I met Miss Jane when I joined a stage decorating project for a play in my ninth grade. _________ she had an unpleasant voice, she was very good at _________ me.

During the work, she kept asking me for my _________. She always wanted to know how I thought we should _________ certain parts of the stags. At first I kept silent because I was shy and did not want to make _________. But she would persuade me to respond to her _________.

Usually, Miss Jane would _________ me and say. “Try to _________ your ideas. We can do better together.” Little by little, I began to take _________ and told her my thoughts. Eventually, I started to express myself ____________.

She kept the ____________ going on. If I succeeded in something simple, she would ask me to complete more ____________ things. She told me not to be ____________. She trusted me so much that I began to ____________ myself. When we ____________ the project, I was recognized as “The Best Art Assistant” in the program.

Working with Miss Jane changed me ____________. She let me do things that I never imagined ____________. She taught me not to ____________ the difficulty in my life. It was my ____________. Miss Jane, that showed me a world I had never known before and led me to ____________ the rest of my life to stage design.

I guess I was spoiled at first. I was an only child, loved by all relatives. Up until I was eight years old, life was ________. Then along came Grant and everything ________. Grant is my little brother. My parents still ________ me, but I was no longer the center of the universe. I was angry about the change. And at first, I was also ________ with Grant.

Gradually, he developed the habit of ________ himself to me. My parents wanted me to be ________ to him, but I found him totally annoying. By the time I became a teenager, he was, at five, my shadow, ________ me around, copying my every move, and asking endless questions.

Still, in spite of my unhappiness towards him, I began to ________ the time we spent together. As time went on, we developed connections and partnership, becoming more ________. Grant cheered me on at my soccer games, and I ________ to coach his T-ball team. He became less ________ and more of a buddy. I became more patient, more able to ________ and more likely to accept the unconditional love he offered.

Today I am happy to say that Grant and I are a ________. We have already ________ how he will come to visit me when I am in college. It will be hard to be ________, but I know that we will always be close; if not in age or distance, we will be close in the long journey shared by brothers.

Four teenage girls. Two tents. No cellphones. A severe thunderstorm. One hundred and thirty hours of nonstop _________ . This was what Julia Ruelle just _________ .

“It was really _________,” said Julia Ruelle of her recent weeklong adventure to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with three childhood friends.

Earlier this year, Julia, having completed a _________ for a brain tumor (肿瘤) in April, won an essay contest and was _________ a five­-day camping adventure with up to three friends. Its aim is to get kids away from technology. She struggled to choose the _________ three—Anna Wander, Madeline Wilson and Julianna Torelli. No _________ are allowed, so getting their approval was kind of _________ . Having a satellite phone and promising to check in twice during the week finally won their _________ .

The four girls arrived in Ely on June 10 for training. They __________ the next day at 7：00 a.m., and quickly developed a __________—getting up early every morning, going boating __________, then having lunch at the campsites, __________ by swinging, reading, talking, and napping.

“I love how you are separated from everything in your life, especially __________ ,” Anna said. Without her phone, she said, “I'm less __________ about things.” “We got along pretty well,” said Madeline. “We were always talking before bed, about specific things and thoughts __________” “But we might sometimes have had __________,” Julianna added. No one was even hungry or homesick, but they were __________ nervous one night as they waited out a thunderstorm.

After the adventure, Julia will continue to take physical examination every three months to make sure the tumor is gone. “Mental health can be __________ so much in the Boundary Waters. It really helps to __________ and reconnect with yourself,” said Julia.