I used to believe in the American Dream, which meant a job,a mortgage(按揭),
credit cards, success. I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all
of us__1__chasing the same thing.
One year, through a series of unhappy events,it all fell __2__。 I found
myself homeless and alone. I had my truck and $56. I ___3__the countryside for
some place I could rent for the__4__ possible amount. I came upon a shabby house
four miles up a winding mountain road__5__the Potomac River in West Virginia. It
was___6__, full of broken glass and rubbish. I found the owner, rented it, and
__7__a corner to camp in.
The locals knew nothing about me, __8__ slowly, they started teaching me
the__9__of being a neighbor. They dropped off blankets,candles, and tools, and
began___10__
around to chat. They started to teach me a belief in a___11__ American
Dream—not the one of individual achievement but of___12__。
What I had believed in, all those things I thought were __13__for a
civilized life, were nonexistent in this place. __14__ on the mountain, my most
valuable possessions were my___15__ with my neighbors.
Four years later, I moved back into___16___ 。 I saw many people were having
a really hard time, __17__ their jobs and homes. I managed to rent a big enough
house to__18__ a handful of people. There are four of us now in the house, but
over time I‘ve had nine people come in and move on to other places. We‘d all be
in___19__if we hadn‘t banded together.
The American Dream I believe in now is a shared one. It‘s not so much about
what I can get for myself;it‘s about__20__we can all get by together.