A Leap (跳躍) to Honor
Leaping on a narrow balance beam (平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it.
To perfect her skills, Lola ______ for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.
That’s especially impressive, ______ she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can’t ______ how far away things are.
When she was little, her mom ______ that even though she couldn’t see ______, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the ______ right away and gymnastics became her favorite.
Though learning gymnastics has been more ______ for her than for some of her teammates, she has never quit (放棄). She doesn’t let her ______ stop her from doing anything that she wants to.
She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest ______ is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to ______ your mind that it’ll take you where you want to go.” says Lola.
To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most ______ for anyone because it’s four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn’t fall ______ the beam. In fact, she got an 8. 1 out of 10 –– her highest score yet.
Lola doesn’t want to be ______ differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don’t know about her vision ______. She doesn’t tell them, because she doesn’t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her ______ attitude.
Lola never thinks about ______. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her ______ is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she’s learned to other kids ______ she grew up.
Lola is ______ of all her hard work and success. She says it has helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her ______ for others is “just believe yourself”.

Michel is a young girl who works for the police ____ a handwriting expert. She has helped ____ many criminals (罪犯) by using her special talents.
　　When she was fourteen, Michel was already  ____ interested in the differences in her friends'  ____ that she would spend hours  ____ them. After  ____ college she went to France for a  ____ two-year class in handwriting at the School of Police Science.
　　Michel says that it is  ____ for people to hide their handwriting. She can discover  ____ of what she needs to know simply  ____ looking at the writing with her own eyes,  ____ she also has machines  ____ help her make  ____ different kinds of paper and ink. This knowledge is often  ____ great help to the police.
Michel believes that handwriting is a good  ____ of what kind of person the  ____ is. "I wouldn't go out with a fellow  ____ I didn't like his handwriting." She says. But she  ____ she fell in love with her future husband, a young policeman  ____ she studied his handwriting. It is later proved to be  ____, however.

One very cold and rainy night in the winter of 2012, my husband and I were in a fast food restaurant. We were about to begin our meal    a man walked in. He was completely       from the rain and went into the men's room.
I watched him go by, then I said to my husband, "That man must have had nothing to eat in a long time." When the man came out of the men's room, he just       himself in a chair, not going anywhere near the food counter. I       that he didn't have any money for food and       wanted to dry off for a while.
I just couldn't eat my food knowing that someone else was sitting      only a few tables away. So, I      a $20.00 bill from my shopping money to my husband. "Please get him dinner," I said. "We can do with less money this week."
My husband      the man and quietly asked if he needed some food. The man      at us. "A small cup of coffee would be great," he said. "Thank you so much!" He       wasn't going to take advantage of us, but we      that he should have a full meal, which he gratefully(感激地)       .
After he      the food, he thanked my husband and my husband said, "No. Thank my       . She noticed that you were       ." 
The man asked me, "      did you know I haven't eaten in a long time?" I smiled at him and said nothing , just asking him to      the change(零錢) from the $20.00.
Giving others a      whenever they’re in trouble not only brings happiness to the ones who       it but also to the ones who give it. I am so grateful that I was able to      with someone truly in need. It is a little bit of extra warmth on a rainy day.

A few days ago, I bought some ink for my printer at my favorite $1 Supermarket, which sold everything from fresh produce to birthday cards at one dollar. Then l found a better        at a computer store. So I went back to the supermarket to        it for some other products. With        telling me exactly what to do, I put the ink into a plastic bag, tied it up, placed the bag into a push-cart and started      .
I was midway        when a clerk suddenly stopped me. "You are not allowed to        a bag around in this store. Open it and show me the      !" she yelled coldly.
    , I opened the bag and       the ink to her. "I'm returning it. " I said.
"You should have left the bag with the clerk upon       . Let me see your receipt!" she demanded I did as told, looking around, embarrassed        everyone was laughing at me. "Perhaps in the future you'll learn how to follow the store       . " she added.
By the time I finished shopping, I was angry. How dare she treat me as a       ? I went looking for her and asked for her      . She mumbled (嘀咕) something. I asked her again, and this time I heard "Ursula. "
"Ursula what?" I asked. She yelled at me,  "Ursula! " and stormed away.
"This employee is about to become unemployed, " I         when I got home. 1       their headquarters (總部). I described my unpleasant experience to a representative. She was sympathetic, "Our employees are taught to be      . Give me your phone number and I will ring you back. "
She did two days later. "I'm sorry," she said, "but there's no Ursula at that supermarket. Can you         her so that I can find out who she is? I assure you, we do not tolerate rude behavior, nor do we tolerate      to our customers. "
By this time, I had calmed down. l didn't really want the employee to lose her      . So I told the representative to forget about it.

