Gina was dressed, all ready for her very first dance performance. Yesterday she _________ her dance for the first time on the stage. With only a few moms _________, it wasn’t too bad. But she did not like the _________ of dancing in front of lots of people tonight. It _________ her.

“Mom, I don’t feel so _________. I’m kind of afraid.” Gina said.

Mom sat beside Gina. “Remember yesterday when you practiced and I was in the _________ row? You did just fine! When you go out on the stage, I will be in that _________ seat. Look at me and it will be just like yesterday!”

Mom was always right, but Gina wasn’t _________ about this time. She still _________ the thought of dancing in front of all those people.

When it was time for her to dance, Gina __________ what Mom told her. She sure __________ Mom was right. The music played. She followed the other girls onto the stage and took her __________. Right away, she looked for Mom. __________, Mom was right in the front row where she was __________ yesterday! Mom smiled and gave Gina a thumb up. Gina __________ back and started dancing, __________ looking away from Mom. Before she knew it, the dance was done and she ran up to mom.

“You were absolutely __________, Mom! It was like I was dancing just for you!”

“You did so good! I’m so __________ of you! You can dance for me any time!”

Gina walked out of the school, holding Mom’s hand. She could still __________ the smile on Mom’s face as Gina__________. Sometimes, Mom was just the best!

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know whether she was going to make it and want to _______. She was tired of fighting and_______. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one _______.

Her father, a cook, took her to the _______. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. In one he placed carrots, in the second _______, and in the last ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked (吸吮) her teeth and _______ waited, wondering what he was doing. In twenty minutes, he pulled the carrots and eggs out and _______ them in two different bowls, and the coffee in a mug. He brought her closer and asked her to _______ the carrots. She did and noted they were _______. Then he asked her to take an egg and break it. After ________ off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. ________, he asked her to sip the coffee. She ________, as she tasted its rich aroma (芳香).

“What does it mean, Father?” she curiously asked.

He explained that each of them had faced the ________ adversity (逆境), boiling water, but each ________ differently. The carrot went in strong and hard but after being subjected to the boiling water, it became soft and ________. The egg had been fragile. Its ________ outer shell had protected its liquid inside. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were ________, however, after they were in the boiling water, they had ________ the water .

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter.

Life will necessarily meet adversity, if so, do not be ________ . Always remember: The real success can be ________ only after the hard struggle.

It’s never too late to make your dreams come true. After more than half a _________ since his last class at the University of Cincinnati, Paul Blom, 94, _________ received an associate’s degree (副学士学位).

The World War II ex-soldier first enrolled (注册) at the _________ in 1946, after _________ in the Navy for three years. “I came down to UC _________ I was going to go to school, but, you know, it was _________, it was almost August, and there wasn’t room for me,” Blom told WCPO-TV. However, Blom enrolled in UC’s evening college program where he took night_________ for nine years. But as he became too _________ with the family business, he decided to stop _________ .

He said, “I think I only lacked maybe two __________ for some reason or another. I just didn’t ever go back and __________ all the courses.”

Back in May 2020, Blom’s daughter, Paula Baxter, __________ UC to see if her father could receive a(n) __________ degree and the university found that it could __________ him much more.

After __________ that Blom received more than enough credits to get a __________ for an associated degree through a regional college within the University of Cincinnati, university officials were able to issue him the associate’s degree he had__________ in full all those years ago.

“It’s very__________ to see a part of the Greatest Generation receive his degree,” said an official of the university. “It just goes to __________ that you’re never too old to see your __________ come true.”