It was February 16, 2019, at 8a. m. when my girlfriend, Jessika McNeill, and I arrived at Utah’s Zion National Park. We’d traveled from our home in Mesa, Arizona, to hike the nine-mile-long Subway Track, so named because of its amazing tunnel-shaped canyon (峡谷). Halfway through our track, which included climbing over huge rocks and crossing streams, the sunshine gave way to a light snow. Soon after, we reached the walls of the Subway Track. A small pond stood in our way, with the track continuing on the other side. Because the pond looked shallow, we began to get through, with Jessika leading the way.

About five feet from the edge, her front foot sank into the sandy bottom. Then she fell forward and both legs started to sink. I rushed, grabbed her under the shoulders, and pulled her out of the muck (淤泥). She climbed back to shore. But now I was sinking. The muck came all the way up to my right leg and my left ankle. I freed my left leg but couldn’t move my right. Jess handed me a long stick we’d picked up earlier in the hike. I jammed it down the side of my leg and tried to move and pull it out. Nothing. I was stuck in quicksand.

Jessika started scooping (挖出) sand with both hands, but it was refilling faster than she could pull it out. ”Don’t bother,“ I told her. ”You’re just wasting your energy.“ While I was no longer sinking, I wasn’t getting out, either. We couldn’t call for help because there was no signal there. I told Jessika she had to hike back and seek help. She was scared-she had only ever hiked with me and was afraid of hiking alone on such a tough track. But we were out of options.

A few hours after Jessika left, it was getting dark and started to snow heavily.

A whistle woke me up, spotting a flashlight through my jacket, I cried for help.

6 . The black dot

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. He________the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the________. To everyone’s________, there were no questions---just a black dot (圆点) in the center of the paper. The professor told them to write about________they saw there.” The students, ________, got started on the incomprehensible task.

At the end of the class, the professor________all the exams, and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students. All of them, with no exception, ________the black dot, trying to explain its________in the center of the sheet. After that, the professor started to explain: “I’m not going to________you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white________of the paper. Everyone________the black dot –– and the same thing happens in our________. However, we insist on concentrating________on the black dot –– the health issues that bother us, the________of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the ________with a friend. The dark spots are very________when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that ________our minds. Take your ________away from the black dots in your lives.

Enjoy each one of your________, each moment that life gives you. Be________and live a life filled with love!”

7 . My father, a laborer, didn't let me attend school initially. I was always_________of my younger brother when he set off to school each day. One day I followed him and_________under the teacher's desk. She noticed me, called my father and told him that he should put me in school. To my great _________, my father said yes.

I had a passion for learning. I quickly _________ to the top of my class. But I was treated _________ by classmates who saw me as a child of the slums（贫民窟）.I also suffered from _________ during biology labs because I was very_________due to malnutrition （营养不良）,and had to stand on a chair to see into the microscope.

When I graduated from high school, I wanted to become an engineer, but my father said I should study food science instead. I registered for a food science program _________ . However, I quickly discovered that food science wasn't so _________ after all. It was a real science. Soon enough, I showed great __________ .

In the years that followed, I received a Ph. D. in food engineering and was __________ to a position in a university. I worked with a company that wanted to __________ malnutrition in India's slums. I grew up in the slums, so I made efforts to__________more nutrition into the diet of the poor people. I __________ with locally grown grains and achieved great success. My work has won numerous international __________, and companies and government agencies have all __________ my expertise.

In my life, I've faced hunger and __________ . But I didn't let them hold me back. I__________the barriers and learned lessons from them that helped drive me forward. I hope others can take __________from my story and realize that-despite the __________ they may meet with-they, too, can persevere.

8 . One December night, a long, long time ago, a family sat around the fireplace in their home. This family had found happiness in the worst place in all of New England. This family was never lonely. They enjoyed each other's company, and often had visitors. The family offered every traveler who stopped at their home a kindness that money could not buy.

