I used to spend two years working with children with disabilities. I learned that ______ and threats of punishment would result in a ______. Coming up against their ______ could only make the job harder and their behavior more extreme. I found something that ______, though.

There was a very ______ boy in the school and a teacher who was generally very confident with the children was asked to ______ him. One day the boy joined a session (活动) in the room next to mine but then created a ______. He spent the entire session running ______, hitting and kicking.

I was then working with my students when my co-worker said that this boy’s teacher lost the ______. As we were talking, the boy ran in. I told my ______ that I would take care of him.

I closed the door. He was ______ energy, making a huge mess. But I could see that he was doing all these to ______ me. He needed ______, and this was the only way he knew how to ask for it. So I sat back ______ and kept quiet. Then he ______ and began making a rocket. I talked to him about it. We continued ______ this for a few minutes before I slipped into the conversation:

“So what happened today?”

He told me that the teacher ______ him to do what he disliked. He ______ admitted that he had enjoyed making her run around and saw it as a game. I explained that his teacher was very ______. I suggested that next time he had a session, he talk about what lie hoped to do at the start, which might be ______ for everyone. He agreed and was quiet for a moment.

Several nights ago, I was lying in bed experiencing a dream that I chose to keep close to my heart forever.

An elderly stranger approached me with an inviting _______ . His deep comforting voice made me _______ his every word. His laugh made him seem full of   _______   and somewhat grandfather-like. I instantly sensed a feeling of _______   between me and this wise old man.

As he spoke, I listened. He told me of his _______ of unpleasant rap music while I attempted to convince him that modern art can be beautiful, too. He _______   me of "the good old days" which I told him that I missed, too.

Suddenly, I detected tears fall down his rough unshaven cheeks. I grew_______   and asked him why he was crying. He assured me not to _______ because he was crying with joy. I asked what was making him so _______. He told me that I reminded him of his ____________   when he too was once full of an eagerness to learn.

My friend then whispered a(n) ____________ that touched me deeply. He said, "A moment will disappear soon unless you make it   ______________ . " He taught me to live in the moment which is far too ____________to throw away.

This old man ____________   to tell me that the world is full of new wonders to explore. He taught me to be ____________   however stupid they may sound. He advised me to read any and all books, because you never know when the   ____________   may help you later in life. Most importantly, he told me never to stop ________________ .

Unlike my________________ companion, my future still awaits me. I will soon be filled with ______________thoughts and emotions. There is no doubt in my mind that I will try to discover and never   ____________ for I am aware that my ambition will carry me to the top.

I used to believe in the American Dream, which meant a job, a mortgage (按揭), credit cards, and success. I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all of us ______ chasing the same thing.

One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell ______. I found myself homeless and ______. I had my truck and $56. I ______ the countryside for some place I could rent for the _____ possible amount. I came upon a shabby house four miles up a winding mountain road over the Potomac River in West Virginia. It was ______, full of broken glass and rubbish. I found the owner, rented it, and ______ a corner to camp in.

The locals knew nothing about me, ______ slowly, they started teaching me the _______ of being a neighbor. They dropped off blankets, candles, and tools, and began sticking around to _______. They started to teach me a belief in a ______ American Dream — not the one of individual achievement but of ______.

What I had believed in, all those things I thought were ______ for a civilized life, were nonexistent in this place. Up on the ______, my most valuable possessions were my _______ with my neighbors.

Four years later, I moved back into ______. I saw many people were having a really hard time, ______ their jobs and homes. I managed to rent a big enough house to ______ a handful of people. There are four of us now in the house, but over time I’ve had nine people come in and move on to other places. We’d all be in ______ if we hadn’t banded together.

The American Dream I believe in now is a shared one. It’s not so much about what I can get for myself; it’s about ______ we can all survive together.