1 . For long, a question disturbed a little boy. He couldn’t understand why his next-desk-pal (同伴) could rank 1st whenever he wanted to, while he himself _________to.

At home, he despondently asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more _________ than others? I feel I study as hard as him，but why do I _________lay behind?” Staring at him, she went _________, not knowing how to explain.

She felt an impulse (冲动) to say, “You are too _________. You are not really as hard-working as others...” .But she stopped, _________she knew her son was suffering from the pains of _________grades and rankings. She thought it cruel to add any additional burden to his son and was trying to find out a _________answer.

Time went by quickly, the son finished primary school. Although his studying was harder and better, he was still unable to _________his pal. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give out an answer.

Now, the son no longer __________his rankings, because, with the 1st ranking, he was __________to Harvard University.

Back home in winter vacation, he was invited to give a speech to the students and parents in his high school. In the speech, he mentioned a(n) __________experience in his childhood. “When my mother and I were lying on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds flying for food over there? When the __________come near, little birds can escape quickly __________“clumsy” seagulls would take more time to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that __________fly across the endless ocean are none other than “clumsy” (笨拙的) seagulls?’”

2 . Last year, I fell into a deep depression. It was caused by a car accident. I was in physical recovery from the accident and suddenly all of my old hurts started coming up. I found myself crying on the floor of my apartment.     1     I didn’t want to feel this way anymore.

Let’s pause for a moment. I don’t want you to bleed with me or to pity me. But I also don’t want to cover my reality. And the truth is, beneath the shiny photos you see on the Internet, I’m still a work in progress.     2     Like all of us, I’m doing the best I can and making the best choices I can. Back to the evening when I found myself lying on the floor.

What happened next? I started writing.

There was a TV show I absolutely loved. I started writing fan fiction. It provided a beautiful place of escape from the thoughts swimming in my head.     3     I started to feel like myself again.

After completing four-part fan fiction totaling around 12,000 words, I had an idea. I should write a novel to give a hand to those like me.

I continued writing, having no idea where it would lead. I didn’t know I would publish it but, after much resistance on my part I finally made the decision to publish the book under my own name. No pen name. No hiding on the deep bowels of the Internet.

And so here we are.     4     Sure, readers will enjoy the twists and turns. And I can see myself in the character.     5     I wrote it to help people. To give them a place to belong to. A place to talk about this fictional world. The very same thing that saved me last year.

If the story provides this to just one person, I’ve done my job.

4 . Life is meant to be lived. No excuses. No reservations. No holding back.

An inspiring story about violinist Fritz · Kreisler tells how he once _________ a beautiful violin he wanted to acquire. When he finally _________ the money for the violin, he returned to buy it and learned that it had already been sold to a(n)_________.

He went to the new owner’s home in order to try to _________ him to sell the violin. But the collector said it was one of his _________ possessions and he could not let it go.

Disappointed Kreisler turned to leave, but then _________ a favour. “May I play the instrument once more _________ it is placed to silence？”

_________ was given and the great musician began to play. The violin sang out a piece of quality music, so _________ that the collector himself could only listen in wonderment. “I have no __________ to keep that to myself.” he said after the musician finished. “The violin is yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people __________ it.”

William Arthur Ward said, “If you believe in prayer, pray; if you believe in serving, serve; if you believe in giving, give.” For you and I are fine violin—our music is __________ to be heard.

I want to live my life that way—to take it into the world and live it __________. I’d rather burn out than rust out(锈尽). I’d rather be used up than die not having done __________ I can.

I’m not talking about __________ ourselves out on over-activity. Happiness is __________ found in excessive(过度) busyness. But it is found in __________ our lives in others. Say yes when asked for a hand. Volunteer some time for a worthwhile organization and __________ an hour with a lonely relative.

In the end, I know that my __________ is not only about my ability or my inability. It is about my__________. My life is meant to be lived.

6 . A family had had a cat for years. Then one day, the children finally _______ to persuade their parents to get them a dog as well. So a little Labrador (拉布拉多犬) _______.

The dog was so _______ that everyone wanted to hold him and he charmed everyone by just loving them. The cat made it very clear that she did not welcome another _______ in the house, but the little dog _______ her everywhere, trying to make friends with the angry cat.

The family thought the cat would _______like the dog.

Then one day the family heard horrible _______ from their back yard. They ran to the _______ to see what was happening. They lived in the suburbs and so they saw a real lynx (猞猁) was just planning on _______ their cat for lunch. The poor cat had nowhere to run or hide. It would only be a matter of seconds and their cat would be ________.

And then suddenly a black lightning ran to the cat. The little dog ________ the big lynx with all its strength. He was not frightened, nor did he stop to think. He saw his ________ in trouble and did what had to be done. The family opened the window and started yelling and the father ran to the yard. The lynx soon disappeared into the ________.

And ever since that day the cat’s behaviour towards the dog ________ totally. Now it was the cat that followed the hero dog everywhere.

So we can draw a conclusion: if ever anyone is ________ towards you, don’t turn your back on them. They may not rescue your life — but their kindness can certainly rescue your day!

7 . I was sitting on a medical table. Beside me was a woman in scrubs (手术服) talking about the ______ weather recently. I ______ all the other people laying back on their medical tables too. Each one of us had a ______ in our arms with a long tube running down from it ______ a plastic bag below. Each one of us had come to ______ blood to help others, make the world a better place, and perhaps even ______ a life.

It was the local blood drive and I had driven 12 miles across ______ roads to get there. I tried never to ______ one even in the wintertime. ______ all the time and effort it took, I felt ______ to be able to give this gift back to others. I had been ______ with so much in this life: a loving family, ______ friends, adorable pets, a comfy home, and enough money to ______ my needs. The gifts I had been given felt wonderful, ______ the one thing that brought me more ______ than anything else was giving something back. The more you ______ , the more you get in ______.

There are so many ______ you can give in this life too: a smile, a few dollars, a caring letter or e-mail, and even a pint of blood. Each one of them is ______ and precious. May you fill your life with giving then. May you fill your life with ______.

8 . My wife and I moved into our home two years ago. We had a yard with a lot of ________. Very often when we have flowers, Denise or I would plant some between the rocks, just to add some ________ to the area.

Last summer, I found a tiny little plant in the yard that I could not immediately identify. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either.

We decided to let it ________ growing until we could find out what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the ________ plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to ________ the weeds (杂草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something ________.The sunflower had not ________ where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the ________.

That’s when I ________ that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. If we ________ ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we ________ to go and get what we need for growth.

We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ________ to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had ________ in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be ________ of who and what we are, and then the environment will begin to ________ us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to reach our goals.