There is a tradition in my school     1    when the College Entrance Examination is less than a month away, students in the    2    (low)grades, from Senior 1 to Senior 2, all     3    (gather)together on the ground in front of the teaching building and cheer on the Senior 3 students who are standing upstairs. It wasn’t until I    4    (person)took part in the activity that I understood the real     5    (mean)of it.

I was in Senior 2 at the time.     6    that special night, all the Senior 3 students stood in the corridors(走廊)and looked down at the younger students below. Various     7    (cheer)started to resound throughout the school, wave after wave. “Believe in yourself!You deserve to win!”

    8    (see)everyone’s smiling faces around me, I thought of     9    famous quote from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau: What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

Soon it will be my turn     10    (bless)in this way, which also means I will have to say goodbye to my school. Sad as it will be, being cheered on by so many students will still be one of the brightest times of my life.

2 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

I can well remember that I was once asked to deliver a speech titled “A Real Test in My Life” before the whole class at the age of 9! You can imagine how     1     (terrible) shy I was with so many eyes       2       (fix) upon me. I had no     3     (choose) but to prepare for it, though. First of all, I was to draft the speech, which was just a piece of cake for me, a good writer. But the hardest part     4     (lie) in my oral presentation from my memory— for to read from the paper was not allowed. The real moment began     5         I stood on the platform with my legs trembling and my mind blank. But my listeners were waiting patiently without any signs of rushing me. Gradually I found myself back,     6     (deliver) my speech with difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, I found my audience applauding— I made     7    ! From then on, my fear of talking before an audience disappeared. Actually with my     8     (confident) building up, I now turn out to be a great speaker. Looking back, I know the greatest difficulty on our way         9     success is our fear. Overcome it     10     we will be able to achieve our goals.

While the story of The Farmer and The Mule(骡子)makes us smile, it does have     1    (wise)in it. It reminded me about defeating adversity(逆境).

    2     we handle adversity determines our success in life. One of my thoughts on adversity is, “Adversity is a fact of life. It can’t     3     (control). What we can control is how we react to it.”

When     4     (face) with adversity, we can give up the negative attitude. Or we can look on adversity     5     an opportunity to find other ways to do things. We should be     6     (determine)and persistent. It all comes down to your choice and it is a choice of attitude!

You see, the farmer thought the mule was not worth     7     (save) when it fell into a well accidentally,     8     he just put it out of its misery by burying it. Despite the farmer’s best efforts to bury it, the mule     9     (resist) until it was able to climb out of the well on top of all the dirt that was thrown in after it.

The mule, despite the fact that it was     10     (constant)in a deep well, would not give up. The mule simply shook the dirt off little by little, never giving up the will to live by climbing out of the well.

In all one’s lifetime it is oneself that one spends the most time being with or dealing with. But it is exactly oneself that one has the     1    (little) understanding of.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself is to gain a correct view of oneself — aware of both one’s strengths and weaknesses. You may look forward hopefully     2     the future but be sure not to expect too much, for ideals can never be     3     (full) realized. You may be courageous to meet     4     (challenge) but it should be clear to you where to direct your efforts. That’s to say there won’t be difficulties you can’t overcome     5     you have a perfect knowledge of yourself.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself also     6     (require) doing oneself a favor when it’s needed. In time of sadness, do yourself a favor by    7     (share) it with your friends so as to change a gloomy mood into a     8     (cheer) one; in time of tiredness, do yourself a favor by getting a good sleep.

In     9     word, to get a thorough understanding of oneself is to get one’s life entirely     10     (control). Then one will find one’s life full of color and flavor.

As     1    (teenager), 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 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    (realize) 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    (difficult) on the road to your dreams, but the biggest one comes from     10    (you). You need to decide what is the most important.

A CCTV journalist succeeded in arousing a heated discussion among netizens by asking people whether they were happy. The responses to the question were various, even some quite funny ones     1     (include). Although people played jokes     2     the answers, it did not take long     3     they began to figure out the true meanings of happiness.

