Alice Moore is a teenager entrepreneur (创业者), who in May 2015 set up her business AilieCandy. By the time she was 13, her company was worth millions of dollars with the invention of a super-sweet treat that could save kids’ teeth, instead of destroying them.

It all began when Moore visited a bank with her dad. On the outing, she was offered a candy bar. However, her dad reminded her that sugary treats were bad for her teeth. But Moore was sick of missing out on candies. So she desired to get round the warning, “Why can’t I make a healthy candy that’s good for my teeth so that my parents can’t say no to it?” With that in mind, Moore asked her dad if she could start her own candy company. He recommended that she do some research and talk to dentists about what a healthier candy would contain.

With her dad’s permission, she spent the next two years researching online and conducting trials to get a recipe that was both tasty and tooth-friendly. She also approached dentists to learn more about teeth cleaning. Consequently, she succeeded in making a kind of candy only using natural sweeteners, which can reduce oral bacteria.

Moore then used her savings to get her business off the ground. Afterwards, she and her father secured their first business meeting with a supermarket owner, who finally agreed to sell Moore’s product — CanCandy.

As CanCandy’s success grows, so does Moore’s credibility as a young entrepreneur. Moore is enthusiastic about the candy she created, and she’s also positive about what the future might bring. She hopes that every kid can have a clean mouth and a broad smile.

Meanwhile, with her parents’ help, Moore is generally able to live a normal teenage life. Although she founded her company early on in life, she wasn’t driven primarily by profit. Moore wants to use her unique talent to help others find their smiles. She donates 10% of AilicCandy’s profits to Big Smiles. With her talent and determination, it appears that the sky could be the limit for Alice Moore.

3 . One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her _________ it was nothing more than a little branch and several years later it started to _________ towards the sky at an amazing speed. Soon it blessed her with cooling _________ in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.

When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow _________ the tree’s branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the _________. It was so sad seeing half of it _________ on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the _________ tree would have to be cut down. _________, she had saved a few seedlings from it that she hoped to _________ in the future.

Still, it was a shock to drive by her house the other day and see __________ but a stump (树桩) in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its branches, its leaves __________ in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs (树枝) reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad __________ of its loss for a long time to come.

My wonderful neighbor had another plan, __________. When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its __________. It was such an affirmation (肯定) of life. It was such a joy to __________. I could feel my heart __________.

Life by its very nature is a __________ bag. It hands us both beauty and tragedy, love and loss, __________ and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it __________ us in two, or we can use even its hardest times to make our __________ stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can use it to help others.

4 . “Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy-they’re given after all. Choice can be hard.”

I got the idea to _______________Amazon years ago. I _______________the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2, 300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an _______________ bookstore with millions of titles was very _______________to me. I had just turned 30, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife that I wanted to _______________my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t_______________ since most start-ups don’t and I wasn’t sure what to _______________. She told me I should _______________ the idea. As a young boy, I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my_______________.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a __________________boss that I admired very much. I went to my boss and __________________ with him that I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened __________________to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea,____________ it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some__________________to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours ____________ making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult__________________, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret__________________ and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.

After much__________________, I took the less__________________ path to follow my dream, and I’m__________________of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.

5 . What’s the difference between having a dream and making the dream come true? Hard work and perseverance. Wanda Smith always wanted to be a _________, but sometimes meeting life’s demanding realities can mean a dream _________.

Smith, a mother of three, had to care for her mom, _________ her family responsibilities, she took jobs as a bus monitor and gatekeeper for Brenham Independent School District in Texas. The time was _________ for her. But rather than let her dream die, at the age of 37, with the _________ of her husband, she added night classes to her _________. Nine years on, she _________ graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University.

Smith’s story came full circle when she was _________ as a first-grade teacher back at Brenham Elementary School. _________, her mom and beloved sisters didn’t live to see her accomplishment, but she knows they would have been __________ of her. “When I stand in the front of my classroom, I know I am __________ my dream finally,” Smith said during a show celebrating Teachers’ Day.

During the pandemic, as some of her students __________ to take up distance learning, Smith stepped up to help them. She risked her life to deliver schoolwork to students to ensure that the learning could be __________ as smoothly as possible, which really __________ her students and their parents.

It’s no wonder Smith’s kids __________ her. In a special surprise ceremony, they shouted their __________ and held up big colorful signs __________ their love. Smith’s life is an example as well as a(n) __________ for us. With great determination and __________, she graduated from cleaning classrooms to __________ classrooms.