On that December evening, someone knocked at their door. The oldest girl opened the door and found a young man standing in the dark.

The old grandmother put a chair near the fireplace for him. The oldest daughter gave him a warm, shy smile. And the baby held up its little arms to him. "This fire is just what I needed," the young man said. The wind has been blowing in my face for the last two hours.

When the father took the young man's travel bag, he said he was going to Vermont when he saw the light in the window. He decided to stop to sit and enjoy their fire and company for a while.

As the young man took his place by the fire, something like heavy footsteps was heard outside. It sounded as if someone was running down the side of the mountain, taking enormous steps. The father looked out one of the windows.

"That old mountain has thrown another stone at us again. He must have been afraid we would forget him. He sometimes shakes his head and makes us think he will come down on top of us," the father explained to the young man. "But we are old neighbors," he smiled. "And we manage to get along together pretty well. Besides, I have made a safe hiding place outside to protect us in case a slide brings the mountain down on our heads. "

As the father spoke, the mother prepared a hot meal for their guest. While he ate, he talked freely to the family, as if it were his own. This young man did not trust people easily. Yet on this evening, something made him share his deepest secret with these simple mountain people.

9 . I never thought I would venture （冒险）far from home. For my undergrad degree, I only_______to universities within an hour of my hometown in the UK. When I decided to_______ a Ph. D. , I stayed at the same university. I still wasn't _______ I was a great student, and staying seemed like the _______ option. A few years later, as I was considering a postdoc （博士后）,I was determined to once again stay close to home, in the _______ of my Ph. D. lab.

I heard about a fellowship program in Japan that sounded like a good _______, and the flexibility of the program _______ me. I decided that, if I were accepted, I would stay for 3 months — long enough to experience a new place, but short enough to make the future less _______ .

But when I was accepted, the head of the group wanted me to stay for the full year. I _______I was excited about the research. But the thought of being so far from home for so long made me __________ . I didn't speak any Japanese. I wouldn't know anyone. Would I be __________?

I worked up my ________ after much consideration, and________ up for the year-knowing that, if things went badly, I could come home earlier.

Almost everything was________from what I was used to. In the lab the________and culture were new to me. Talking with my new________about their experiences conducting research helped open my eyes to new ways of doing things. After winning the scholarship, I now feel ________ I can do anything.

Humans are creatures of________. We resist change. However, if I hadn't moved, I would not have experienced many________and wonderful things or met many friends. So the move gave me the________to learn and experience.

10 . How far would you go to make a good impression at a new job? A college student in Alabama walked 32 kilometers in the dark to get to his new job.

The story begins with Walter Carr's car breaking down the night before starting a new job. Carr was unable to find a ride. So, he figured out how long it would take to walk from his house to the job in Pelham-32 kilometers away. He left at midnight so that he could make it to the customer's house by 8：00 am the next morning.

Pelham police saw him walking along a highway at 4-00 am. So, they stopped to see if he needed help. After hearing his story, they took him to a restaurant for breakfast and then to a church where he could safely wait until 8：00 am. The police then took Carr to the home of customer Jenny Lamey. Lamey said that even though Carr had just walked the entire night, he refused her offer to rest. He just wanted to start working. While he worked, he talked with the customer, telling her how much he liked her kitchen.

Jenny Lamey later wrote this on Facebook："I just can't tell you how touched I was by Walter and his journey. He is kind and cheerful and he has big dreams! He is hardworking and tough. " She then started a GoFundMe page to help Walter with money to get his car fixed. When the CEO of Bellhops, Luke Marklin, learned of Carr's story, he drove from Tennessee to Alabama to give Walter his own 2014 Ford Escape.

Walter Carr's story touched many others around the United States. Within a few days, people gave over $ 73 ,000 to his GoFundMe page. Carr has decided to give a part of the donations to the Birmingham Education Foundation. And he has received more offers for jobs and scholarships for schools.