15 years ago, when I was playing basketball in one of Australia’s premier basketball leagues, I remember a sports psychologist we had for the season. As young professional athletes with high egos (自我价值感), the team were not quite convinced the techniques of psychology would _______ performance, especially when it didn’t _______ using the physical strength and endurance needed to tough out (熬过) the weeks of training and games. I, _______, was interested.

We were trained in a visualization (想像) technique used before games. It involved moving ourselves into a meditative (冥想的) state and taking ourselves on a journey into the _______ to recreate the experience of a game. From _______ home, getting to the stadium, being in the change room, walking out onto the _______ and then finally visualizing how we would play and see ourselves _______. The most important part of the _______ was to bring to life the vivid details of each stage, while also focusing on the _______ that came with it. We were trained to ________ fear, doubt and learned to go beyond them, so that by the time we got onto the court, we were grounded, ________ and ready to play.

What I learnt most from this technique was that winning games was important but how we ________ to play was even more vital. And ________ visualization was a powerful way to see through to the ________, there were absolutely no ________ in the hard work of getting there.

During my lifetime, I’ve learnt something important: it’s good to learn new skills outside of your comfort zone. About seven years ago, I started learning how to paint as a_______. I was pretty terrible. Everything looked_______, and my colors were totally off. My friends and colleagues suggested that I stop_______my time on something I wasn’t good at. “_______on your day job,” they said. I kept at it — practicing, taking classes, finding the right_______who could guide me. I am now___________“good”. Today, the same friends say I was born with this_______.

The same thing_______when I started piano and singing lessons a couple of years ago. Comments shifted from, “Stop wasting your time and focus on what you know,” to “You’ve got a musical gene (基因).”

These_______originate from long-held beliefs that growth is usually not possible for adults. Even when there is evidence of learning, it can be__________to inborn talent.

Most scientific studies on adulthood focus on cognitive decline (认知下降), rather than__________, suggesting that even scientists may think that development is limited in adulthood. A few recent studies suggest that__________new skills, such as photography, for even three months may strengthen the functioning of the brain in adults.

I would take these studies one step further to argue that a(n)__________cause of cognitive decline is the fact that adults learn fewer new skills__________to children. If we can__________how to learn well as adults, then perhaps we can__________cognitive decline.

Adults are often__________ to go outside of their comfort zones. We fear looking__________for making mistakes; we fear failure could cost us our jobs. Perhaps a reason why we suffer from cognitive decline is that we do not engage in learning new skills for many years.

To better communicate with my German friends, I am starting to learn German. I’m__________at the “listening and babbling (咿呀学语)” phase. Sure, some may laugh at an adult babbling, but I hope one day I can__________German fluently, and inspire many other adults to learn like a baby.

Driving home from work every day on a long winding country road, I passed a house where an elderly man sat on his front porch（走廊）.I had been _____ to him only when I first moved into my home.

For these past fifteen years, I have _____ my window, waved, and shouted, "Hi, Charlie." I felt _____ to greet him in this way because I couldn't _____ going through a day without hearing someone say my name. I felt he also needed to hear his name _____ by someone else.

I used to _____ at his wife, too, when she was out walking their dog. She was a（n）_____ woman in a long wool coat, whatever the _____. I didn't know her name, but I'd _____ and say "Hi, Grandma" and she'd smile and wave back.

But then came the day when she was not ______ walking their dog；instead, Charlie was doing so. I realized he was alone, and the desire to greet him grew ______. My window was rolled down before I came around the corner, and ______ he was not on the porch, I'd shout to him, hoping that in his ______ he'd hear me. As long as there was a ______ on in the house, I felt that he was all right.

But that day came when he had to sell his belongings; Charlie's pickup truck was for ______ on the front lawn. A few days later, a sign was ______, and I knew Charlie was gone. I still wave and ______, "Hi, Charlie" as I pass just as I did in the past. The house is dark now.

It is my ______ that all of us need to be greeted at least once a day and that we need to hear our names spoken aloud by another person, to know someone sees us and ______ the truth of our being. I believe it is our duty to greet each other each day, in this way to prove that ______.