When I was 17, I paid a long visit to Iowa to see a college I was thinking of attending. While the _______ was fun for the most part, I was feeling depressed and _______. I was realizing that I wouldn't be seeing my family _______ if I went to school here. I was also _______ the forests in Appalachian mountains of my home. I loved how the leaves turned a thousand _______ of green in spring and then became a sea of colors in autumn. I loved the _______ of the forget-me-nots and countless wild flowers that grew on the hillsides.

Here in Iowa everything was _______. The grass looked brown and _______. All that I could smell was a_______ of corn, mud, and pigs. One day I lay down on the ground. Eyes closed, I ________ being back home over and over again. When I ________ opened them, however, I saw something that ________ my soul: a prairie (草原) sunset. It seemed to fill the whole sky from the________. Gold, red, purple and pink clouds all flowed together and________ an amazing picture. It was so huge that I was________. In comparison with it, our mountain sunsets ________. I was filled with wonder and a sense of ________. I realized too that I had been picky and________. This place too had its own special ________

Over the years to come I learned something else. Each of us has a special beauty too —everyone has their own________talents and abilities to share.

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.

Last year I 【小题1】 (work) in Nepal for three months. When I had a few days off，I decided 【小题2】 (go) into the jungle (丛林) . I asked a Nepalese guide，Kamal Rai to go with me.

We started our trip at six in the morning with two elephants 【小题3】 (carry) our things. It was hot, but Kamal made me wear shoes and trousers to protect me 【小题4】 snakes. In the jungle there was a lot of wildlife, but we were trying to find tigers. We climbed onto the elephants' backs to see better. However, 【小题5】 is unusual to find tigers in the afternoon because they sleep in the daytime.

Then, in the 【小题6】 (distant), we saw a tiger, and Kamal told me to be very quiet. We moved nearer and found a dead deer, 【小题7】 was the tiger's lunch! Suddenly, I started to feel very 【小题8】 (frighten), then a huge tiger jumped out suddenly. It caught Kamal's leg between its teeth, but I managed to pull Kamal away. One of our 【小题9】 (elephant) ran at the tiger and made it go back into the grass, so we 【小题10】 (quick) ran away.  That night it was impossible to sleep!