It is certain that people’s views on happiness     4     (affect) greatly by their own life experience. Unfortunately, too many people refer to being rich as happiness and there is no sign of     5     decrease in the number of those who are voluntarily at the mercy of wealth. Some people whose     6     (intend) is to make big money appreciate     7     (be) given any chance to multiply their income, believing that is     8     their happiness lies. Some are eager to inherit their parents’ property, especially those who are known as silver-spoon kids. Even worse, some would rather break the law to satisfy their financial desire or seek their fortune     9     (legal).

In my opinion, happiness is not about pursuing wealth merely but about admiring the beautiful things in life. Therefore, live your life     10     the fullest and be happy.

During the American Civil War, a young man     1     (name) Roswell McIntyre was drafted into the army. The war was not going well. The army needed     2     (soldier) so much that he was sent into battle without being trained. Roswell became scared and ran. Later he     3     (sentence) to be shot for desertion. Roswell's mother appealed to President Lincoln,     4     (beg) that he was young and inexperienced, and that he needed     5     second chance.

Lincoln thought for a while. Then he wrote an     6     (admire) statement. "I have noticed,"   he said, "that it never does a boy much good to shoot him." He wrote this letter in his own handwriting: "Roswell McIntyre     7     (be) to be readmitted into the army. When he serves out his required enlistment (服兵役期人) he will be freed of any charges of desertion? "

That letter, signed by President Lincoln, is     8     display in the Library of Congress. Beside it there is a note.     9     reads, "This letter was taken from the body of Roswell McIntyre, who died respectably at the Battle of Five Forks in Virginia." Now you might be     10    (vast) surprised at the power of forgiveness.

Change is an unavoidable part of everyday life. It happens as time passes or as a consequence of one’s     1     (decide). Changes may be positive or negative     2     (depend) on how we understand them. During the last few years, change also     3     (bring) us a lot of surprises and progress.

While some people are happy to live a life of routine,     4     accept change and prefer a challenging world     5     events are unpredictable. People who accept changes think that changes make their life     6     (meaning). They think changes create new opportunities, which make us leap forward.

On the other hand, people who don’t want to step outside their comfort zone prefer following their daily habits. They feel that a routine gives them structure. They are not fond of surprises or confident     7     (face) new challenges. Such people have set time     8     performing with certain functions and do things in the same way all the time.

However, change is necessary if someone wants to keep up with the fast pace of modern life.     9       change there would be no life at all. Our lives     10     (fuel) by change and seeing changer as natural and unavoidable will bring us considerable stress relief.

CCTV journalist succeeded in arousing a heated discussion among netizens by asking people whether they were happy. The responses     1     the question were various, even some quite funny ones included. Although people     2     (play) jokes on the answers, it did not take long     3     they began to figure out the true meaning of happiness.

It is certain that people’s views on happiness     4    (affect) greatly by their own life experience. Unfortunately, too many people refer to being rich as happiness and there is no sign of a decrease in the number of those who are voluntarily at the mercy of wealth. Some people whose     5     (intend) is to make big money appreciate being given any chance to increase their income, believing that is     6     their happiness lies. Some are eager to inherit their parents’ property, especially those     7     are known as silver-spoon kids. Even worse, some would rather break the law     8     (satisfy) their financial desire or seek their fortune     9     (legal).

In my opinion, happiness is not about     10     (pursue) wealth but about admiring the beautiful things in life. Therefore, live your life to the fullest and be happy.

A lecturer was giving a lecture to his students    1    stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, “How heavy do you think this glass of water is?” The students’ answers     2    (range) from 20g to 500g.

“It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how    3    you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have    4    ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight,    5    the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

“If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming    6     (increase) heavier. What you have to remember is     7    (put) the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again.” We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be    8    (refresh) and are able to carry on. So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down.    9    (do) carry it back home.    10    burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for moment if you can. Life is short, enjoy it.