1 . My high school life has been filled with many ups and downs, whether it was social or academic. Even though my current high school was not my first choice, I never regretted attending Southside High School. “Since you have chosen it, then it is the best for you,” said my parents.

Up until the junior year I did not realize my capabilities (能力) as a student. Being in the IB Program, I was told that my junior year would be the toughest in all the years of high school. With this “little” piece of information, I walked into my junior year, scared of my grades. As weeks went by, I started to believe that the junior year was not as hard as everyone had said, but I was wrong. My grades were rapidly declining (下降) and by the end of the first term I had had five Cs in seven of my classes!I could not believe it — I did not want to believe it. I tried my best to get my grades up myself without any help from anyone, but my pride just made my grades worse. And I had to miss out on one of the most important speech and debate competitions all year: States. I was heartbroken. I realized that I could not survive my junior year on my own, so I had to get help fast.

Once I got a tutor, my grades went from Cs, Ds, and even some Fs, to nothing but As and Bs. I slowly started to gain my confidence back in all of my classes and even myself. By the time the third and fourth quarter came around, I had been on the honor roll twice, and I had received awards from speeches and debates, tennis and school.

Southside has taught me to always keep my head up and never give up on myself no matter what life throws at me. I am proud to be a Southside Tiger.

2 . As we all know, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I really didn’t know the meaning of this proverb until one day something _______ happened to me.  

That morning, I got up late and _______ to school without breakfast. While I was crossing a street, my bike _______ a stone and I fell on the ground, with my both knees badly hurt. I managed with the _______ and continued my riding. On my arrival at school, my teacher took us to the _______ for a basketball match. _______ I could hardly walk normally, I joined in the game. When I _______ to pass the ball, I was knocked down and fell down on my back. I could not _______ the terrible pain and cried. My classmates all started _______ at me and continued their match. ________ on the ground alone, hungry and painful, I couldn’t stop my crying. Just at that moment, Jack, one of my teammates, ________ towards me from the other end and helped me. He comforted me and tried all ________ to make me stand. He asked another classmate to take his ________ and kept sitting beside me. He kept me company the whole day and even ________ me home after school was over.  

It was on that day that I learned and believed the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” to be ________.

3 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they express regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp comers of a glass coffee table.

I don’t only avoid (避免) those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. it’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say, “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality (可能发生的事). And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance (保障) for my emotional well-being.

4 . 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.

Across Africa

For six hours we shot through the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera     1     I used words. I had finished three notebooks and considered     2     (start) the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.

As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty — we hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something     3    (catch) my eye, something moving next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was     4     I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them—brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they       5    (be) there next to us.

I shouted to Dan: “Look!” but he was in such a deep sleep that it was impossible to wake him up before they disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.

“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake     6     up?”

“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”

“Typical,” he said. “The     7     (good) photos are the ones we never take.”

8 . When I was a little girl, I remember that when my dad was repairing something, he would ask me to hold the hammer, so we would have time for a conversation with each other. I never saw my dad drinking or taking a night out. All he did after work was taking care of his family.

I grew up and left home for college and since then, my dad had been calling me every Sunday morning. And when I bought a house several years later, my dad painted it by himself in the fierce summer heat. All he asked was to talk to him, but I was too busy in those days.

Four years ago, my dad visited me. He spent many hours putting together a swing for my daughter. He asked me to have a talk with him, but I had to prepare for a trip that weekend.

One Sunday morning we had a telephone talk as usual. I noticed that my dad had forgotten some things that we discussed lately. I was in a hurry, so our conversation was short. Several hours later that day I received a call: My father was in hospital. Immediately I bought a plane ticket and on my way I was thinking about all the occasions I missed to have a talk with my dad. By the time I arrived at the hospital, my father had passed away. Now it was he who did not have time for a conversation with me. I realized how little I knew about my dad, his deepest thoughts and his dreams.

After his death I learned much more about him and even more about myself. All he ever wanted was my time. And now he has all my attention every single day.

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact    1    these huge creatures were being held by only a thin rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no    2     (cage). It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds. But for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these elephants just stood there and made no attempt     3    (get) away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they were very young and much     4     (small), we used the same size rope to tie them, and at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they     5     (condition) to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them,    6    they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These elephants could at any time break free from their bonds but because they     7     (believe) they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life    8     (hang) onto the belief that we cannot do something,    9     (simple) because we failed in it once before?

    10     (fail) is part of learning. We should never give up the struggle in life.

10 . Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontё, was first published in 1847. Widely considered as a classic, it is not just a romance novel, but an educational story. Women can learn so much from this great Victorian heroine. This is not to suggest that Jane doesn’t have shortcomings (缺点).     1    .

You can overcome your past however bad it is. In the novel, Jane Eyre is made miserable as a child by her horrible relatives.     2    . He constantly reminds her that she’s an orphan (孤儿). But she learns a lot about letting go when she is sent to a boarding school and then she makes friends with Helen.   

    3    . Jane notes, “The world was a varied field of hopes and excitement waiting for those who had the courage to go forth.” If Jane hadn’t been brave, she might have given in to the cruel woman who raised her.   

Don’t be afraid to express your mind. In the novel she is not scared to voice her opinions when necessary. Talking helps improve relationships as well.     4    .

Be positive.     5    , in the novel, when Jane is younger. Thus she tends to feel sorry for herself. But as she gets older, she learns to be happy despite her past.