2 . Five years ago, a truly unforgettable event took place. My wife and I were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary (纪念日) that year. To our delight, it was a splendid event, lovingly hosted by our sons just for us. Our dear, old friends gave us a wonderful surprise with their thoughtful gifts and heartfelt congratulations. Our gift to each other was a driving trip out west. We drove from Ontario into Alberta, then southward into Glacier National Park in Montana, and continued to Yellowstone National Park.

It was a cold spring day, and the Beartooth Highway had opened for the season just days before. Alongside the road, there was still a great amount of snow there. The scenery was so impressive that we made lots of stops to record memories with my camera. At the highest point of the highway, I stopped at a lookout to catch the amazing views, with my wife in the centre of my camera lens.

There were not many cars on the road. Sometimes, cars with energetic young tourists passed by. And then we heard a motorcycle in the distance. The driver of the motorcycle, who wore dirty clothes, parked behind our cars. Approaching us, he spoke only a simple command, “Give me your camera and get over there with your wife.” I must admit I felt nervous that we might be robbed where we just created some beautiful memories. Surprisingly, he just took a picture of us, handed back my camera and rode off before we could offer our thanks. Unexpectedly, the photo he took is now one of the most valuable and prized of our trip.

In that unexpected encounter, I absorbed a lesson in the most unlikely of places. We should never judge a man by his appearance. To the motorcyclist who may one day read this story and remember us: we wish to extend our deepest appreciation and a heartfelt “Thank you” for the kindness you showed us that day.

3 . It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why.

First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that we are trying new things. It’s always good to try new things because when we are trying new things, we are growing. If we never try anything new, how can we improve? How can we expand? The simple answer is “We can’t. ”Look around us. With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new.

Another good thing about mistakes is this: When we are making mistakes, we are leaning. Consider this—Edison failed 10, 000 times before he perfected the light bulb. When asked how it felt to fail that many times, be said that he had learned 10, 000 things that didn’t work.

Finally, when we make a mistake, we are much closer to success. Why? Because when all is said and done, we will have tried some number of things before we succeeded. Every time we make a mistake, we eliminate one of those things and are one step closer.

But all this doesn’t mean that we should go through life without considering the consequences of a mistake. Quite the contrary, when we try something new, we have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way we want it to, we will be in a position to try again. we all have limited resources—in the form of time and money—so we shouldn’t blow them all on one approach to a problem. Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate these resources appropriately so we can learn, make corrections, and try it again. Only by accepting and using our mistakes in this way can we make significant advances in our lives.

There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’ re not trying hard enough.” So go forth and make mistakes. And learn. And grow. And prosper.

I     1     (celebrate) my 18^th birthday just before I went to university. I expected to feel instantly different, as if I had closed the door on my childhood and stepped into a whole new adult world.     2     it wasn’t like that. When I woke up the next day, there were still rules to obey and lessons     3     (attend). In fact, the change has been more subtle andgradual than I imagined. Instead of being the selfish teenager I used to be, I have begun to feel more aware of other people and to develop a stronger sense of social     4     (responsible). To give an example, I will be signing an organ donation     5     (agree) this time tomorrow. This was a big decision for me and I made it     6     asking my parents (although I knew they would approve).     7     (turn) 18 also changed the way     8     society viewed me. I was really     9     (surprise) when a bank contracted me with a credit card offer. Of course, I would like to have more freedom with money and no doubt I will be getting a credit card at some point, but I currently don’t have a steady income, sogetting a credit card might tempt me to spend more money     10     I have!

