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 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!

83-year-old Antonio Vicente has spent the last four decades of his life bringing the jungles of his childhood back to life. Today, his efforts are being rewarded, as the 【小题1】(complete) deserted land has become a beautiful jungle with wildlife again.

It was 1973 when Antonio began his work 【小题2】 a weekend hobby. However, it soon became a permanent way of life. Antonio spends whole days and nights in his jungle, 【小题3】(surround) with rats and foxes and eating banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the last 20 years, he 【小题4】(plant) about 50,000 trees on his land. As the forest grew, the water returned. Then the animals started making a home there. Today, the forest is alive with the sounds of birds and 【小题5】(insect) living there, and more species are settling in every year. “If you ask me 【小题6】 my family are, I would say all this right here, each one of these that I planted from a seed ,”he said.

Impressive as his lifelong 【小题7】(contribute) to reforestation(重新造林) is, his story is a very rare one. Data shows that nearly 19,770 acres of Brazilian rainforest 【小题8】(destroy) between August 2015 and July 2016. That makes Antonio’s work seem like 【小题9】 drop in the bucket(桶), but just imagine if we had more people like him, who cares 【小题10】(many) about water and clean air than money.

Yesterday, I saw the old lady fall down when I went to school. I was going to help him up. At that moment, a passer-by stop me, saying I might be misunderstood. Hearing from his words, I began to slow down my steps. However, another student, that saw everything, went quick up to help. The old lady said nothing but lots of thank to the boy. I felt badly and ashamed. Help others is forever a virtue of China. We can’t let it disappear. I will try my best reach out my hand next time.

Every morning and evening, many people gather to dance in our community square, where is designed to improve living quality. Although dancing could do good to their health, but the long-time dancing and loud noise causing by the loudspeaker really brought the neighbors inconvenience. I couldn’t rest or sleep well, which made me terrible upset. I felt so sleep in class that I performed badly in study. To solve a problem, I communicated with the organizers and suggested that they should shorten the dance time and reduced the music noise. Only doing so can they have fun and let others enjoy life. To their delight, they adopted my advices.