A father is very worried about his son,     1     acts like a coward. So his father     2     (pay) a visit to the master and asked him to train his son.

The master said, “I promise I’ll be able to turn your child     3     a real man in three months.”

Three months later, his father came     4     (pick) the child.     5     (unexpected), the master arranged a match between the child     6     his coach to show the three-month training result.

At Round One, the child     7     (knock) down and fell to the ground. He stood up to meet the challenge. But he fell again, and once again he stood up to fight ... this was repeated six times.

The master asked his father, “Do you think your child’s performance is that of a man?” The father said, “I feel it is     8     (shame)! I never expected that he would be so weak after three months’     9     (train).” The master said, “I don’t agree with you, and I regret that you only see     10     surface of things. You have not seen the courage and perseverance in your son. This is the very spirit of a man!”

One summer afternoon, a group of recent college graduates decided to visit their favorite professor at his home. The grads     1    (be) out of school for about a year and they were each making their attempt into the so-called “real world” and dealing with all of the frustrations and     2     (confuse) that come with it.

Over the course of the afternoon,the grads complained     3     their professor about how difficult life was after school. They complained about the long hours, the     4     (demand) bosses, the competitive job market, and     5     all of them seemed to talk about or care about was money, money, money. 

After a while, the professor got up and made some coffee. He got out six cups, one for each student. Three of them were cheap disposable cups and the other three     6     (make) of his nicest porcelain. He then invited everyone to get up and help     7     (they).

Within seconds the     8     (argue) had already begun. “Wait,why do you get that cup?” “No,let me have it. I drove here.” “No way, I got here first; go get your own.” The students laughed and     9     (gentle) chided each other over who got to drink what out of what. A silent competition among friends.

When the kids finally sat back down the professor smiled and said, “You see? This is your problem. You are all arguing over who gets to drink out of the nice cups when all you really wanted was     10    coffee.”

Once upon a time, there was a poor fisherman who always dreamed of becoming rich. He wished to become a millionaire and so     1     (do) his wife. He had heard from some old men before that several ships     2     (load) with diamonds and gold had once sunk     3     the nearby seashore. Because of this, for a long time he kept searching that whole area for this treasure.

One day, while he was sitting on the boat daydreaming, he suddenly felt that the fishing rod     4     (weigh) down by a heavy object. He excitedly pulled hard at it, and     5     he saw made him exclaim, “Wow! A big, shiny gold chain!” He pulled hard at     6     gold chain to get it into the boat, but there seemed to be no end to it. His boat started to get overloaded and the sea water filled     7     boat.

However, he had begun dreaming of a big house, a big piece of land and     8     (buy) horses and cows... He kept     9    (pull) the chain although the boat kept sinking.

The boat finally sank down and he struggled to stay afloat.     10     (fortunate) his feet were entangled in the gold chain and he drowned.

“Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night!

It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out the bed,     1     (open) the door and stepped outside the house. There     2     (be) a lot of thick smoke.

I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs, I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew     3     (thick ) and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet.

I found an open door and ran into the room to get to the window. But     4     I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell     5    . The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up     6     (protect) my face from the smoke and heat. I crashed to the floor below with pieces of     7     (burn) wood all around me.

As I reached the cold air outside, the bundle of clothes gave a thin cry. I nearly dropped     8     in surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman     9     (wear) a night dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running     10     (mad).

She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.

The road to success isn’t so easy, and success rarely happens overnight.

Actually, a lot of highly successful writers have     1     (previous) faced rejection. Take J.K. Rowling     2     example. After a total of twelve rejections, Harry Potter became a global success, with over 400 million books     3     (sell) and translated into more than seventy different languages. Another example J.D. Salinger started writing short stories in high school. Even when     4     (serve) in the US Army during the Second World War, he carried six chapters of The Catcher in the Rye with him and worked on the novel throughout his war service. And although it was a time     5     women were not encouraged to become writers, all three Brontë sisters became famous writers.

Basketball player Stephen also got some doubts from many people. They thought he was too weak and short     6     (follow) in his father’s footsteps. But he didn’t give up because playing basketball was his dream. His creativity and perseverance made him the Davidson’s star player. He performed beyond everyone’s     7     (expect) with his accurate shooting and continuous efforts. After receiving the Most Valuable Player award, Stephen     8     (explain) his philosophy: What he wanted to do was just be himself. Inspiring others to believe in     9     (they), he showed that anything is possible.

So on the road to success, while hard work, self-belief and a touch of luck play     10     part, perseverance is the key.

    1     (hero) come in different shapes and sites. Some are born to give others a hand. Then there are the people who just happen to be in the right place at the right time. That was the case for John Underwood.

A storm broke near his home     2     a cold evening. Underwood was heading over to help his sister when the roads were flooded. He saw some other drivers get     3    (stick), so he got out of his truck to help. “My belief is that if I have the ability to do good, then I should do it. There should be no excuse.” he said. Underwood wasn't out of his vehicle long before he heard a cry, “Someone was screaming, “My parents, my parents!” Moments later, a 12-year-old boy ran up to Underwood,     4    (say) his parents were trapped and asked for help. The Hammonds went to get things from the basement when the walls failed     5    (bear) the weight of rain and fell down, and they couldn’t escape. Worse still, the water was rising fast. Time was of extreme significance, so Underwood took action at once. Any inappropriate action could add more dangers. Luckily, Underwood had experience     6     a contractor (承包商). “Digging a hole in the living room floor, I knew it's a safe way." He said.

With physical strength,     7    (patient), and a lot of bravery，Underwood saved their    8    (life). He said he did what anyone would do, but that’s not necessarily true. It's hard to put yourself in a dangerous way to rescue another. That's    9     the American Red Cross honored him. Ann Otto, who was in charge of the 23rd Annual Acts of Courage Awards, said the Awards should go to heroes like Underwood who have acted    10     (courage) and selflessly in a time of emergency.