1 . Since young, Aisha Ismail has said she let labels (标签) define what she could be. “I was a black girl, from a refugee (难民) family,” Aisha said. “It seemed_______I was only allowed to_______in this predetermined box.”

After a high school chemistry class_______her to think about a career in science and gave her confidence in the field, Aisha learned to live outside_______and began making big plans for her future. Now she is about to begin her freshman year at the University of California, planning to become a professor.

Born and_______in San Diego’s City Heights neighbourhood, Aisha is the daughter of a Somali refugee couple._______some might say Aisha’s success happened in spite of her background, she would say differently that her experiences shaped her and inspired her to be a(n)_______, promising undergraduate that she is today.

When Aisha was eight years old, her mother got a job by studying hard back in school in order to_______the whole family. That made Aisha realize that education could make a_______to one’s life.

“I always want to be the________girl for my family,” Aisha said. “In my opinion, you have to not even do your best but two times better than everyone else. Thus I always try my hardest.”

Aisha’s efforts________. The summer before her senior year of high school, she was________to the American Chemical Society Project SEED Programme. “She brought both enthusiasm and focus,” Botham, a researcher at this research institute, recalled. “She arrived every day ready to work, ready to learn and ready to rise to new challenges________whether or not she had done anything similar. That was why she was selected.”

When asked what advice she would give to others like her, Aisha warned them not to underestimate themselves. “Don’t tell yourself that the scholarship is too________or this programme is too competitive or I’ll never get into this school,” she said. “I was not sure whether I could make it until I started seeing the admission letters________in.”

3 . Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he stopped at once. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front legs. No chains, no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”

How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn’t.

Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed in it once before?

_________ . We should never give up the struggle (斗争) in life.

4 . Harry Depp will always treasure his experience of getting accepted to Yale Law School.

Harry had a happy life growing up until his mother _______ the family and moved out of the county when he was 8. His father then worked several jobs to _______ Harry and his older brother, but the family struggled _______. They often had no food or electricity.

Harry’s academics significantly suffered. As his grades _______, he channeled   his energy into sports. He was_______ in boxing and won national and international games, which he hoped would become his way out of_______. However, his dream were _______ when he suffered a shoulder injury in the 12th grade.

Harry’s poor grades as a senior resulted in him being _______ by every college he applied to. So he took a job at Bates Trucking and Trash, _______ rubbish and cleaning dustbins.

Rather than add to his despair (绝望), the job marked a ________ point in his life. His co-workers found his ________ , uplifted him and urged him to go back to school. Finally he was ________ to Bowie State University. By the end of his second year, Harry decided he wanted to go to ________ school.

Harry was ________ for the support he got from his co-workers. “It was the first time in my life that a group of individuals had really just ________ me, and told me I was intelligent."

5 . Do you know the following expressions?

The “Homer” in this expression is the Greek poet who wrote The Iliad and the Odyssey. People laugh differently. Some laugh silently, while others tend to laugh loudly. “Homeric laughter” refers to laughter of the latter (后者) kind. It is at times uncontrollable, and the entire body shakes during the process. This kind of laughter is called Homeric laughter because this is how the gods laughed in Homer’s classics.

According to most stories, Faust was a German scholar who was rather unhappy with his life. The devil(魔鬼), Mephistopheles, promises him that in exchange for his soul, he will give Faust unlimited power and knowledge. Faust agrees and experiences all kinds of pleasures, but, in the end, his soul is condemned to the hell (下地狱). A “Faustian bargain” therefore is a deal that finally results in one’s ruin. It means a bargain made for temporary gain without taking future consequences into consideration.

When you refer to a situation as being a three-ring circus, you are saying that it is a situation of complete confusion. There are so many activities taking place all together that they leave you confused or annoyed. The expression comes from the world of entertainment — the circus. The area where the artists perform their acts is called the “ring”. In the past, some of the circuses were so grand that they had three acts taking place simultaneously in three different “rings”. The audience had to decide which “ring” they wanted to focus on.

When someone is in the swim of things, the individual is actively participating in the things happening around him, as in “I’ve been ill, but soon I’ll be back in the swim of things.” In the world of fishing, fishermen use the word “swim” to refer to the section of the lake/river where fish can be found in plenty. So, if you are a fisherman and wish to catch a lot of fish, where would you be? You would be “in the swim”!

