When I suggested my 13-year-old try tennis, she quickly shot me down. “I’m not _________, so stop trying to get me to do sports,” Julianna said. I suggested it because some of my recent happiest memories were of playing ping-pong with her. Tennis seemed like a natural _________ from ping-pong and a great way to _________ some of her growing teen worries on a larger playing field. But my suggestion was always met with _________.

Still, I was undiscouraged. I was convinced that _________ some physical energy would help Julianna. I’ve seen how sports help deal with stress. It _________ for me when I was a teenage girl.

Midway through summer, we stayed at home one afternoon, really bored. “Do you want to play tennis?” I asked. “Sure,” she said. Arriving at the _________, we set down our bags, picked up our rackets (球拍), and _________ towards our sides of the court. The net felt like the visual representation of a growing _________ between us —I desiring a connection and my teenage daughter longing for independence.

I started by hitting a ball over the net, and Julianna took a big swing and __________. We repeated this several more times. I resisted the __________ to tell her she was __________ the racket too close to the neck or to step more into her forehand. We just repeated the __________ of me hitting the ball and her missing it a few times before she finally got it back over the net. “This is fun,” she said with a mixture of surprise and joy and then she smiled __________.

Now we always find time to play tennis. We’re both eager for an activity that can __________ tensions between us in daily life. It’s nice to have a place where both of us can release our __________ feelings and let them go.

Playing tennis together has not only improved our __________ but also brought new dimensions to our relationship. It has become a way for us to connect on a deeper level, __________ just the surface conversations. As we continue to practice and play together, I see Julianna growing in confidence and skill. This __________ activity has become a source of joy for both of us, a time when we can __________ our differences and simply enjoy each other’s company.

Dad was not only my best friend, but my compass. While he was alive, he ______ me with his actions and advice. He taught me one important ______ “Believe in yourself.” If there was one phrase my dad ______ liked to hear, it was “I can’t.” He never got to finish high school and ______two jobs to support his family, but he never complained. Through education and years of hard work, my dad became an excellent journalist.

When I was in high school, I had a ______time with math. He tried to help me, but I ______ struggled. So my math teacher suggested I meet with him at 7:00 each morning before school for ______ help. I told my dad, “That’s ______ ! I can’t do that!” He replied, “You’re doing it. I’ll sent you to school.” Every morning at 6:45 a.m., we’d leave the house. Despite working 12 hours every day, Dad never once ______driving me to school.

After months of learning, I was facing the final exam. I was so ______. On the day of the final, my dad hugged me and said, “Luke, ______yourself. You can do it.” His words made me realize I needed to trust in my ______and in the hours of work I’d put in. When I got my ______proudly, the first person I called was Dad. He screamed, “Yes! You deserved it!”

Even now, whenever I worry that a task is too much for me, I think back to that exam. No matter how ______something is, if you’re willing to work, you can succeed. I’m forever______to Dad for that lesson.

Before I came to China, I had been somewhat unlucky in love. Days before my ___for Shanghai in 2016, my cousin made a ___without the slightest bit of irony（讽刺）,“You’ll fall in love in China.”

I met my husband at a Chinese ___.It was an embarrassing place to meet him approaching me ___I attempted to lift free weights. He spoke English poorly, trying to correct my form. I more or less ___him, figuring such a relationship was ___as we had little means to communicate. But I was very much ___.He ran after me for the next couple weeks and his persistence（坚持不懈）___won me over, and I was head over heels in love with him.

The challenges we faced were ___—deciding where to live, ___over visas, dealing with my parents’ doubts. In time, these problems got settled without too much work on our part. When others would ___on how tough it must be to marry someone from a foreign country, I quickly made my ___,trying to convince my questioner that marrying cross-culturally is really no different from ___within one’s own circle.

Our son was born in the spring of 2018. He was a very easy baby to care for—he cried little and slept well at night. My struggles in caring for a newborn were unimportant ___the other pressures I faced. By Chinese tradition, I was ___from taking the baby outside until he was 100 days old, for reasons I still don’t fully understand.

Since giving birth, I’ve learned that compromise（妥协）is more ___than it seems. If you give up too much of yourself, you may ___resentful（怨恨的）. If you compromise too little, you may be ___in a frequent battle. In a relationship, our values or beliefs often ___with our partner’s, but with patience, most difficulties can be overcome. For that reason, I keep on working to better understand his background and beliefs while ___forgetting my own.