1 . It was a terrible day. Snow had been falling all day long, making the trip _________. I would rather have been in my warm home than drive along on such a cold day, but I didn’t have a _________. I had to have my paper work handed in and then _________ my son.

The snow continued to fall as we drove along for the 15-mile trip back home. I slowed the car and _________ at my son in his heavy coat as he looked _________ out of the window with a blank expression. In the eyes of the world he was looked upon as a mentally disabled child._________ , over the years what I saw was a beautiful, kind and _________ soul. He had shown me more about love than I could have ever _________on my own.

I slowed the car even more as we _________ a sharp curve(曲线). As we rounded it I saw a shivering(颤抖的)young woman in a light jacket walking in the snow storm. I pulled over and let her in. She was heading for her Mom’s house to visit her son whom she hadn’t seen for months. She had experienced a lot of disappointments and __________. Yet, she still held out hope for a new job and tried to __________ a new life for her son and herself.

I took her as far as I was able to and dropped her off. She thanked me for the __________ and I told her I wished I could have done more to help. Then as we were about to leave, my sweet son took off his coat,__________ down the window and gave it to her. She put it on, smiled and __________ to us as we pulled out on the road

In this world we will__________ many problems and challenges. Sometimes it seems that our entire lives are a trip down a curvy and dangerous road. Yet the power of love takes us straight back to a broad smooth highway.

2 . I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl ________ me. She seemed so small as she pushed her way through the crowd of boys. They always tried to stop her but no one could. She ________ to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the basket. Later I often saw her practise alone until dark.

One day I asked her ________ she practised so much. Without hesitation, she said, “I want to go to college on a scholarship (奖学金). The only way I can do that is to play basketball well enough. My dad always says to me that if the dream is ________ enough, nothing could stop me.”

I ________ her through junior high and into high school. One day in her senior year, I saw her ________ in the grass, head in her arms. ________ I asked her what was wrong. She said softly that she was too short. The coaches told her that she would probably ________ get to play for a top college team — much less be offered a scholarship.

Sensing her ________, I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were ________. They didn’t understand the ________ of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to ________ for a top college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, nothing could stop her ________ one thing — her own attitude.

The next year, the girl was ________ a full scholarship to a NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to ________, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

5 . “Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy-they’re given after all. Choice can be hard.”

I got the idea to _______________Amazon years ago. I _______________the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2, 300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an _______________ bookstore with millions of titles was very _______________to me. I had just turned 30, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife that I wanted to _______________my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t_______________ since most start-ups don’t and I wasn’t sure what to _______________. She told me I should _______________ the idea. As a young boy, I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my_______________.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a __________________boss that I admired very much. I went to my boss and __________________ with him that I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened __________________to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea,____________ it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some__________________to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours ____________ making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult__________________, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret__________________ and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.

After much__________________, I took the less__________________ path to follow my dream, and I’m__________________of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.

6 . For long, a little boy was wondering why his desk pal could rank 1st in the class, whereas he himself failed to: he only ranked 21st. So he asked his mom, “Mom, am I more ________ than others? I feel I am as careful as him, but how come I always ________?” Hearing the words, Mom was worried that her son’s self-esteem was now being hurt by the ranking system. She went ________, not knowing how to explain.

In another test, the son ranked 17th, ________ his pal remained 1st. Back home, he ________ the same question. Mom really wanted to inform her son that intelligence ________. However, was this the answer that her son was ________ curious about? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.

There were times she wanted to say, “You are too lazy. You are not as hard-working as others...” but she stopped when thinking of her son was ________ from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings. She thought it cruel to add additional ________ on his son and was trying to find out a perfect answer.

Time passing swiftly, the son finished primary school. ________ studying harder and harder, he was still unable to ________ with his pal. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she ________ to give out an answer. Sitting on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, “Do you see the seabirds over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise quickly while ‘clumsy’ (笨拙的) sea-gulls would take more time to complete the process. ________, have you noticed birds that finally fly across the endless ________ are none other than ‘clumsy’ sea-gulls?”

Now, the son no longer worries about his rankings, and no one would enquire his rankings in primary school, because, with the 1st ranking, he is ________ to a famous University.

7 . I walked to the park after school and sat under a tree. I pulled my sketchbook (素描册) and colored pencils ________ my school bag and looked around for ideas. I turned my ________ to the girls who were playing nearby and began sketching. ________ I had drawn the outline (轮廓) of the girls, a shadow fell across my sketchbook. The shadow was a boy, ________ was surveying my drawing over my shoulder. I was embarrassed and ________ my sketchbook.