6 . When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write my own books. Half the students smiled unkindly, _______ nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be _______ , only geniuses can become writers,” the English teacher said, “And you are getting a D this term.” I was so ashamed that I burst into_______ . That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the newspaper. To my _______, they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer. I showed my teacher and fellow students. They laughed, “Just plain dumb luck,” the teacher said. I _______ success. I’d sold the first thing I’d _______written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck that was fine with me.

During the next two years I sold dozens of poems and letters. By the time I graduated from high school, I had scrapbooks (剪贴簿)_______ my published works. I never _______ my writing to my teachers, friends or my family _______ because they were dream killers.

I had four children at the time. ________ the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months. I chose a ________ and mailed it. A month later I received a contract, an advance on payments, and a request to start ________ another book. Crying Wind, became a best seller, was translated into fifteen languages and sold worldwide. My first book also became ________ reading in native American schools in Canada.

The ________ year I ever had as a writer I earned two dollars. In my best year I earned 36,000 dollars. People ask what college I ________ , what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None.” I just write. I’m not a genius. But I’ve written eight books. To all those who dream of writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can.” Writing is easy, it’s fun and anyone can do it.

7 . Our room was on the second floor but you could still hear the roar of the ocean and see the stars at night. I used to take long walks along the water. The food in town was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The area was very quiet and peaceful, and fairly deserted.

The last evening of our vacation, however, we all heard strange footsteps following closely behind us as we were walking up to our room in the holiday centre. We turned around and noticed a fairly young man moving very rapidly across the beach and getting closer to us. He was tall and wore a baseball cap. We didn't have any cell phones on us. I never saw Dad as worried as he was then and knew that something was terribly wrong. The sense of fear started to overwhelm Mom and me. We had had such a good time in town. Now, the night was rapidly turning into a dangerous situation．

We could hear the man's footsteps getting closer. Dad's face was almost pale．The so﹣called intruder（侵入者）had moved nearer and nearer when all of a sudden, the nearby vending（自动贩卖）machine started going crazy and spitting out cans of soda! The noise actually scared the intruder and he ran out of sight. My parents were shaking, but we all turned around to see who had put money into the vending machine downstairs, and actually saved us, but no one was around at all. Not a soul.

It's one vacation I will never forget.

8 . I wasn’t prepared for the way I felt when my 18-ycar-old son, Dylan, left for Asia during his winter break. I was _________ the moment he first told my husband and me that he wanted to use some of his _________ to go around China. We were excited for him to explore the world. We told him that _________ was one of the best ways to spend his money and that the _________ will last a lifetime.

On the morning of Dylan’s departure, he _________ a few more things in his bag. Before he and Michael _________ for the airport, I yelled, “Be safe, and _________ when you arrive.” That night, _________ he was flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, it hit me that Dylan was really on his _________. I woke hourly, each time __________ the clock and counting the hours before he would land the following morning. __________ my decision to let him go alone, I prayed and thought about all the things that could go __________. And then I heard from him. The first text said he’d arrived. The second text said his luggage didn’t __________ it. Feeling anxious, I madly attempted to __________ his luggage. And I persuaded him to go back to the __________ and go to the airline’s office. My efforts __________. All the while Dylan was texting me he was all right.

After that, there was no more talk about lost luggage, __________ I knew that he’d figure it out, and that the life lessons would be __________.

Several days into the trip, Dylan sent a photo from the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. “I thought I could __________ study abroad anywhere but Europe. However, I could definitely do it here,” his note read. And I was __________.

10 . After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his sons school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake.

He was shocked. He didn’t know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to fill his eyes. He started digging through the ruins.

As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, “It’s too late! They’re all dead! There’s nothing you can do!” To them he replied with one line, “Are you going to help me now?” And then he kept on digging.

No one helped, however. He went on alone because he needed to know for himself, “Is my boy alive or is he dead?” He dug for eight hours…12 hours.….24 hours.….36 hours.. then in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son’s words. He shouted his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it Dad!”

“What’s going on there? How is it?” the father asked.

“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We’re frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you’re here. When the building fell down, it made a triangle, and it saved us.”

“Come out, boy!”

“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”