2 . The park bench was deserted as I sat down beneath an old tree. I was feeling ________ for the world was trying to drag me down. And if that weren’t enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath ________me, all tired from play. He stood right before me and said with great ________, “Look what I found!”

In his hand was a flower, and what a________sight, with its petals (花瓣) all worn.________him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I forced a________smile and then turned away. But instead of leaving, he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his ________and declared with overacted (夸张的) surprise, “ It sure smells pretty and it’s ________ , too. That’s why I picked it; here, it’s for you.”

The flower before me was dying or dead. But I knew I________take it, or he might never leave. So I________for the flower, and replied, “Just what I need.” But________ placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then that I ________for the very first time that the boy could not ________.

At that moment I heard my voice trembling; tears shone in the sun ________I thanked him for ________ a very best one. “You’re welcome,” he smiled, and then ran off to play, unaware of the________he’d had on my day.

I sat there and wondered ________he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old tree. Perhaps he’d been blessed with true ________from his heart. Through the eyes of a blind child, I________ could see the problem was not with the world; it was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I________ to see the beauty in life and appreciate every second that’s mine.

4 . Life is just like a box. Inside it are happiness and sorrow, failure and success, hope and despair. Life is a learning process. Experiences in it teach us new lessons and make us a better person.

Love

    1     Love makes you feel wanted. Without love a person could become cruel and violent. In the early stage of our life, our parents are the ones who show us with unconditional love and care. They tell us what is right or wrong, good or bad. But we always tend to take this for granted. It is only after marriage and having kids that a person understands and becomes sensitive to the feelings of others. Kids make a person responsible and help us to understand life better.

Happiness and sorrow

Materialistic happiness is short-lived, but happiness achieved by bringing a smile on others gives a certain level of fulfillment.    2     No mind is happy without peace.

We realize the true worth of happiness when we are in sorrow. Sorrow is basically due to death of a loved one, failure and despair. But these things are temporary and will pass away.

Failure and success

    3    . It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us a specific way.

Hope and despair

    4    Parents always hope their children will do well. Hope makes us dream. Hope builds in patience. Life teaches us not to despair even in the darkest hour because after every night there is a day. Nothing remains the same. We have only one choice — keep moving on in life and be hopeful.

    5    . Yesterday has passed . So the only correct way is to work hard today, so that we will enjoy a better tomorrow.

5 . Kimberly and I had planned a trip to Europe for a long time, but we encountered some curveballs. Getting the departure time wrong, we had to ________ from the original train trip to a ship one.

Boarding the ship, we ________ it was not like a spacious hotel. The room was incredibly tight. The ________ in the small bathroom was a spout (喷头) connected to the sink. You turned it on and sprayed yourself,________ the rest of the room.

The week-long ship travel was full of ________. There were people from diverse backgrounds speaking different languages. We had stopovers on ________ of all sizes, where we cycled 30-40 kilometers. Then there were whole gales (狂风) — so fierce that even the buses couldn’t pass for safety ________. So finally we ________ back home.

We still appreciated the experience. Our real passion was about the ________ rather than the destination — the missed rides, the ________ ship, the mixture of cultures, and all the ________.

Sometimes people are so ________ to their comfortable life that it scares them to be off the beaten track. Yet, once out of their comfort zone, the different experiences are what actually ________. Mixing things up, trying new things, seeing something through another person’s eyes, being ________ to adventure — this is how you create ________.

6 . Students and Technology in the Classroom

I love my blackberry (黑莓手机) — it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my laptop computer, as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices (设备) and truly communicate with others.

On one occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule-no laptops, IPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy.

Most students think that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. Some students think that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.

The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversations and engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration (专心) and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course material and the class discussion.

I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.

I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a rally good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.

As a     1     (teenage), you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, such as winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be very small, for example, you may just want to become the best student in your class. Once you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try     2     (make) your dream come true?

Andrew Matthews,     3     Australian writer, tells us that making our dreams come true is the biggest challenge (挑战) in our life. You may think you are not very good     4     some school subjects or it is     5     (possible) for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you     6     (achieve) your dreams. In fact, everyone can realize his dream. Keep telling yourself     7     you want. Do this step by step and your dream will come true earlier because a big dream     8     (make) up of many small dreams.

You must also never give up your dream. There will be many     9     (difficulty) on the road to your dreams. But the biggest one comes from    10     (you). You need to decide what is the most important.

Good morning, everyone!

That’s all. Thank you!