I liked reading science fiction when I was young. In many _________, I met characters who could perform ________ acts like shapeshifting or breathing underwater. I longed ________ to become someone like them too because I wanted to offer people timely help and ________ all kinds of diseases in the world. But later, I ________ that it was impossible for us to own this kind of ability and that we didn’t need to be Spider-Man or Black Panther. Though we are ________ people, we can make a difference.

My friend, Steve, grew up in rural Kenya, where his parents had to live off the ________ at the mercy of nature. ________ might not have been high on his agenda, but his mother wouldn’t allow him to find any excuses for ________ lessons. During his first few years of school, they had an afternoon routine. Steve was asked to ________ a few things he’d learned at school that day. Then his mother would “ ________ ” them. Without fail, she would mark some sentences   ________ , but the others would get a red “x”. ________ several years later, Steve learned his mom couldn’t read or write.

She just ________ to read his work every day. Her ________ was clear: to push her son to study as hard as he could. ________ mightn’t have been the mother’s strong point, but she came up with a creative way to ________ her son to become better! Now Steve is a pillar (支柱) of strength in his country.

Paul Torrance, Mr Creativity of the 20th Century, once wrote that your technical and academic intelligence won’t ________ you a particular advantage ________ your insight counts. It will guarantee you ________ in the long run.

My knees started shaking. It felt as though my soul ______ my body. Anxiously, I looked through the list posted on the wall of the locker room. I saw all my friends' names except mine. I _______. I just couldn't accept that I was not on the team.

I ______ out of the room as fast as I could. My mind was blank for the rest of the school day. After school, as I walked to the parking lot to get _______, I saw all my friends gathered there, celebrating and joking around. I walked around the side of the school to ______ them. I saw my father's familiar red Mazda pull up near the school lot and got in. He noticed my ______ face and asked me what was wrong.

“Nothing. It's just that all my friends made the school team except me.”

“Well, are you just going to sit there?” he asked.

What my dad said ______ to me. Nobody was going to give me a（n） ______ on that team. I would have to earn it. Having made this mental ______ , I decided to work toward my goal of making the team. ______, there was a gym near my school, so as soon as the bell rang for school to end, I biked to the gym and trained for two hours. I ran and shot until I ______ on the hardwood floor every single day.

There were moments when I didn't think I could keep on going, but I powered ______ it. After all, hard work ______ talent when talent doesn't work hard.

After a year of training, I ______ for my seventh-grade team. Seeing my name printed in large letters felt as though all my dreams had come true. The greater the effort, the sweeter the reward, and by making the team, I had officially made a _______.

An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his ________ all the time, watering and fertilizing them.

One day a young man went by the ________. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he ________ in such a beautiful place. Then suddenly he found the old gardener was ________. He was very surprised about this and asked, “You can’t ________ these flowers. Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”

The old man smiled and said, “I can tell your four ________. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, I can ________ them. ________ I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t ________ me,” said the young man.

“Yeah, it is ________ that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels that ________ every day. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought to us.”

The blind man’s words opened our eyes and ________ our hearts, which also made his life ________. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn’t ________ his wonderful music, but his music has ________ millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it one kind of happiness?