Over the years, when a book has spoken to me with particular charm, I have written to the or, communicating what their work meant to me. Contrary to common held ________ that writer are too busy to ________ to their readers I have often found uncommon ________ of time and spirit among those I’ve written.

It all started in my 18th year，when I was entertaining my own visions of success as a writer. I was full of ________believing that becoming an author was ________ a matter of pouring my ________ onto paper and waiting for fame to erupt.

Then came the great disillusionment (幻灭). After a year of unsuccess, I wrote to ________ author Lloyd Alexander, begging him for ________ . To my delight, he answered ________ for fear of hurting my confidence: "Advice is always very easy to give but very hard to make it ________ and meaningful, since we all have to work in our own ways. When you mention that you’ve been writing for a year without being ________, I want to tell you that I wrote seven times that long without being published So, perhaps one piece of advice is: ________.”

I was ________ by the idea that a well-regarded writer would take the time to offer advice to a presumptuous (冒昧的) teen. But Mr. Alexander was not a single case. I continued to ________ to writers and, truth to tell, I didn't ________ receive a reply. But when I did get one, the content was often loaded with consideration.

The stage lights dimmed, and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains at the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly _______. It seemed that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep breath as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my _________, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.

After a decade of learning this art of form, I had _______ been considered ready to take on the most difficult act. The test is the most important event in a dancer’s life as it pays respect to all the factors in one’s life that _________ the dance form: one’s culture and family.

The performance is undertaken only by the most _______ and determined students. It is a difficult process that requires much _______. For more than six months, I spent two to three hours every day practicing these dances. Many times, I _______ myself to my physical and mental breaking point, but still I would not stop. I could not give up. There was always so much more to do and so much more to _______.

I discovered a lot about myself in those tiring hours. I learned that I was far too _______ to give up, and I was too proud to prove myself ________ after I had set an unrealistic goal. Even with physical pain and mental ________, I forced myself to meet my ________. Even when I was at the end of my ________, there was always something driving me on, forcing me not to give up.

Fortunately, I made it. What I had done ________ the success. It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer truly was. That time was evidence that I could ________ something I set out to do.

UK-based supermarket Waitrose has been criticized strongly by social media users for selling bouquets(束) of “autumn seasonal foliage” at 6 pounds apiece.

Photos of various tree leaves packaged in transparent plastic foil and ________ as flower bouquets went viral on social media lately, sparking controversy because of the product’s price, six British pounds. ________ tree leaves can literally be ________ from the street this time of year, it’s understandable that some people went after Waitrose, accusing the supermarket of trying to make money by selling ________ that is actually free.

“A bag of actual leaves? I’ll sell you a bin bag of leaves for 10p,” one Twitter user wrote. “This has got to be from the drunk Monday morning meeting category of ________,” someone else commented.

________, the bizarre foliage bouquets appeared on Waitrose supermarket shelves as a way to welcome autumn, and featured a sticker ________ customers to “bring the outdoors inside”.

“Bring the outdoors indoors and brighten up your ________ with the freshest flowers ________ reflect the colors of the season,” the official product description read. “We source the best blooms from expert growers, and handle them gently on their journey to our stores ________ they look beautiful for longer.”

________ the generally negative feedback to its autumn-themed product, the British supermarket ________ its decision to charge 6 pounds for a bunch of tree leaves by claiming that it was inspired by a ________ from shoppers.

This isn’t the ________ time that English shops and supermarkets make news ________ for selling free things at exorbitant prices. First, there is a posh shop in London, that sold painted logs for $14 apiece, and there was artisan shop Botanique and its $22 chopped tree branches.