1 . Praying for Your Enemies

Last year I was put into a lower-level _______ class. The reason I was in this class had   _______ to do with my math skills. I am blind. The school decided it was _______ it takes me longer to complete assignments(任务) that I would be supposed to learn at a lower level.

The only _______ with being in this class was that I was surrounded by "at-risk" students.

These were kids who did not do well in school. Their home lives were much _______ from mine, and they were constantly in _______ with the school and the law.

One day we had already _______ our lesson for the day, and the kids began to talk about what they had done the past weekend. I tried not to _______, but it was actually too_______. Even though the teacher was still in the room, that didn't __________ them from discussing the parties they had been to and how drunk they had been. I was tired of their stories of drugs and __________.

One Tuesday morning, I went to a Christian Student Union meeting before school. A guest speaker talked about praying for our __________. I prayed and asked God how I could pray for the __________ in my class.

At first, the __________ were mechanical(机械的). When I heard the kids’ voices in class, I would __________ silently to myself, "Dear God, please bless so-and-so…" But as I continued, I began to think of them more often. __________ time went on, my classmates became more than just annoying kids to me. There was something growing inside my __________ for them. They began to feel like family, and I was learning to __________ them in a way I never thought __________.

I now see that praying is such a powerful act. It is prayer that is the most powerful __________ a Christian has.

2 . It was my first day to Miss Hargrove's seventh grade.Past "newcomer" experiences had been difficult,so I was very____to fit in.After being introduced to the class,I bravely put on a smile and____my seat.

Lunchtime was a(n)____surprise when the girls all crowded around my table.They were friendly,so I began to ____.My new classmates told me about the school,the teachers and the other kids.They____out the class nerd（书呆子）to me: Mary Lou.She was a pretty girl with dark eyes and olive-skin,____she wore a long woolen skirt and an old-fashioned blouse.She looked stupid.The girls whispered and laughed____Mary Lou walked by.She ate alone.

After school,the girls invited me to____them in front of the school.I was____to be a member of the club.We waited.For what,I didn't know.Then Mary Lou came down the school steps.The girls started____her,shouting rudely, biting comments.I____,and then joined right in.Mean remarks____from my lips.No one could tell I'd never done this before.The other girls stepped back and started cheering for me.Feeling____,I pulled on her backpack and then pushed her.Her backpack broke,Mary Lou fell and I backed off.Everyone was laughing.I____in.I was a leader.

I was not proud.Something inside me hurt.If you've ever picked a wing off a butterfly,you know how I felt. Mary Lou got up,gathered her books and left without a tear or saying anything.She held her head____as blood ran down from her knee.I____her struggle away down the street.

I turned to leave with my____mends and noticed a man standing beside his car.He must have been Mary Lou's father—he had the same olive skin,dark hair and handsome look.He remained still and watched the____girl walk toward him.Only his eyes—shining with both sadness and pride—followed.As I passed,he looked at me in silence with burning tears that reminded me of my____.

Mary Lou's father's eyes taught me a good lesson that day.I never again hurt someone for my own____.

3 . There came a time in my life when my learning curve ( 曲线) became very steep. I learned so much in such a _______ time that I was reading two grades ahead of my _______class. At school I was continuously ________with lectures, because I had already done _________.

And ________my knowledge increased, so did my arrogance(傲慢). I started getting into ______debates with my teachers. I knew more than them, and I was eager to show it at every _______I got. That was until Mrs T _______. She was new to our school, and a perfect ________for me. I tried one of my tricks on her in front of the whole class. She didn’t scold me. She just _______

At the end of the class, she ________me aside and said the following words:

“I know that there is an unspoken _______that a teacher is supposed to be more ________than the student. We both know that is _______ . I know for a fact that you know much more than me. And I won’t insult you by pretending otherwise. But remember this. Knowledge is supposed to give you ______, not pride. Today you are the smartest person in the room; tomorrow you won’t be. There will always be someone much _______, much more diligent than you. And when that happens, all the pride in the world wouldn’t be enough to _______you from downfall. Everything that you have learnt will be for nothing if you don’t learn the _______of humility.

Today, I _______remember her words. I ________myself of them daily.

