1 . 23-year-old Taleigh Loven walked downstairs to her graduation party last October. She was ______ balloons, treats and congratulations from her family. What didn’t cross her mind was her ______ wearing the same graduation cap as she did. ______ him carrying a certificate (证书) with his name on it, she instantly burst into tears.

Mike Loven, 47, decided four years earlier that he was going to restart his study in Grand Canyon University, the ______ school his daughter had just been ______ to. A few weeks later, Mike was taking his first______ course while Taleigh was getting settled in her dorm — with no ______ that Mike was a fellow freshman.

“There was no real reason for ______ it a secret from the family—I merely thought the _______ would be fun,” Mike said. “I work a lot and I’m always on my computer, so no one ______ knew that I was working on stuff (材料) for ______ all those years.”

The ______ part about the whole thing, Mike said, was during ______ midterm seasons when his family would constantly ask him for help with tricky (棘手的) school-related issues. He had his own ______ as well, but he couldn’t tell them. That, he said, ______ many late nights at the computer.

2 . My father was born in a small town in the US. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from _______, but something told him to _______ and begin a new adventure.

He began that adventure traveling to cities in the US before going on to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. He took my mother and us three daughters with him and went wherever the road _______ him.

It’s easy to feel _______ when you’re on the road. We made lots of new friends on our trip — most of them are mechanics, since we often _______ hours in repair shops. But that was a way much _______ than sitting by the roadside while waiting for the engine to cool off when it was 40℃ outside.

Getting along well sometimes seemed _______. There were always a lot of _______, especially among us back seat passengers about who had to sit in the middle. But even if it was hard, we learned a lot about tolerance (包容). When we were traveling in the Philippines, we drove to Quezon City one day. It should have been an hour’s drive but was nearly three thanks to bad roads and _______ traffic. “Did you put our suitcases in the car?” my father asked my mother as we arrived there. From the back seat, we saw her slowly turn toward my father. “No,” she said. “I thought you did.” That was how a seven­hour car trip turned into a 16­hour one, which was mostly spent in vain (徒劳).

On occasions like that, we had to learn to let go of our anger because we were ________ in a rolling box with the same people for the rest of the ________. Even if I sometimes felt like opening the car door and ________ one of my sisters out, I kept my feelings to myself.

This is why road trips were like ________   universities to us. We ________ our PhDs (博士学位)   in how to get along with other people just by traveling in our old car.

If we were ________ given a second chance at life, we would do it all over again. Only this time would I put the suitcases in the car myself.

3 . Mr. Wang, a landlord (房东) in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, has become famous because of his acts of kindness during the lockdown period of COVID-19.

Mr. Wang had 42 tenants (租户) at that time, about 80 percent of whom were students. Most only brought _______ suitcases, with no room for pots to cook with. Because of the COVID-19, they were not allowed to _______, making mealtime a big _______.

Having seen his young tenants _______ on fast food, Mr. Wang decided to cook meals for them free of charge. He bought as many vegetables as possible in the community and told his tenants via WeChat that he also could _______ them dinner each day. His idea was warmly welcomed. The tenants placed their _______ in the WeChat group every day, and Mr. Wang prepared their meals accordingly.

His wife and old mother also _______ him to wash vegetables and dishes. Although there were food supply problems at the beginning of the lockdown, Mr. Wang still _______ to buy some meat for his hungry young tenants.

Mr. Wang received as many as 35 orders a day. Some of the tenants wanted to _______ him for the dinner but were refused. Mr. Wang said he cooked the meals not for ________ but to help those in need.

With the tenants’ ________in mind, Mr. Wang divided the orders into small ________so that they could take their dinner one by one while keeping two meters from each other.

Greatly ________ , the tenants reported his kindness to the local media, making him well- known overnight. Hearing of his generosity, many people offered to give Mr. Wang money to help feed his young tenants, but Mr. Wang ________said no.

Mr. Wang has decided to ________his help for the tenants until the lockdown is over, or at least until takeout food is possible to order.

5 . I was walking home from school one day and it happened to be a particularly cold and windy day. It was________ and I was crazy enough to forget my hat and scarf. You can imagine my cheeks were rosy red and my hands were as numb as they could be.

All of a sudden, an old lady ________ up beside me and asked if I would like a ride home. At first, I said it was OK and her ________ smile melted (融化) away the thought that I should never talk to strangers! We had an amazing chat and she was just ________ a good woman. She told me her address and she dropped me off.

