Without arms and legs, artist Adama Traore of Abidjan finds a unique way to make his art. He has been________a paintbrush(画笔)in his mouth for years, line by line, color by color.

Missing limbs(四肢)since birth, he was sent to a center for________youth at nine. He________skills to paint and even drew with markers. He was________by a lady named Mario Deal in the center. Yet the lady suffered from diseases and passed away. Traore was very sad, ending up________.

Just getting around was impossible for him. Thinking he had no money, none of taxi drivers would pick up a person with such serious disability. But he kept painting colorful landscapes and portraits(肖像)________gaining the public’s acceptance．Traore slowly made________from his artwork and used it to open a small art studio. He got married and now goes to________by taxi. The driver________by the artist’s courage now gives him both a ride and a bit of a discount on the fare. Every day he________Traore up and drops him off and the next day again. Honestly, money doesn’t matter, but it’s________

Traore says, “If I didn’t________,I don’t know what I would do. I can’t be a carpenter or a builder. If I’m just sitting here, people would say the man is a beggar. But when they see me painting, they regard me as a________man. “Traore gets about 84 dollars for each painting. Traore says painting is medicine and lifts________. Indeed, painting________Traore Adama.

“How does the yard look?” My father asked，with his eyes shining. I could tell he was eagerly waiting for my ________ “Wonderful!” I replied after I gave it a thorough ________. Then I recited all the changes I had ________ in his yard and he smiled contently.

When I was young, my mother ________ in a car accident, leaving my father alone to ________ their three young daughters. At the beginning, life was not always ________ and my younger sisters usually complained. However，Dad always ________ us to believe that life was good. Meanwhile, he tried his best to ________ that belief.

In 1972, my dad developed a piece of waste land that had been ________ on Okaloosa Island. Every year at the first sign of ________, he would begin spending countless hours working there to make it be bursting with colors. Through his continuous hard work, the land ________ turned into a beautiful garden with different types of flowers and other unique plants. While our friends were enjoying their vacation through traveling to different places, we were ________ working with my dad in his yard, watering the flowers, weeding or cutting off the branches. Sometimes, our friends were envious of our working vacation，and we would ________ them. Dad made his yard very ________ so that it became our vacation paradise (天堂) during our childhood.

For so many years, when we were ________, we liked to visit Dad's yard, because it could ________ us of Dad's belief. It was Dad and his yard that gave us ________ that enabled us to survive and ________ major challenges in life. One day, it shocked us that Dad said he would not ________ the yard. Then he explained, “Twenty years ago I decided to start my work in that yard to tell you life is good. Now my work is done.” We were sitting in ________, recalling what we had experienced. Life was good. Dad was right.

I wasn’t the most popular kid in my freshman year—I mostly kept myself buried in a book alone. Ashley was very _________ from me. She was outspoken and fashionable. So you can _________ how surprising when we became friends! During that summer, we _________ and did everything together!

I looked up to Ashley, and wanted to be all of her. I even tailored my next-year _________ to her interests. Later, Ashley introduced me to her group of friends. I would _________ them around.

One day, arriving earlier at the classroom, I overheard what they were talking about. “She’s such a(n) _________ ,” one girl said. “She just follows you, but doesn’t have a _________ of her own.” This was the first time I had felt _________ . My eyes began to well with tears and my hands were _________ . I couldn’t stay there anymore.

I ran home and told my mother. The advice she gave was so __________ , “Just be yourself and people will __________ you for who you are.” It sounded so profound and I decided I was going to __________ myself. Over the next month, I went through a lot of __________ . I bought new clothes I wanted to wear. __________ I began making new friends. I never just followed the crowd.

When I look back, I think of it as the year I grew up. Despite the pain I felt, it was a __________ they had given me.