4 . I carry a Rubik's Cube（魔方） in my backpack． Solving it quickly is a terrific conversation starter．

I usually ask people to _____ it first． They turn the cube over in their hands， half﹣heartedly they make a few _____ and then awkwardly hand it back． They don't even know where to _____． That's exactly what it was like for me to learn how to _____． Letters and words were mixed up and out of sequence． Nothing _____ because I am dyslexic（诵读困难者）．

Solving the Rubik's Cube has made me believe that sometimes you have to take a few steps _____ to move forward． This was mirror of my own life when I had to_____ public school after the fourth grade． It's _____ to admit， but I still couldn't _____ spell my full name correctly．

As a fifth﹣grader at new school that _____ in what's called language﹣processing disorder， I had to start over． Memorizing symbols for letters， I learned the pieces of the puzzle of language， the phonemes（音素） that _____ up words． I spent the next four years learning how to learn and finding strategies that _____ me to return to my district's high school with the _____ to communicate my ideas and express my intelligence．

It took me four weeks to teach myself to solve the cube﹣﹣﹣ the same amount of time it took the inventor， Erno Rubik． I discovered that just before it's solved， a _____ can look like a mess， and then suddenly you can find the solution． I believe that progress comes in _____ leaps．

The Rubik's Cube taught me that to accomplish something big， it helps to _____ it down into small pieces． I learned that it's important to spend a lot of time thinking， to try to find _____ and patterns． I believe that there are surprises around the corner． And， that the Rubik's Cube and I， we are _____ the sum of our parts．

Like a difficult text or sometimes like life itself， the Rubik's Cube can be a（n） _____ puzzle． So I carry one in my backpack as a _____ that I can attain my goals， no matter what obstacles I face．

5 . Do you remember your kindergarten teacher? I do. Her name was Mrs. White. And I remember thinking she must be some older ____ of Walt Disney’s Snow White, because she had the same bright blue eyes, short dark hair, red ____ and fair skin.

I don’t remember much about what we ____ in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to ____ a lot. And I would ____ what I wrote and mother would look at it and see there were so many ____. But no red ____. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good! That would make my heart soar(飞翔) with ____. But it worried my mother, so one day when she went to ____ Mrs. White, she ___ her why she never corrected my mistakes. Why she never red-penciled in the right spellings of words or ____ grammatical errors.

Mrs. White said the children are just ____ to get excited about using words, about ____ sentences. I don’t want to dampen(消灭) that ____ with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait. The wonder of ___ won’t... And that was what my mother could remember. I added the rest in because I grew up learning to use words with ____ like that.

If Mrs. White had used her red pen more ____ I probably wouldn’t be telling you about this now. I look back now and ____ she must have been a rather extraordinary teacher. And thanks to Mrs. White I had no ____ about writing what I meant ____ I couldn’t quite spell it out. Because life isn’t perfect.

6 . You may always hear about people who knew exactly what they wanted to do with their life from the time they were in kindergarten．I hadn’t considered lots of career______when I graduated from high school．Like most students who earn good grades in math and science classes，I found people______me to be an engineer．But all of that changed when I went to my______．

I will never forget the feeling of walking into my very frrst Biology______．I nervously found a seat and waited for the type of______you see in TV shows，old and strict．What I got was exactly______．Dr．Espinoza was a caring and______teacher，and two terms of her classes made me fall in love with Biology．Her exciting classes made me______that I had other choices besides being a（n）______．It meant I was headed for a career in biological research．

____Dr．Espinoza and many other professors like her，I found that scientists aren’t just what you______on the National Geographic channel．They are real people who answer real questions and______real problems．This led me to seek out______to do real science projects and see if I______it．While I was at university，I learned how to ask good questions，how to______experiments and collect data，and how to share what I learned with people．As it______I loved every minute of it．

Falling in love with______was a long process for me，but it led me to a job I love．Like the science itself，my journey toward being a scientist was______，but helped along by many teachers and professors who______me the way．Now，I try my best to learn new things and______new knowledge．

7 . Three years ago, when I entered my school for the first time, I was welcomed by students wearing white shirts with a badge (徽章) saying “Prefect” on them, who greeted me with the ______, “Welcome to Huaxia Middle School”. I was immediately impressed and ______ I could be one of them. Then next year, in the summer of 2016, my wish ______ when I was selected to be a prefect. Just like the ones ______ me, I was to stand at the school gate and ______ new freshmen.

So, you may wonder, what ______ is a prefect? Prefects are student leaders in our school. They’re usually top students ______ from higher grades to help teachers run the school ______ of the classroom.______ you’re chosen to be a prefect, you need to be a nearly perfect student. Becoming a prefect wasn’t ______ for me. I used to be sensitive and ______, caring too much about what others thought of me. But since I was ______ to become a prefect, I tried my best to be more brave and hardworking, making rapid ______ in a year.