6 . When you are living a fully-scheduled life, every minute counts. No matter how many ways you divide your ________, there’s never enough time in a day to catch up.

Six years ago, I was ________ with a care-free, stop-and-smell-the-roses type of ________. When I needed to rush out, she was taking her sweet ________ picking out a purse and a shining crown. When I needed to have a ________ lunch, she’d stop to speak to the elderly woman who looked like her grandma. Whenever my child caused me to deviate (偏离) from my main ________, I thought to myself, we don’t have time for this. ________, the two words I most commonly spoke to my little lover of life were: “________!”

Then one day, things ________. We’d just picked up my older daughter from kindergarten and were getting out of the car. Seeing her little sister not going fast enough for her liking, my older daughter said, “You are so slow.” When the older one crossed her own arms, it dawned on me that her annoyed look ________ that of mine. I saw the ________ my hurried existence was doing to both of my children.

Though my ________ to slow down was made almost three years ago, living at a slower pace still ________ great effort. My younger daughter is my living ________ of why I must keep trying. In fact, she reminded me once again the other day. When I thought my little child was going to eat the last ________ of an ice cream, she held out a spoonful of it. “I saved the last for you,” she said. At that moment, I ________I’d just got the deal of a lifetime. I gave my child a little time, and unexpectedly, ________, she reminded me that things taste ________ and love comes easier when you stop ________ through life.

Pausing to delight in the simple joys of daily life is the only way to truly live. Trust me, I learned from the world’s born ________ in joyful living.

Aesha Ash spent most of her life ballet (芭蕾舞) dancing and even turned it into a career as a member of the New York City Ballet. As much as she loved to dance, she found the weight of her responsibility heavy because she was often the only African American ballerina (芭蕾舞女演员) in her classes and company.

After retiring (退休) from ballet in 2007, Aesha enjoyed the quiet life for more than ten years before she decided to come back to ballet, but in a completely new way. She started The Swan Dreams Project that helps kids in poor areas get into the world of ballet.

Aesha set up a one-week camp that invited kids to not only learn the basics of ballet, but also get an introduction to French (since she says it is “the language of ballet”).

Her first camp was in 2018 in a poor neighborhood in New York. When she arrived she was greeted by dozens of students, most of whom were African Americans. She wanted to help kids who otherwise might not have ever had the chance to live in the world of ballet.

On the final day of camp, after a week of learning, the students put on a final performance for their family and friends. Before the performance, Aesha said she was nervous that it would be less of a performance and more of a mess, since the campers were all between 8 and 11 years old. Much to her surprise, it turned out to be perfect. She said, “When we went out to our first circle and the kids began counting in French and performing the steps they had just learned, my heart melted.”

Aesha continues to do whatever she can to help kids learn ballet. She found a way to turn that seemingly unbearable weight she once carried around into something good for kids, as well as for the world of ballet.

9 . When school started on that warm August day, I ________ myself into all the sports I did, including volleyball. I decided to become ________ and stopped eating completely. Soon I began losing weight, ________ thrilled me, and I even grew to love the ________ that came with my poor diet, for it meant that I was winning.

As the season progressed, things had become ________ between my head volleyball coach, Coach Smith, and me. Feeling something was wrong with my ________, she talked with me and tried to persuade me to eat ________ a healthy way. We then argued constantly. Later, my hunger started to affect my ________. I was so tired that practice and games were becoming a struggle. One afternoon, with ________ in her eyes, Coach Smith asked me what I had eaten. I told her ________ yet, and I wasn’t going to. She looked at me, hurt in her eyes, knowing her efforts are ________, and walked away.

A couple of weeks later I ________ a formal dinner for our volleyball team. I stood there as my coach managed to say something nice about me. I realized suddenly that I had ________ my senior year by being disrespectful, and probably hers as well. So that evening I wrote her a letter ________ and thanking her.

Then one Saturday, as I was reading in the library, I felt someone ________ take my arm and say softly, “Lynn Jones, how are you doing?” I looked up and saw the familiar face. “Thanks for the letter,” she said. “It ________ a lot.”

When I think of a coach, I think of someone ________ me, someone who gives instruction—not a friend. But Coach Smith is different, and, like any other good friend, she ________ my problem persistently even when I hated her for it at that time. ________ I didn’t deserve her kindness, she gave it anyway. I will forever be grateful for her help and now for her ________.