Yesterday, a salesman called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and I usually don’t like spending time on those things, so I _______ myself that I couldn’t talk yet and _______ that he call me back at 6 p.m.

That’s what he did. So we talked about 20 minutes. He _______ to me his different phone plans. While listening to him, sometimes I was _______ in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _______ that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit _______. But I stayed calm and _______ until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he said the following to me: “Thank you, Olivia. You are the first person in a long time with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. _______, people shout at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 a.m., I hadn’t had a phone _______ without an offense (冒犯), I know you had a long day at work and you could have________ in front of your TV. But you listened so carefully to me. I am ________ and I sincerely thank you.

It set me thinking. He had been the ________ of verbal (语言的) violence all through his working day. Physical ________ do not exist in this situation but dehumanization (非人性) seems to happen. ________, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of ________ that I hadn’t treated him so rudely.

Snowy wanted to be a show jumping horse. Every day she would ______ her mum to allow her to jump. Finally, her mum decided she was ______ enough and they went into the jumping arena (竞技场).

Snowy was very excited, but when she saw how ______ the jumps were, she started shaking. “I can’t jump that high. It’s a good idea that we ______” she said. Her mum said, “I wouldn’t expect you to ______ that high. There’s a log (原木) on the ground. Why not start jumping over that?” Snowy gathered her ______, walked to the log and then managed to jump over it.

“I did it!” she shouted happily. “______ her mum said, “You can’t just jump over logs if you want to be a show jumper. ______ the low jump over there.”

Again, Snowy was ______ but she tried it and found she could do it. As time went on, Snowy progressed to taller jumps, until finally she ______ the arena and looked at the tallest jumps. In the previous training weeks, something ______. These jumps seemed much less ______ to Snowy. She jumped over them easily. Her mum looked with ______ at her and said, “This is what happens when you start ______ and build your way up.”

So never be afraid of ______ in life, but start small and keep trying. Then you’ll be able to do anything.

A few years ago, I moved to Aurora, Ontario. I was a radio broadcaster, but I didn’t have the _______ of colleagues. That was because I worked not in the office, but at home, and I _______ it to the power of technology. Shortly after the move, _______, I found myself feeling lonelier than ever before. I was _______ to make a friend.

Then I saw her. From the window of my _______, I caught sight of a beautiful, tall girl taking her recyclables and walking _______, and I was attracted. I thought, “I recycle too! We have something in common!”

The question was _______ we would meet. “Should I knock on her door and say hi, or what if I just _______ to be running by?” But after _______ a few times around the block, I still didn’t see her. Finally, I decided to ________ the one thing I already knew about her — recycling.

The following Tuesday, I got up a bit earlier. Around 8 a.m., she ________ again, with the same confidence. “Just act ________,” I said to myself. Then I walked outside, ________ a trash can fast. “Nice to meet you. I’m Megan,” I said, trying to ________ nervousness back and appear calm. “Good morning. Michelle,” she replied.

________ a big smile, I walked back inside. After our “________”   recycling meet-ups continued for a few weeks, I gathered my ________ to invite her to my home. Then at my home we ________ down, sharing stories about our own life. We also found more ________ between us two young women: putting ourselves out for what we’ve been looking for — a new ________ to fall in love with.