What to Do when You’re Falling Behind

When I was a kid, it took me longer to learn how to ride a bike. I kept using a bike with training wheels and I didn’t _______ much, so of course I didn’t learn how to balance.

One day I _______ that my sister, 2.5 years younger than me, was getting close to _______ how to ride a bike. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she was _______ much closer to balancing than I was. I couldn’t let her _______ me to it!

So I took my bike, _______ it out to the street, and decided that I was going to learn how to ride it right now. I _______ the training wheels, jumped on, and swerved (突然转向) all over the place like an out-of- control madman. I tried to stay near the grass when I could get some degree of _______, so when I fell, I’d _______ fall to the lawn instead of the street or sidewalk.

After many attempts, I finally learned how to ________ Then I rode my bike a lot that summer and have had the ________ ever since.

Up until that point, I’d been making a big deal out of the whole process. It seemed ________ and discouraging. I was afraid of falling. But once I began to face the fear and ________ the courage to risk getting hurt, I quickly showed my ________ ability on the other side with a whole new skill. From the moment of making the decision to the time I ________ to get the basic skill it probably took me less than an hour.

What finally ________ me to face the fear and take action? It was the ________ that I was falling behind. My sister was leaving me in the dust. She could ride ________ I couldn’t. I really didn’t want that to happen.

I had no idea that I could learn to ride a bike so quickly. The feeling of falling behind served as a powerful motivator (动力). ________ trying to hide the disappointment, I allowed myself to feel the weight of that pressure. I used the ________ feeling to motivate myself to take action.

I finished my junior middle school in a boarding school. At the first, I felt very lonely because I hardly know anybody. I couldn't get on well  with my classmates and just looked forward to go back home to meet my parents. I even couldn't concentrate my subjects. As time went by, besides, I gradually got used to the school life. I made many new friend and often took part in activities, in that I improved my communicating skills. As I had a lot of interesting things to do, I final enjoyed my school life. Now,whenever I think  of my first boarding  school experience, I think of them as being instructive and unforgettably.

   I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. I remember many of them, from the tape recorder I _____ from my dad in 1975 to the black guitar my wife gave me several years ago. The best gift I ever received was presented to me by a _____. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 _____. His Christmas present to me changed the way I thought about _____ and about Christmas.

It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local _____. They had advertised a kind of _____ for children that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle, _____ his employees to cut the shrink-wrap off the box. After a while the whistle was blown. It was like _____ a bucket of bait (鱼饵) into a tank of sharks. I knew this was going to happen.

As the bikes began to _____ decrease in number, I saw my opportunity to wrap my ______ around the corner of one of the boxes. I ______ one box and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I ______ to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. I felt somewhat ______. Obviously, tattoos (文身) were his hobby.

I started to ______ the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then ______ it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, ______, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the ______, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas ______ I had ever received. I will never forget the ______ of a stranger and the gentleness of a human heart in a ______ act.

   When 65-year-old Joan Price got a check in a hospital in November，she knew she wouldn't be returning to her home. But she _________ to pay her rent so her cat，Isis，would have a _________ place to live in.

Price got _________ wrong with her liver 40 years ago. She was unable to walk or stand without _________—a difficult condition，but her only _________ was for Isis.

The manager of Price's building in Fort Lauderdale，Florida，_________ the cat and cleaned her litter box，but Isis，a 2-year-old black cat that Price had _________，was alone. And with no friends or family nearby，Price _________ that Isis would have no one to care for her.

"I was so anxious. I cried every night，"Price _________ Vetstreet. com. "I don't care about myself. I'm ready. But I am worried if Isis is OK."

Price began getting in touch with rescue groups to find a new home for Isis，but she wasn't having any luck ____________ Dorian Wagner，a Florida blogger，who often helps local rescues find homes for cats，____________ Price's unpleasant situation.

Wagner ____________ Price's story with her Facebook community. Soon so many people were ____________ in helping that Wagner started a Facebook page to ____________ updates and organise assistance.

The ____________ quickly found a foster home（寄养家庭）for Isis，but they knew she needed a ____________ home，so Wagner worked with Good Karma Pet Rescue and began to ____________ whoever hoped to adopt Isis.

Soon they found a home with the help of a friend in Michigan, and another member of the Facebook group offered to ____________ the cat to meet her new owner.

When Price learned that Isis would have a new family, she was ____________ deeply. Just knowing Isis was taken care of gave her much ____________.