1 . A farmer owned an old mule(骡子) One day the mule _________ into the farmer’s well(井)unluckily   The farmer heard the mule _________ He tried every possible way to save the mule, but _________ .

After carefully thinking about the situation, the farmer _________ that neither the mule nor the well was worth greater efforts _________ , he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and asked them to help carry dirt to cover the old mule in the _________ and put him out of his _________ .

At first, the old mule was mad! But as the farmer and the neighbors _________ shoveling(铲土) and the dirt hit his back, an idea _________ to him.   Every time a shovelful of ____________ landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!

This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” He repeated to ____________ himself.   No matter how painful the blows, or how ____________ the situation seemed, the old mule overcame his fear and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, tired out, stepped ____________ over the wall of that well! What seemed to have destroyed him actually ____________ him all because of the way in which he dealt with his adversity(逆境)

That’s life! We should face our problems and respond to them ____________ , and refuse to give in to fear, bitterness, or self-pity.

2 . When Jasmine Benton was just 9 years old, she realized that her love for creating art was more than just a _______ . Each night in her diary she wrote about the _______ she dreamed of starting, bringing it to her mother Jennifer Gormer one Sunday morning to _______ the important news.

“I want to start my own company.” Jasmine told Jennifer. When Jennifer looked at Jasmine’s _______ she was astonished to see the outline of a real, practical business _______ . “She had the name of her business, the _______ she was going to sell, and who her customers were,” said Jennifer. “She had the vision (远见). It was all there.”

Jasmine comes from a long line of _______. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all started their own businesses. And with her family’s _______ , Jasmine started Precious Designs, a company that changes trash into treasure. She spent her adolescence and teen years creating artwork and _______ it at trade shows and art shows. Unfortunately, her friends were not very ________ , and she went through a ________ period when her work wasn’t selling. ________, she just kept trying and never ________ . Jennifer comforted and encouraged Jasmine and told her that sticking to her vision was ________ and asked her to ________ the naysayers (否定者).

Now Jasmine is 18 years old and her company is truly ________. After working part-time at the “Steve Harvev Show ”, Jasmine was tasked with redesigning Steve’s nursery. She recently ________ the Youth Entrepreneurship Shark Tank Challenge and won. Besides, she has also ________ her first bit of investor seed money.

Jasmine continues to excel in her career thanks to her innate business sense and ________ to succeed. We could all take a(an) ________ from this young lady’s vision and hard work! She has proved that if you can dream it, you can do it.

6 . A businessman was in debt and couldn’t figure out what to do. He was sitting on a bench in the park with his head down, thinking what could _______ the company from bankruptcy. _______ , an old man appeared in front of him.

“I see that something is _______ you,” he said.

After listening to the businessman, the old man said: “I think I can _______ you. ”

He asked the businessman what his name was, wrote him a _______ and said: “Take this money. We will _______ here exactly in one year, and you will be _______ to return it to me at that time. ”

After that, he turned around and _______ just as suddenly as he appeared. The businessman saw a check in his hands for an amount of 500,000 dollars, signed by John Rockefeller, one of the _______ people in the world at that time!

“I can ________ all of my problems in no time!”

He thought. But instead, the businessman decided to ________ the check into his safe. Thinking about its existence gave him the ________ to find a solution to save his business.

With the return of his ________ , he made profitable deals. Over a couple of months, he got out of ________ and started to earn money again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the ________ with the same check. At the agreed time the old man appeared again. Just as the businessman wanted to return the check and share his story of success, a ________ ran up and grabbed the old man.

“I hope he wasn’t bothering you. He always runs away from the hospital and tells people that he is John Rockefeller.” She said to the businessman.

The businessman was ________. During the whole year, he was creating and building a business, buying and selling, ________ that he had half a million dollars. And suddenly he understood that it was not the ________ , real or imaginary, that had changed his life. It was his new confidence and belief that gave him the strength to ________ everything that he had.

7 . The simplest way to say it is this: I believe in my mother. My belief began when I was just a kid, who _______ becoming a doctor.

My mother was a domestic worker (家政人员). Through her work, she observed that _________ people spent a lot more time reading than they _________ watching television. She announced that my brother and I _______ only watch two to three pre-selected programs during the week. With our _________ time, we had to read two books each from the Detroit Public Library and _______ written book reports to her. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a _________. My mother was illiterate (文盲).

