2 . Standing in front of the bike shop, Dave stared at the shiny red bicycle in the window. He could _______ himself riding the bike in Saturday’s race and winning the first-place medal and prize money. “With that bike, I could even beat Adam,” Dave thought.

He rode on and stopped at Peck’s clothing store. The coat he planned to buy his mother for her birthday was still on sale. Dave knew she would _______ buy it for herself. She worked hard just to make _______ meet. But the prize money would be enough for him to buy that coat and surprise her.

Dave looked at his old bike. Two years ago, he found some old bicycles at the _______ and used the parts to make one bike. He called it his recycled bike. “I’ll never _______ the race on this old bike,” Dave sighed.

As Dave passed the junkyard, he noticed a newer-looking bike tire. He started _______ the huge junk pile. Finally, he found what he was looking for. “These two tires and the handgrips (手把) are just _______ for my bike.”

Arriving home, Dave put the used tires and the handgrips on his _______ bike, and oiled the chained. He stood back and admired the _______ he had made. “I might win that race after all,” he said to himself.

The next morning, when Dave and his mom got to the park, about thirty kids had already __________. Dave headed for the start line __________ Mom found a seat at the finish line.

Bang! The riders rushed off. Dave __________ Adam, who was in the lead. He __________ to pass one rider after another and was approaching Adam. Leaning forward, Dave pedaled harder and faster. __________ he sped by Adam and crossed the finish line.

As the announcer awarded Dave the medal and the check for fifty dollars, he asked, “What are you going to do with the prize money, Dave?”

“It’s a __________ ,” Dave said and waved to his mom.

3 . In a national spelling contest in America, an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her ________ voice, the judges were not sure whether she spelled the right word. They talked it over and ________ decided to simply ask her what she had said. By then, the girl knew she had misspelled the word. Instead of lying, she told the truth that she had said the ________ letter—so she lost the contest.

As the girl walked off the ________, the entire audience stood，clapping to applaud her honesty. Later, dozens of newspaper reporters wrote about this ________, even though it cost the girl the contest. But the fact is that she ________ the biggest contest that day: the contest of her character.

Probably the biggest test of our character and honesty is what we would do if we knew we would never get ________. This young girl could easily have ________ and nobody would have known it but herself. But it’s been said, “If you ________, you make yourself cheap.” This young girl was ________ enough to prize her own character more than the prize from a spelling contest. She knew the ________ she made in that moment will have a long-lasting influence in her future.

Should the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or ________ to the policeman? Should the ________ change received at the store be forgotten or ________ ? Nobody will know. But we have to live with ourselves, and it is always better to live with someone we ________.

5 . A man was employed to paint a boat. He brought paint and _________ and began to paint the boat as the owner wanted. While painting, he _________ there was a hole in the body of the boat and decided to repair it. When he finished painting, he received his _________ and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat visited the painter and_________ him with a cheque (支票), much higher than what he was paid for the painting work. The painter was _________.

“You’ve already paid me for painting the boat, sir!” he said.

“This is not for the paint job. It’s for repairing the _________ in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service.” the man said. “Certainly it’s not worth paying me such a high amount for something so _________!”

“My dear friend，” the owner said, “You don’t understand. Let me tell you _________ happened. When I asked you to paint the boat, I _________ to mention the hole. When the boat dried, my kids took it and __________ a fishing trip. They did not know that there was a hole there. I was not at home at the time. So when I __________ and noticed they had taken the boat, I was hopeless. Imagine my __________ and joy when I saw them returning safely from fishing.”

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You now see what you did? You __________ the life of my children!”

Each of us has a moral duty to offer help, wipe tears, listen carefully and repair all the “hole” we __________ in our life journey, because a small act will make a big __________ in the future.

6 . There was once a famous king whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he _________ to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great _________ and made war on other countries. He conquered(征服) many kings and _________ many cities. But at last his army was beaten; and Tamerlane escaped alone from the field of _________.

For a long time he wandered in _________ from place to place. His enemies were _________ him. He was about to lose all hope.

One day he was _________ under a tree, thinking of his failure. He had now been a wanderer for twenty days. He couldn’t _________ any longer. Suddenly he saw a small object climbing up the trunk (树干) of the tree. He looked more _________ and saw it was an ant(蚂蚁) __________ a grain of wheat(小麦) as large as itself.

There was a __________ in the tree only a little way above, and that was the home of the ant.

