1 . I was cycling and noticed a person, about a quarter of a kilometer in front of me. I could tell he was cycling a little slower than me and ______ to catch up with him. I had about a kilometer to go on the road before turning off.

So I ______ cycling faster and faster and every ______ I was gaining on him just a little bit. After just a few minutes I was only about 100 yards behind him, so I really picked up the pace and ______ myself. You would have thought I was cycling in the last section of London Olympic triathlon.

______ , I caught up with him and passed him by. On the inside I felt so ______ . I beat him, of course, but he didn’t even know we were ______ .

After I passed him, I ______ that I had been so focused on competing against him that I had ______ my turn. I had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around and go all the way back.

Isn’t that what happens in life when we ______ competing with co-workers, neighbors and friends? We spend our time and ______ chasing after them and we miss out on our own ______ to our future.

The ______ of unhealthy competition is that it’s a never-ending ______ , and there will always be somebody ahead of you.

Therefore, just take what life has given you. There’s no ______ in life. Run your own race and wish others well!

3 . Telling the truth is a very good habit. If you _________ speak the truth, you can save yourself from a lot of _________! Here is a story of a man who did a lot of _________ things, but his promise to tell the truth _________ him.

Once a man came to a prophet（预言家）and said, “Oh, prophet, I have many bad _________. Which one of them should I _________ first?” The prophet said, “Give up telling _________ first and always speak the truth.” The man promised to do so and went home.

At night the man was about to go out to steal. Before setting out, he thought for a moment about the _________ he made with the prophet. “_________ tomorrow the prophet asks me where I have been, what shall I say? Shall I say that I went out __________? No, I cannot say that. But nor can I lie. If I tell the truth, __________ will start hating me and call me a thief. I would be __________ for stealing.”

So the man ________ not to steal that night, and gave up this bad habit.

Next day, he ________ drinking wine. When he was about to do so, he said to himself. “What shall I say to the prophet if he asks me what I did during the day? I cannot tell a lie, and if I speak the truth people will ________ me, because a Muslim is not ________ to drink wine.” And so he gave up the __________ of drinking wine.

In this way, ________ the man thought of doing something bad, he ________ his promise to tell the truth. One by one, he gave up all his bad habits and became a very ________ person.