When I entered high school, I was a(n) _________ student, but not for long. I began to like fancy clothes. I wanted to _______ other guys. I went from an A-student to a B-student to a C student. One night my mother came home from her various jobs and I __________ about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, “Okay, I’ll give you all the money I __________ this week scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can buy the family food and pay the bills. With the money __________, you can have all the Italian knit shirts you want.” I was very ________ with that arrangement but once I got through allocating (分配) money, there was nothing left. I realized my mother was a __________ genius to be able to keep the roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table, let alone buy __________ . I really realized my desire wasn’t going to get me __________. Success requires intellectual preparation. I went back to my __________ and became an A-student again and eventually I________ my dream and I became a doctor.

My story is really my mother’s story — a woman with ________ formal education who used her position as a parent to change the lives of her children. There is no job more important than __________. This I believe.

8 . That was when my son was 6 years old. My son is now 22 but whenever I look at him even as a grown man, I remember the small child with ____.

Our cat was ____ to give birth. And like all young children, my son was very interested in the birth of the babies. During the following week, he never stopped ____ me for a chance to witness it. At last, I agreed. I answered all his questions and prepared him the best ____ he might not be shocked or frightened.

That ____ when my son arrived home, one baby cat had been born. He was so ____ at what he saw that he would put his hand on the mother cat’s stomach and feel the other babies ____. When the mother cat began to ____ very loudly, it was clear that the second baby was on its way. My son ____ but never said a word. Then he asked me, “Mum, why does she cry so loudly when the baby comes?” I ____ that it was not a hurtful pain but a pain of great pleasure ____ the mother.

When the ____ of the third baby was coming by the crying of the mother cat, my son ____ hugged me with tears ______ his face, saying, “Mum, I’m sorry for the ____ I brought you to have me.” My heart almost stopped. With a(n) ____ choice of words, I told him that his birth had brought me ____ but smiles, and I would like to ____ it 100 times.

Now my son is a grown man, but he always ____ that night, for it was on that night that he finally ___ what the word “love” meant.

9 . I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl ________ me. She seemed so small as she pushed her way through the crowd of boys. They always tried to stop her but no one could. She ________ to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the basket. Later I often saw her practise alone until dark.

One day I asked her ________ she practised so much. Without hesitation, she said, “I want to go to college on a scholarship (奖学金). The only way I can do that is to play basketball well enough. My dad always says to me that if the dream is ________ enough, nothing could stop me.”

I ________ her through junior high and into high school. One day in her senior year, I saw her ________ in the grass, head in her arms. ________ I asked her what was wrong. She said softly that she was too short. The coaches told her that she would probably ________ get to play for a top college team — much less be offered a scholarship.

Sensing her ________, I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were ________. They didn’t understand the ________ of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to ________ for a top college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, nothing could stop her ________ one thing — her own attitude.

The next year, the girl was ________ a full scholarship to a NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to ________, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

10 . My mother left the field of education formally after I was born. However, she did not leave it _________. She made learning a _________ part of my life. I never watched television, not because I was not _________ to, but because it was more fun writing stories with my mom.

On my first day of kindergarten, I was excited, but _________. During snack time that day, I sat quietly and opened my _________. Inside, I found a note from my mother written on a napkin(餐巾纸). The note said that she _________ me, that she was proud of me and that I was the best kindergartener in the world! Because of that napkin note I _________ my first day of kindergarten successfully and many more school days to follow.

There have been many napkin notes since the _________ one. There were even napkin notes _________ to me in college, far away from my home. __________ I changed majors, changed the way I looked at the world, there was one thing that never __________ — my mother’s encouragement, support and __________ in napkin notes.

This year, my mother __________ to go back to school to earn her degree in teaching. Although I was in __________ of my mother for following her dreams, I wanted her to __________ that she didn’t need a(n) __________ to make her an excellent teacher.

So I gave her a __________ for school: a lunch bag filled with her favorite foods. She laughed as she __________ the lunch bag. Then she pulled out a napkin with __________ on it.

As she opened up her “You can do it!” napkin note from me, tears began to run down her face. When her eyes met mine, I saw she __________ my unspoken message: My mother is, and always has been, a teacher.