly proud, I will remember my weaknesses. If I feel my skill is________, I will look at the stars.

With this new knowledge I will make________of a person’s anger of today, for he doesn’t know the secret of controlling his mind. No longer will I judge a man on one________. This secret will be my key to great wealth. From this moment I am________to control whatever personality awakes in me each day. I will control my fate, which is to become the greatest________in the world!

6 . 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.

7 . My mother had a beautiful evening dress. Each time after wearing the dress, she always_________placed it in a box and hid it at the top of a wardrobe (衣柜). From time to time, it would be_________out of its box and shown to me, and as a small girl I would_________the day when I might be allowed to try it on. But that never_________

The wardrobe where the dress was_________happened to be in my bedroom. One day, I had a strong_________to try it on. I quickly pulled the dress over my head and then moved it slowly down. My mother’s waist must have been extremely_______as it fitted my waist with little room to spare.

Suddenly, I realized that my mother would be home_______, so I hurriedly undressed but I_________spilt a bottle of ink (墨水) over the dress. I was so__________that

I stuffed it into the box and pushed it back onto the wardrobe. I__________the fear throughout my teenage years that it would eventually be discovered with painful__________

Many years later, my mother grew old and became__________One day, I__________an afternoon tea with a group of her closest friends to keep her company. Somehow the__________turned to the dress and my mother said she could never understand how it got a terrible ink stain (污迹).

Suddenly, I found myself in front of my mother red-faced,__________washing over me. I was so__________that I forgot the outcome and finally told my mother the__________My mother forgave me as all the mothers do, and at last I was freed from that awful__________buried deep inside me from my childhood. Honesty gave me__________

8 . On Tuesday, I was having a hard day. I went to _________ in Philadelphia about 5 hours away from my hometown. Going to college so far away is really hard on me _________, especially when I get upset. I hadn’t seen my own family in months, so _________ something like that happening to my parents or sisters was a(n) _________ feeling. This sense of sadness _________ me and stayed with me for a couple of days. I felt more and more homesick the more I thought about the tragedy—it really made me _________ my family.

On top of this _________, was the stress of coming exams and homework assignments. On Tuesday, I just couldn’t shake my feeling of _________. I called my mom and she made me feel instantly better. She always seems to have the perfect _________ for me in any situation. “You can’t __________ your happiness in the hands of anyone or anything outside yourself, Amelia,” she told me. She was so __________ and so concerned. She sent me a few inspirational __________, and called 3 more times that day to check in on me.

It became evident to me later that day how amazing my mom’s __________ for me was. I just felt so __________ to have a person who cares for me so much. I __________ that no one else I meet in my life will ever love me so much.

9 . Anger is the most destructive (破坏性的) emotion. When you are ___, you make hurried decisions that you will probably regret. You will also regret careless language ____ without thought. What can be done to control anger and prevent it ruining our lives? Here are five ways that you can fight the cause of anger.

Firstly, you need to change your attitude to the way the world ____. You have to admit that sometimes things do go wrong and that people are always lovely. Try to ____ that ____ people do behave in ways that will make you both frustrated and angry. Secondly, don’t regard anger as a bad emotion. There are occasions ____ anger can be directed in such a way as to achieve great things. Thirdly, it is beneficial to stop trying to manage your anger. A good way of ____ anger is to identify (识别) the root cause. Taking ____ steps towards solving the underlying (根本的) problem will help you overcome feelings of anger. Fourthly, reacting angrily is a hard habit to break. But it is a habit, and habits can be ____. You need to learn not to respond at all. This way, your anger will not get the emotional ____ it needs to survive. Fifthly, don’t take the easy way when you get angry. You might say you feel better after an angry outburst, ____ that   is just the after-effect of the adrenalin (肾上腺素) your body released while you were angry. If so, it is much harder to stay calm, to walk away from conflict (冲突), or to take a deep breath and act ____. That, however, is ____ you must do if you are to stop anger from becoming your master.

____, you must recognize that anger is ____ you can control. Make changes to your lifestyle and attitudes, and you will find that you will turn angry much less often, if at all.

10 . Earlier that evening, my mother called, telling me that my brother died in a car crash. I stumbled (跌跌撞撞地走) around the house _________ what to put into the suitcases. My husband, Larry, and I had been packing for moving to New Mexico. The house was in (a) total _________.

I tried to hold my tears. I _________ picked things up and put them down. I couldn't _________. What I'd heard on the phone echoed (回荡) through my head.

Larry phoned a few friends. _________, someone asked to speak to me. “If there is anything I can do, let me know.” “Thank you,” I replied. I didn't know what to _________.

The doorbell rang and I rose slowly for the door. It was Donna.

“I've come to clean your shoes,” she said. _________, I asked her to repeat. “When my father died, it took me _________ to get the shoes cleaned and shined for my father's _________,” she said. I hadn't even thought about shoes.

Shoes were gathered. Donna __________ herself on the floor and got to work. The love in the act __________ my tears. Watching her __________ on one task helped me pull my __________into order. Laundry first, I told myself. One by one, the jobs fell into place.

Now whenever I hear of an acquaintance's loss of a loved one, I think of one __________ task that suits that person's __________. If the person asks, “How did you know I needed that?” I'd reply, “Because someone did that.”