In my living room, there is aplaque that advises me to “bloom {#blank#}1{#/blank#}youare planted”. It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early1980s, when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program. Thejob {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(responsible) requiredoccasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothystands out in my memory as on one {#blank#}3{#/blank#}bloomed in her remote area.

       Dorothy taught in a remote school nearHarlan. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(wind) around the mountain. In theeight-mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving thepossibility of {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(catch) by thesame train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive throughmountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the smallshabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(hope).

        From the moment of my arrival at thelittle school, all my gloom disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy's classroom,I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(prepare) to show me their {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(late) projects. Dorothy told me witha smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread they madethemselves for dinner.

        Lonely {#blank#}9{#/blank#}she was far away from the moderncivilization and convenience, she never ran out of reports of excitingactivities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooleddown. She passed all the tests {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(excellent)and I found that Dorothy was really blooming where life had planted her.

    One day when I was five years old, my mother took me to a swimming pool. She wanted to teach me how to swim.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (sad), I was almost drowned(淹死，溺死).{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I was rescued by a man, my mother was so {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(frighten) that she decided never to let me get close to a swimming pool again.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}, I thought quite differently. Instead of letting that horrible incident create more fear around water for me, I decided to become a good {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(swim). After I told my mother about that, she thought I was right and {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(agree). So I started to learn how to swim again. My mother became more careful and I was not in danger again. Later I became {#blank#}7{#/blank#} interested in swimming that I decided to compete in swimming events. After years of efforts, my dream came true. I was the first African American {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(win) an Olympic Gold Medal in swimming. I did so at both 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

    Now I spend much of my time {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (help) children learn how to swim. Hundreds of children each year drown in the United States.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (learn) how to swim can prevent 80% of these tragedies.

    My program is a course in automotive repair. We teach people from the age of 16 through adults. We're {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (locate)on a high school campus. It's vocational,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} means that we train people specific skills that they could use in a job.

    I like classes like this {#blank#}3{#/blank#}it's {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(much)of the real world than it is sitting there reading a textbook, not {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(know)what you are going to be using it for.

    Today's a work day, so {#blank#}6{#/blank#}I go back into the shop, I have all of my students {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(work)on a project. First, Jack is going to get the air tools out and jack up a car, he's going to take a tyre off that car, with the air impact. Every student that comes onto my program is an individual. All of them think that they're going to be able to fix their own car. They all have {#blank#}8{#/blank#}as a goal that they are going to get out of the program.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} then, as part of my introduction to the class I'll let them know some of the other things that they'll all get,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} include：consumer understanding of how the car works.

    On a cold evening with snow floating in the air, I got {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(stick) on the road because of a flat tire(轮胎) .I attempted {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（seek）help from the passing cars, but no one stopped. As I was about to give up hope, a man {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（drive）an old dirty car came to my aid. To be honest, I was scared when he first approached me. Eying him up and down, I thought to myself, 'There is a very good chance {#blank#}4{#/blank#} he may rob me.' He seemed to have sensed my discomfort so he tried to ease my {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（anxious）by introducing himself. His act of kindness made me feel ashamed to have questioned his intentions. {#blank#}6{#/blank#}was really considerate of him to stop to help a perfect stranger like me, especially in such terrible weather. Thus, after the spare tire was fitted, I asked {#blank#}7{#/blank#} much I owed him. I wanted to pay him back. {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(surprising), he did not take my offer but rather told me to pass the act of kindness forward and help more people {#blank#}9{#/blank#} need. As he said those words, I noticed him wearing a smile of contentment. Helping others seemed a very {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（nature）thing to him. I witnessed the true beauty of human nature in him.