1 . Jenny lived in a small village. When she was a child, what she liked to do most was to watch the blue sky and enjoy birds flying freely in the sky. She always ______that some day she could also fly like a bird.

When Jenny was in the fourth grade, her teacher asked them to write a passage about their ______. In it, she wrote that she wanted to become an airplane pilot in the future. However, to her surprise, her paper came back with an “F” on it. The teacher told her it was nothing but fairy tale which could never become true. Jenny felt ______and sad. In her heart, she didn’t want to ______her teacher’s opinion. Why was it impossible? But the people______Jenny didn’t   support her and told her over and over again, “Girls can’t become pilots; never have, and never will. You’re______.” Finally, Jenny felt hopeless and ______her dream.

Jenny was in the senior high school several ______later. One day her English teacher, Mrs. Slaton, gave the class a ______about what they would be doing in the future. Jenny thought hard about it, “Pilot? No way! Artist? No talent! Waitress? I can do it.”_______she wrote it down. What Jenny wrote surprised Mrs.Slaton, “Is that what you are really interested in? I think you will be ______to do something full of more challenges.” Jenny felt excited, but she was still ______that she would be laughed at again. The teacher continued, “Everyone has their own talent. If you don’t go for your dream,______will do it for you.” Hearing that, with great courage she wrote down her old dream.

Mrs.Slaton’s words ______Jenny a lot. After ten years of hard work, Jenny’s dream came true. She became one of the first three women ______in the world. Stick to your dream if it’s what you really want!

2 . Mark and his friends decided to visit Mount Matterhorn, a beautiful mountain in Europe this year. It can not only be _________ from countless viewpoints, but also offered a pyramid-shaped peak.

Since it was a very hard climb to the top, they _________ to make camp at the last possible spot with one of the most extraordinary views, and decided to _________ the next day, not intending to finish the whole climb.

While Mark was _________ how a handful of people were making their way to the _________, he changed his mind and invited his friends to join him. _________, no one was willing because it was too dangerous, and they were _________ with where they were. Luckily, there was a group of climbers who were just _________ past and were on their way to the top. Mark quickly asked them if he could join them, and he was _________.

When they eventually reached the top, Mark was __________ as it’s so beautiful and it’s not at all that __________ as told. A climber next to him, pointing his finger at the __________ where Mark and his friends and many others had set their camps, smiled and explained. “You see, most people in the crowd right there end up satisfied in the __________ of their journey.” continued the man. “Many of them never think that they have the potential to achieve more, so they remain part of the crowd their whole life.”

Hearing that, Mark __________ how many times he was like those who have a(n)__________ they want to reach but not follow through till the end.

3 . I was once a painfully insecure teenage girl. I felt ________ all day, and rejected by my classmates. My ________ comfort was to be the stage assistant at our school’s theater.

One day, to my ________, actors from the great Oregon Shakespeare Festival came to perform for the school. One of them was Barry Kraft, who was a ________ leading actor. As I ran around backstage ________ him, he treated me with the casual ________ that he would show for friends in his living room. I ________ thought he was just making small talk to ________ the time before the performance.

That summer, I traveled to ________ Kraft’s performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. During one performance, I gathered my ________ and dropped him a note at intermission (中场休息), saying that if he ________ he could see me in the 15th row. Almost immediately I ________ sending the note, thinking he was too busy to see me.

After the ________, surprisingly, he was waiting for me! He smiled broadly, saying, “Would you like to visit backstage?” And off we went. Every time we ________ someone, he introduced me and said, “She helped me a lot.” I found him ________ sincere with people. It was then that I ________ I’d been wrong about him that day.

My ________ just increased 800%. After all, a well-known man like Kraft was willing to take the ________ to communicate with me, which ________ I mustn’t be so bad. From then on, I felt like a different person. ________, I successfully entered my dream university.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman       1     worked for a businessman living high up on the hill. It was part of her daily work to walk down the hill with her two pots (罐子) to collect water from a river. With time, one of the pots got a small crack (裂缝). But she decided to keep       2     (use) the pot.

Every day when she reached the house, the cracked pot would be only half full while the other one was full to       3     top. As years went by, the cracked pot saw       4     (he) as a failure and one day he spoke to the lady,“I apologise for my defects. The crack has made me useless.”The lady replied,“I would like you     5     (look) at the road we've taken.”

