Meagan, my youngest child, studies in a high school. She’ll _______ it soon and she has gained a scholarship from a university.

Her brother is a physician; her sisters major in computer. In a way, all of this came about for my New Year’s resolution made years ago. That evening my husband, Gary, said, “I’ve decided on my New Year’s resolution. I’ll take _______ lessons.” I answered, “What about me? I’m stuck in the kitchen, bed rooms, and yards due to the kids. It’s not that I don’t _______ being a mother, but that sometimes I wish to do something for myself, too.”

“Why don’t you?” Gary _______. “Surely you can think of something to be away from the _______.” His words comforted me. Since I was a non-native English speaker, I thought I could take an English class at college to improve my _______ so that people would understand me better. Later, I realized taking a class would _______ me, and that my kids would have an advantage, too.

“You’re right,” I replied. “I decide to take an English class and see if the college will accept me.” “Give it a(n) _______,” Gary said. “I’m sure you’ll make it.” _______, in my heart, I just felt a bit doubtful.

And before applying to college, I was __________ baby number three. So I __________ my plan made before. One day, Gary said excitedly, “I have finally found an excellent guitar teacher.” And he added, “What about your resolution? Have you signed up for your classes?”

I __________ my head, explaining it was because I was pregnant and that I had decided to apply to college after my delivery. Gary __________, saying I should register for the spring term before the baby came. I followed Gary’s advice. Later, I went to a good college and filled out some papers. I was __________ that after my papers were read, I was given a chance to take classes.

Now I fully realize the __________ of the New Year’s resolution. My following through that resolution inspired my kids, greatly contributing to their achievements in education.

We all love our parents and turn to them when we’re in need, but would you like them to hear the _______ you have with your friends in the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites, such as micro-blog, blog and the Facebook, have actually become _______ of the school hallways(走廊), so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to _______ your online _______ and conversations with friends?

In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were _______ with latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day-to-day lives as they always had because they had no _______ to be good at new technology. _______, more and more parents are beginning to _______ just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the _______ to educate themselves about social networking sites.

These days many people are ________ to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there’s also a certain amount of control over ________ that we don’t get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is ________ when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.

It’s a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our ________ lives. On the one hand we don’t want to “refuse” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to ________. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a(n) ________ of being watched and no longer feel ________ to comment or communicate the way you did before.

A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn’t take it personally if their child ignores their request: “When a teen ignores a parent’s friend request, it doesn’t ________ mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to be truly ________.” Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the ________ if you do choose not to ________ them to your friends list.

Spreading Kindness, Rock by Rock

“Mom! I found one! I found a rock!”

I _________ those words again and again last summer as I sat on the porch of my home, which faces a park in the small town where I live.

The Kindness Rocks Project, which was started a few years ago by a mom in Massachusetts, has _________ around the world. _________, families, and adults of all ages are taking part — painting rocks, hiding rocks, and finding painted rocks all over the place. Some _________ photos of the rocks on social media, and others simply move the rocks for someone else to find. Some take the rocks home and then _________ them with new ones that they create and hide.

Nine-year-old twins Harry and Hannah DeVrieze have _________ hundreds of rocks with their parents. Most evenings, the family and their small dog walk around with a wagon full of _________ that they hide as they walk.

“It’s a fun _________ activity,” Hannah says.

“We will do it in the winter too,” Harry _________. Ben Burinsky, aged nine, and his brother, Luke, aged seven, were visiting relatives when they __________ their first painted rock in a park. They were so __________ that they went home and painted their own rocks, then __________ them for others to find.

“My boys loved finding the rock in the park, __________ since it was a superhero,” their mother, Judy Burinsky, says. “I love how something so __________ can bring a smile to my children’s faces. In return, they learn the __________ of giving back to others.”