On August 26, 1999, New York City was struck by a terrible rainstorm. Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were _______ to go home. Some battled to call a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the _______ bravely, walking miles to get to work. I _______ to be one of people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most _______ had stopped. After making my way _______ crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was _______.

Unluckily, there were so many people waiting to _______ the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the _______. So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switched back to the downtown train. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the train _______   my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was ________ through, exhausted and discouraged.

My co­workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 p.m., I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer ________ I received an e­mail from Garth, my Director: “I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and ________ reported to work. It is always reassuring (令人欣慰), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their ________   to their jobs. Thank you.”

Garth’s e­mail was short, but I learned more from that ________ message than I ever did from a textbook. The e­mail taught me that a few words of ________ can make a big difference.