1 . Most of us assume that we go to college in order to be educated, to become _________, and be _________ to our society when we complete our studies. Of course, this is true, but there is more to it than that. We go to college not only to learn knowledge, but to prepare ourselves for the real world, for college is a _______in miniature(微型复制品). Thus, it teaches us how to _________ relationships between different kinds of people later. College life provides many _________, which is a stepping stone in the real world. College education also _________ a student to develop a mind that is able to think clearly and critically.

While we are at college, we should have as _________ contacts with our teachers as possible. They are as human as we are but with a wider _______of knowledge than we do, which can help _________ our secret little problems. Therefore, they can help us in more ways than just teaching us school ____________.

Some of us tend to go to ____________. We are either too fond of studies and become bookworms or too much ___________ by off-campus activities. The former kinds of students, ___________, are star pupils at college but not likely to be successful in their career because they lack the knowledge of real human beings and their range of interests is too ____________. The latter, since they lack the basic knowledge of science and humanities, are not likely to succeed, either. Thus we must steer(把握方向) the middle __________ between these two extremes.

3 . Sitting in the classroom I felt confused, for I couldn’t read the blackboard. Then Mum took me to the hospital. Within a few days, I was diagnosed (诊断) with a severe visual impairment (视力障碍). In fact, I was practically blind. Amazingly, I’d managed to reach the age of 13 without anyone realizing, not even me! “It all makes sense now,” Mum said. As a kid living on a farm, I was forever falling over things. I was known as the clumsy (笨拙) one to my parents and four sisters. But now, I was being told that I saw the world differently — I could only make out the outlines of things. I was given reading glasses but they didn’t help much.

Refusing to let my diagnosis hold me back, I continued doing everything I loved. As long as everything was in its place, I could feel my way around.

Later I got married to Lance and had amazing kids. I could change nappies (尿布) and dress the kids fine — it just took a little longer as I relied on touch to work out where things were. Cooking, on the other hand, was not my forte. I was terrible — always mixing up sugar and salt!

Nowadays, my grandkids have all been brought up not to leave toys on the floor or move chairs away from the table. “We don’t want Grandma tripping,” Lance will say.

Over the year, I’ve enjoyed lovely family holidays, but sometimes felt like Lance or the kids were too protective of me. So I was thrilled when I booked myself on a trip to the Gold Coast with people who were just like me in a travel company. I’m not missing out — my life is beautiful. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful family and lots of experiences.

Life is precious — you don’t need to “see” that.

4 . Some of us regret that we no longer have parents to serve after their passing away. Then ________ not pay more attention to them when they were alive and with us?

A few days ago, when I went to a park for my evening walk, I came across an old couple sitting on a bench and talking to each other. Feeling a bit _______ after a long way, I’m curious to know about their ________ of discussion. So I went over and sat on the bench next to them. After a few moments, from their conversation I could _______ that their only son had moved to America. And they were ________ alone here.

Every sentence they said to each other conveyed to me their desire, their loneliness and their selfless ________ for their son. My eyes were filled with tears and I realized just how _______ we have become as children.

To achieve our goals and purposes we _______ to care little about the two most important persons of our lives: our parents, who ________ us when we were young, raised us heart and soul and guided us patiently on each step of our lives.

What has the life of these parents become now? Most of them are staying in old houses and leading a ________ life. Most of them even couldn’t be taken care of when they fall ill. Why do we always ________ that we are what we are now just because of these two special people who brought us into this ________?

Finally, I would like to use a few words written by a wise man which say, “When you were ________ and just a little way off, I ________ you with blankets against the cool night air, but now you are tall and out of ________, I hold out my hands and cover you with my best wishes.”

