2 . I’ve had a string of bad luck lately. Last week, my washing machine broke. I planned to _________ it myself but soon found the repairs would cost more than a new one would. Then this week the _________ thing happened to my daughter’s washing machine! This time I _________ called a friend to help. Once again, however, it was broken beyond _________. I ended up having to _________ two. While both the new machines got delivered quickly, I still _________ about what I was going through in my heart.

The moment I did, my _________ traveled back to the days when I was a child. I saw my grandma _________ an old-fashioned washing machine with my jeans and shirts. It didn’t have a spin dryer (甩干机) inside so she had to put each item through a pair of rollers to _________ the water. When the washing was done, she’d often pat the machine __________. She had grown up hand-washing clothes and was __________ for the machine that did so much of the work for her.

Remembering this helped me realize that I was looking at things in the __________ way. I was getting __________ in the inconveniences of modern life instead of being thankful for all I have. The good old days had their share of __________ and joys. And so do the good new days. What __________ is how we live them and what we can learn from them.

3 . Get a Thorough Understanding of Oneself

In all one’s life time, it is oneself that one spends the most time being with or dealing with.     1    

When you are going upwards in life you tend to overestimate yourself. It seems that everything you seek for is within your reach.     2     It’s likely that you think it wise for yourself to stay away from the outer world. Actually, to get a thorough understanding of oneself, you may as well keep the following tips in mind.

Gain a correct view of oneself. You may look forward hopefully to the future but be sure not to expect too much, for dreams can never be fully realized. You may be courageous to meet challenges but it should be clear to you where to direct your efforts.     3    

Self-appreciate. Whether you compare yourself to a high mountain or a small stone, you represent a state of nature.     4     If you earnestly (诚挚地) admire yourself, you’ll have a real sense of self-appreciation.

    5     In time of anger, do yourself a favor by releasing it in a quiet place so that you won’t be hurt by its flames; in time of sadness, do yourself a favor by sharing it with your friends so as to change a bad mood into a cheerful one; in time of tiredness, do yourself a favor by getting a good sleep.

Get a full control of one’s life. Then one will find one’s life full of color and flavor.

4 . A video about a homeless man went viral. Johal, a video-maker who is especially known for his social_________, decided to give a homeless man some money and_________his reaction.

In the video, approaching a_________homeless man, Johal carefully places some money on his bag. Minutes later, when the man wakes up, he’s surprised to see the cash and looks excited and grateful. The man walks to a store, steps out with a bag of_________, probably to face the cold nights, and returns to his bench (长凳).

Johal sits beside the man, talking on the phone with a friend, asking if he can borrow some money for his daughter. The homeless man_________listens to their conversation. After Johal hangs up, the man asks if he’s okay. Johal says he’s getting his daughter some_________while having a hard time financially.

In a (an)_________turn of events, the man asks Johal to_________his bag and leaves with the shopping bag. He comes back_________after returning the items and offers the money to Johal, who is a total__________, comforting he can go by without a blanket but the girl needs the treatment. Touched by the homeless man’s kindness, Johal__________this is an experiment and offers $500 to the man, leaving him in__________.

__________but true, the result proves that those with less are the ones__________most. Indeed, heroes are the ones with a __________.

5 . When I think of the word perfect, I think of something only a few can achieve, anything that I can compare myself to. For a few weeks, I have been _______ one girl who is in a few of my middle school classes. It seems like she has a _______ life—lots of friends, all A's, and everything anyone could ever want, _______ in my point of view.

One day, I was talking to my teacher about one of the upcoming tests when I saw the girl _______ me in a strange way. I _______ started to feel surprised and think, “Why is she looking at me? Did I do something wrong? Is my hair messed up?” When the class was over and everyone was _______ to their next class, she caught up to me and said, “I just thought you should know, I think you are really _______ . " I then watched her as she walked away and thought, “She thinks I am pretty?”

The whole day, I _______ up thinking about one thing. That was, “Why does she think that?" After thinking about that _______ in my head through each second of the day, I came to learn one big ________ in our life. In the whole society, almost everyone has a（n） ________ of their own insecurities（不安全感）, even though they may not be discovered on the outside. In this case, I was thinking that she was everything I wanted to be and she ________ the same of me. Both of us are not perfect. It is our ________ to either accept that and love ourselves or keep torturing（折磨）ourselves with ________ . I think that being able to fully love yourself is the ________ meaning of the word perfect.

7 . On May 12, 2008, a deadly earthquake rocked 23-year-old Liao Zhi’s apartment building in Sichuan, causing it to fall down.

Among the debris, Ms Liao, a dancer, heard the search and rescue team_________her, but she didn’t have the energy (力气) to_________. Then she heard her father calling her name. She thought: “I must_________my father again.”

She made it out alive after being trapped for 30 hours but she_________everything: Her home, her daughter and both her legs.

In the hospital, she managed to bear the pain and_________with other patients.

They asked her: “How are you still laughing at this point?”

“Because I am still_________,” she replied.

Two months after the earthquake, she was asked if she wanted to take up dancing_________. At the time, she was still in recovery (康复), but that did not stop her determination. “I_________to get on the stage (舞台) one more time,” she said.

However, from treatment to the adjusting (适应) of prosthetic limbs (义肢), Ms Liao said it was a(n)_________journey. “It was common to be in so much pain,” she said.

After seeing many patients couldn’t adjust to their prosthetic legs, Ms Liao almost__________the wheelchair.

“I had to be__________everywhere: To the shower, to the bathroom ... I didn’t have any__________.”

In the end, she refused to__________anyone and decided to have prosthetic limbs fitted.

Today, she can be seen dancing and rock-climbing.

“It’s easy to lose__________in difficult situations,” she said. “I was that close to giving up many times — but I am__________I didn’t.”

10 . Adults understand what it feels like to be flooded with objects. Why do we often assume that more is more when it comes to kids and their belongings? The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less.

I found the pre-holidays a good time to encourage young children to donate less-used things, and it worked. Because of our efforts, our daughter Georgia did decide to donate a large bag of toys to a little girl whose mother was unable to pay for her holiday due to illness. She chose to sell a few larger objects that were less often used when we promised to put the money into her school fund (基金).

For weeks, I’ve been thinking of bigger, deeper questions. How do we make it a habit for them? And how do we train ourselves to help them live with need, and use less? Yesterday, I sat with my son, Shepherd, determined to test my own theory on this. I decided to play with him with only one toy for as long as it would keep his interest. I expected that one toy would keep his attention for about five minutes, ten minutes, max. I chose a red rubber ball-simple, universally available. We passed it, he tried to put it in his mouth, he tried bouncing it, rolling it, sitting on it, throwing it. It was totally, completely enough for him. Before I knew it an hour had passed and it was time to move on to lunch.

We both became absorbed in the simplicity of playing together. He had my full attention and I had his. My little experiment to find joy in a single object worked for both of us.