3 . My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of ________. Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some ________ to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little plant in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either.

We decided to let it ________ growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ________ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to ________ the weeds (杂草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something ________.The sunflower had not ________ where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the ________.

That’s when I ________ that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we ________ ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we ________ to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ________ to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had ________ in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be ________ of who and what we are, and then the environment will begin to ________ us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.

4 . On a trip to California, my family stopped for lunch. As we walked toward the entrance to the restaurant, a man, with a messy beard and dirty hair, jumped up from a bench and opened the door for us. Regardless of his _________, he greeted us in a _________ way.

Once inside, my daughters whispered, “Mom, he smells.” After we ordered our lunch, I explained, telling the kids to look _________ the dirt. We then watched other customers approach the restaurant but many ignored him. Seeing this rudeness truly upset me. The day I became a mother, I had decided to set a good example for my children. Yet sometimes when things didn’t go right, being a good example was _________. When our meal arrived, it suddenly _________ to me that I had left the car-sick pills in the truck. With the windiest trip ahead, the kids needed them, so I excused myself from the meal and went to get them.

Just then, the “doorman” was opening the door for a couple. They rushed past him without even acknowledging his _________. Letting them in first, I said a loud “thank you” to him as I went out.

When I returned, we talked a bit. He said he was not allowed inside _________ he purchased food. I went back and told my family his story. Then I asked our waitress to add one soup and sandwich. The kids looked _________ as we had already eaten, but when I said the order was for the “doorman” they smiled. When it was time to _________ our trip, I noticed the “doorman” enjoying his meal. Upon seeing me, he stood up and thanked me heartily. He then extended his hand for a handshake and I gratefully accepted. I suddenly noticed the tears in his eyes—tears of __________. What happened next drew great astonishment: I gave the “doorman” a hug. He pulled away, with tears breaking down his face.

Back in truck, I fell into deep thought. While we can’t choose many things in life, we can choose when to show gratitude. I said thanks to a man who had simply held open a door for me, and also said thanks for that chance to teach my children by example.

5 . I was on a bus one March evening. The driver didn’t _________to start the bus soon because it was not yet full. A middle-aged woman got on. Tired and sad, she told her story _________, not to anyone in particular. On her way to the station, half of her money was stolen. The other half was hidden under her blouse, so she _________still had some left. A few minutes later, she stopped crying, but still looked _________.

When all the seats were taken, the driver started the engine. The conductor began to collect fares. When she came to an old man in worn-out clothes, he _________ that he had spent all his money when he had accidentally got on a wrong bus and now he was trying to go home. On hearing this, she ordered the old man to _________ the bus. The old man was almost in tears as he_________ her to let him take the bus home. The driver took the conductor’s side and repeated the conductor’s _________.

The woman was watching the incident. When the driver and the conductor raised their voices at the old man, she interfered (干预).

“Stop _________ him! Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home?”

“He doesn’t have any money!” the driver __________.

“Well, that’s no reason to throw him off the bus,” she insisted.

Then she reached inside her blouse, took out her__________money, and handed it to the conductor. “Here’s his fare and mine. Just stop giving him a hard time.”

All heads turned to the woman. “It’s only money,” she shrugged.

She rode the rest of the way home __________ a happy smile, with the money she’d lost earlier __________.

On the road of life, the help of strangers can __________ our loads and lift our spirits. How much sweeter the __________ will be when we make it a little smoother for others!

6 . It was a dark day, one of depression, sorrow and anger. As I climbed out of the _____, after witnessing my time in the 100 yard freestyle, I did not feel like speaking to anyone. I saw the bright smiles of swimmers who had just _____ a best time. _____ , I had failed. Or at least that is what I thought at the time.

I was lying on my cool bed when an idea _____ my head. Success is the _____ to go from failure to failure without _____ your enthusiasm. At practice the next day, I told my swimming teammates about my goal time and they all either laughed or replied with a _____ similar response like, “You can’t do it” or “Probably not”. Believe it or not, these are the responses that made my goal _____.

Finally came the day when I had to _____ to myself and others that with ______ there is no limit to your achievements.

With the starting gun ______, I dove with perfect form into the pool. I felt the cool water running ______ my back. I swam like a fish, bouncing off each ______ at the wall as if it was a spring board. On the ______ turn, I came back to the wall with every piece of strength I had. I ______ the final wall with my fingertips and knew that I had swum the ______ race.

I had done it! I had achieved my best time! Joy filled my ______ like water does a cup. I saw the ______ on all of my friends’ faces as I ______ out of the pool: their jaws dropped to the ground. I began to laugh and gave them thumbs up.