“You are __________ , Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you are carrying something that is too heavy for you.” Just as he __________ , the ant lost its footing and fell to the ground. But it __________ held on to the grain of wheat. Tamerlane __________ the little insect. It tried the second time, the third time ... the twentieth time — but always with the same__________. Then it tried the twenty-first time. __________ , one little step at a time, it climbed across the rough place where it had __________ so often. The next minute it climbed __________ into its home, carrying the grain of wheat. “Well done!” said Tamerlane, “you’ve taught me a lesson. I, too, will try, try again, __________ I succeed.”

And this he did.

7 . If living well is the best revenge, then Bell may just be having the best life ever.

After facing bullying (欺凌) at school, _________ internalizing (内化) the pain or trying to get _________, the spirited 7-year-old _________to channel his energy into something positive instead.

"After I was bullied and I felt _________inside me, I knew I didn't want other kids to feel the same way I felt," Bell explained, "So, I asked my mom to help me spread love and _________."

Before the bullying _________, Bell was already doing his _________to give back to his community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

_________funded by his own savings, Bell started out by _________care packages to his elderly neighbors. Over time, the popular project __________. With contributions __________in, he and his mom launched a food storeroom.

In the face of negativity at school, Bell's __________to remain positive only became stronger.

Hoping to __________his message of sympathy beyond his own community, Bell __________to find a place where residents would benefit most from his message of hope. So they decided to help the people living on the reservation.

With a steady stream of in-person donations, as well as __________from his GoFundMe and   Amazon Wish List pages, Bell and his mom have managed to store up enough __________supplies to fill in two trucks.

The first shipment that went out in July was __________with food, cleaning supplies, shoes and clothing. With the cold weather __________, the second shipment in September also included coats and blankets.

In addition to his humanitarian aid work, Bell has also __________his own nonprofit, Cool & Dope. The organization`s __________is to fight against bullying and spread positivity through acts of kindness.

8 . Robin was 12 years old when his mother sent him to me for his first piano lesson. I preferred that students begin at an earlier _________. I explained it to Robin that he was too old, but he said it had always been his mother’s _________ to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.

Although Robin tried very hard, he didn’t seem to have the basic sense of music. However, he _________ and at the end of each lesson he never forgot to say, “My mom’s going to hear me play someday.” But it seemed impossible, and I was _________ by his slow progress. One day, he _________ me that his mother was sick and he couldn’t come to my class any longer. I was glad that he stopped coming, since he was really a bad _________ for my teaching!

Several months later when I was preparing my students for a music show, Robin came to my home and said he had to _________ the show. I don’t know what led me to _________ him to do that. Maybe it was the _________ in his eyes or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right.

I was even more __________ when Robin announced that he had chosen one of the most difficult pieces of Mozart. I was not prepared for what happened next.

However, on the show his fingers danced __________ on the keys. He played so well that everyone __________ excitedly when he was leaving the stage. In excitement, I __________ up to stage to congratulate him.

“How could you do it?” I could not help asking him a few days later.

“Well, I kept practicing at home. My mom had cancer and just passed away the day I went to your __________ to ask for your permission to take part in the show. It was always her dream that she could hear me play on the stage. I wanted to make it __________.”

9 . Surviving Mount Rainier

Bad luck and poor timing left Krasnitskiy and three climbers stuck on Mount Rainier for several long days. They faced mountain climbing’s _________ tests. One man suffered _________ sickness; ice and rockfall _________ down at night; cold nights in a _________ that got torn left them hypothermic (体温过低的). Calm, confidence, skill and the courage to continue up the _________ route, despite illness and injury, likely saved their lives.

The climbers _________ on a Friday, camping low on the route the first night because they were _________ about rockfall after a climber had recently died in an accident at the route’s typical _________ camp.

On Saturday, at about 10,500 feet, one of the climbers became sick from the altitude, which began to slow them down.

By Sunday evening, the ill climber was _________, and they had to make an unplanned camp on steep snow. A __________ wind, unexpected and strong, began to break their tent. It was a cold night.

On Monday, they called 911. For several __________, they watched as high winds __________ rangers’ (护林员) attempts at a helicopter rescue. Their food was __________ and they shared a single bottle of snowmelt (融雪水) each day.

Then the icefall __________ their tent platform and squeezed them together. It was impossible to climb down. On Wednesday, they decided to __________ their climb — __________, carefully, resting when they were weak.

Krasnitskiy thought of all the people who loved him, and it really __________ him that they must be worried. As he climbed, he just kept yelling out to his __________, “We have to get there.”

However, on Thursday morning, their spirits began to __________. They started to __________ whether they could continue. But then the helicopter arrived. They were rescued.