Having lost my job, I was feeling a little blue. While walking on the street one day, I heard piano music and singing 【小题1】 ( rise) above the noise of the people. I walked up the street to find out 【小题2】 it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love, having 【小题3】 (confident) and keeping on trying,【小题4】 made me a little comfortable. I stood there 【小题5】 ( quiet), watching her playing at such a crowded square. I thought she must be brave enough 【小题6】 ( perform) before so many people. I walked over and told her how good her music sounded. “ I’ve gone through a hard time recently, but you’ve made me 【小题7】 ( hope) again. Thank you,” I said to her. She replied, “ I’m glad that I could help you. I’ve seen lots of unhappy people around and I wish to cheer 【小题8】 (they) up by playing music. You should smile more and lift your head up.” She added, “ Opportunity 【小题9】 (come) in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it.”

I smiled at her, realizing that no difficulties could keep me 【小题10】 going on.

   Several years ago，we planned to move out of the city and buy a country house. The first ___________ was finding a suitable country house that we could afford. We started to ___________ the real estate（房地产）listings online and thought we had found a really ___________ one. My wife Catherine went to look at it. I was expecting a positive result. ___________，my wife told me the house wasn't suitable for us at all. While this was not the ___________ of the world，it prevented us from carrying out our plans as we had expected. So，what did we do？Could we ___________ and decide to stay where we were？No. We decided to ___________ looking.

To make a long story ___________，it took us two years of weekly visits to the real estate listings before we ___________ found three houses that might be suitable. The next ____________ seemed obvious-we had to take some time off work and drive down to ____________ these houses. So，off we went and after 15 hours of steady driving，we ____________.The next three days were tight-looking，then looking again and then finally making an ____________. The final story has a ____________ ending-we found our house，and ____________ several months later.

Sometimes, ____________ show up out of nowhere to destroy the best of plans, and some of these difficulties can be the final play. ____________, if you adopt the philosophy that every obstacle has a solution, then you can find your ____________ through. Obstacles will appear no matter who you are or what you are trying to ____________, but it is only those who know there is a solution and keep digging until they find it that will ____________ one day.

Getting around the city when you are six months pregnant and have a two-year-old girl can be really challenging. One spring afternoon，we went to one of the grocery 【小题1】（store）nearby to buy some food for dinner. There was no sign of rain，and the store was just around the corner，【小题2】 we went there without an umbrella. However，we were about 【小题3】（leave）the store when the rain came in full force. It seemed that the streets would be flooded 【小题4】 water within minutes.

I noticed a young Chinese couple staring at 【小题5】（we）when we came to a crossroad and were waiting for the light to change. I figured they were 【小题6】（probable）wondering why a pregnant foreigner was dragging her little kid out through the rain. But as we crossed the street，【小题7】 woman offered me her umbrella. I told her I couldn't take it because it was clearly starting to storm. She insisted and handed it to me as she 【小题8】（hurry）off with her husband.

Though 【小题9】（catch）in the rain unexpectedly，we still treasured the memory and will always recall the 【小题10】（warm）and kindness of the Chinese couple.