I have ______ in life that having belief in yourself opens all gates. Never forget that anything the mind can conceive and believe can achieve.

7 . Stephen Glenn is a famous American research scientist. He has made several very important medical ________. When a newspaper journalist asked him why he was able to be so much more creative than the average person, he responded that it all came from a(n)________with his mother that occurred when he was a child.

Stephen had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he________ his grasp on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling(泼出)its contents all over the kitchen floor—a real sea of milk!When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of punishing him, she said, “What a great and wonderful________you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge pond of milk. Well, the________ has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes ________          we clean it up?”

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “Stephen, whenever you make a mess like this, ________you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order.” And together they cleaned   up   the   spilled   milk.   His   mother   then   said,   “You   know,   what   we   have   here   is a ________experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands.”

Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without ________ it. “The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could ________ without dropping it. What a good________to him!” This famous scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make________. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just________for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific________are all about. Even if the experiment doesn’t work, we usually learn something________from it.

8 . Derlin Newey, an 89-year-old pizza delivery driver was in disbelief when the Valdez family visited him. The local TV station was there to _________ the moment. “I don’t know what to say,” said Newey as he _________ tears of joy. Newey delivers _________ for Papa John, about 30 hours a week. He said he couldn’t live lonely on social security.

_________ being a delivery driver, Newey is also a rising TikTok star thanks to some loyal _________ inspired by his kindness.

The Valdez family always ask for him when _________ pizza and started recording his deliveries as TikTok videos on their channel @vendingheads. “It’s unbelievable. Everybody _________ him,” said Carlos Valdez. The family claims his signature phrase with each _________ is, “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?”

With more than 53,000 followers, they often got comments asking why Newey was delivering pizzas at his _________. The family decided to use their platform for some good. They asked their followers to make a __________ to help Newey, and they were quickly able to raise $12,000. They presented a signed check to him as from his “TikTok Family”.

Newey didn’t even know what TikTok was, but was __________ for the unexpected blessing. The Valdez family said that the __________ couldn’t have gone any better. “We just need to treat people with __________ and respect the way he does. He __________ our heart,” said Valdez.

And if the cash wasn’t __________, the family sweetened the surprise with a T-shirt that read, “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?”

9 . During the winter of 1986 I was working at a construction site near Oakland, California. It is not ________ for construction workers’ hands to become very painful. My hands were no ________ that year. They were bleeding at the joints of the fingers and thumbs.

________ work because of hurting hands is simply not a good choice in the construction industry. You grit your teeth(咬紧牙关), keep working, and finish the job. One morning I left for work at 5 a.m. and arrived at a ________. As I got out of my truck, I saw a newspaper delivery car and the driver struggling with newspapers. I took a second look, ________ that the man had no forearms. I was ________ to see him doing a job that would require a(n) physically gifted person. Still, he was somewhat having ________ with the larger bundles(捆)because his arms weren’t long enough.

On my way to pay for the gas, I stopped and asked him if I could ________ him. He politely ________ my offer. A few minutes later while I was refueling, he said, “Hey buddy, would you mind tying(系)my ________ for me?” As I was tying his shoes, he went on to explain that tying his shoes was the only thing he couldn’t do for ________.

I stopped and looked back at him as he was getting into his car. I looked down at my ________. Suddenly it hit me: I had been complaining about my hurting hands for weeks. That experience made a difference to my hurting hands. Every ________ when my hands start cracking and bleeding, I think back to that ________ in 1986. And just like magic, my hands don’t ________.

10 . I was walking in a park on a cool autumn morning. The view was charming, and a pleasant breeze(微风) was kissing my face _______.

Then I saw a mother and her little baby. The mother wore _______ clothes that seemed to be found in a dustbin—How easy it is for fortunate people to _______ away things they don’t need, and they do this _______ thinking of the unfortunate! She was holding her baby, protecting her from the morning _______ and expecting some money from strangers so that she could _______ food for both of them. It was then that I realized how _______ I had been in my whole life for living a rich life.

Then a man _______ some money and food to the mother, and as she took them, her face was _______ as if she had been the happiest person in the world. And why not, she could now ________ her baby at least for the day.

Actually, happiness doesn’t ________ luck, your financial or your physical conditions, but only on yourself. It is just a ________ in your hands. If you choose to be happy, ________ can stop you from it.

How ________ it is that one observation(观察) can change your life! Life has a lot to offer if you observe very closely. One who observes can ________ real happiness.