One year after Tom was born, his parents had a car accident. They never _____. Tom's 85-year-old grandmother was too _____ to take care of him. As a result he was put up for adoption（领养）. He was adopted by a middle-aged couple who had no _____ of their own. They were not rich and received little education, but they were _____ people.

As Tom grew up, he _____ a lot of problems at school. He didn't learn _____ and had trouble in reading. His _____ sometimes laughed at him. What they said made Tom _____.

As he couldn't _____ the other students at school, he dropped out of school and came back home. But he didn't stop learning. He had big dreams. Though he didn't learn fast he kept ______ himself at home.

After many years of learning at home, he ______ overcame his difficulties. Today he is a very ______ speaker and author. While he was at school, his self-esteem（自尊）and ______ were low because of others' making fun of him. It took him many ______ to realize his dreams.

When listening to his videos and tapes, we can feel his confidence. He tells his ______ and how he overcame the challenges in his life. He has a very ______ sentence, "You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present situation ______ you change. "

For those who have low self-confidence, I suggest you ______ reading about Tom's world. Many people have so much potential（潜能）to be discovered. If you have a dream, then start today to ______ yourself towards it. If someone like Tom who has ______ in learning can make such achievements, why can't you succeed？

Running for a Dream

I will never forget that November day．It was hotter than normal．This was the ________ my father and I had waited so long for，because we had been working towards this race for three years．Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view．They had come ________me．I saw worry and ________on my father's face．Then the race began!

For the first two and a half miles．I felt________．I had never before been so ready for something．The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled________and a strict diet．My friends hadn't seen me in weeks，but they understood the _______required to make my dream a reality．As in all of my races，I didn't _______ out in the front，I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed．

Then without warning，my strength began to decrease．Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors，I ________see the finish line．I had begun the final dash into_______when my knees became weak and my legs gave way．Nothing I could do would make them _______ weight．

I watched as runners rushed by me．________ I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed．I had to finish the race．However，my legs hurt badly．With all of the ________ left in me，I got on my hands and knees and crawled （爬），inch by inch，across the finish line．Voices，both ________ and familiar，cheered me on．They gave me the courage to keep ________until the very end．

The doctors were there in seconds，but my eyes searched the crowd for him．There was only one person I wanted to ________to．I whispered，"I'm so sorry，Dad，I'm so sorry I ________you．"He looked at me，saying，"You could never disappoint me．Sometimes these things just ________．All that matters is that you did your best．"

"But we worked so ________．What about our dream？"He reached over for my hand and said，"Don't you know that you are my dream and it has come true？"

It wasn't long before my running shoes were back on，marking a________path for my journey，I learned that all of the miles，the tears，the sweat，and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a________．What I realized，though，was that to him，I was the greatest prize he had ever won．

   Many years ago, when I was in high school and working weekends to pay for the extras that my family couldn’t really afford, I lost my wallet.

My old car needed gassing up in the back. I prepaid and then put my wallet on the bumper(保险杠), and drove off. I hadn’t even had time to miss it when my phone rang and a man asked me if I had lost my wallet. I checked my pocket and to my surprise, I didn’t find my wallet. He asked me to tell him how much money was in it. He then told me where to pick up my wallet.

As I pulled into his driveway, I noticed his handicapped van(残疾人车) and the ramp(斜坡) going up to the house. I was thinking that this man must have had difficulty in getting out of his van and getting my wallet off the street. He had to pull over, get in his wheelchair, lower the lift, and then pick it up. I was just surprised. I felt grateful.

I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. I thanked him about 10 times for finding my wallet. I was stuck, though. While I didn’t want to insult him by offering money, I really felt like offering something. So I asked him if there was anything I could do to repay his kindness, and he said, “Just pass it on.” I said I would be certain to do that. I was raised to be honest in any circumstance and I would have done so, without promising this fellow I would, but I wanted to repay his kindness, so I willingly promised I would.

Being responsible is actual not that difficult. I used to think it was hard to growing up into a responsible member of society. An incident happening in a rainy Sunday afternoon changed my attitude. I was on my way to the bookstore and was waiting for the green light while a girl was knocked down by passing car，which drove off quickly. A man immediately gave her first aid and I had joined in without hesitation. Soon many help was given to the girl. Because we sent her to the nearest hospitals in time, she was able to receive proper treatment. Not badly injured, he expressed gratitude to those giving help. Comparing with the escaped driver, I was proud of what I did.