I was six years old. It was Halloween. The school was having its annual Halloween parade(游行) to 1 it. All the kids would march a few 2 through the neighborhood.

    “Just buy him a costume,” my father said. “ It doesn't cost much.”

    But no, my mother decided, 3 it was my first parade, she would 4 me a costume: the mummy(木乃伊), my favorite scary character.

    She 5 white rags(布片) and old towels and wound them 6 me, holding them in place with safety pins. Then she arranged the rags with toilet paper and tape. It took a long time, but I was still 7 enough to see the result. When she finished, I could 8 wait to look in the9 I was a mummy! I moved back and forth in front of it 10.

    “Oh, you're very scary.” my mother said.

    She drove me to school. We started our parade. The more I walked, the 11. the rags got. Then, about two blocks out, it began to 12 The next thing I knew was that the toilet paper was beginning to dissolve (溶解).13 the rags became even looser and fell to my ankles, wrists, and neck and you could see my undershirt and under pants, which made me extremely 14.

    “Look at Charley!” the other kids screamed. They were 15. I was burning red. I wanted to escape, but where did you go in the middle of a parade?

    When we 16 reached the schoolyard, I was all wet, with a mess of rags and toilet paper pieces. The parents were waiting there with 17, starting to take photos of us. I saw my mother first. As she spotted me, she 18 her hand to her mouth. I burst into19.

    “You20 my life!” I cried.

    The stage lights dimmed, and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains into the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly 1. It seems that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep 2 as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my 3, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.

    After a decade of learning this art form, I had 4 been considered ready to take on the most difficult act. The test is the most important event in a dancer's life as it pays 5 to all the factors in one's life that 6 the dance form: one's culture and family.

    The performance is undertaken only by the most 7 and determined students. It is a difficult process that requires much 8. For more than six months, I spent two to three hours every day9 these dances. Many times, I 10 myself to my physical and mental breaking point, but still I would not stop. I could not give up. There was always so much more to do and so much more to 11.

    I 12 a lot about myself in those tiring hours. I learned that I was far too 13 to give up, and I was too proud to prove myself 14 after I had set an unrealistic goal. Even with physical pain and mental 15, I forced myself to meet my 16. Even when I was at the end of my 17, there was always something driving me on, forcing me not to give up.

    Fortunately, I made it. What I had done 18 the success. It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer 19 is. Those time was evidence that I could 20 something I set out to do.

    I was a single mother of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always1, but we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, 2on our backs. It was Christmas time, we3 downtown to see the Christmas lights, and enjoyed a special dinner, 4 the big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas 5 at the market. They talked and planned for weeks ahead of time, 6 each other what they wanted for Christmas.

    The big day arrived and we started out early. I 7 each kid a twenty-dollar bill and asked them to8for presents. Then everyone scattered (散开).

    Back in the car driving home, everyone was9 about Christmas, laughing and asking each other about what they had10 . I found my younger daughter, Ginger, had only one small and flat bag with her. I could 11 enough through the plastic 12 to tell that she had bought candy bars— fifty-cents candy bars！What did she13 with that twenty-dollar bill I had given her? I was so14. After getting home, I called her into my bedroom and closed the door. This was15 she told me.

    "I was looking around and thinking of what to buy, and I 16 to read the little cards on one of the Salvation Army's 'Giving Trees'. One of the cards was 17a little girl, four years old, and all she 18 for Christmas was a doll with clothes and a hairbrush. So I took the card off the 19 and bought the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn't have anything."

    My anger 20 and I had never felt so rich as I did that day.

Another person's enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.

I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father1me to her with these words: "I would like you to meet the fellow who is2for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no3 than tomorrow morning."

My stepmother walked over to me, 4my head slightly upward, and looked me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied," You are5This is not the worst boy at all, 6the smartest one who hasn't yet found an outlet(释放的途径) for his enthusiasm."

That statement began a(n)7between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my8as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that.

She changed many things. She9my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father's career could be more10and my brother and I could be better11.

When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand12and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I13 it, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her14 and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of15that great day I went to interview Andrew Camegie and received the task which became my life's work later. I wasn't the16beneficiary(受益者). My father became the17 man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.

What power18has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one's purpose and is19 strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible(不可抗拒的) force which poverty and temporary defeat can never20.

You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.

The college entrance examination is just around the corner. Homework and tests will keep many of you up late at night, and you may plan to make up for your lost sleep during the weekends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is it useful? A study published in the journal Current Biology completely has changed {#blank#}2{#/blank#} people used to think. It shows that the habit of sleeping in on weekends doesn't fix the damage done by a lack of sleep during the week. Even {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (bad), it may damage your health.

After moving to the United States in 1901, 19-year-old Bob Douglas found a job as a doorman in New York. Later, a co-worker took him to visit a basketball court, and he was amazed by the athletic prowess on display. At that moment, Douglas, who had enjoyed playing sports as a child, was determined to create a basketball team and provide greater opportunities for New York City's Black athletes. 

He needed to find a place for his team to play. When asking a ballroom owner, William Roach, for permission to use one of the dance floors, Douglas was replied with "you guys will break up my place". After promising to take on all the financial risk, he finally persuaded Roach to change his mind and called the team "Rens". 

However, their ballroom had fewer seats and attracted fewer people than others, so Douglas had to pack the house to generate profits and keep his team alive. They traveled the country playing any opponent that would agree to schedule them, during which they repeatedly faced discrimination and unfair treatment and the players were often banned from hotels and restaurants. 

No matter the obstacle, the Rens just kept strict practicing. They helped change the game of basketball by focusing on quick passing, which let the players move faster, play a more fluid (流畅) game and keep winning. In 1925, the Rens shocked the world by defeating the Original Celtics, the most dominant team of their day. During the 1932-33 season, the team won 88 straight games, a professional basketball record that remains unbroken. 

Unfortunately, the Rens disbanded (解散) in 1949. But in time, they were recognized for the important role they played in advancing Black athletes in basketball, ensuring that although the Rens aren't a household name, their story will never be forgotten.