1 . When I was a graduate student, I felt too busy to exercise. I promised myself I’d do it once I _________ school. I knew I would be busy as an assistant professor. _________, I believed in my will power.

When I started my first job at Williams College, I _________ did exercise regularly. It turned out that I was in a(n) _________ that offered excellent support for what I _________ to do.

Research shows that our _________ are influenced by whether our environment makes something easy or difficult. Even the smallest difference can have an outsized _________. In one study, researchers _________ items from the front to the back of a salad bar — a change of just 10 inches — and the _________ inconvenience made people eat less of these items.

My plan to exercise benefited from Williamstown’s long winter. People figured the best way through it was to get __________ happily and enjoy it. I kept meeting people who were __________ joggers. When I started, they were quick to offer social __________. With so many runners in town, it was easy to find trails (小径), including those __________ for beginners.

Do __________ your environment to make challenging tasks easier. If you want to socialize, befriend outgoing persons. Or __________ your cell phone when you need to concentrate on study. The right surroundings are more powerful than willpower alone.

2 . Irma started a business, but later for lack of money, he had to close it. After that he started to feel very ________.

This problem of Irma was later ________by Professor Krishnan. One day he ________Irma to his home and asked, “Are you still annoyed?” “Yes, all my efforts have been ________,” Irma answered. Hearing this, the professor ________him a dead tomato plant and said, “I took care of it carefully, ________it still died. There is always something ________that happens.” “If success is only a matter of luck, what is the ________of doing so much?” asked Irma. “You will understand after you open that door,” said the professor. Irma opened it, and saw lots of ________and healthy tomato plants there. “Oh! How did you do that?” asked Irma.

“Of course, not all my efforts have been wasted; so it is with yours. If you ________doing the right things, then your ________of success are greatly increased. But if you feel defeated because of failure, life won’t give you any 　________.”At last, Irma understood the lesson of success, ________what to do and came out with renewed ________. Finally he had a very big business.

It is true that no matter what we try, we can’t ________the result, but it’s also true that those, who never give up, achieve success in the end.

4 . One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her when it was ________ a little branch and several years later it started to ________ towards the sky at an amazing speed. Soon it ________ her with cooling shade in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.

When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow fell on the tree’s branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the middle. I was so ________ seeing half of it lying on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the entire tree would have to be cut down. ________ , she had saved a few seedlings from it that she hoped to replant in the future.

Still, it was a(n) ________ to drive by her house the other day and see nothing but a stump(树桩) in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its branches, its leaves ________ in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad reminder of its   ________ for a long time to come.

My wonderful neighbor had another plan, ________ . When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its dinner. It was such an affirmation(肯定) of ________ . It was such a joy to ________ .

Life by its very nature is a ________ bag. It hands us both beauty and ________ , love and loss, pleasure and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it split us in two, or we can use even its ________ times to make our souls stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can ________ it to help others.