My twin sister and I have always been homeschooled, rather than sent to school. And it's wonderful and has changed me greatly. I can’t imagine what my _________ would have been like if I wasn’t.

When I was younger, we mostly _________ from my parents and textbooks, but now we do most work on the computer, _________ my parents still help us when we feel _________ about what we learn. There’s a large community of homeschoolers in my town, and they have frequent _______ so that we can talk and play together happily and become more _________.

In addition, we have a homeschool “co-op(合作社)” where some of the moms serve as_______ teachers. We’re _________ by age rather than grade, but we get appreciation for everything we do for others there and it _________ well for me. Right now I’m taking __________ writing, a course in which I can learn to express new ideas perfectly! We also learn production, which is taught by my __________. My best friends go there too, so we have fun learning together.

Some of the most interesting things I learn come from __________ with my mom and dad. They are both very __________ people and we have long talks about history, politics, literature，just to __________ a few. My sister is more naughty and __________ trouble a lot more often than I do. We fight and quarrel sometimes, but things have been better with us __________ , because we have been trying really hard to improve our __________ and become more considerate.

I think homeschool has __________ me well. I have a bigger vocabulary and become more intelligent. __________, I get better grades. I can socialize, too. I’m sort of well known, even if not the most __________ girl. That’s just fine with me.

“Ding... ding...,” the bell rang. The English teacher came into the classroom with test papers in his hand. All the students shouted. The teacher _________ with a smile on his face, “I know there are too many tests for you these days, but the test today is very _________ .” After hearing the teacher’s words, all the students sat up straight and _________ for the test to begin. The teacher started to give out the test papers to each student. _________ he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

There was not a question but only a small black “X” in the middle of the paper. The students were very_________to see that. The teacher _________ the students’ surprise. Then he said, “I would like you to _________ about what you see there. You must finish it all by _________ .”

All the students thought about it hard and then wrote down their answers quietly. At the end of the class, the teacher collected their papers and read the answers. _________ of them described the black “X”. The next day, the teacher said, “Everybody only paid attention to the black ‘X’, but nobody wrote about the white paper.” The whole class listened __________ , because they worried that they might fail the exam.

Then the teacher said, “Don’t worry about the __________ of this test. I just want you to think about your life.” Everyone smiles. The teacher added, “The white paper is like our whole life and the black ‘X’ in the middle of the paper is just like problems in our daily life. Do you have some more thoughts?”

Then the students discussed and expressed __________ opinions actively. Finally they understood the teacher and this special test.

Our life is a __________ given to us by God, with love and care. __________ , we just care about the problems like illness and hunger, and never see that these problems are much smaller than everything else we have in our life.

We should try to take our eye off problems and enjoy each moment life gives us. Only then can we start a nice __________ and find true happiness in our lives.

Teaching is challenging and teaching college is often a mixed bag.Sometimes my class feels more like a cafeteria，where students come and go，______ in the middle of my lectures.Mostly these students have entered college right out of high school.College seems to them like ______ a continuation of high school，______ the sense of newness that often drives curiosity and achievement.

But there is a category of students that gives everyone reasons for ______.They are the so called “nontraditional students”：those who，for one reason or ______，didn’t go to college when they were 18，but many years later.Some years back in my teaching，while calling out names from the name list on the first day，I noticed a gray haired woman of about 70.She was wandering in the doorway，______ her new books like a schoolgirl.

“I’m not on the name list，” she volunteered.“But I was ______ if I could sit in for the first class，to see what marine(海洋) biology is about.” This woman’s eagerness ______ me，so I invited her to have a seat.I began the class with questions to get a(n) ______ of how much knowledge they were bringing to the course.As I questioned them about the difference between fishes and seagoing mammals，most of my new students remained ______.But Natalie，the older woman，was on the edge of her seat，______ answers.At the end of the class，she came up to me and apologized for being the “extra” student.She said，“Will you ______ me another chance？” ______ at losing her，I acted quickly to remove her ______.“I’ll see you next class，”I said.Natalie turned out to be a vital and ______ student.She commuted 50 miles each day to get to school，often in the severe winter，and never missed a class.______ this，she was enthusiastic about helping my younger students.Apparently these older students have the ______ over them.It lies in the breadth and depth of their path of life.After having ______ numerous personal and professional barriers，they have an expansive world view.______ a return to school may，at first，be frightening for them，they tend to make it because they are ______ great trouble to put their studies into an already full life.