I am convinced that even the smartest people have to work hard to achieve success, because there is no such person as a born winner. People make themselves into winners by their own _________ .

Many years ago, I took the head _________job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program. It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the _________ team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to _________ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were _________ . Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that I had to change my _________ towards their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little _________. Most importantly, I began to treat them like _________. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and _________ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our defeat on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to__________. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a __________ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me the greatest __________ of my life!

From the experience I learnt a lot about how the attitude of the leader can __________ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and __________ them. I helped them to see themselves __________, and they built themselves into winners. Winners are made, not born.

Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son’s soccer team. It was the final ________. The score was two to one, my son’s team ________.

With less than ten seconds ________, the ball rolled in front of my son’s teammate, one Mikey O’Donnel. With shouts of “Kick it!” ________ across the field, Mikey stepped back and gave it ________ he had. All round me the crowd ________. O’Donnel had scored!

Then there was ________. Mikey had scored all right, but in the ________ goal, ending the game in a tie. For a moment there was total hush. You see, Mikey has Down’s syndrome (唐氏综合症) and for him there is no such thing as a wrong goal. All goals were ________ by a joyous hug from Mikey. He had ________ been known to hug the opposing players when they scored.

The silence was finally ________ when Mikey, his face filled with ________, grabbed my son, hugged him and yelled, “I scored! I scored. Everybody won! Everybody won!” For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would ________. I need not have worried. I watched, through ________, as my son threw up his hand in the classic high-five salute (击掌) and started cheering, “Well done! Mikey!” Within moments, both teams ________ Mikey, joining in the chant and congratulating him on his goal.

Later that night, when my daughter asked who had won, I smiled as I replied, “It was a tie. Everybody won.”

Because I had played soccer for many years, my decision to play football in my senior year was rather bold. Before summer _________ started, my father asked whether I was scared. I just said, “How can I be scared of something I don’t know?” After making that _________ , I realized that I am not afraid of the unknown, And all this is because of one earlier _________ .

When I was ten, I received the _________ that my family and I were moving to London. I was just a small—town kid from _________ New Jersey who knew nothing about London. Therefore, a five—year journey began with a（n） _________ kid who was the last person to get on the plane _________ the unknown.

After four years in London, I changed. Five months into my fifth year, my family decided to _________ to New Jersey. This brought about mixed feelings. Even though I had really wanted to go back for the _________ several years, now I began __________ what I had experienced. When the moving day came, I wasn’t scared, and I __________ I would never again be afraid of the unknown.

I will never __________ my first day of football training. When arriving home, I was __________ by Mom. I just said __________ . “I must be crazy,” and walked away. The truth was that I was not crazy. Deciding to play football was, in fact, agreeing to __________ what I had always known, and experience something new.