I didn’t see her or talk to her for about a month and one night as I ________ her kind gesture, I decided to return the favor. So, I made a lot of ________ and walked down to her house with my friend. At first I was a bit ________ she wouldn’t remember me or think that I was a bad man who poisoned cookies but luckily, I was ________ wrong. She was so happy, and she hugged me and kissed me and seemed so ________ that someone would do something like that!

When I got home my mom told me that the old lady ________ and told my mom on the phone that she ________ because she was so touched. She said she would never ________ the kindness that was given to her! That filled me with such ________! There really is nothing else joyful like helping ________ and making someone’s day ________!

6 . One morning, I was jogging and I noticed a person in front of me about 1/4 mile. I could _________ that he was running a little slower than me and I thought, “Very well, I shall try to _________ I had about a mile to go _________ I needed to turn off, so I started running faster and faster. Every block, I was _________ getting closer to him just a little bit. Just a few minutes later, I was only about 100 yards from him, so I really sped up,_________ I was running the last lap of London Olympic competition. I was determined to keep up with him. Finally, I did _________ it! I caught and passed him. I really felt good, “I beat.” Of course, he didn’t ever know we were _________.

After passing him, I realized I had been so focused on competing against him that I had _________ my turn. I had gone nearly six blocks past it. I had to _________ and go back. Isn’t it what happens in our life when we focus on competing with classmates, co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, trying to outdo (胜过) them or trying to prove that we are more important or more __________?

In reality, we spend our time and __________ running after other people and we miss out on our own paths to our given destinies (命运). The __________ with blind competition is that it’s a never ending cycle. There will always be somebody __________ you, someone with better grades or a more satisfying job, more education, a nicer car, more money in the bank, etc. But be __________ that we can be the best that we can be. We are competing with no one. Take what we have been __________ the height, weight and personality. Dress well and wear it proudly. We should feel lucky with them and stay focused and live a happy life.

7 . I remember the first day when I saw Sally playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she struggled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. She seemed so _________ , but she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her _________ nobody could.

I began to notice Sally at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She practiced dribbling (运球) and _________ over and over.

One day I asked Sally why she _________ so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a _________ . I’m going to play college basketball and I want to be the best one. I believe that if I am good enough, I will get one. My father has told me that if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t _________.”

I _________ her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her team to _________ . One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting on the grass, her head _________ in her arms. Slowly and quietly, I walked up and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 165cm she would probably never play for a top team—still less she would be __________ a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college.

I felt she was extremely __________. 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.

The next year, Sally was seen by a college basketball coach after a big game. She was __________ offered a scholarship and __________ to the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

It’s true: if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.

8 . Our family enjoyed a beautiful house plant for over thirty years. It had stayed with us through _________ years and good times, pain and joy. I had never thought of _________ it.

However, two weeks ago, we _________ some changes in its leaves, which began to lose color. We watered and looked after it _________, but it just showed no sign of _________. We finally picked a few almost dead leaves and _________ replanting them in another small pot.

What _________ us was that these leaves planted in the new pot grew strong. In order to know the reason why the house plant died, we dug the dead plant out of the pot. Then, it became _________ to us—its roots（根）were in disorder, completely tangling up. Our once-beautiful plant died because it grew out of its environment—it became root-bound（根满盆的）.

People can become root-bound, too. Those who _________ personal growth or development often want to make __________ that can lead to greater achievements or much more happiness. However, they more often find they outgrow their environment and want to __________. Their view becomes larger and they need __________ environment to live in. They need people who will make __________ for their growth. If they cannot be __________, some problems are sure to appear.

So if your new-found growth causes you to abandon the old ways, you may need to __________ you are bigger now.

10 . One day a famous painter painted a picture. He put it on exhibition with the title “Not for_______”. However, it was so beautiful a painting that whoever_______that exhibition asked the painter to sell that painting for whatever amount he would_______it. But he said, “I'm extremely sorry but I can’t sell this for any amount. I will sell it to only that person who will understand its_______.” Then, an old man came over and said, “I want to buy this painting and here is the_______in this small box for it.” There was a paint brush and colors in it. Then, he gave that painting to the old man.

All the other people asked the painter with_______, “Why did you sell it for a paint brush and a few colors to this old man? We were_______you a huge amount for this painting.” The painter said, “If you_______the painting, there is a man who is teaching a kid to paint with so much_______. So, the man in the picture is this old man and that kid is me. He is my teacher who taught me to paint and made me become what I am today just thanks to his devotion and________. And, the real value of this painting is just a paint brush which is________by my teacher as this paint brush is more________than your wealth. With this paint brush I can paint many more paintings.”All people understood and________the bonding(情谊) of a teacher and his student.

A teacher always gives his best wealth to his student in the form of knowledge, wisdom and art with a(n)________that his student will________make use of it.