2 . 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.

3 . I was visiting Costa Rica when I found myself in a bad situation: all my bank cards weren’t _______ abroad, and I only had $5 and a return ticket in two weeks. Back then, there were no cellphones or Internet. It was _______ who came to my rescue to get me home.

I thought the city dangerous and decided to find kind people in the _______. With my remaining coins, I _______ to the bus station and found a countryside that I could _______. Five hours later, I arrived at Santa Rosa. I went knocking door to door, _______ my situation with my very poor Spanish, but everyone pointed me to another _______.

Finally, I _______ a Chinese restaurant. The owner was extremely _______. She heard my story and felt ________ for me. She said her son had a similar ________. At that time, some other people were very kind to him, and she remembered how ________ that made her feel. She invited me in, gave me food, and called the Red Cross to ________ me. I spent my remaining days in Costa Rica with the head of Red Cross.

I realized that being able to receive kindness is a ________ for other people as well. And kindness ________ more kindness in small ripples(波纹).

4 . Exercise and I had never had a good relationship due to my fear of sports. From a young age, my dad _______ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, _______.

When I entered the University of Regina, my dad _______ telling me “You have to find a way to stay _______.” or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I _______ to give swimming a shot, but I _______ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was _______ to convince myself that’s OK.

The spring semester came. A friend of mine _______ me if I wanted to try Zumba (尊巴) with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically a kind of exercise: dancing to Latin pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be _______.

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my ________ of tea. The instructor would always say, “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my ________ of sports. I didn’t have to be ________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to ________ the music and move. Zumba did ________ me from the Freshman 15, and it also did so much more. It let me make ________ with my unpleasant past about physical exercise, and enjoy staying healthy.

5 . Owura Kwadwo Hottish teaches computer science in a school. It is a normal school except for the fact that it didn’t have______

Owura became famous after he posted photos of him on the Internet. In the picture. people could see he was teaching his students by______ an entire computer on the blackboard.The photos showed the______level of education for children in Ghana. People were______ that Owura made sure each button was drawn correctly. He would come to school half an hour ahead of______every day. He drew the computer on the blackboard, but at the end of his class, it was______off to start the next class, so he had to______it the next day! Owura’s efforts______when Microsoft took______of his act. They first took him to an international educators’ meeting in Singapore. He made a______about his teaching methods at the meeting and ______a standing ovation(欢呼) after the speech.

______,Owura got the thing he always wanted for his students—some companies______computers to the school. Not a single child in the school had seen a real computer in their lives. Thanks to their teacher’s______the world took care and treat them with ______

6 . John suddenly jumped off the swing without even slowing down. He called out nervously, “Mom, where’s Charlie?” He had just _________he hadn’t seen his new puppy for over an hour.

John looked around the garden, behind the bushes, and under the picnic table. No dog! His mother heard_________in his voice as he called her a second time. “Mom, I can’t find Charlie!”

She came outside _________. “Let’s look around the garden first. Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s close by.”

Both son and mother were_________now, but still no Charlie. Their calls were not completely wasted, though. Joe, the next-door neighbor, and his two daughters Tania and Julie, immediately agreed to help them _________the lost dog.

But even with five people now searching the town’s streets, they had no luck. Charlie was still_________.

Tania suggested they make posters with Charlie’s_________. She had done this when her own cat was lost a year earlier, she told John, and the cat was found the next day.

John agreed. When they got home, he made a poster with a photo of Charlie. Then John heard a_________ and opened his bedroom door. It was Charlie. John was greeted with a big wet kiss. Charlie had been_________ in the bedroom this whole time, sleeping. John had never been so__________in his life!

7 . From the window of my room, I could see a tall cotton - rose hibiscus (木棉树). In spring, when green leaves were half _______ by mist, the tree looked very attractive. _______ with red flowers. This inspiring neighbor of mine often _______ my mind working. I regarded it as my best friend _______.

However, when I opened the window one morning, to my amazement, the tree was almost _______ beyond recognition as a a result of the storm _______ the night before. I was seized with a sudden sorrow at the thought “all the flowers are to fall” I could not help _______ with emotion: the course of life never runs _______, for there are so many ups and downs. _______ twists and turns. The process of my life saw my beloved friends parting one after another. Isn’t it ________ to the flowers falling off the tree in the wind?

This event ________ from my memory as time went by. One day after I came home. I found the room hard to breathe in and opened the window ________. Something outside caught my ________ and impress me. It was a plum tree (李树) with flowers ________ beautifully by the sunset. The surprise discovery filled me with pleasure. I wondered ________ I had no idea of some tough life restarting over the fallen petals (花瓣) when I felt sorry for the hibiscus.

When the last petal ________, all the admiration for the hibiscus disappeared as if nothing was left, until the landscape was again decorated with the red plum flowers to ________ people of life’s alternation and continuity. Can’t it be said that life is actually a symphony, a harmonious ________ of loss and gain.

Standing by the window lost in thought for a long time, I realized that no scenery in the world remains ________. As long as you keep your heart bathed in the sun, every dawn will present a fine start for you and the world will always be about ________ hopes.

Tell anyone who has inspired you how they have inspired you.

One summer weekend, my wife, my son and I entered a running race on mountain trails. When the race started, our son took off ______, but my wife and I stayed back, enjoying the scenery. After some time, while running down a narrow, ______ trail, I walked on a big stone and had a ______. I realized I'd got my toe ______, but I didn't check my damage. Instead, we kept running.______, after going half the course, I realized my watch on my wrist was______. I encouraged my wife to go on ahead, and returned to see if I could find it. Later, I ______ my broken watch and quickly put it into my pocket. Then I ______ down the trail. In the end, I saw my son, who had finished 30 minutes earlier, had run back up the trail to ______ me. He ran with me to the end.

______ it turned out, both my wife and son had won first place in their age groups, but I had no chance of placing. After the race, I took off my shoe and found that my sock was in blood. Luckily, the race ______ had a special award for the most injured runner.

Although everyone wants to live a life of comfort, the ______ is that we often face pain and ______. However, the key to happiness is ______ pain into something positive. In other words, ______ can make us stronger if we face them bravely.

9 . Last Friday, after doing all the family shopping in the town. I wanted to have a rest before catching the rain. I _______ a newspaper and some chocolate and _______ into the station coffee shop. It was a cheap self-service place with long tables to _______ at. I put my heavy bag down on the floor, _______ the newspaper and the chocolate on the table and then went to get a cup of coffee.

When I came back with the coffee, there was someone _______ in the next seat. _______ was a boy, with dark glasses and old clothes, and _______ bright red at the front. He had started to eat my chocolate!

Naturally, I was rather uneasy about him, but I didn’t want to have any _______. I just read the newspaper, tasted my coffee and took a bit of chocolate. The boy looked at me in _______.Then he took a ________ piece of my chocolate. I could hardly believe it. Still I didn’t say anything to him. When he took a third piece, I felt more angry than uneasy. I thought, “Well, I shall have the last piece.” And I got it.

The boy gave me a strange look, then ________ up. As he left, he shouted out, “There’s something ________ with that woman!” Everyone looked at me, ________ I didn’t want to quarrel with the boy, so I kept quiet. I did not realize that I had ________ a mistake until I finished my coffee and was ready to ________. My face turned red when I saw my unopened chocolate under the newspaper. The chocolate that I had been eating was the boy’s!