1 . Boundaries are everywhere. Some are for security. Some are for privacy. But some are just for us to _________.

One day, after supper, I took a walk on the _________. Taotao, my 5-year-old son, was bouncing excitedly behind me. He _________ a thin stick and acted as the Monkey King all the time. The sidewalk was paved by red bricks, _________ sharply with the pitch (沥青)-paved bikeway and formed a clear _________. “Use the sidewalk. It’s safe”, I _________ my son frequently.

Suddenly a maple leaf was blown off and _________ quietly on the bikeway, about two steps away. Taotao was totally _________. He stopped, bent down and tried to fetch it but failed. He _________ his stick, tried hard again but still failed. A bit _________, he stood up and moved one step forward, but not beyond the boundary. After several more attempts with the stick, the leaf was still not moving to him. I was right beside him, worried a lot about his further _________.

Finally, he stood up, threw away the stick _________, stepped across the boundary and picked up the leaf directly. Yeah! I saw a _________ smile on his face!

Many times we _________ our thinking within a boundary and can’t find a good solution; many times we hold existing _________ at hand, never thinking about whether they are still useful. We are not lacking in knowledge but short of knowing how to break the thinking boundaries.

2 . 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.

3 . At the age of 13, Giorgia began to suffer a severe skin disorder, which started out on her arms and face and continued to _________. Soon the angry, red rash (皮疹) covered nearly 97% of her body at times and could be extremely uncomfortable.

But for Giorgia, the most pain was _________ she was treated by others simply because of her physical appearance. People would stop and stare at her in the street, because they thought she was _________. She knew the condition was _________ her life.

That seems not _________ enough on its own. Unexpectedly, Giorgia also lost her father. She felt like her world went to _________. They were so close when she was growing up, and she couldn’t _________ losing him.

Fortunately, Giorgia had a strong and beautiful spirit inside. She realized she had a(n) _________. She could shrink back from what she received or she could find the _________ to love herself and the way she was made. Giorgia __________ her body and decided she’d no longer try to __________ her skin. It was part of who she was. She started a photo series __________ displaying her natural self, hoping that others struggling with their body images will gain __________ and inspiration from the pictures she shares.

“We might have __________ that make us look different from other women, but we are still beautiful. I know my dad would be proud of me for my __________. Now I’ve come to terms with my disease, and I want to help others do the same,” says Giorgia.

4 . Several years ago, a neighbor kid kicked a football and broke a basement window of my house. Due to financial problems, I ________ it up, thinking I’d get to it someday.

Over the years, I had planned to upgrade to energy-efficient windows. But with the frame rusted (锈) and firmly ________ in the foundation, whoever did it would need to chisel ( 凿 ) it out by hand. It would be a ________ process and there were six of those windows in the house. The cost was estimated at $15,000. It was simply ________.

Honestly, the thought of that window ________ me for years. I knew I needed to fix it, but I had built up the ________ so much in my mind that I put it off again and again.

Then I had a job change and needed to sell the house before moving away. But it was almost ________ to find a buyer if there was a broken window. So I pulled off the boards to face this thing head-on. I grabbed some rust remover, ________ it around the frame of the window, and gave it a pull. To my astonishment, it easily ________. I took the window downtown. It only cost me $12. I could have ________ the problem for only $12 when it occurred, but I let it bother me for five years!

________, this isn’t just about my window. Many of us live with broken windows of one type or another. They are things that seriously affect our ________ of life. If you recognize your broken window, don’t ________ to mend it. It may turn out to be ________ than expected. Usually we suffer more in________ than in reality.

6 . Rebecca Glass was born blind, who is a musician now. The childhood years were challenging in Rebecca’s memory, Some teachers would ______ her and suggest an other place, as they hadn’t taught children with _______. She didn’t get her sheet music translated into braille(盲文) which was ______ for her poor family. Then she had to learn by studying _______. That people identified her by appearance was the most upsetting part when she was young, but now it _______ happens on Rebecca. Despite the difficulties, Rebecca held on. And now with a doctor’s degree of musical arts, she has ________a professional musician.

Her love for performing music _______ her girlhood. When Rebecca was at a wedding, she ______ her flower girl duties and went straight for a piano instead. A photo caught that moment. So tiny is the girl that she doesn’t touch the _______ but she’s sitting tall at the piano. “Since Rebecca first ______ the piano, she had worked over eight hours a day. I could see she had a real _____ for music,” her mother said, “In addition, I noticed her talent soon she learned musical instruments so quickly.”

Rebecca loves chamber music and sees herself as a(n) ______ in the future, teaching children about classical music. Influential teachers also inspire her to ______ the next generation of musicians. She’s trying to ______ a summer camp program, too. And to every child, regardless of physical ability, the camp will ________ .

