Nowadays, influencers mimicking (滑稽模仿) pop songs on video can attract millions of likes on social media. This _________ me back to the days when television singing contests took the nation by _________. Countless youngsters got up their courage to _________ singing shows, but actually _________ singing talent. They might be pushed by their eager parents, or _________ friends who thought they were doing right by encouraging their mate to follow their dream despite their _________ singing.

I, in my early twenties, thought _________ must step up. If I had kids, I would be the _________ kind. If my children couldn’t sing, I’d tell them straight, so they wouldn’t end up _________ themselves, or even losing face on national television.

However, as a parent now, I understand __________ their personal growth matters more than any concern that they may not be so talented. If they stick, they may even improve. So when my older son kicks a ball two meters off target, I claim he is a(n) __________ footballer. Recently my younger son has been chosen as the lead singer for his school concert. But he can’t sing.   He shouts. He screams.

Do I tell him he is wonderful? Of course! His confidence is __________, and his stage presence is unquestionable. Though the __________ is unpleasant, I still __________ heartily, and have just registered him in the singing program. Anyway, the journey itself, not just the destination, is what truly __________ a person.

Not long before, my daughter’s shoes were scratched (划破) with a knife. She burst into tears, I took them to the shoemaker’s.

The young apprentice (学徒) looked at the _________ and said, “T can do nothing except _________ the upper.”

His master looked at them and said, “If you _________ me, I will add more scratches on both the shoes.”

I was _________ and asked why.

He explained, “As if the openings were made _________ for a special style.”

I didn’t fully understand him, _________ I decided to leave the shoes，

Two days later I dropped by from work to _________ the shoes, I found more scratches on each shoe; all the openings were patched (缝补) by soft red leather; the stitches (针脚) were twisted (扭动) with the appearance looking more _________ and interesting than ever. I couldn’t help praising (表扬) the master’s skill.

Another time, my sister’s blouse was torn, leaving a large opening. My wife checked it. _________,and then said, “Let me take it home and mend it“

Three days later, seeing it again, I was greatly __________ with: all the torn parts took on a look of ice crystal (水晶): attached (贴上)to it was a snowman make of flowery rags. I said with __________ “Its amazing!”

“I was __________ by that shoes maker. Patches are thought to be ugly, but a skillful craftsman (工匠)can make it take on a kind of ____________,” replied my wife.

Her words inspired me more perfection is impossible to achieve in __________: patches appear in the from of injury, __________ or disease. Since you can’t change the existence of the patch, you should not expect people’s sympathy by disclosing and wound, which is meaningless. Just sew a patch on the wound and produce a most beautiful flower on it, and that is the significance of life.

Last summer, my fiancé Eugeniu and I decided to drive to Provence for a holiday. The weather was beautiful, but then, about 700km into the journey, it suddenly______. I’d never seen the sky go so dark; the rain was heavy. We__a tunnel and when we came out onto a ______, the visibility was so bad that we could hardly see a meter in front of us.

______, we had the odd sensation that the car was lifting at the front. The next second, we were__into nothing. On the way down, I could hear rock pieces hitting the car and my heart pounding to my chest. After that, there was__.

Our car ended up landing on a road below the bridge. We were still_____, but I was in shock. I hadn’t______what was happening and was still thinking about my holiday. I had no idea the bridge had _________-thought it might have been an earthquake.

At first we shouted, but then stopped because we didn’t want to lose_______and pass out. We tried calling an ambulance, but there was no ________under the rock pieces. My leg was bleeding and I was too tense-because of the_____   I didn’t feel pain. My fiancé had broken his neck. Rescue workers eventually found us while saving a man whose van was__________from another section of the bridge above us. We’d been down there for four hours by the time we were pulled out.

It was only afterwards in the hospital that I realized the_______of the tragedy-43 people had died. Before, we had focused on earning money. When we went on this holiday, I had lovely clothes and shoes in my suitcase, and they were all buried under the ruin. Maybe that was a sign that these things don’t really _________