What do you do with an orchid (兰花) after its petals have fallen off? _______ you’re an expert on growing these plants, you may find that they never bloom (开花) for you again.

Just like most things rare and beautiful, they don’t _______ forever. They all have their own life cycle. And it’s always a little sad when the petals _______.

I can’t _______ just throwing out orchids. I usually put the green leafed plants outside, and I’ve even tried putting them in the ground a couple of times, but in vain. After so much trial and error, I was almost convinced that they would never re-bloom.

This year, _______ my lovely wife had other ideas.

A few of the plants were moved to a table in the living room, and some others were _______ on the kitchen window. I happily gave up _______ what to do with my flowerless orchids, and let my wife take over trying to help them.

At some points in life, even the most magnificent events come to a(n) _______. Life and love are only the two most typical. Actually, _______ we ever create or get involved with has its own life ________.

Sure, you can ________ hope. It was certainly easy to believe that those orchids would never flower again — that is, until my wife decided to come to their ________.

My wife kept moving the plants around the house, looking for the right light. ________, the orchids stayed alive. Tiny new stems (茎) grew from the old ones a year later. And now, nearly all of them are flowering.

Yes, you can ________ everything you think is important — your beauty, your wealth, even your family — but as long as you are alive, you can find new life within something you thought was never going to bloom again. Never lose hope on finding new life, even if the chance is ________.

Throughout the years, there are many important questions that you need to ask. All of these questions are important at different ___ of your life. But no matter when the question is asked, a clear and decisive answer is ___. I never thought much about any of these ___ as a young man. But, this all ___ one eventful day during a shift I ___ as a student nurse in a geriatric ward (病房).

I had a ward of several elderly men who were all ___ in their own way, and some of these gentlemen ___ a lot more care than others. A lot of____, quite frankly, did not enjoy working with these men and would try to ___ spending any more time there than they had to. ____, I would like to attend to these men. And I would ____ a lot of time talking with them. After all, these men could not walk or get around. They had few ____.

There was one ____ gentleman who wasn’t quite different from the rest but had a good sense of humor. One day, he called me over to his ____ and asked, “What do you want to be ____ for after you die?” Hearing this question I was somewhat ____. I still remember feeling uncomfortable ____ I had no clear answer to give.

Over the years, I ____ we may all face this important question. It may be a question that ____ you because of a tragic (悲惨的) circumstance, or it may be a question you ask in later years when you finally realize that you won’t live ____. Or, it may also be a question that you may never want to ask yourself because you are too involved in enjoying the materialistic side of life.

I grew up in a small North Dakota town. Dad was a farmer, so we kids were taught _______ to drive farm vehicles. I started driving the tractor (拖拉机) at age 15 .

One summer day, Dad asked me to back his truck up. _______, I backed it into a tree, damaging the truck. I was _______ because I wasn’t sure how Dad would react. Luckily, Dad wasn’t _______, and moved the truck himself.

As a teenager, I usually worked part-time on Uncle Jim’s farm in my _______ time. One day, I drove the tractor to get gas from the farmyard fuel tank, which was _______ on a big metal shelf 12 feet high. I _______ the shelf, bending one of the vehicle’s wooden bars. I stopped the vehicle anxiously and got off. I _______ Uncle Jim would help me. To my _______, he said, “Get back up on that tractor and you can do it.” And I did! During harvest, Jim had me do farming chores with that tractor, which made my confidence ________ greatly.

The “can do” ________ Uncle Jim had toward me carried me through ________ times in life. Whenever I encountered difficulties, the ________ on the summer day on the farm came flooding back to my mind and my spirit wasn’t ________ ! It just goes to show what a huge impact can be created by small gestures of ________ in a person.