Last spring，Michelle fell in love with kite­boarding，an adventure sport that combines surfing and sailing. So she got a kite­board，took some   41   and a few months later drove out to the Banana River. There she met John，who offered to help her   42   her skills.

One day，John   43   Michelle while his wife，Nancy，stayed behind on a Jet Ski(摩托艇).In that way，there would be   44   to bring back Michelle if she got into trouble. After John gave her a few   45  ，he took off. He’d sailed about three quarters of a mile down the river when he felt the wind   46  .He knew that the stronger the wind grew，the more   47   it would be for Michelle to control her board.  48  ，he turned and started sailing back toward the two women.

Michelle had   49   decided to head for shore. The wind was too strong for her to handle the kite. She prepared to land her   50   by releasing one of the four lines that kept the sail in the air.  51   she didn’t have a chance. She was thrown over the water，still   52   to the kite. Seconds later，a huge wind sent the kite upward. Even more dangerous，the sail’s lines started to twist together，round and round. Michelle   53   to free from the kite. But she failed.

Nancy was several hundred feet away on the Jet Ski and couldn’t get to her   54   enough to help. By then，John had closed in and Michelle felt John   55   her out of the water. As she held his arm，he tried to pull the handle but couldn’t   56   it. Then suddenly，John let go. At that point，Michelle was sure she would die without him holding   57   her. But John had seen Nancy approaching and   58   that he’d have a better chance of helping Michelle. He jumped onto the Jet Ski. As the kite dived down，with all his   59  ，he jumped from the Jet Ski onto the kite and dragged it to the water. Finally Michelle was saved.

This experience hasn’t kept Michelle from loving kite­boarding.“Life is fragile(脆弱的)，but it’s meant to be   60  ，” she says.

My parents were a team, as if they were one person. Sure, they   (1)  ____, but undoubtedly any   (2)   would be solved. They began their married life   (3)  , but they worked hard and,   (4)   the years built a very successful business .They had strengths and weaknesses, but so   (5)   as they worked together, you never saw weaknesses, just strengths.
The biggest   (6)  about love and marriage my parents taught us kids was how to talk “about” your partner. Have you ever heard husbands and wives make   (7)   remarks(评论) about their partners? It’s one those things people just seem to do. Sure, they are “only kidding” or maybe they are not. But words   (8)  . And words teach, whether positively or negatively. Dad always speaks of mom in positive words,   (9)   does she of him.
One day we were getting carpet fixed. The crew boss said, “Women will really spend your money, won’t they?” Dad   (10)  , “Well, they were right there with you before you had any money, it’s a   (11)   to do anything for them you possibly can.” This wasn’t the answer the boss expected to hear. The crew boss   (12)   one more time, “And they’ll take that as far as they can, huh?” Dad responded again, “She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ll do anything to make her happy.”
I tried not to   (13)  . I knew he wanted Dad to   (14)   just a little bit and say, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” But it wouldn’t happen... not in a million years!
My parents are retired and still enjoying their life together, just __  (15)  _ out, reading, shopping. Throughout the years,   (16)   Mom would remind me I should be   (17)   for someone to get married to, I’d say, “Ma, I have plenty of time.” She’d   (18)   reply “I don’t have ‘that’ much time”. Dad would then look at me and say, “Hey, you   (19)  all the time you need. If you marry someone just   (20)   the woman your mother is, you’ll have a great life.”

My husband hasn’t stopped laughing about the thing that happened to me. It’s   41     now but it wasn’t at that time.

Last Friday , after doing all the family shopping in the town , I  wanted a  42  before catching the train , so I bought a     43    and some chocolate and went to the station coffee shop --that cheap , self-service place with long    44     to sit at . I put my heavy bag down on the floor, put the newspaper and chocolate on the table to    45     a place, and went to get a cup of coffee.

When I came back with the coffee, 46   was someone in the next seat. It was one of those wild-looking young men, with dark glasses and torn clothes, and hair colored bright    47    at the front, not so unusual these days . What did    48   me most was he’d started to    49    my chocolate!

Naturally, I was angry. However, to avoid trouble---then really I was rather uneasy about him—I just     50    down at the front page of the newspaper, tasted my coffee, and took a bit of chocolate. The boy looked at me    51     . Then he took another piece of my chocolate. I could hardly     52    it. Still I didn’t want to start an argument. When he took a   53     piece, I felt angrier. I thought, “Well, I shall have the last piece.” And I  54   it.

The boy gave a    55    look, and then stood up. As he left he shouted out, “This woman’s mad!” Everyone  56   . That really made me feel silly, but it was even     57    when I finished my coffee and ready to     58    . My face went red—as red as his hair when I  59    I’d made a mistake. It wasn’t my chocolate he’d been taking. There was mine,   60    , just under my newspaper.