7 . Lewis B. Smedes once said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” For years Tom Anderson’s life was withered up(枯萎) by the memory of his ________ in an adventure that ________ the death of one of his classmates. He and his wife ________ after six years of marriage. Then the news about Tom changed. His wife Betty came back; he ________ a fine position.

One day he told me what had changed his life, “I used to think nothing could ________ what I had done. The thought of my ________ would stop me in the middle of a smile. It put a ________ between my wife and me. Then I had an________ visit from the person I dreaded(恐惧)most to see - the mother of the college classmate who died. ‘Unless you forgive, you cannot love.’ She said, ‘And without love, life has no ________.’ She paused, and then said ________, ‘You are the one person who hasn’t forgiven Tom Anderson.’ I found there in her eye ________ to be the person I might have been if her boy had lived. For the first time in my life I felt ________ to love and be loved.”

Forgiveness is truly the ________ grace(慈悲)，through which we gain the freedom to learn from experience. But forgiving our shortcomings doesn’t mean ________ that they exist. On the contrary, it means facing them ________.

8 . When I was driving on the highway, a big storm came. The rain began to beat ________ against my car windows. I had to stop and ________ my car along the roadside. Sitting in the car with boxes of clothes in the back seat, I was ________ of Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina hit Houston when I was fourteen years old. I was ________ that it would destroy my neighbourhood. ________ it missed ours, while leaving many parts of the city in ruins. From the TV, I saw a reporter ________ the homeless people inside the Houston Astrodome. Many of them were in dirty and ________ clothes, and some had no shoes on their feet. I noticed a little boy behind the reporter hugging an old teddy bear. Suddenly, I knew I had to do ________.

The next day, my friends ________ me at our volunteer club and we came up with a plan to ________ some used toys and give them to the kids at the Astrodome. I hoped they would bring some ________ to those homeless kids. We spread the word to our schools and other organizations. Three days later, our club was flooded with new toys! When we ________ the Astrodome with our gifts, children ________ towards us from all directions.

Bzzzz... My cellphone brought me back to the present. To my joy, the storm had ________. “Hector, we have had more victims because of the tornado.” “Well, I’ve brought a lot of clothes for them. The storm kept me late, but I’ll be there soon!” I turned my car into the suddenly heavy traffic. I knew that any small act of kindness would make a big ________.

9 . Back in the summer of 2016, China’s Gobi Super Marathon, a 155-­mile race across the Gobi Desert, officially ________．

Dion Leonard, a seasoned British athlete, had been invited for that ________, who had finished some of the toughest races on the planet. On the first evening, a dog kept following him wagging its tail. Dion didn’t want to be ________ because he was devoted to this race. Just after ________ it for a while, he took it aside and turned back to the camp. But the touch changed the ________ of his life.

On departure the next day, the puppy ________ again at the starting line. He thought it was a coincidence (巧合)．But when Dion started to run, the puppy followed. It was too easy to be lonely and ________ in a game like this but the puppy brought great ________ and encouragement to Dion. The puppy did not become a burden to him, ________, it’s the best companion on the boring track. Since they met in the Gobi Desert, Dion gave it the name Gobi.

On this long journey, one man and one dog silently ________ each other. They ran together, they shared water and food, they camped together under the stars. Dion also gradually forgot the ________ of the road, and suddenly let go of his obsession (痴迷) with rank.

After being with Dion for 125 kilometers, Gobi finally ran out of ________ and Dion had to put it in a first­aid car. Three days later, when Dion reappeared in the view of Gobi, it broke free and ran ________ to Dion. They rushed to the finishing line together.

________, Dion came in second. Gobi also won a medal from the organizers. Dion has no ________ about missing out on the championship because Gobi was the best prize on his trip.

10 . Brennon had been an experienced barber for a shop for years. He ______ half a year ago because he wanted to do something meaningful. Later, on a busy ______ in Philadelphia, with a chalkboard saying “Haircuts for the Homeless”， he was ______ free haircuts to any homeless person around Philadelphia.

Such a ______ is sure to draw the eye of average passers­by. Sean Johnson was no ______. He was willing to give Brennon a job. However, Brennon said he had to ______ because he didn’t do this to get paid but just to ______ the homeless.

A month later, Sean invited Brennon to his new barbershop after ______ Brennon again who was giving haircuts on another sidewalk. Sean did something ______ when they got inside — he gave Brennon the ______， saying, “It’s yours now.”

“You see many bad things in this city. When you see ______ things, you just want to be a part of them，” Sean said. Brennon saw this as an ______ to do even further good for the homeless and accepted Sean’s ______．

Tuesday through Sunday, Brennon’s barbershop would be just a ______ one, serving the paying customers. But every Monday would be set aside ______ for providing haircuts for the homeless, still free of charge.