The biggest benefit of being a prefect is that it teaches me to be ______ and set an example for lower grade students. I was a member of the school soccer team, but I wasn’t a good ______ and felt embarrassed about my poor ______. After having some students from lower grades join our team, however, I knew that I had to set a good example. So, I kept practicing my skills and ______ greatly.

Being a prefect doesn’t ______ mean I have a badge on my shirt. It also means that I have a hardworking attitude deep in my ______. “You can make it,” I always remind myself. Becoming a prefect has ______ me to work harder and become an even better person.

8 . When Mrs. Green told her pupils to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful, she thought how little these children in a(an) _______ neighborhood, had to be _______ for. Most of the _______ would draw pictures of turkeys (火鸡) or of Thanksgiving tables full of everything _______ to eat. That was what they believed was _______ them.

What made Mrs. Green _______ was David’s picture. David was so disappointed and likely to be _______ close in his shadow as they went outside for breaks. David’s drawing was _______ this:

A hand, whose hand? The class was strongly attracted by his image. “I think it must be the _______ of God ________ us food,” said one student.

“A ________,” said another, “because they ________ the turkeys.”

“It looks more like a policeman, and they ________ us.” “I think,” Lucy said ________, “that it is ________ to be all the hands that help us, but David could only draw one of them.”

Mrs. Green had almost forgotten David in her ________ at finding the class so responsive (共鸣的). Having the others working on another project, she bent over his ________ and asked whose hand it was.

David whispered, “It’s yours, Teacher.”

Then Mrs. Green ________ she had taken David by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But that it should have ________ so much to David …

Perhaps, she thought this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving—not the things given to us, but the small ________ that we give something to others.

9 . When I was in third grade, my parents let me join an advanced preparatory math class, Sigma.________, I had never displayed a liking for math at school. I stepped into class on the first day thinking that I would spend a year at Sigma before leaving A: On the first day of class, we __________an hour long test. I_________did the best I could and tried to________ how to solve the problems I hadn't learned how to do in school. However, ________I hadn't expected was to come__________! Before that day, I had never believed I was good at math at all. But as the year went on, I___________got the highest score.

When I was in eighth grade, I joined my school's math team where I was one of the__________four students chosen to __________our school at a statewide middle school math competition. By the time I had created a_______for myself at school as a math girl. But what drew me to the math team was that it was the first community I felt like I was a real_________of. It was a home I _________where everyone was as excited about _________as I was.

I stopped going to Sigma when I was in ninth grade, but I still stayed in the math team. The math team isn’t like sigma-a place to make you believe in yourself, to take________tests and compete to see where you are______     relative to your classmates. The math team is the community where I have pushed myself to my__________and have seen other people__________themselves. And most _________, the math team is the place where I have met some of the kindest people I know today. Thank you, math team, for giving me friends and people I will _________even after I go off to college in less than a year and a half. Thank you for making me feel__________.

10 . A lot happened to me while I lived on Thirteenth Street. I ________        school at Miss Marie Purkins' School for Little Folks kindergarten which I loved until I broke my leg one day ________rope. And it wasn’t ________   a moving rope. One of the rope ends in the playground was tied to a tree, the other end to a swing set. The kids would ________ on one side and take turns running and jumping over it. All the other kids ________ the rope.

But I had no ________ . I was a little short and fat anyway, and I was so slow that I was once the only kid at an Easter egg hunt who didn't get a ________egg, not because I couldn't find them but because I couldn't get to them ________enough. On the day I tried to jump rope but I was wearing cowboy boots to school. Like a fool I didn't ________       the boots to jump. My heel ________ on the rope, so I turned, fell and hurt my leg. I lay in ________   on   the ground for several minutes while Daddy ________ over from his company to get me. I had broken my leg above the knee, and ________I was growing so fast, the doctor was ________       to put me in a cast up to my hip. ________ , he made a hole through my ankle, pushed a stainless steel bar through it. And then he ________it to a stainless steel horseshoe, and ________ my leg up in the air over my hospital bed. For two months, I had been lying on my ________ feeling both foolish, waiting to return to my ________ . I missed my playmates so much.

After I got out of the hospital, my folks bought me a bicycle, ________I never lost my fear of riding without the training wheels. No wonder people say, "Once bitten, twice shy."