That morning, I stepped into the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with seventy-five students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in     for seventeen years, I had no    about my ability to hold their attention and toimpress on them my    for the literature of my mother tongue.
As I entered the room, I was     when the monitor shouted: “Stand up!” The entire class rose, and I was somewhat    about how to get them to sit down again. Once that awkwardness was over, I quickly     my calmness and began what I thought was an informed lecture, sure to gain their respect — perhaps    their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which came from a sense of achievement.
I asked my students to keep     as homework. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually    by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today.    her next lecture will be better.” Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a     theme. “Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework of Western thought and laid the historical    for all the works we’ll study in class,” I complained. “How    they say I didn’t teach them anything?”
It was a long term, and it    became clear that my ideas about     were not the same as those of my students. I thought a teacher’s job was to raise    questions and provide enough background so that students could    their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide    information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!
   , I benefited a lot, for my experience with my Chinese students has made me a    American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.

Last weekend  I was out walking with my dog. She loves wandering around and seeing          we meet, so it becomes a social walk rather than an exercise.
Then we     0ur neighbour who was preparing to sell her house.  She was busy getting ready for her open house（看房時間）that afternoon . After talking a little we went our separate ways .I could tell it was a(n)      day for her.
After I got home, I quickly      some of the wonderful  lavender（薰衣草) in my garden
Wonderful! They smelled good and  the purple            were so pretty. I wrapped some packing paper around the bunch and          it to my neighbor for her open house. I loved her expression          she saw me there with a bunch of lavender!  It            made me happy. It made her stop and take a deep      and maybe reduced her stress for a second
The next day I had a note in my mailbox from my neighbor thanking me for my        . She said everybody commented on how wonderful her house smelled She said the       0f kindness I showed helped          some of the stress she was feeling. Her note was like a big hug to me.
Never        that it's the gift from the heart that is the most       .I think sometimes we hesitate（猶豫) to do the        acts of kindness because we may think  they aren't anything but actually they are probably the  best gift

Bowen was grown-up, and for his birthday that year his father gave him a    without any pictures in it!
Bowen’s father found he was not    about it, and told him, “Son, this isn’t just any    book; it’s a magic (有魔力的) book. But to discover its magic you’ll have to    it.”
Well, that was better. Bowen liked    to do with magic. He started reading it,    he wasn’t very willing to.
The next morning, his    asked him, “Have you found the magic    ?”
So… there was a key to find! Bowen flicked through (快速翻閱) the book, but there was no     of the key.
And then his father    him, “You won’t find it like that. You have to read the book. ”
Bowen didn’t have much patience (耐心) , thinking his father just told a    .A little later, his little sister, Rainer, asked him     the book. After several days, she    shouted, “I’ve found the key! ” And she wouldn’t stop    all the places she had visited using the magic key.
This made Bowen read the book again. At first it was a    ; there wasn’t even one single     in the book. But, gradually, Bowen became    the adventurous (冒險的) prince’s life. Then, suddenly, he was there.
The book    was the key!
It was true that every time he    it, he felt going to its valleys and seas, and he lived the adventures of the prince.
From then on, with every new book, Bowen never    being attracted by the letters and words inside.

