Mary Verdi-Fletcher was born with spina bifida (脊柱裂), a disease that causes weakness in the legs and spine. Undiscouraged, she was not about to be told what she could or could not do. She believes that someone who is an artist is an artist from the day he or she is born. She dreamed of dancing and made up her mind to make her dream a reality. While still young, Verdi-Fletcher — dancing in her wheelchair — entered a dance competition with a friend. They won first prize. Later she won more competitions, refusing to listen to people who said to her “ You can’t dance if you’re in a wheelchair” or “ Dancing in a chair is not really dancing”.

However, Verdi-Fletcher was not pleased with personal success alone. She wanted to make dance available to others with disabilities. In 1980, she founded a dance company called Dancing Wheels Company. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Dancing Wheels Company performs all over the world. In productions like “ The Snowman”, sit-down dancers perform with stand-up dancers. Modern lighting designs, attractive sets (布景), wonderful music, and festive costuming draw audience into fairy tales and other stories.

In one show, a young stand-up dancer named Devin played “The Brother Who Cannot See” while a young sit-down dancer named Jenny performed the role of “ The Sister Who Cannot Walk” . It was a lovely way to express a theme Verdi-Fletcher has represented all through her life: We all have disabilities. Some disabilities may be more noticeable, but hard work and devotion to our dreams can make the seemingly impossible become a reality.

   Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford, I’ve watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives (高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms, established law firms, and major corporations, many are now ____ on their way to impressive careers. By society’s ____, they seem to have it made.

On the surface, these people seem to be very lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a ____ drink at their cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with longtime roommates, and ____ out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations at restaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine ____ a college year’s monthly rent. They replaced their beloved old cars with expensive new sports cars.

The thing is, a number of them have ____ that despite their success, they aren’t happy. Some ____ of unfriendly coworkers and feel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they ____. Some do not respect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and ____. However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselves working to support the ____ to which they have so quickly become ____.

People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and ____ in the end the idea of leaving their jobs to work for something they ____ or finding a position that would give them more time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion: it’s ____. They have loans, bills, a mortgage (抵押贷款) to ____, retirement to save for. They recognize there’s something ____ in their lives, but it’s ____ to step off the track.

In a society that tends to ____ everything in terms of dollars and cents, we learn from a young age to consider the costs of our ____ in financial terms. But what about the personal and social costs ____ in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of costs many of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.

In our life, we often regret what we did and what we couldn’t do. Actually, it doesn’t benefit from us at all. As for most of us, we have missed many chance to earn more money, to get a high position and to realize our dreams. We often regret that we don’t seize those opportunities, thus feel upset. Although we do know regretting the past is of no beneficial, we still can’t help doing it.

To avoid problem above, we need to pay more attention to which we are doing now, making us busier and having no time to recall the past. Moreover, we’d better set reasonably goals one by one. Only by doing so can we struggle for their better future.

   I was stepping out of my office with a complex feeling. That was my _____ day in my office. I was _____ about what was going on in my mind. My staff members wished me many good wishes. I _____ with a smile. For the last time, I returned to my table again and _____ the board, which read “CEO” below my name. I read it and sighed deeply.

One month passed. I tried my best to _____ myself to a new life which was a bit _____. After all, I had no office or routine (常规的) life. Though I got enough job offers, I _____ them all. I didn’t know why I was no longer interested in a job. _____, one day I was anxious to visit my ex-office. So, I went there immediately. When I got there, some of my colleagues were _____. I met others, but I felt as if I ______ something. They greeted me and talked to me, but showed less ______ for me. Everything seemed very casual to me.

With a ______ heart, I left the office for a nearby park. Sitting on a bench, I ______ every single person moving around there. Slowly, I realized no one was at fault. It was my disillusion (幻灭)of ______ and position of my past days. I think ______ people must be feeling the same if they don’t ______ specific work after retirement (退休).

It was my good day in that park. While ______ on the bench, I heard a kid saying to his friend, “What is this? Why are you ______ about yesterday’s incident? ______ it! Let it go. Let’s play together again.” This “Let it go” is the best way to make your ______ cool!

   A beautiful，young girl is smiling at me from a picture frame on my desk as I write this. She is my sponsored child from the Philippines and even though I have never met her _________ she has found a special place in my heart. It doesn't _________ me much to help her，about a dollar a day. _________，millions of people in this world live on _________. The joy that helping her gives me，however，is _________ price，which I never experienced in my life. It _________ me to her，to life，and to love.

I can _________ remember the first time that I decided to help a child _________. It was many years ago. I was only a teenager myself and for the first time in my life I had a little extra money each month. I didn't feel like _________ anything，though. We lost everything we had in a house fire a few years ago and going through that had __________ me a lot. I had learned that I didn't need a lot of "stuff" to be __________. I had also read a lot about the __________ of children in poor countries around the world. It seemed like a far better thing then to __________ what I could to help them. With my mom's love and support I soon found a few __________ like Children International that were serving others around the world. It felt so good being able to __________ and help another in need. It felt so good being able to make even one life better. I could feel the mercy and empathy（共鸣）growing within me and beginning to __________ me.

Empathy does change us. It makes us into better people with bigger __________ and a clearer view of life. It shows us that we truly are one __________ on Earth. It helps us to love, to be kind, and to make this world a __________ place.

Let your empathy grow then. Let your love grow. Let your heart grow bigger and bigger every __________ day.