2 . “Believe in yourself, and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe in you.”

—— Cynthia Kersey

Enur Pakashtica has been a(n) ________ to the young generation as he has developed ________ over the years to push his limits. Born into a poor family in 1994, Pakashtica has been singing since the age of six. As be ________ for the other kids in school for events, it built his self – esteem (自尊)and helped him ________ his confidence. Pakashtica is a singer and producer, who has used his skills to ________ the world with his passion and commitment. Pakashtica has ________ more than 15 songs and joined forces with artists such as Adrian Caxha for the remake of the song Ajshe.

Pakashtica officially started his ________ when he was 12, and since then, he has never ________. As he performed on TV in front of thousands of people, he made it to the top ten, which gathered ________ and built his will to achieve more and more. There is ________ that can hold people back if they have the ________ attitude, and Pakashtica has been channeling positivity throughout his life. Pakashtica has taken part in Season 2 of X Factor Albania. where he reached the semifinals and performed ________.

Pakashtica follows a ________: “People who want to succeed have to ________ between whether they want to go far or fast. If you want to go far —- be yourself, never ________, and if you want to go fast, and go down fast, fake it till you make it.”

5 . There was a young boy at a beautiful beach digging sands using his plastic tools. While his other friends were playing the whole time, the little boy spent his day_________his sandcastle. He even_________a moat (护城河) using a spoon, a bridge with a_________, and walls for his castle.

After a whole long day, he finished his_________sandcastle until the waves washed his hard work. Holding back his tears, the boy didn’t get mad and_________decided to study the waves that_________his creation.

The boy was aware of the_________and saw it a couple of times already. He already knew how to do things better. He felt no_________, regret, or fear any more whenever the waves came. He just smiled,_________his tools and left. He knew that the tide was beyond his__________and he couldn’t do anything about it. What he could do though is how to__________those situations.

Basically, no matter where you are, the waves of life will always__________you. What matters most is how you behave during those moments and what they__________about yourselves along this__________called life. Keep calm while looking at things from different viewpoints because sometimes all it takes for__________to happen in your life is by looking at things through different lenses!

7 . Agnes Lloyd’s 70th birthday came, but the day went normally. Her husband _______ many years ago. She had not heard from her children for a long time, which was _______.

The last bell of the day rang. She picked up her _______ and walked towards her car planning to buy herself a chocolate dessert although her doctors don’t _______ it for her age. But who cares? It was her birthday, and she _______ it.

The thought made her smile as she _______ her car when a sudden “MRS. LLOYD!” _______ her. Agnes dropped her purse onto the ground. She looked around and was _______ by what she saw.

Her students were standing there carrying birthday signs. She hadn’t _______ they had prepared such a surprise for her. Her student Christian came over, picking up her purse, and ________ her to the rest as they all started singing Happy Birthday.

As the song continued, tears ________ in her eyes. As they finished the song, small pieces of coloured paper began flying all over the place ________. But that wasn’t the best part.

Some of the students parted and her three children stepped out holding a birthday cake with two ________ that formed the number 70. “Happy birthday. Mom!” They exclaimed together, and that’s when Agnes lost her ________ for the first time.

Don’t forget your parents, ________ your life gets busy. We need to act and remind them that they are loved.

8 . I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited at Christmas. I was too_________ for that. At age eleven, the eldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my calm. I was in middle school after all. But every chance I got, when I was_________, I checked each present under the tree. I read every tag and_________ every package, guessing at the contents within. I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person _________ looking at the tags.

It had been a(n)_________ year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered presents, she would sigh and warn us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be disappointed. “ Christmas had_________ been a time for my parents to spoil(宠爱)us. In years past, the presents would occupy the living room. I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving”, but getting presents was the whole_________! It was the reason I couldn’t go to sleep on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and had to wait and_________ while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our_________.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package. I looked at it, __________. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I__________ this one. It was for my mom!

It was a blow dryer. __________ this may seem only a simple gift, to me it was so much more. But, in my world, where receiving was more important than giving, mom’s act of selflessness was difficult to__________. I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to do that. I have always remembered that Christmas with affection. As an adult with children, I can now see my mom was finding an even greater__________ in her Christmas because giving truly is better than receiving. To me, mom’s simple act__________ the world.

9 . Since young, Aisha Ismail has said she let labels (标签) define what she could be. “I was a black girl, from a refugee (难民) family,” Aisha said. “It seemed_______I was only allowed to_______in this predetermined box.”

After a high school chemistry class_______her to think about a career in science and gave her confidence in the field, Aisha learned to live outside_______and began making big plans for her future. Now she is about to begin her freshman year at the University of California, planning to become a professor.

Born and_______in San Diego’s City Heights neighbourhood, Aisha is the daughter of a Somali refugee couple._______some might say Aisha’s success happened in spite of her background, she would say differently that her experiences shaped her and inspired her to be a(n)_______, promising undergraduate that she is today.

When Aisha was eight years old, her mother got a job by studying hard back in school in order to_______the whole family. That made Aisha realize that education could make a_______to one’s life.

“I always want to be the________girl for my family,” Aisha said. “In my opinion, you have to not even do your best but two times better than everyone else. Thus I always try my hardest.”

Aisha’s efforts________. The summer before her senior year of high school, she was________to the American Chemical Society Project SEED Programme. “She brought both enthusiasm and focus,” Botham, a researcher at this research institute, recalled. “She arrived every day ready to work, ready to learn and ready to rise to new challenges________whether or not she had done anything similar. That was why she was selected.”

When asked what advice she would give to others like her, Aisha warned them not to underestimate themselves. “Don’t tell yourself that the scholarship is too________or this programme is too competitive or I’ll never get into this school,” she said. “I was not sure whether I could make it until I started seeing the admission letters________in.”

10 . My mother used to ask me, “What is the most important part of the body?” Through the years I would ________ the correct answer. When I was younger, I thought ________ was very important to us as humans, so I said, “My ears, Mummy.” She said, “No. Many people are ________. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon.”

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first ________. I had often thought over the question. So this time I told her, Mummy, it must be our eyes.“ She looked at me and said, ”You are ________ fast. but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.“

________ the years, mother asked me a couple more ________ and always her response to my answers was, ”No. but you are getting ________ every year, my child.“ Then last year, my Grandpa ________. Everybody was heartbroken. Everybody was crying. My mother looked at me when it was our ________ to say our final good-bye to Grandpa. She asked me, ”Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?“

I was ________ when she was asking me this now. I always thought this was a ________ between her and me. She saw the ________ on my face and told me, ”This question is very important. It shows that you have really ________ your life.“ I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, ”My dear, the most important body part is your ________.“ I asked, ”Is it because they hold up your head?“ She replied, ”No, it is ________ on them a crying friend or loved one can rest their head. I only hope that you have enough ________ and friends that you will have a shoulder to cry ________ when you need it.“ Then and there I understood the most important body part is not a ________ one. It is sympathetic(同情的) to the pain of ________.