My father brought home a sailboat when I was ten, and almost each Sunday in summers we would go sailing. Dad was quite skilled in sailing, but not good at     __. As for me, I __    both well before twelve because of living close to Lake Ontario.
The last time Dad and I set sail together is really    __ . It was a perfect weekend after I graduated from university. I came home and __   Dad to go sailing. Out we set soon on the __  __ lake. Dad hadn’t sailed for years, but everything      well with the tiller（舵柄）in his hands.
When we were in the middle of the lake, a       wind came all of a sudden. The boat was  _  _  violently(猛烈地). Dad was always at his best in any  __, but at this moment he __  .
“John!    __ !” he shouted in a trembling(顫抖的) voice, with the tiller still in his hands.
In my memory he could fix any     __. He was the one I always __  __ for strength and security. Before I could respond, a     _ of water got into the boat. I rushed to the tiller      it was too late. Anther huge wall of water      the boat in a minute. We were thrown into the water, and Dad was struggling aimlessly. At that moment, I felt fiercely    of him.
I swam to Dad      and assisted him in climbing onto the hull（船殼）of the boat. Upon sitting on the hull, Dad was still a little frightened. “It’s all right, Dad. We are __ __ now,” I comforted him.
That was the first time Dad had counted on me in a moment of emergency(緊急情況). More importantly, I found it was my turn to start __    of my father.

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意， 然后從各題所給的四個選項中，選出最佳選項。
My father brought home a sailboat when I was ten, and almost each Sunday in summers we would go sailing. Dad was quite skilled in sailing, but not good at      . As for me, I     both before twelve because of living close to Lake Ontario.
The last time Dad and I set sail together is really      . It was a perfect weekend after I graduated from university. I came home and     Dad to go sailing. Out we set soon on the     lake. Dad hadn’t sailed for years, but everything     well with the tiller（舵柄）in his hands.
When we were in the middle of the lake, a      wind came all of a sudden. The boat was hit     . Dad was always at his best in any    , but at this moment he     .
“John!    !” he shouted in a trembling voice, with the tiller still in his hands.
In my memory he could fix any    . He was the one I always     for strength and security. Before I could respond, a      of water got into the boat. I rushed to the tiller     it was too late. Another huge wall of water     the boat in a minute. We were thrown into the water, and Dad was struggling aimlessly. At that moment, I felt fiercely     of him.
I swam to Dad     and assisted him in climbing onto the hull（船殼）of the boat. Upon sitting on the hull, Dad was a little awkward about his flash of      . “It’s all right, Dad. We are safe now,” I comforted him.
That was the first time Dad had counted on me in a moment of emergency. More importantly, I found it was my turn to start     for my father.
【小題1】  

This was our time，our senior year. My best friend Beth and I had big dreams…But in my world of “big dreams” this one small       freshman did not appear on my radar(關注范圍). My best friend Beth was the first to       her.
“Kristi，did you see the girl standing by us in the lunch line --- she looks so      ，so out of place.” We had heard of a family that had just       to our town from the country of Cambodia. We knew there was supposed to be a       girl at our school from that family，but we had yet to meet her until now.
Leourn was a small dark-haired beauty. She       with the little English she knew and that made it very       for her to get to know people in our small town．Every day Leourn kept her eyes fixed on the       and we never，ever saw her      .
What could we do to help Leourn？With       and faith，we decided to let her know that there were people who      . We sought out Leourn in the halls and said “ Hi ” and tried to continue to engage her in      . Leourn responded to us with smiles and small talk.
When Valentine’s Day(情人節(jié)) came，I       thought of Leourn and decided I would send her a      for the holiday. Thinking that she was       learning our language and customs，I simply wrote, “Happy Valentine’s Day,Leourn. Your friend Kristi.”
I will       forget that Valentine’s Day.
For the       time，Leourn was the one who       me out. She found me in the hall with the carnation（康乃馨）in her hands. Then she did something       ．She actually took her eyes off the floor，looked up at me with beautiful eyes and in a       whisper said two words: “Thank You.”
It was a life-changing moment for me.
【小題1】