Lily is a little girl at school. She is _________ and she is unpopular. But she enjoys playing soccer. Her friends and classmates always laugh at Lily because of her interest in soccer. _________ Lily just wants to play her favorite sport. She wants to become a great soccer player.

Every day, _________ coming back from school, Lily quickly finishes her homework and goes out to practice soccer. Her mother understands Lily’s love for the sport and always _________ her to go to play.

One day, the school said there would be a soccer game. Hearing the news, Lily wanted to give it a _________ . She took part in the game and her classmates _________ at her once again. Lily didn’t give up. She tried _________ best to score goals (进球), one after another.

The other students were _________ to see how well Lily played. Their team did well with her help. They even won the game _________.

Lily’s story tells us: If you are strong and determined (坚定的) enough like her, you can make your __________ come true one day.

The day was like any other day in Bill’s life. After school, he walked past the ________ on the street corner. He ________ to look at the front row of shoes, and he felt ________ for himself. He ________ wanted to have a new pair for his birthday.

He walked away sadly and ________ how to tell his mother. He knew she would give him ________ if she could. But he also knew very well she had little ________. He decided not to go home at once, ________ he didn’t want to make his mother worry about it.

He went to the ________ and there he sat on the grass. How sad he felt at that time! Then he ________ a girl in a wheelchair (轮椅). He found that the girl moved the wheels ________ her hands. Bill looked at her carefully and was surprised to see that the girl had no ________. He looked down at his own feet and thought, “It is much ________ to be without shoes than without feet.” And he realized (意识到) that it was not right for him to feel so sorry and ________. He thought he was ________ in life, so he smiled and left the park with a good mood.

Eating Every Bite

When I was a boy, I couldn’t remember either my mom or my grandma ever wasting food. Anything we didn’t eat at one meal was ______, stored and served as leftovers (吃剩的食物) later on.

I can remember my grandma making a huge bowl of brown beans. We would all eat until we were ______, but about half of the beans were sometimes left over. After a few days grandma would take those beans and some noodles out of the fridge, and ______ them all together into her delicious pasta fasule, a kind of traditional Italian soup. I also remember when I watched my mom cook bacon (培根) for us in the mornings, she would always take the fat and put it into a bowl carefully. Then she would use it to flavor (调味) up so many other ______. I was an adult before I realized that green beans didn’t taste like bacon.

I learned their lessons well and never wasted food myself when I grew up. I always ______ the week’s meals at the beginning of the week and only bought what was on my shopping list, so nothing went to waste. Every meal went into our stomachs, and any leftovers were later eaten by either myself, my boys or my dogs. To me, throwing food away was just wrong. All the work it took to grow it and prepare it needed to be ______, not wasted.

I learned something else over the years, however. When it comes to living, there are no leftovers. Each moment that you don’t truly live is ______ forever. Life cannot be stored. Life has to be lived TODAY!

Live each moment of your life to the fullest. Each day is a chance at a new beginning. Don’t let it go to waste. It is a ______. Care for it. Live your life with a full stomach and a full heart.