I had always been warmly praised for my basketball shooting ability when I was in high school. But when I went to Ohio State, I discovered that everyone on the team was _________ in his hometown.

To win a starting job on the team, I had figured I would have to _________ the coach with my shooting ability. But it turned out that the team was _________ full of attacking players and what it needed was someone to _________ on defence. Unwillingly, I decided to take that role, but didn’t expect the _________ was to make all the difference to me later.

One day, when we were _________ a game against the Bucks, I was called out by the coach, Milwaukee, who gave me the _________ to guard our court. Though-feeling a bit _________, I accepted. Throughout the game, I continued paying the defence role.

Then, near the end of the game, in a(an) _________ to widen the gap, Milwaukee gave me a precious __________. He asked me to organize an attack. Driving up the middle of the court, I __________ the ball. It was a __________ three-point play and minutes later the championship was ours.

Standing there in that circle of cheering audience, I came to __________ the importance of teamwork. Just as Milwaukee said, “__________ teams often have one or two players who stand out; good teams have five who work together. It is amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who gets the __________.”

Once there was a manager who was a single parent to his three daughters. One morning he asked his oldest daughter, Sonia, to ______ the breakfast dishes before going to school. Not ______ that she was already running late and facing punishment, he was astonished by her ______.She burst into tears. Again, assuming that she was ______ trying to get out of an unpleasant household ______, he demanded that she dry her tears and get back to work immediately. She ______ obeyed him, but her anger could be clearly sensed. That morning he drove to ______ after dropping her daughter without expressing his ______ for her. He tried to work but couldn’t ______; all he could see was his daughter’s ______ tearful face. The man began to realize that his timing had gone wrong and he began to feel ______. He couldn’t wait till suppertime to ______. So he took permission from the school to take his daughter for ______ and said, “Sonia, I am very sorry! I had no right on asking you to ______ at home this morning without any ______ warning. I upset you at a time when you most needed my love and ______. And I let you go without saying ‘I love you’. I was wrong. Please ______ me.”

Sonia put her ______ around her father’s neck and hugged him and said “Oh, Dad, of course I forgive you. I love you too.”

The ______ of these restorative(促使康复的) words, “I am Sorry!” is such that they _______relationships—between us and our friends, between us and our loved ones, and between us and God.

Opening my car window, I called out. “Ma’am! Ma ‘am!’” The only lady in the parking lot ________ until she saw me. “How nice you look today!” I said.

Her face registered ________ for a second when she found I was a stranger, and then she smiled, “Thank you!” she ________. I stared at her and felt her shoulder ________ a bit more and her final steps to her car seemed ________.

I have made it a point in recent years to compliment (赞扬) people, especially women and girls. Instead of just thinking ________ in my heart that someone did a great job, I say it out loud. It’s like having a(n) ________ in my head. When I see someone who ________ a kind word, the cheerleader jumps up and down and throws her pompoms(绒球花) in the air.

As women, we have learned from our role models to be ________. Even when we do receive a(an) ________ compliment for what we’ve accomplished, we downplay(贬低) our own ________ as the world expects us to show ________. Now, when I compliment a woman and she ________ the game of denial, I say to her, “Just say thank you.” Most of them are relieved they can ________ the compliment. It’s a good beginning to accept the ________ without feeling guilty, isn’t it?