Next time when the lady carried the water up to the hill, the cracked pot       6     (notice) on his side of the track that beautiful flowers were growing, while the other side was still dry. The woman said,“I took advantage     7     your crack to water those flowers. Without you being just the way you are, the track uphill would not have this       8     (beautiful).

And the cracked pot       9     (sudden) understood and was overjoyed! Every one of us     10     (be) unique and we all have our own defects. But it is those little defects that make us.

5 . Having grown up in northern Arizona with the immortal Grand Canyon and the iron red plateaus of Sedona in my backyard, I believed that the southwestern state is home to the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Towering mountain titans, a cozy valley and an infinite blue sky promised fantastic potential for exploration. For me, no newly discovered sights or foreign landscapes can compare with its beauty.

That is, until I was invited to explore Guizhou province by the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour. Had someone vividly described how beautiful Guizhou can be in poetic detail, they would not have done it exactly. There is no substitute for seeing with one’s own eyes. I will attempt to do so.

During my trip around the city of Xingyi, in Guizhou, I saw the artwork of the Bouyei ethnic group. They use dyes produced from local plants to make clothing of striking blues and greens. Local elders still practice weaving with artful wooden machines and pass that tradition on to their grandchildren.

My father used to drag my brothers and me on yearly fishing trips around Arizona. We would compete to catch the largest fish, and in the mornings, Dad would cook us a basic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. I sat in a small boat in the middle of the lake, with fishing pole moving slowly in my impatient hands, and held my bored tongue while my father attempted to share with me the whispers of the wind, a fish dancing on the surface of the lake or the majesty of a hawk hunting for prey overhead. On my trip to Guizhou I had the opportunity to paddle on Wanfeng lake. At one point I rested, floating at the center of the lake, listening to the spaces between silence and taking in the surrounding karst (喀斯特) mountains. I thought about my childhood, and wished I had listened more closely to my father while fishing.

I’ve lived away from Arizona for 10 long years, carving my own destiny in China. I’ve managed to build myself a family, a career, a livelihood, and various projects. I feel as though I have everything that I need. For a moment, in Guizhou, I felt home.

7 . A preschool teacher decided to add a very special person to her list of students: Her beloved dad!

When teaching kids how to read and write, Lucy Floreshas has given more _______ about the fact that her dad never even had the _______ to learn how to write his own name. For this reason, she decided she could be the _______ teacher for him!

Lucy says her Spanish-speaking dad, Luciano, was a little _______ at first. His desire to learn, _______, was greater than anything and so the _______ began! Lucy posted a TikTok video of her dad where he was _______ how to write his name, which now has more than two million _______-and counting! She also posted a video where she _______ a little bit about her father’s background.

Her dad was born in Mexico and had a ________ childhood. Because of poverty, he had to drop out of school after first grade so that he could work to help ________ his family. At 15, he moved to the States. Ever since then, he’s been working in ________. Because it’s not something where he has to write frequently.

“Overall, I’m so excited that he chose to ________ to learn.” said Lucy.

Lucy gives her dad writing lessons three days a week for two hours, and the hard work has ________ Luciano can now write his name and is even starting to read books! His story has ________ touched thousands of hearts and proves that it is never too late to learn.

9 . Fritz Sam was driving his Uber car when he picked up Jemimah Wei, who was on her way to LaGuardia Airport. ____Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, Fritz saw a building on fire.

He asked Jemimah if she’d mind him pulling over to check it out. With Jemimah’s____, he went out to help.

Outside of the building a crowd had ____, and Fritz joined them in calling for the people inside to come out. And when someone said two people were ____inside, he was faced with the ____ of   staying safe out on the sidewalk or running into the ____ building to help those that remained.

Fritz chose the latter. He ____entered the smoke-filled building and went up the stairs. Then, he met one man who said he would ____the instant he picked up something ____ . So Fritz made a mental note that he’d ____the man before heading out of the building. Going up another set of stairs, he ____a woman who was too____ to move. He hurried forward to ____her and headed downstairs. Before heading out himself, Fritz listened for the man he’d ____seen. When he heard movement down the stairs, he ran back and rushed the man to the ____Back inside the car, Fritz got Jemimah to the ____ , and all in time to catch her flight. When landing, she ____photos of the burning building on a social networking website to ____her Uber hero. Jemimah’s thread caught the ____ of millions, making him so popular. Because of his ____Uber has decided to cover his vehicle rental fees for a year.