Now, I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have   41  in your lives right now that can make it hard to   42  on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what it’s like. My father   43  my family when I was two years old, and I was   44  by a single mom who had to work and who struggled   45  to pay the bills(账单) and wasn’t always   46  to give me the things that other kids had. There were times when I  47  having a father in my life. There were times when I was   48  and I felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I’m not   49  of, and I got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have   50  taken a turn for the worse. But I was   51  , I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my   52  .

Some of you might not have those   53  . Maybe you don’t have adults(成年人) in your life who give you the   54  that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost his or her job and there’s not enough money to   55  the daily expense(费用). Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are   56  you to do things that you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day,    57  the circumstances(环境) of your life are,   58  of those is an excuse for ignoring(忽视) your homework or having a bad   59  in school. That’s no excuse for talking back(顶嘴) to your   60  , or dropping out of school. There’s no excuse for not trying.

I always pay attention to the first impression I leave upon strangers. However, I have  31   that no stranger cares much about what you have done.

It was Saturday. I was very excited after a week’s hard study. What was more, my former classmate and best friend was coming to visit me.

When dusk  32   near, my friend appeared on time. We decided to have supper together and went to a restaurant. To my astonishment, many people were  33  at us as if we were monsters from other planet. I looked myself up and down, but found nothing was  34  . When I cast my eyes at my friend, suddenly I realized what had happened: I was with a boy  35  .

My friend also noticed it. We looked at each other and smiled.  36  , people kept staring at us throughout our meal  37  the strange atmosphere made us uncomfortable.

During the meal, I  38   that my friend finish as fast as possible, so that we could get out of such an embarrassing situation. Suddenly my friend noticed another classmate passing by the  39   and he rose to his feet to  40  him. But he was in such a hurry that he knocked down the table, leading to the hot soup pouring all over me. What was more, his voice caught people’s  41  again. The  42  on their faces showed me that they were laughing us.

How embarrassed I was! My face turned red and I wished I could find a hole to  43  in. As quickly as possible, I rushed out of the restaurant. My friend  44  and he caught up with me when I was so tired that I had to stop. But he was so  45  that it surprised at me.

“Don’t be too  46  what people think about you,” he said to me. “In fact, to many  47  , you are just a passing figure, like a piece of cloud in the sky, which will disappear in no  48  . Nobody knows who you are. You can just be yourself.”

Yes, he is right. No one in the restaurant actually knew who I was. I should just be myself and  49  others’ prejudices(偏见) aside. Life is a long road and we need not make such fuss(大惊小怪) of tiny things — it is too  50  .

Some people cannot learn in ordinary schools. Physical or __46__ illness prevents a child from learning. Today new __47__ are being used in special schools to help the disabled learn. A school is being __48__ in New Jersey, USA. It is called Bancroft. Here the disabled will be trained to __49__ themselves and to get along in the outside world. Bancroft is not surrounded   by__50__of any kind. Its director insists that it be __51__ so that students may gradually develop __52__ relations with the rest of the world. Bancroft students will__53__ in apartments, cooking their own meals, and learning to perform other tasks. As they become __54__, they will buy their own furniture, paying for it out of their own __55__. They will pay for their food, too. They will learn to expect __56__bills for the calls they make every month. As a step toward the goal of becoming __57__, each disabled person will decide what kind of work he wants to be __58__ to do. While some of the training will be __59__ on within Bancroft itself, most of the students will receive __60__ training in nearby towns. They will be trained by town people. After the training has been __61__ completed, the student will work __62__ an assistant and will begin to earn money. After that he will leave Bancroft, __63__ the school will continue to give him help if he needs it. How long will it take a student to complete his training under this new system? The director says, “For some a year will be enough. For others it might take ten years.” For all, however, this method offers new__64__. Many will learn to be__65__and independent, supporting themselves in the world.

It was about six years ago. We were at senior high school. Those days in school were  4l  to most Chinese students because of the college  42   examination pressure. Not our parents and teachers didn’t love us.   43   they loved us too much. The only happiness for us was a high   44   in the exam.

One afternoon after the final exam, we four girls came to a small   45   and we felt it only belonged to us that afternoon. We talked and laughed. We played all the games that we could     46  . We felt really happy for the first time in our   47  . We totally forgot the unhappiness in our life and we threw the homework and the endless   48   far away out of the wood.

In the middle of the wood ran a small and peaceful    49  . Now and then, we could see some wild ducks on the water seeking food. The water weeds   50   happily while the water passed beside them. The air was so fresh that we breathed it freely.

The sun had set  51  we knew it. We had to leave the place which brought us much happiness. We agreed to come back again every time we felt   52  .

53   later, we went there several times. But every time we went there with the purpose of finding that great feeling, we  54  . Strangely, the feeling was different from   55   of several years ago.

I know that wonderful experience was just for once. We can   56   find that kind of happiness again which only belonged to the special _  57    in our life. That was a release of our uneasy heart. We can never go   58   to that young age or that simple life. It was our   59    ages. No matter how boring and hard the life was, it gave us something worthy to recall in the rest of our life. We’ll   60  it forever.