Last month, my friend Ollie and I saw a poster in the park for a competition on Rubbish to Treasure Day. And the first prize was a gift card to a skate shop! We were both attracted (吸引), so decided to make a sculpture (雕塑) of a (n) ________ to join in the competition.

The big day came. Ollie and I had a slow start and we did it very ________. However, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t ________ our sculpture look like a real dragon. But we never gave up trying. Finally, it started to look a bit like a dragon after several tries.

“But what can we use for the ________?” asked Ollie.

I said I had an idea, then I went over to the round table where I remembered seeing a big red zipper (拉链) earlier.

As I ________ for the zipper, a girl’s hand took it.

“I am going to make a dragon mouth ________ it!” I said.

“Really?” asked the girl, “________ it would make a perfect mouth for my elephant.”

I smiled and she smiled back. “I’m Ann. ________?”

Ollie and I couldn’t agree more. After Ann joined our team, everything became ________. She turned out to be a really talented artist. And soon, all ________ of us created fantastic sculptures!

We didn’t end up winning the first prize, but we became good friends and realized the importance of team work spirit.

People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.

Many years ago, I took the head ________ job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to ________ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, ________ to my disappointment we were beaten. I couldn’t believe I had got into such a ________. Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that my team might not be the number one team in Georigia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my attention about their ability and potential（潜力）.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most importantly, I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed ________ holidays, we met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.

Six months ________ suffering our defeat on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we ________ the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia and ________ me one of the greatest thrills（兴奋感）of my life!

From the experience I learnt a lot about how the attitude of the leader can affect the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see themselves ________, and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not ________.

I used to have little passion (激情) in my life. But what happened the other day changed my mind. It was then that I learned how ______ it is to have a passion in life.   

That day I went home in Mom’s car. When Mom ______ at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye. It was a man dressed ______ rags(破旧衣服). He was homeless. That didn’t interest me, because I had seen ______ like him before. Those people usually looked unhappy and hopeless.

But this man was ______ in some way. He was not sitting down with a ______ expression. Instead, he had a ______ in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious(珍贵的) thing he had. “Mom, why does that man have a radio ______ he’s homeless?” I asked.

“He ______ it,” she replied.

“But why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He ______ something that he didn’t need.”

“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t the most important.”

That man must care so much about ______ that he bought a radio instead of food or clothes. I soon realized that ______ is the key to life.

Since then I am always thinking of ______ is truly important in life. A home, a meal, clothes—these things are ______ part of the life. What we often forget is that we all need a joy, a light in a ______ day. We all need a passion which gives a person the happiness they need to keep going.