1 . Evelyn Glennie was the first lady of solo percussion(打击乐器) in Scotland. In an interview, she recalled how she became a percussion soloist in spite of her disability.

“Early on I decided not to allow the opinions of others to ________ me becoming a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began ________ piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the crazier I became about music. But I also began to gradually lose my ________. Doctors concluded that the nerve ________ was the cause and by age twelve, I was completely deaf. My love for music, ________, never left me.”

“My goal was to become a percussion soloist, ________ there were none at that time. In order to perform, I ________ to ‘hear’ music differently from others. I played in my stocking feet and could ________ the pitch of a note by the vibrations I felt through my body. My entire sound world depended on taking ________ of almost every sense that I had.”

“I was ________ to be recognized as a musician, ________ a deaf musician, and I ________ to the Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had ________ this before and some teachers ________ my admission. ________ my performance, I was ________ admitted and went on to graduate with the school’s highest honors.”

“After that, I became well-known as the first full-time solo percussionist. I ________ a series of musical compositions since ________ had been written specially for solo percussionists.”

“Though the doctor thought I was totally deaf, it didn’t ________ that my dream couldn’t be realized. I encourage people not to allow themselves to be ________ by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go.”

2 . Music is something I could never live without. Without music, I was ______ and would only talk when I was asked to. Music allowed me to ______ myself and be as loud as I wanted to. Singing my ______ out during choir (合唱) class, auditioning for choir concert solos, and ______ the school play, I felt the most like myself. There was nothing that could keep me away from my ______, until high school.

Everyone who wanted to be in show choir auditioned for the ______, including me. In the audition room, there was a piano, notes and different lyrics ______ on the chalkboard. I hit every note, and the ______ was amazing. When my audition was over, I took a breath of ______. Weeks passed and the list of who had made it into show choir was ______. I found my ______. “Angelica H. –– alternate (候补者)”. After I saw this, my ______ disappeared. My outside showed I wasn’t sad, but on the inside, my whole world had ______.

A year passed, I was at a ______ that also held karaoke to the customers. My parents let me go up and ______. Finally, I got enough courage to ______ a song by Sam Smith and started off. While I hit the high notes, people eating   ______ for me. I realized, I did not get into one program but that did not mean that I had to give up all ______. I still had that passion. The lesson learned was that if you are ______ or do not get what you want, and it is something you’re in ______ with, don’t give up.

4 . There was once a boy called Joseph Webb who always loved to show off how many friends he had at school. One day his ________ said to him, “Joseph, I bet (打赌) you a big bag of popcorn that you don’t have as many friends as you think. I’m sure many of them are nothing more than companions.”

Joseph ________ the bet at once. However, he wasn’t sure how to test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandfather. The old man answered, “Wait a minute.” Then he left and ________ soon as if carrying something in his hands, but Joseph could see nothing there.

“Take it. It’s a very ________ chair because it’s invisible (看不见). It’s rather ________ to sit on, but if you take it to school and ________ to sit on it, you’ll activate (激活) its ________ and it’ll be able to tell who your real friends are.”

Joseph, brave and determined, set off for ________ with the strange and invisible chair.   At break time he asked everyone to form a ________, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. Having difficulty seeing it, Joseph tried to sit on it but he ________ the seat and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone around him had a pretty good laugh.

“Wait! Let me try again, ”Joseph said. But again, he missed the seat,________ more surprised looks and a few catcalls. Joseph didn’t ________ and kept trying to sit on the magic chair. But he kept falling to the ground...until, suddenly he tried again but didn’t ________. Looking around, Joseph saw three of his best friends holding him up.________, many others he had thought of as friends had done nothing but make fun of him. And there, the show came to an end. Joseph understood that true friends were those who care for him, and not just the ________ that happened to be passing by. And someone who took joy in his misfortunes was even less of a friend.

5 . Over the years, I’ve been guilty of hurriedly shutting the front door to many strangers when they came knocking with the intention of selling the things. But around Easter time this year, a dear friend of mine had an experience that________my mind towards these “unexpected visitors.”

Alice who recently moved to a new neighborhood, had been housebound (足不出户的) all week________from the severe flu when, early one morning, there was the annoying knock on the door. Peering out the window, she saw two young ladies seriously________leaflets and a TV set model. She knew a large TV set establishment nearby and assumed a message was about to be________. “This is the last thing I need today,” she muttered to herself and________opened the door.

Coughing, she poked her head out and impatiently________them that she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in any TV products.________, she added, she was feeling quite unwell and abruptly shut the door. The ladies politely turned and left________. A few hours later, the same two ladies were back again. Really________this time, she opened the door ready to give them a piece of her mind.________she could speak, these women, with________looks on their faces, handed Alice a dish , saying “We’re so sorry we________you earlier. We thought you may like this homemade chicken soup.________it might make you feel better.” Alice was surprised by this lovely________. Being new to the area, she didn’t know many neighbors or people who could________her with shopping so the gesture was really________. She could only smile embarrassedly and sincerely thanked them. With that, the ladies left.

After Alice told this story to me, I thought about how________this deed was. Especially in today’s world where sadly, kindness and________seem so rare. I also realized that________others and showing________is the real essence of love.

7 . What does it mean to be a hero? I think a hero is someone who goes out of his way to make others happy. My hero is Mr. Wright, my chorus (合唱队) teacher.

When I was 12 years old, my grandparents passed away. I was really close to them, and losing them was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to ________ through. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or think; I felt like I couldn't even breathe. It was as if my whole world had fallen down from under me, and I ________ into this huge hole of depression (抑郁).

________ I was battling depression, I was determined to make my high school years the best of my life. It was difficult to be ________ , but I had to try. I joined Women’s Choir. Mr. Wright was the choral director and he was so funny that the first day, I just knew I had made the best ________ of my life.

As the year progressed, I loved chorus more and more. I began to smile again and really enjoy life.

Then one day that all changed. My friends—or those that I thought were my friends—started talking about me behind my back. I was hurt , and I sat by myself. Mr. Wright came over and asked what was wrong. The look in his eyes told me that I could ________ him. Trying hard to ________ back tears, I told him the whole story.

When I finished, he nodded and told me, “If you never learn anything from me, learn this: No one is worth ________ your joy. ” What Mr. Wright said really ________ a chord (心弦）in my heart. He ________ cared about me and what was going on. I’ll never be able to thank him enough, because he not only saved me but has ________ every day of my life since. Any time I feel like giving up, I remember Mr. Wright's words and push forward.

I’m proud to say that I ________ my depression, and I'm now a senior. I’m still a part of chorus, and now I'm also in the best choir at my school.

Mr. Wright is a hero to everyone he meets. He cares about every single person who walks through his door, and he loves what he does more than any other teacher I've known. That’s ________ he deserves to be Educator of the Year. He deserves the ________ not just this year but every year.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet you, Mr. Wright. You are an ________ teacher, and I hope you realize that. You’re my hero.

8 . 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.