I’m a professor teaching people how to think more creatively. Interestingly, this lifetime passion was ________ by a casual contest when I was a child.

At a family picnic, children used to have the handkerchief-throwing contest, which I realize now, was not ________ to show any real skill, but simply for laughs. But it encouraged my love of thinking ________ the box.

The host gave each child a cloth handkerchief and told us the winner would be the one who threw it the farthest. The first little throwers took mighty (有力的，用力的) ________ , but the cloth opened and fell to the ground. So it annoyed me to see the kids throwing ________ when the handkerchief always opened. The secret was not to throw harder but to keep the cloth from ________ . Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would drive the cloth at least farther than the others, and when it ________ , people might not notice a small rock ________ in the grass. I had a good chance of ________ with it, but I didn’t want to win by cheating. I had to make the handkerchief fly like a ________ . I began tying the handkerchief around itself to make it small. When I approached the line as the final contestant, people were already laughing. I took a long wind-up, and the balled handkerchief ________ off maybe 60 feet away. The laughing ________ suddenly. The host stared at me and then ran to ________ how I’d faked it. “It’s just the handkerchief,” he announced. The adults ________ and I felt proud.

This is how I learned the secret to creative thinking. I wanted to continue looking ________ what things seemed to be.

Taking Chances

My mother recently read me a speech she had made at a local high school， hoping to ____ my endless quest for answers to everything．

Ever since I was very young ，   __________of making mistakes ， I've asked countless times，"What should I do？" I don't remember clearly when I__________ only to do things the "right" way，and made "doing it the right way" my motto．

However， sometime during my high school years， I __________ ． Maybe it was when I decided to try for the lead in "Beauty and the Beast．" Never mind that I would have to memorize _______and rehearse movements ， I would take the chance that I might ___________． On the day of tryouts， my heart was pounding；my hands were _________badly when I got up to sing．But when I opened my mouth ， the sound was loud and __________． I reached for the high notes that sometimes were _________ my reach． I was trying to do my best even though I might fail．_______ I didn't!

The audition   （试镜） was definitely an ___________part of the process ． I realized that if I wanted to live life to the fullest， I had to take_________．

Now ， I do take these chances ， with baby steps ， every day ； voicing my opinions in class discussions or debates，_________ for a high note in church choir， riding my horse over a three ﹣foot jump．

Three years ago， I broke my back when I fell from my horse．The __________meant I couldn't try out for basketball， which I loved． And， the day I __________ out for track was the first day my doctor allowed me to do any physical activity at all． The coach didn't take me， so I started running with my mom ． No stop ﹣watches ． No cheering crowds ． I didn't _________the track team， but I didn't fail， either．

I have finally learned to ___________myself ， like taking a tough science course ． And I have come to realize that even though my parents， friends and teachers don't always have the__________ to "What should I do？"， they will be there to _________me when I try．

"Life is learning to deal with Plan B，" my mother __________ in her speech． But I now know that the Plan A's I make for my life will become easier and easier with every chance I take．

Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these_______as a necessary part of the learning process. As a parent or a teacher, we should help our children _______this fact. When I see a child having this kind of pressure. I think of Donnie and his teacher , Mary Anne. They give us a good example.

Donnie was a third-grader. His _______ of failure kept him from classroom games that other children enjoy. He _______answered questions when he might be wrong.

Mary was a young and pretty teacher, and she loved children. That’s the reason why her pupils, including Donnie, _______her. She tried to build Donnie’s self-confidence. But _______changed tor quite a long time.

One morning the students were_______math problems on the blackboard. Donnie’s has copied the problems with neatness. _______with his progress, Mary left the classroom and went_______some other materials. When she returned, Donnie was in tears. He’d ________the third problem.

Mary looked at her student carefully. Then from the desk, She got a ________filled with pencils. “Look, Donnie,” she said, kneeling(跪) beside him and gently________his face from his arms. “ I’ve got something to show you.” She________the pencils, one at a time, and placed them on his desk.

“See these pencils, Donnie?” she continued. “They belong to me. See how the erasers are________? I can tell you I make mistakes too, ________I erase the mistakes and try again. That’s what you must ________to do , too.”

She kissed Donnie and stood up. “ Here,” she said, “ I’ll________one of these pencils on your desk so you’ll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers.” Donnie looked up at his teacher in ________and with a smile.

The pencil became Donnie’s prized________. That, together with Mary Anne’s frequent encouragement, gradually________him that it’s all right to make mistakes--as long as you erase them and try again.