1 . Have you seen the incredible guitar playing of man born with no arms? The musician who was born without arms is being _______ for his greatest guitar-playing skills in a short documentary (纪实的) video which shows him playing the instrument with his _______.

Mark Goffeney, 46 of San Diego, who is _______ as “Big Toe” because of the way he plays the guitar, shows how he became a talented performer despite his _______ in the inspiring video. “I first _______ the instrument when I was nine, after my father brought home a beat-up _______ with only four strings. My first guitar came from some place like a landfill (垃圾场),” says Mark, who adds that he became “_______” about becoming a musician at age 12.

Mark devoted every waking hour to searching his town and trying to join a _______, but ran into _______ because of his disability. Therefore, he started his own rock band, called Wicked Misfit, and began booking gigs (特约演奏) in California.

Things were ________ professionally for Mark because of his disability. But everything ________ when he started playing music from the heart. “When I ________ pursuing this fantasy dream of being a rock star and just started playing music to make whatever milk money I could to support my family, everything started feeling good and ________ out for me,” he shares.

Today, Mark ________ with his band, Big Toe, and also becomes a street-performer in California, where he makes quite good money ________ by passers-by.

2 . I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside. She was working with another student, and I was not supposed to________them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and________what I’d rather be doing. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn’t have a________for it. Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons________, so I felt it my duty to try.

The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to________my sheet music. Today Mrs. Windsor________her niece Pasha to teach me.

With a smile, Pasha sat beside me on the piano bench, opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I________my fingers on the keys. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page________the finger movements. I had to admit I was a rather________pianist.

After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as it to________my fingers. There was a long pause. “What are you hearing in the music?” I looked at her rather________and admitted I didn’t know what she meant. “Like a________. Here, let me try and you listen,” Pasha advised.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers________lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. “See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?” Her fingers ________and fell gently on the keys. “Now a princess appears and she’s picking flowers from the water’s________.”A happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha’s dancing fingers.

3 . I’ll always remember the first time I tried ballet. My mother was a _________and I wanted nothing more than to be like her, but after _________during my first class, I felt like I wanted to quit right away. 

Weeks passed and my dancing didn’t _________ any better. So when my dance teacher announced that we were to perform in a show, I feared falling over in front of hundreds of people and _________ my mom. 

Even though I practiced for the show, I _________found my secrets. Finally, feeling nervous and_________, I told my mum how I felt. As I cried, I told her how _________ dancing was for me. My mother told me that from that day on, she would _________ me all she knew about ballet. She wiped the _________ from my face, and I smiled. 

My mom quickly discovered how bad at ballet I was, but she still taught me with the greatest __________, love, and understanding. When I leapt and fell, she was there to catch me.     When I lost my __________, she held me up. By the time the show arrived, I was as prepared as I could be. 

The music began and my heart started to race. Breathing steadily, I began moving to the music without__________ a step. When the music stopped, I ran off the stage to my mother in__________. My mother gave me a huge hug, telling me how __________she was. I looked at my mom and told her that there was no way this could have happened __________ her. 

Never be afraid to reach for the stars, because even if you fall, you’ll always be wearing a “parent-chute”.

4 . Chelsie Hill had dreamed of becoming a dancer since the age of three. That ambition ______ ended one night in 2010. Hill, then a 17-year-old high school student, was in a car accident, which left her paralyzed(瘫痪)from the waist down. For most people, that would have ______ any hope of a dancing career. For Hill, her wheelchair ______ her and she wanted to prove that she was still ______ .

Hill did it in her wheelchair right with her non-disabled high school dance team. After graduation, Hill wanted to expand her dance network to ______ women like her. She met people online who had suffered various ______ but shared their determination, and she invited them to dance with her.

Hoping to ______ more people in a larger city, Hill moved to Los Angeles in 2014 and built a team of dancers with ______ , which she called the Rollettes. In disabled dance competitions around the country, the six-member team, they not only ______ themselves, but also brought great fun to the audience and won lots of prizes.

Hill has ______ what many of us never will: her childhood dream. She’s a(n) ______ . But the Rollettes have helped her find something else just as ______ . Every year she holds a dance camp for wheelchair users of all ages and abilities with the purpose of helping them ______ their inner dreams in their life. In 2019, 173 participants from ten countries attended.

Edna Serrano says that being part of the Rollettes team has given her the ______ to live on. “I didn’t know I could do so many things that these girls have taught me,” she says. It’s so ______ to have my teammates in my life, because they’re my teachers. I have more confidence.”

5 . Kyungho Jeon was drawn to music from an early age and dreamed of playing in an orchestra, but his teacher ________ it would be too difficult because he couldn’t ________ a conductor’s movements.

