It was an early blow to my self-confidence. I was attending my first group meeting in the lab _______ a postdoc (博士后), and I was _______ that I could follow most of the discussion. Then, in front of everyone, the professor turned to me and asked about my previous accomplishments. I _______. As a PhD student, I had achieved lots to be _______ of. But _______ of those were in my home country of Brazil. Now I was in Washington D. C. and I didn’t know what the word “accomplishment” meant. So all I could say was “I don’t know”.

I had decided to do a postdoc abroad because I thought the training would _______ me a teaching position. I applied for it and received a Brazil in government fellowship to spend 18 months working abroad and got a position in a lab. It all seemed so easy—until I _______ started.

In a new country, I _______, After the _______ lab meeting incident, my confidence took another ________. The paper I had finished painstakingly did not ________. I used to be invited to give talks. Now, I was asked to speak more ________ because of my accent. My confidence was ________.

After months of ________, I reminded myself that I had ________ of success. I needed to do something to ________ my confidence. I thought a change of environment might be what I needed. So I made the ________.

In another new lab, I still felt insecure. ________, I was determined to make the most of the time I had. There were more opportunities to interact with other, which forced me to ________ more. It was awful at first, but with practice I began to feel more confident in my English. I proposed new projects. I began to receive ________ feedback on my presentations.

My confidence is back.

Don and his 11-year-old son, Allen, love basketball very much. On Allen’s birthday, Don_______ to drive him to Chicago, more than two hours’ distance, for the first game of the World Championships. They had no _______ but hoped to buy two from other people.

After arriving, they _______ in the streets for two hours carrying a _______ which said, “We need two tickets”. _______ the cheapest ticket was $175 and they could not _______ it. They were about to leave when a man _______ them. He pulled _______ two tickets and handed them to Don. “How much do you want?” “_______! No money is needed!” said the man.

When asked, the man ________, “I am working for Joe, who hasn’t ________ a World Championships for 16 years. But he is ill and can’t make it this time. So he told me to give the two tickets away. The only ________ he set is to give the tickets to people who I think will be deserving. A lot of people looked as if they might just take the tickets and ________ them right away. Then I saw you. You seemed very ________ and you make me ________ my Dad and myself when I was a child. I ________ wanted to go to see a World Championships game with my father at that time. But I never got the ________”.

How important and ________ the game was to Don and his son! Here is what Don said, “It’s the most worth ________ thing that happened to us. My boy and I must have turned to each other 30 times during the ________ I can’t forget that night.”

The Smith’s home was always buzzing with activity, with Mrs. Smith seemingly at the ________ of it all. She often sighed heavily complaining to her son little Johnny, “Your father never ________ a hand. I’m left to do everything!”

One day, little Johnny felt a surge of ________ after hearing his mother’s familiar complaint. “But Mom,” he ________, his eyes wide and earnest, “Dad does a lot.”Mrs. Smith paused, eyebrows wrinkled in ________. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Have you noticed our yard?” began Johnny, his voice ________. “It’s Dad who keeps it neat, pulling out weeds and ________ fallen branches, and that’s not all,” he continued. “He’s always dashing off to bring back ________ and other supplies we need.” Mrs. Smith stood still for a moment, a wave of realization ________ her. She had been so focused on her own tasks that she failed to notice the ________ contributions her husband made to their home.

From that day forward, Mrs. Smith started seeing the housework in a new ________. She realized that the chores weren’t just about cooking and cleaning. They also included ________ the yard, restocking supplies and countless other tasks; not all efforts are ________visible but they are equally crucial. She also realized that it wasn’t ________ to complain about her husband in front of Johnny. She began to ________ more her husband’s silent efforts and made sure to express her gratitude.