“No offence (冒犯),” the boy laughed, pulling his sketchbook out of his school bag and ________ it to me. “Want to look at my drawings?” ________, I exchanged my sketchbook with his. I was really ________ with his drawings of nature. Trees, leaves, rocks and rivers were done with great details. “You are so ________!” I said, “What’s your name?” “Kenyi Thompson. My family just moved here.” He replied. Kenyi sat down next to me. While looking at my drawings, Kenyi said, “You are also talented. I really ________ with drawing people, but you make it look easy.” “I have a great idea!” I declared. “Let’s make drawings together! You can draw ________ on one sheet of paper while I draw the people on another. Then we’ll ________ and finish each other’s drawings. That way, ________ drawings would display our talents.”

About an hour later, we ________ our drawings. Our drawings combined our talents with a new ________, which I believe would last forever.

8 . What’s the difference between having a dream and making the dream come true? Hard work and perseverance. Wanda Smith always wanted to be a _________, but sometimes meeting life’s demanding realities can mean a dream _________.

Smith, a mother of three, had to care for her mom, _________ her family responsibilities, she took jobs as a bus monitor and gatekeeper for Brenham Independent School District in Texas. The time was _________ for her. But rather than let her dream die, at the age of 37, with the _________ of her husband, she added night classes to her _________. Nine years on, she _________ graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University.

Smith’s story came full circle when she was _________ as a first-grade teacher back at Brenham Elementary School. _________, her mom and beloved sisters didn’t live to see her accomplishment, but she knows they would have been __________ of her. “When I stand in the front of my classroom, I know I am __________ my dream finally,” Smith said during a show celebrating Teachers’ Day.

During the pandemic, as some of her students __________ to take up distance learning, Smith stepped up to help them. She risked her life to deliver schoolwork to students to ensure that the learning could be __________ as smoothly as possible, which really __________ her students and their parents.

It’s no wonder Smith’s kids __________ her. In a special surprise ceremony, they shouted their __________ and held up big colorful signs __________ their love. Smith’s life is an example as well as a(n) __________ for us. With great determination and __________, she graduated from cleaning classrooms to __________ classrooms.

9 . I strongly believe that we can have a great influence on anyone we meet. Some acts that we think _________ can shape someone else’s future. The right words at just the right time could _________ change someone’s life.

Years ago, that was what happened to me. I was the only _________ child at Blue Creek Elementary School. From almost the first day there, the other kids _________ me mainly because of my hearing aid and the way I talked. And I also had _________ with most of my schoolwork.

When the other kids laughed at me, I was sure that I was a_________ person. I saw myself as a boy who wasn’t smart enough to_________ the class.

Mrs. Jordan, my 5th-grade teacher, _________ all of that with a simple three- word phrase.

One morning, she asked the _________ a question. I read her lips from my front-row seat and immediately raised my hand __________ I was sure I had the right answer. But when she called my name, I was __________. Here was an opportunity to impress the powerful teacher and__________ her I was worthy of her love. Maybe I would even impress my classmates a little. I didn’t want to blow it. __________ my fears, I took a deep __________ and answered Mrs. Jordan’s question.

I will never forget what __________ next. Mrs. Jordan enthusiastically slammed her right foot on the__________ and with sparkling eyes and a wide smile she __________. “THAT’S RIGHT STEPHEN!”

For the first time in my young life, I was a star. I __________ a little taller in my chair.

From that day forward, my grades and speech __________ greatly. My popularity among my peers increased. It was all because Mrs. Jordan believed in me and wasn’t afraid to __________ it.

10 . I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs and he was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting _________. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s   _________ was to make it a forest. He had some _________ theories about planting trees. He hardly _________ his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked _________ and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow _________ . He said you had to make things _________ for the trees so that only _________ could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them _________ shallow root and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow __________ roots in search of water. So, __________ watering his trees every morning, he’d beat them with a rolled-up newspaper, I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s   __________ .

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked __________ his house and looked at the trees __________ he planted some twenty five years ago. They were all tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of __________ these trees meant they grew up weak. __________ a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to __________ Doctor Gibb’s trees in way comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often __________ that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to __________ my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with __________. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be torn apart.