Once there was a scientist. He wanted to study how monkeys _______.

He put two peanuts into a tall glass bottle. The bottle was _______ transparent, and one could see the two peanuts clearly from outside. Then he gave the bottle to a monkey. The monkey grabbed the bottle and _______ it methodlessly for a while. Finally, the peanuts fell out and the monkey got to _______ them. The scientist put another two peanuts into the bottle. This time, he showed the monkey that if he put the bottle upside-down the peanuts would fall out _______. But the monkey still shook the _______ methodlessly after it grabbed it. Obviously, the monkey didn't learn anything the scientist _______ it.

Why?

The reason is that all the monkey saw were just the _______. Its brain could not _______ anything else such as the scientist's __________.

“New Recruits Wanted.” This ________ caught my eye and revived (重新唤起) the dream I had since my childhood. But, just as ________, I reminded myself that I was getting close to sixty. Hesitating for a while, I finally entered the hall and filled out a(n)________.

My dream of becoming a firefighter began when I watched the television show Rescue 8, ________ with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Unfortunately, a career in construction and a family to ________ got in the way of working for the local fire department. Now, ________ retirement, my wife and I had just relocated to a beautiful village near Seattle. I had time to give.

To my delight, I was accepted for ________. Yes, I was the oldest recruit, and it was so ________ that I was ready to drop out one day. When I got home from practice that day, a friend came over. I was about to say I could ________ do it anymore when he passed me a beautifully-illustrated book of firefighters in ________, with a personalized message of inspiration, encouraging me to follow my dream. As I looked through the ________, I felt amazed at the courage and devotion of these brave ________. It gave me the strength I needed to carry on.

Over the next few weeks, the training continued to be tough, but I never lost ________ again. I lost twenty pounds, but eventually I was certificated as a firefighter. And now I can drive the big red trucks and ________ my community. When most of my friends are retiring, I’m ________ a new career I love. And I know that you’re never too old to take on new challenges; never too old to follow your dreams.

There once was an ordinary street in the suburbs where no one cared much for their gardens. The lawns were overgrown, the weeds were ___________ and the hedges (树篱) desperately needed to be cut back. It looked very ___________. But when the neighbors saw their ___________, they just looked at each other and laughed.

It seemed too hard to ___________ all the gardens and no one could be bothered to make them better because everyone's garden was ___________ terrible. No one felt it was urgent to ___________ anything. Then a gardener named Bill moved in. Bill was a ___________, hard-working and patient man who started working in the garden as soon as he ___________ in the street. He took his lawn mower (割草机) out to cut back the grass and pulled out all of the weeds. Finally, he took up his gardening and started ___________ his hedges, making them look like flowers, plants, stones, balls, etc.

Attracted by the ____________, the neighbors walked by and admired the newly manicured (修整的) garden. Over some time, something interesting happened. One by one, the neighbors started to put in more ____________ in their own gardens and the sounds of lawn mowers could be heard again. After a few months, the street was ____________ from a dirty, unappealing collection of houses to a beautiful avenue that wouldn't be out of place in a stylish magazine.

One person's action showed everyone what could be achieved with a little ____________ work. It's easy for us to ____________ the environment around us because no one else cares about it. Remember what you positively do not only ____________ yourself, but also results in a change to the whole world.