2 . When my sister Diane began playing the violin, she was seven. How did she sound? Terrible. But she didn’t _________. At twelve, she asked our parents if she could attend a full time music school. They said no. Actually, everyone agreed that my sister _________ talent.

I was better at my _________ . My teacher had told my parents that I had great _________ . So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area to _______ me. But the only time he was _________ was Saturday afternoons at 3 pm. Back then, I was crazy about the British TV show The Avengers, which was _______ every Saturday at 3 pm. I let nothing take up my Avengers hour. So I _________ this amazing opportunity. Today, I don’t even have a piano in my house.

My sister became an engineer, but she _________ stopped making music. When she was in her forties, she switched __________ . She went back to college, got a __________ in music education, and became a music teacher. She starts kids off on their first instrument and gives them all the encouragement and support she never __________ .

Recently, she and a pianist pal put on a recital. A big crowd of friends and family __________ for her. As she played, I looked around at the audience. Everyone was __________ enjoying the music. It occurred to me that I was the only person who remembered that 7 year old kid making those perfectly __________ sounds and knew how far she had come, despite everything.

Talent is important. But enthusiasm is even more important.

4 . I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock at six in the morning. I walked down the stairs, ______, still wanting to go back and sleep for another hour or so. But that idea soon ________ as the words of the doctor, whom I had met the previous day,________ inside my head. A few weeks before this, when I had been in Paris, I had felt some _______ heaviness in my chest. On returning, I went to a doctor who cautioned me to work on my _______ . So there I was, jogging down a lonely narrow lane. A few weeks went by, and every day when I went to jog, I saw an old man ________ on that bench. And I just couldn’t ________ why he was there doing nothing. My ________ was building up as each day ________.

The next morning, I went and sat beside him on the bench. I asked him, “Why are you seated here every day?”   He answered, “Because this is the most beautiful place that I know.” ________, I asked again, “What is so beautiful about this place?” and he said, “Look!” And I tried to ________. I saw the rising sun shining from behind the clouds, and several rays penetrating (穿过) through them. Birds were singing ________ from the trees of the surrounding wilderness. The sun’s light glittered on the water, and it looked as if there was a path of light between me and the far-off mountains. I had been through that place ________ times, but I had never looked; it was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen. And I realized that I don’t have to travel miles to ________ the beauty. All I have to do is to look ________.

The couple, Ella and Ken, lived in a fancy countryside house every summer together with their boys Jim and Dick, aged 7 and 11.

The two kids got on well with each other, unlike some other brothers who would often fight over small things. They shared everything happening in their school and exchanged their favourite toys and books. Except for one thing, cleaning! One sunny morning, Ella called out to her children, “Jim and Dick, it’s time to clean your room!” The kids sighed deeply. Cleaning their room was always the last thing they wanted to do.

Unhappy, Jim and Dick dragged their feet into their messy room. Toys were thrown randomly here and there on the floor, clothes were piled up on chairs, and books were haphazardly (随意的) piled on the shelves. It was a total mess!

Mom came in, “Oh, God! How come? We need to work together to clean it up.” Jim and Dick exchanged looks, clearly not delighted with the task at hand. There were a few arguments between them, especially when it came to cleaning their room.

Mom, realizing their unwillingness, said to the kids, “A clean room not only looks nice but also helps us arrange our life in an orderly way. It’s important to take care of our belongings and keep our surroundings clean.” The boys didn’t respond, seemingly thinking about something.

Their father happened to hear the conversation and decided to give them a hand. He came up with a good idea. He said, “I know that cleaning can be dull, but what if we change it into a fun contest? The winner, who can find the most interesting item hidden in this messy room, will decide what we have for dessert tonight!”

Their faces lighting up with excitement, they accepted their father’s suggestion.

Curious about what they would find, they took immediate action individually.

The room became less messy gradually.

7 . He man Bekele was not atypical high school student. _________ spending his free time playing videogames, this 14-year-old was conducting experiments. His goal was to create a _________ that could treat skin cancer, and make it affordable for everyone who _________ it.

Growing up in Ethiopia, Africa, He man _________ saw people getting sunburned by the hot sun working outside. He didn’t _________ much of it when he was really little, but a she _________ he realized how serious skin cancer really was.

Skin cancer does have cures and it is _______ in most cases. However, the average _______ of skin cancer treatment is almost $40, 000. When hearing the shocking _________, He man planned to create a more __________ and accessible solution. He started doing experiments and working on different things, which turned into his bar of soap as a project.

His __________ won him the prize in this year’s 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge, a competition that __________ kids to think of unique ways to solve everyday problems. He man was so surprised and __________ when he first heard the news of his award. “It’s __________ to see that my ideas can be __________ and seen by the science community,” he said.

It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker called, as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone got really bored listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.

Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.

Jenny knew she should just pick it up and return it to him, but she didn’t want to run after him. Jenny bent down quickly, picked up the watch and ran home. On arriving home, Jenny put it on almost without thinking. She was surprised it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water...”Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the mirror, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really DID have something magic.

The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker asked who was going to be brave and go first. No-body moved. Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say anything, there was a shout from behind. “She’s stolen my watch!” Lee said angrily, “It went missing at school yesterday.”

Paragraph 1: Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation.

Paragraph2: At that moment, Miss Walker smiled and asked the class to listen to Jenny’s speech first.

10 . “Tom, you have a hairless spot on the back of your head!”Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.

I tried to shrug (耸肩) it off. “It’ll grow back. ”I worked to sound ________.

At first, the loss was minimal. ________the spot with my fingers became the top priority every day. No new hair, smooth as an egg. Weeks later, the spot was a little larger, and there was still no_________of any hair becoming visible through the skin. I began to________, but continued to try to be cool about it.

As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more. ________ my fingers through it, I would stare at the alarming quantity of hair in my hands, willing this to ________ happening to me.

We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection ( 注 射 ) to try, which would be ________ to the head skin. I underwent several costly injections over a few months, but in vain.

________, the injection began to trouble my sleep, and we finally had to stop the __. My hair still didn’t grow back.

I had to wear a wig ( 假 发 ) to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would________. Though aware that I should ________the fact to my friends, I was scared, not knowing how they would handle the information. ________, hesitantly, I told them what was happening after days of struggle. To my surprise, they all thought nothing of it. This was a(n) ________ for me.

I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel________of. I am learning that being bald doesn’t change who I am, and if I don’t let it affect myself ________ , then other people are much more likely to accept me as I am, too.