1 . When I was 15 years old, I was a straight-A student. I was always _______ with a great group of friends, and I would hang out with them every weekend. Then I moved to a new place just before high school and everything _______ overnight.

While trying to _______ to my new surroundings, I also started the tenth grade. Going to a public school in a big city, _______, was harder than before.

I didn’t _______ well in class. Although I tried hard, my mind would go _______ the moment I attended the exam. All my _______ didn’t pay off, and I failed somehow. As a result, I became _______ and turned to video games.

My English teacher noticed what I was _______. He suggested I should go to the after-school classes for the kids who needed help. ________ to get a passing grade, I went. And that’s where I met Oliver. ________, he became my best friend and I was back on ________. And little by little, my ________ improved. It seemed that reshaping myself in a new environment wasn’t that terrible as ________.

As the year progressed, I made many friends and won many awards as well. Looking back, I see that my depression (沮丧) slowly disappeared. Having a friend really ________, even more than video games.

I grew up in a big family with my parents, my elder brother and sisters. They did all the things that I should do, including cleaning the house, washing clothes, making the bed and so on, so what I did at home was eat and sleep. As time went on, I formed the habit of throwing my things everywhere. Once my family were out, what a mess my room was! My parents were worried about how I could manage myself when I had to leave home.

That day approached. This summer I was admitted by the best boarding school in our county. It was required that two students share one room. My roommate, Jenny, was a gentle and quiet girl. I was not very neat. On the contrary, Jenny was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Jenny got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

War broke out between us one evening. Jenny came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started shouting. She shouted back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Jenny answered it.

From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away that her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart. The only thing that I needed to do was tidy up the room to show my care.

Unknowingly, Jenny sat up.

3 . It was a sunny but cold winter here in the mountains. I was _________ home along the clear roads. The last_________ had been over a week ago but down the sides of the hills lining the highway there were still _________ walls of ice. As I started to round a sharp turn, I_________ that a large piece of ice had broken off and fallen onto the road. I _________ turned my car to the other lane (车道) to _________ it. After I did it, I noticed a small dog was walking in my former lane just beyond where the ice had _________. If I had still been in that lane, I would have surely _________ him. Slowing down, I honked (按喇叭) and the dog was_________. He looked at me for a moment and then __________ the road and got into the safety of the woods.

I pulled over to a __________ place and parked. Then I walked back to the ice and moved it __________ the road so that no one would hit it. As I walked back to my car, I looked up at the__________. The clouds had just parted again to__________ the sun to shine through. I smiled and__________ fate (命运) for putting that ice just where it needed to be to keep me from hitting that little dog.

As I__________ driving home, I started thinking of all the times that the traffic in my life must have been redirected (重新定向). How many times had I been the small dog walking into traffic only to have the “ice” so I wouldn’t be__________? How many times had fate given me another __________ to find my way back to the right path without being __________?

Fate __________ us all so much. So let’s live wisely and thankfully.

It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线)through thick evergreen forest.

I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.

What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!

I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened. “I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”

I bit back my frustration(懊恼). I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.

David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer—that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.