5 . When I was a child, my mother didn’t force me to eat everything in my dish. She said I had to ____ every food three times. Her ____ was the first time to try it, the second time to get over the fact that you had just tried it, and the third to ____ that you don’t like it. After that, if I still ____ the taste, she would ____ make me eat it again. Her reasonable approach worked almost every time- except with bananas, which I still don’ t eat now. As I grew older, I brought that simple ____ into my life. I had been ____ the diving board at the pool, but I had ____ to make the first jump off the board. When I breathed in water, my mother jumped in to ____ me. Before she could even reach me, I was up and out of the pool, heading back to that diving board. I jumped off ____. More coughing followed, but I was determined to get over this fear. When I got out of the pool the second time, my mom tried to cover me with a towel. Instead, I threw off the towel and ____ trying. The third time there was no ____ and no water in my nose. In fact there were ____ from the others at the pool. At that point, I fell in love with the pool. In my mid-thirties, I left a successful job that didn’t satisfy me in order to achieve my dream of being a writer. Having been ____ twice, I tried for a third time. I have been happily living the life of a writer ever since. We are all afraid of something unknown. But how can we be sure that something won’t be ____ unless we give it a try?

7 . Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat—but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a mess of anxiety.

I feel permanently scared inside churches, where piano exams are held—no longer admiring their beauty because over the years I have received terrible marks from examiners. Despite being 15—too old, too cool to be frightened—I remember trembling inside the bathroom before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.

This time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here; a little practice there. And then it happened. My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”

Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came up with a decision: I’d practice at school.

The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity. I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and spent hours practicing.

As my exam drew near, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms after school. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.

Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. When I played, my worries about how others judged me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent thoughts made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key.

Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually kind of proud of my work. In my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed.

When the time came to play in front of an examiner, all the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and all I could think about was the marvelous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years and my happiness nowadays.

Many days later, I received my mark—a rarely mentioned “well done”.

Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.

8 . A few years ago, I stood underneath a red overhanging cliff near my hometown, Carbondale, Colorado. The scenery was _______. Elk chewed on the brown grasses by the river below. A hawk rode the wind.

I was tied in, ready to climb. I was _______ to do a tough route for the first time. “Onsight”, (首次攀登) as we call it, means I didn’t know where I was climbing to. It would be a hard onsight for me to onsight a difficult route. You need focus. No _______.

Just as I was about to climb, _______ in my body, which I hadn’t felt yet, said hello. That was not good for any athlete. _______, I painted a coat of confidence on my inner walls of doubt to ease my tension. I _______ myself at the top, celebrating. “You can do this,” I firmly told myself. “If you believe, success is _______.”

It didn’t work. I fell near the top. Defeated, I _______ myself to the ground and realized powerfully that the too strong desire to climb the route had _______ me from doing it.

My self-worth was closely ________ at that unnatural moment with my success or failure, and that ________ a chain of reaction: unnatural desire, pressure, performance anxiety. I had just climbed with a mind fascinated with the top but a ________ struggling below with irregular and unnatural movement.

I told myself that on my next attempt, success or failure didn’t ________. “Make one move at a time. That’s all.” I gave myself a ________ from whatever would happen. Case closed, it ________. I floated to the top with grace, clarity and contentment.

9 . Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to _______ my changing body, I also had to deal with the _______ move from my country home to a crowded suburb.

When we moved, my beloved _______, a small brown pony, had to be sold. Feeling alone, I couldn’t eat or sleep. I missed my friends and my pony. My father realized that and _______ an old horse for me in the market. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was without a doubt the _______ horse in the world, and he was pigeon-toed and knock-kneed. But I didn’t _______ his faults. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and _______ rude comments about Cowboy’s looks. I never revealed how I felt, but deep down inside, my heart was _______. When Cowboy and I entered the events _______ the horse is judged on appearance, we were ________ out of the game. This ________ experience made me determined to do something.

And then I realized that my only chance to ________ would be in the timed-speed events. I chose barrel racing (绕桶比赛). For the whole next month I woke up early every day, rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (比赛场) and we ________ for hours in the hot sun.

My turn ________ came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first barrel, quickly whipped around it and with perfect precision ________ the second and thundered on to the third. We tore around the final curve and shot for the ________ line. No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised ________. With the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, I heard the ________ call our time. Cowboy and I had beaten other fancy horses and won the blue ribbon!

________, I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the difficulties, I’d always come out a ________ if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the master of my own destiny.