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.

   All of my friends had jobs but I didn’t. That’s because they had a “hook up”. At times, I wished I had a hook up! If I did, I wouldn’t have to go through all those nervous interviews, or waste my ink on those applications that probably got thrown.

One day I asked my grandmother, “Why does no one want to hire me?” She said it was because I didn’t have any experience. How was I supposed to have experience when I’d never had a job before? Even McDonald’s wouldn’t hire me. I applied there so many times. It was a shame.

The Gap was one of the hardest places to apply. Once you filled out an application, the managers would interview you right on the spot. It made me so nervous that I couldn’t talk right. The first question they asked was, “Why do you want to work for the Gap?” Your mind was telling you to say, “For the money.” But you didn’t want to say that because you didn’t want to make yourself sound greedy, even if it’s the truth. So I said, “Because I’m familiar with what the company does, which is selling clothes.”

However, not for long there was another question that always seemed to get me every time, “What can you bring to this company?” I didn’t know, maybe more customers? By the time I got ready to pick it up, I heard them say, “If we don’t contact you in 24 hours, you don’t get the job.”

But if I was asked that question now, I would say, “I’m a hard worker and a very reliable person, and with these kinds of abilities I cannot only do a good job, but I can influence other employees to do so too.”

Despite all the bad luck I seemed to have, I didn’t give up. Eventually, I finally found a summer job.

Alanis Morissette, a Canadian singer and song writer, is 【小题1】 excellent superstar. She has made several albums, but her album Jagged Little Pill, which 【小题2】 (publish) in 1995 , made her world famous. Last Thursday night, hundreds of her fans saw her first 【小题3】 (perform) in the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England since her song Uninvited 【小题4】 (win) this year’s Grammy Award for the best rock song. It was 【小题5】 (extreme) cold that night, but the audience were enthusiastic. During the concert, she played a few songs from her new album, such as Everything But…,【小题6】 tells the story of someone 【小题7】 (look) for love in the wrong places. Morissette gave a 【小题8】 (create) and powerful performance in another song Utopia, whose singing was full of feelings.【小题9】 (impress) by Morissette’s brilliant music and singing, the people present were excited. At the end of the concert, she ended the evening 【小题10】 a new song about the life of a superstar. After the concert, it is widely agreed that she is really a superstar！

In Greek mythology（神话），the god of craftsmen，Hephaestus，【小题1】（command）by the king of the gods，Zeus，to create the first woman on earth and he did，using water and earth. And Zeus named her Pandora，which meant "all-gifted".

Later on Pandora was sent to the earth to live 【小题2】the rest of mankind. Before she left she was given a box which she was commanded never to open under any circumstances. However，being 【小题3】（nature）curious，Pandora，opened the box，from 【小题4】all the evil of the world such as war，disease，famine and flood escaped and spread over the earth. Pandora was too 【小题5】（terrify）to see them escaping except only one thing，and finally managed 【小题6】（close）the lid. Immediately there was a tiny voice 【小题7】（call）"Let me out". Frightened 【小题8】she was，Pandora cautiously opened the box in time to see the small object within-hope-wing 【小题9】way out into the world. So that was how the earth was filled with evil due to Pandora's 【小题10】（curious）.Fortunately，there is HOPE on earth as well.

   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.