I recently gave up driving. I passed my test last year, but I stopped _________ when I turned 90. I thought that it was finally the right time.

Needless to say, my family was relieved(放心的)—they didn’t have to have “that talk” with me. My doctor was relieved too. _________ diagnosing(诊断)a serious illness, taking away a senior’s driving license is probably one of the hardest things to do. I knew I couldn’t move as well as I used to, _________ my vision was getting worse. It hurt to _________ my head when backing up the car, and, after lengthy shopping trips, I was very _________.

As I handed over the keys of the car to my son, I thought of all the cars my wife and I had owned over the years. A _________ is freedom, independence, and an extension of your personality. _________ one, you feel like less of a person.

I have a son who lives close by and we shop together at least once a week. My neighbors also offer me _________, but the idea of being dependent on other people after a lifetime of independence is hard to _________.

I’ve learned to __________. With my own car, I could go anywhere at a moment’s notice. But now, my life is different and I must __________ ahead for everything. No more going out for milk or bread or last-minute afternoon drives.

However, I found a solution to some of those __________. Last year, I decided to buy a nice new four-wheel electric scooter. At a top speed of 12 km/h, it takes 20 minutes to get from my house to the store. But now, my route is __________ from traffic and noise, with trees and greenery __________ cars and street signs.

Giving up driving is hard, and some of us never __________ the loss. For me, however, it was just the end result of a long and lucky life. Life in the slow lane(车道)turned out to be so much fun.

What is a true winner? We may be very ________ Honda.

In 1938, Soichiro Honda was still in school, when he started a little workshop. His ________ was to sell piston rings to Toyota. He ________ night and day, believing he could ________ his design and produce a worthy ________. Then came the day he took a sample (样本) to Toyota, only to be ________ that the rings did not ________ their standards!

However, he refused to give up. Rather than focus on his ________ he continued working towards his goal. After two more years of ________, he won a contract (合同) with Toyota. By then, Soichiro Honda needed to build a factory to supply Toyota, but building materials were in short supply.

Again he would not quit! He invented a ________ process that enabled him to build the factory. But ________ an earthquake destroyed the factory. Was he ________ to give up now? No! Soichiro Honda wrote to 18,000 bicycle shop owners and asked them to help him, 5,000 responded and ________ him some money. Finally, the company got great ________.

Honda succeeded because one man made a truly committed decision, ________ it and made adjustments on a continuous basis.

A terrible thunder storm had hit our area recently. Heavy _________, high winds and lots of lightening had caused flooding and knocked down trees. I had spent the afternoon _________ branches out of my yard and throwing them away. Then the _________ came over my phone that another storm was _________ our way.

Huge clouds were rolling in while _________ boomed over the hills. The darkness seemed darker and _________ than usual because I knew what was on the way. Then I saw the _________ blink (闪烁) of light, up high, at the far end of the field behind my house. I _________. The first of the fireflies had _________ for the summer at just the time I needed to see his light. Soon a few others were __________ their lights as well. It __________ me how far their light traveled in the darkness of the night and how they didn't seem bothered at all by the __________ storm. I spent an extra few minutes __________ them before heading in to get ready for the storm. And I noticed that the __________ no longer seemed so frightening and that my fear had been __________ by joy.

Life does have its __________ of storms, which is normal and unavoidable. However, we can't __________ life being scared of them. Take a __________ from the fireflies then. Let your light __________. It may seem tiny but you will be amazed at how far it can be seen and how __________ it can drive the dark away.