2 . In my primary school, we used to write a lot in Mrs. White’s class. There were many mistakes in my writings. But no red _________. Instead, always a star. Sometimes _________ a Good! I would jump with joy at it. But this _________ my mother. She wanted to figure out why Mrs. White never _________ spelling or grammatical errors. Then one day she went to see her.

Mrs. White replied, “Children are just beginning to get _________ about using words, about forming sentences. I don’t want to _________ that enthusiasm or put any pressure on them with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait, but the _________ of words won ‘t…” And maybe she didn’t say it _________ like that. But what’s for sure is that I grew up learning to use words with _________ confidence from her.

It occurs to me that if Mrs. White had used her red pen more __________, I probably wouldn’t be telling you about this now. Looking back, I think she was such a(n) __________ teacher—to exercise “red-pen-restriction”. She allowed the joy, wonder and excitement of expression to come out.

In middle school, I used to __________ the word beautiful as “baeutiful”. Although “pretty” is __________ to spell, it doesn’t hold as much as you mean sometimes. So I told myself that if I was going to __________ the word, the least I could do was spell it right. Eventually, I made it.

And thanks to Mrs. White, I had no __________ when writing what I meant even if I couldn’t quite spell it out. Because Life isn’t Pretty. It’s “Baeutiful”.

5 . Joao Carlos Martins is a famous pianist and conductor. However, his career has been ________ and his life has taken him in many different ________.

As a teenager Martins began to perform in concerts. But in his late twenties, he had to ________ after badly breaking his arm. It was really a terrible time. He couldn’t look at a piano or ________ listen to music. ________, he decided to become the manager of a boxer, who won the world championship later. This ________ Martins to take up the piano and practise much harder. Six years later, he gave his first concert at the Carnegie Hall, which was the most ________ moment of his life. He performed in concerts for years before he had to quit because of the unbearable ________ in his hands caused by too much ________.

Martins, in his forties, became a politician. However, he couldn’t stand this ________, so once again, he went back to the piano. All was going well until something unexpected ________ while leaving a concert. He ________ a serious brain injury and lost all the movement in his right hand. Again, with great ________ he played just with his left hand. Years later he lost the use of the left hand and ________ himself a conductor. Now, in his late seventies, Martins is still taking ________ to work and has conducted over a thousand concerts.

7 . When I retired, my wife Peg said “Great! You’ll have time to clean the garage!” After 30 years’ ________ as director of a radio station, I would finally have more time for housework, but I worried I’d lose the sense of________ I had felt in my profession.

I pushed at the garage’s wooden doors, but they were as ________as I felt in this new stage of my life. I finally got the doors open and started to empty the shelves. Then my hand hit something ________. It was a common old metal can. I ________ the cover and found a ________ envelope with a postmark of May 13, 1940 inside. ________, I opened it and found some flower seeds in it, “ Eighty years old! I wonder if they’ll still grow. ”

I ________the seeds in a plastic pot. I checked it every day, but nothing happened. “I guess they’re just too ________to be any good, ” I told Peg in ________ . I picked up the pot to get rid of it, but something made me ________. I changed my mind and set it aside. Meanwhile, I was keeping ________, buying some books to improve my photography skills and teaching my granddaughters everything I knew about gardening and dogs.

Six weeks later, I was out in the yard when I ________ to notice the pot. A new bit of green-a leaf had ________. I proudly showed it off to my granddaughters. “Look, girls, even something this old can still ________ for its purpose and be pretty cool. Just like your grand- papa!”

8 . If you need courage when facing a challenge, learn from Jessica Cox. Born in February 1983 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Jessica Cox _________her parents. Why? She had no arms. As Cox grew up, her mother _________ that her daughter had the_________to live a normal life by doing things differently.

_________independent at a young age, Cox learned to tie her shoes, get dressed and take a _________.She also got prosthetic(假体的)arms then and used them for 11 years，all the time_________why. Getting called names like “Robot Girl” made her_________and quiet. But at age 14,everything changed.

Cox remembers boarding the bus on the first day of 8th grade with a_________by Eleanor Roosevelt running through her mind. “No one can make you feel inferior(卑微的) without your_________.”She decided to embrace her__________and removed her prosthetic arms for good. Cox says that it is not until we are__________to ourselves that we are able to overcome our challenges. That year, she also __________her black belt from the International Taekwondo Federation!

After college, Cox was__________ by Arizona Daily Star, which kick-started her career. She has spoken to audiences in over 26 countries since then. Cox often__________people through humor.

Cox conquered her greatest fear-flying-and in 2011 became the world’s first armless pilot. She uses her feet to fly the plane!__________learn from Jessica Cox - challenges are opportunities.

9 . I experienced a day when I was extraordinarily _______. I’m never a picture of grace, but on this particular day, I seemed to be _______ everything. It’s an old church, and the floor is _______ in some places, so my fall was the floor’s fault. But when I fell again on my way out to the car, and yet again in my own home, I began to grow _______. Had I let myself get so stressed out that I had _______ become sick?

Having been raised by devoted Christian parents who also worked in the mental-health field, I tended to look for spiritual and emotional reasons before I headed to the local _______. I have the calming practice that _______ a yoga pose with a breath prayer. I went to _______ more comfortable clothes for the exercise, and as I removed my shoes, I was _______!

I wasn’t having a stroke at all. I had completely worn out my favorite pair of sandals. The soles (鞋底) of both shoes were split in two! I had ________ all the possibilities to figure out what was causing my clumsiness. It never occurred to me to check my soles.

So often when we start to feel ________, we look for ways to make things better. But just as it never occurred to me to check the soles of my shoes, our own souls are the very ________ thing we think of to check. Take a moment to remember the last time you sat still, meditating. If you can’t remember when that was, it might be a(n) ________.

The local cobbler (鞋匠) said my soles were irreparable. We had a good ________, but it was time to let them go. Fortunately for us, our souls can be mended and restored — once we realize they are in need of ________.

10 . Silence is important for learning. I got it from my fourteen-month-old daughter Arielle.

One day, she sat on the floor with an old baby doll. Without buttons, it could neither _________ nor play music. The whole room was silent. Then Arielle began to explore the baby doll. When her hand touched a tiny _________, she used one finger to trace (勾画) its shape. Then she _________ one of her own ears and then both ears. She kept tracing the doll’s ear and her own a few more times until, _________, she turned her attention elsewhere.

At that moment I discovered how human _________ took place. Something stimulated (刺激) Arielle’s _________: Is her body like her doll’s? With no outside stimulation, she satisfied her curiosity by comparing the doll’s body and herself. _________, for many kids, experiences like Arielle’s are less and less frequent _________ children are surrounded by those so-called _________ toys which can talk and move at the push of a button. This __________ them to push buttons repeatedly without thinking and may rob (剥夺) children of opportunities to problem-solve.

Like adults, children need times that are __________ to experience the difference between just reacting to outside stimulation and __________ their own ideas by exploring the world.

Indeed, the toys most likely to encourage creative play are not those that make __________ or have lots of unnecessary’ functions. __________, they are simple, quiet and can be used in lots of different ways. So next time, when __________ what to buy your child, make a wise choice.