Jeon never gave up and kept applying himself to music. The ________ that he was born blind didn’t prevent him from becoming a marimba performer. However, it still made his ________ hard to achieve. Feeling ________, Jeon started to imagine ways to feel a conductor’s movements ________.

Two years ago, he met Vahakn Matossian and his father Rolf Gehlhaar, the founders of Human Instruments. Together, they created a high-tech baton (指挥棒) that would allow blind musicians to ________ the movements of conductors while not ________ anything that the other musicians do.

Jeon finally ________ in an orchestra. The conductor used the baton as he would use a ________ baton, but this baton was different because it could turn different kinds of movements into vibrations (震动) and Jeon could ________ the vibrations through receivers that he wore on his body.

Matossian was filled with ________ as the baton would open doors for so many others hoping to join orchestras. “There are millions of blind performers like Jeon around the world. Now with this ________, there’s no excuse for orchestras not to ________ blind members,” he said.   

Now Jeon has another plan: to conduct an orchestra. “This baton allows new ________, ” he said.

7 . Since the age of three, Chelsie Hill had dreamed of becoming a dancer. That ______ nearly ended one night in 2010, when a car accident paralyzed (瘫痪) her from the waist down. For most people, that would have ______ any hope of a dancing career. For Hill, it was the beginning.

Far from being an obstacle, her wheelchair ______ her. “I wanted to prove to my community and to myself that I was still ‘______,’” she told CBS News. Whatever normal meant, normal for her meant dancing. “Half of my body was ______ from me, and I have to practice moving it slowly with my ______.” Hill told CBS News. “It definitely took a lot of learning and ______.”

After graduation, Hill wanted to ______ her dance network to include women like her. She ______ women who had suffered the same ______ to join her. In disabled dance competitions, all dancers from her team gave great ______ and the audience’s applause suggested that the fun was ______. The dancers aren’t the only ones feeling inspired. One woman saw a YouTube video of the team and ______, “To be in a wheelchair and still be so beautiful makes me know I can be beautiful too!”

Hill has ______ what many of us never will: her childhood dream. “My injury doesn’t ______, so I can live my life, so why am I going to stop living my life because of my injury?”

8 . Paul O’Sullivan was around his Baltimore apartment one evening, feeling bored. Having nothing better to do, he logged on the social network to find out how many others _________ his name. Moments later, many Paul O’Sullivans popped out. On a whim (一时兴起), he decided to _________ friend requests to them all.

Many of his fellow Paul O’Sullivans ignored him but a few felt too curious to resist his invitation. He _________ that four of them were all musicians. Wouldn’t it be funny if he asked the other musical Pauls to _________ a band? So they did.

Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be _________. Shaky Wi-Fi and other technical difficulties meant they often failed to work _________ at the same time and speed. To _________ this, Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul write and record a basic track (乐曲), then e-mail it to Manchester Paul. _________ he records a bass (低音的) track, he e-mails it back to Baltimore Paul.

Later Pennsylvania Paul adds the drumbeat. Round and round the _________ goes until they released their first original song, “Namesake”, which is about long-distance relationships, just like theirs.

__________, months later, Baltimore Paul had to stop due to health issues. The other Pauls didn’t __________ their friendship. They made sure Baltimore Paul never felt alone. It was about four years before Baltimore Paul was __________ enough to start making music again. They created a music video for “Namesake” in 2020, which pulled in more than 20,000 __________ in its first two weeks online. Now, a new source of joy for the Pauls is to spend time with each other in person.

“What are the odds (可能性),” says Baltimore Paul, “that a random __________ would lead not only to new music but to lasting __________ as well? Some things are just meant to be”.

10 . My history with music was not good. I still remembered when I took my short-lived piano lessons, my grandfather said _____ to my grandfather, “Why didn’t he make any progress with much practice?” I______ to make my piano performance attractive, but my efforts were______ .

So I gave up playing any musical instrument until my old friend Leroy ______ me to play the violin with him when I was 57. It made me enjoy the joy of playing music again. One day, Leroy sent a text________ me that there was a music performance and he wanted me to join him. Thinking of my past, I _________ his invitation. I expected to hear his words that I would become_______ with practice on stage. But he said, “OK, only play if you want to.” I was totally_______by the unexpected answer and made no reply except to tell him goodbye.

No one was_______ me to participate, but I faced a special ______. Should I play on stage or just watch a movie? I had chosen the “movie route” too many times and this time I was_______ to grasp the opportunity. After a long and careful______, I played my violin with Leroy. ThoughI didn’t lose all my nervousness, it was enough for me to overcome ________ fear. Finally, I________ a full performance in front of the audience.

A short time later, my friend Leroy passed away, but his ______ stayed. It helped me not only in music, but in all aspects of life. When I focus on what I wanted to do, fear is replaced with joy.