When you're very， very afraid of something， that fear can affect （影响） you and how you live your life． When I was younger， I saw my cousin f（1）　　onto an ants' nest． The ants attacked （攻击） him， and he was c（2）　　in terrible bites（咬）． After that I became very scared of ants． I wouldn't eat outside， and I didn't even like to play outside． I c（3）　　my bed for ants every night． But when I t（4）　　thirteen， I decided I couldn't let my fear get to me． I had to learn to control my fear of ants．

First I read a lot about different ants． I didn't focus on bites， but instead I read about how helpful ants are to the p（5）　　． Ants are really cool! They're hard﹣working， social， and organized． They help bring a（6）　　and nutrients（营养） to the earth． They help plants grow， clean up decaying（腐烂的） m（7）　　， and help control other insects．

Next I began to w（8）　　ants from a safe distance． I started to look at a family of ants in real time on the Internet in order to learn how they live． Little by little， I fell more c（9）　　about ants． Finally I went outside one day and let an ant move onto my hand and t（10）　　it gently． It was okay! Now that I know about all the good things ants do， I'm not so afraid of them anymore．