I spent two weeks in Kenya as a volunteer in a natural reserve. Our______was aimed at protecting wildlife. And we also did other______work, helping the local people to improve their living_______.

I______the woods with slow heavy steps, picked up a few traps left by______hunters and helped monitor the population of giraffes, which was at risk to illegal hunting. We also______sporting equipment to local schools, where you could see their textbooks and classrooms were in______condition. We made______, but sometimes they seemed useless. There are so many problems that need to be______such as environmental damage, illegal hunting, and lack of______to education. What can one group of volunteers______? These are problems that maybe need to______many years to address.

So why choose to be a volunteer?______, it is unpaid and often very hard work. Even though it is easy to get______, most of the time what we are in search of is life’s meaning—to spend our______well and for a good cause.

These are moments I will______for a long time—the salty air, dozens of zebras eating grass, the sunset over the hills. And also the smiles, the waves of local children, the______sound of laughter among strangers have been______impressed in my mind. These are the moments that______me of how proud I am to have been a volunteer. These are the______that will stay with me forever and remind me of a time, a place and a certain destination.

Life is not easy, so I’d like to say “ When anything______, believe in yourself. ”

When I was a young boy, I was   _____ shy to talk to anyone. My classmates often laughed______me. I was sad ______ could do nothing. Later, _____happened, and it changed my life. It was an English speech contest. My mother asked me to _____it. What a terrible _____! It meant I had to speak _____all the teachers and students of my school!

“ Come on, boy. Believe in yourself. You are sure to _____.” Then mother and I talked about many different topics. At last I______ the   topic “ Believe in yourself ”. I tried my best to _____all the speech and practiced it over 100 _____. With my mother’s great love, I did_____ in the contest. I could hardly believe my______when the news came that I had won the first place. I heard the cheers (赞美) _____the teachers and students. Those classmates _____once looked down on (瞧不起) me, now all said “ Congratulations! ” ____ me. My mother hugged me and cried excitedly.

___ then, everything has changed for me. When I do anything, I try to tell ____ to be sure and I will find myself. This is ____ not only for a person but also for a country.

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was _______ and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be _______but a failure.”

After five years of _______jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best _______that could have happened to me. I _______I wanted to do something positive (积极地) with my life because I wanted to prove to _______that what people said about me was _______. Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s _______it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my _______and went to college. My first novel (小说) ________while I was at college.

After college I taught during the ________in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a ________in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of ________that job to write full time ________I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself — ________was a working--class boy who’d ________school early, now teaching at the university.

My writing career (职业) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and ________, have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. ________what does it mean? I ________wish all the people that have put me down had ________: “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”