5 . We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. Since elementary school, I have always ______subjects like science and math. To me, these subjects, full of discoveries and ______, seem to play more significant role in human progress than humanities. And I always ______thought of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right ______I thought, why bother? But recently I had an ______that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was ______. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve. I imagined getting into pretty long and boring conversations ______intended to reflect on the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite ______.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones — “but you can call me Rob” — was far from the white- haired, buttoned-up old man I had ______. Rather than pulling us into dull arguments about difficult-to-understand philosophical points, Rob ______us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own obstacles. To talk morals, we looked at ______we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most ______ones.

It ______me that if I let go of my ______, I can actually get a lot out of the subjects I once thought little of. The class taught me — in more ways than one — to look at things with a(n) ______mind.

6 . I had a perfect childhood. _______ I saw was new, wonderful and exciting. I was _______ whether it was rainy or dry, whether it was hot or _______. I just wanted to _______ all the things around me.

But I can’t _______ time. When I reached my teens, I started to realize there was a different _______ of life. I no longer had enough time for little things－discovering a rainbow was not _______ , looking at a giraffe in the zoo was normal, and _______ a building with 50 floors was not amazing. A rainy day was a _______ day because the traffic was slow, and the first day of spring ________ me of aller­gies (过敏). Life moves on again. The first day of the month is not just the ________ of a new month; it’s the time to ________ bills. Going to the supermarket is a ________; it is not just fun walking around, looking for things and seeing the people around me.

Life is a ________ in which everyone has many obligations (责任), but if everyone tried to see life through the eyes of a child, I am sure that every day could be ________.

7 . “Have you checked the oil in the car?” my father used to say to me, his version of “Hello, hope you are well.” Sometimes our phone calls would begin with an inquiry(询问) about the oil and end with an inquiry about the oil, with not a lot in between.

Fathers have a lot of love to give, but it’s often supplied through the medium of practical advice. In my experience: It’s mostly about your motor vehicle.

“How’s the car running?”

“Did you get it serviced?”

“How did you get that scrape on the side?”

Why can’t we fathers just say “I love you” or “It’s great to see you”?

The point is: That’s exactly what we are saying. You just have to translate from the language that is Fatherlish.

Listen closely enough and the phrase “I love you” can be heard in the slightly longer “I could come around Saturday and replace the silicon seal around the base of your toilet because I think that thing is getting really smelly.”

The statement “You made my life better from the moment you were born” may be rarely heard, but the idea is there in the more common “I’ll hold the ladder while you get the leaves out of the gutter.”

When I was 17, I went on my first road trip-- a friend and I in my battered car. My father stood on the corner in the predawn of a cold morning to say goodbye.

“Highways are dangerous,” he said, “so don’t try overtaking(超过) anything faster than a horse and buggy. And take a break every two hours. And every time you stop for gas, you really should check the oil.”

At the time we thought his speech was pretty funny and would sing “horse-and-buggy, horse-and-buggy” every time I floored the accelerator to overtake some other speeding vehicle.

Dad’s long gone now. But after all these years, I realize that had I owned a copy of the Fatherlish-to-English dictionary, I’d have understood that the speech my friend and I so casually mocked was simply Dad’s attempt at love.

9 . While I was riding bike, I noticed a man about a half mile in front of me. He was traveling at a lower speed. I decided to _________ him. I had about one mile to go on the road before turning around.

I started to ride faster, and every block, I _________ closed the distance. Finally, I _________ him and passed him. He was not even _________ that we were in a race, but I felt like a _________.

After 1 made it, I _________ that I had been so focused on competing against him that 1 had _________ my turn, and that I had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around.

Isn’t that what _________ in life? We spend most of our time competing with neighbors, friends and family, trying to beat them or trying to be more _________ than them—while in fact there was __________ a competition.

We spend most of our time and energy competing with others instead of reaching our __________, and we miss out on our own paths to our destinies(命运) as a result.

__________ competition is a continuous process, a never-ending cycle a race of life. No matter what you do, someone will always be __________ you: someone with a better job. a nicer car and more money.

Feel __________ for what life has offered you. Stay focused on your __________ and live a healthy life. There is no competition in destiny. Run your own race of life and wish others well!