2 . When I was little, my mom put her love into making traditional Chinese soups for me. I’m talking Ching bo leung (清凉补), with a lot of herbal(中草药的) ingredients that give the soup a _______ taste.

As a kid, I never _______ drinking them because the taste made me sick. But my mom would try her best to _______ me to drink her soup.

First, she would state all the health benefits that the soup has.

“How can this strange water improve my _______?” I’d roll my eyes.

Then, she’d tell me it tasted _______ this time because she added chicken to make it taste more restaurant-style.

Lastly, she’d bribe (贿赂) me with a piece of candy.

And somehow that would _______. I’d take a deep breath and drink it without stopping. After I finished, my mom would _______ eating the Chinese soup ingredients (Tang Zha in Chinese).

I _______ why she did this. I could just _______ the soup but how could she eat the soup ingredients?

She’d always say, “I ________ eating them.”

When I was young, I ________ believed her.

But as I got older, I ________ she was only saying this because she wanted the best for her daughter.

Recently, I recalled (回忆起) this ________ while feeding my daughter a mango (芒果). I cut the mango into two halves and then ________ the seed (果核).

My daughter was ________ and asked me why I ate the seed.

I told her, “Because I love eating them.”

5 . When I am in middle school, my mom confirms that I am, in fact, a baked good. “Children are like bread,” she _________ to me one night at the kitchen table as we talk about the kind of person I am and what I will become. “You can choose _________ which you will add to the mix when they are younger and there is still time to _________ them after the dough (面团) has risen. But _________ you put them in the oven, it’s difficult to do much else.” “You’re already in the oven,” she tells me. “It’s all you now.”

My mother always invited me to _________ her production, especially during our traditional Baking Day. My small but essential tasks filled me with _________ to help. I watch as she kneads (揉) dough briskly and skillfully. This _________ will become any delicious food I can name, a cookie, or a muffin.

My most important job is to pay attention and _________ as she explains each step of the process. Each time she _________ something in or out of the oven, she notes the time. Nothing will be burned under her watch. When it’s time to __________ the labors of our day, she will hold it to admire her creations. Sometimes I __________ her looking at me the same way.

Over time, my mother’s dough metaphor developed into __________ of a touchstone. I am now nearly the same age my mother was. Only recently have I __________ her metaphor was never about the making and baking of the dough; it was about __________ her work and then letting go. Her occasional glance of admiration and a glimpse of love well says how __________ she is of her most cherished dough.

6 . As my husband and I saw someone publicizing the benefits of spending time outdoors, we were lost in thought. Noticing my daughter had _________ a little homebody, we knew we had to _________ sport into our routine. We were determined to make skiing a family activity. But we needed our daughter’s _________.

When we persuaded my daughter to join us, we _________ two days at an all-inclusive family ski resort aiming to minimize the _________ of skiing with kids and maximize the fun that came on the slopes.

“Well done! You’ve arrived as scheduled,” said our ski instructor as we reached the resort. It was negative nine degrees. It was _________ , but we got ready soon. I could _________ recognize my daughter because her face was wrapped in thick clothes like the others.

The resort took account of almost all the trouble we might have in skiing. Of the fifty-three runs, eight were greens labeled with _________ reading “Route For Beginners”. However, when our instructor _________ us to ski, our hopes of being a __________ skiing family were dashed (使破灭). “Ahh!” escaped our lips. She was __________ and said, “Sorry, I thought you were ready.” Then she went on to lead us down a gentler way. We still __________ many times. Everyone slid down the slope, but not without falls.

While the experience frightened us, it also __________ our dinnertime conversation. My daughter told us, “Although I had a hard time skiing, there is no __________ of happiness.” I responded, “Your father and I enjoyed ourselves, too.” The next day, we __________ there as beginner skiers, but we believed we would be certainly expert skiers.

8 . Dylan and Sara are siblings. Their parents had always directed them to meet at a particular place if anybody got ________. They had never considered such a thing before. But now, in the airport terminal, Dylan was ________ his sister. He could have planned a reunion spot.

Dylan could impossibly ________ the plane without his sister. He ________ himself by the possibility that she must be somewhere in the airport. Instead of moving, Dylan tried to ________ what his sister was wearing. A red ________!

The sea of people continued to ________ past Dylan as he stood fast, searching ________ for a glimpse of a red sweater. It was 4:48. Their plane boarded at 5:00. Hoping that his sister had walked to Gate 34C as well as ________ about missing their flight, Dylan made a ________. Like a ship changing course, Dylan turned sharply down the hall that led to Gate 34C．

At the hallways, Sara saw Dylan ________ her and hurry toward Gate 34C. She fell into step beside her brother. “________ timing! I was concerned we would be late,” she said, before he had noticed her ________.

“Where did you come from?” Dylan exclaimed, trying to hide his ________ at seeing her.

Sara ________ not to smile. “What do you mean? I’ve been right behind you this whole time.”

9 . People will do all sorts of crazy things for their loved ones, and 72-year-old Raynor is a case in point. The American elder has been devoting a lot of his time to his _________ job, a beauty blogger, for which he _________ all sorts of beauty products, from creams to lipsticks for fans all over the country. It’s not exactly typical _________ for a man of his age, but his is not a _________ story.

Six years ago, Raynor’s grandson Jason was diagnosed (诊断) with a rare and cruel disease — spinal muscular atrophy (脊髓性肌萎缩). The boy was only five at the time, and doctors _________ that he only had about 18 months to live. But far beyond their _________, he has been battling his condition ever since. But it hasn’t been a (n) _________ battle. The only drug used to treat Jason’s condition could only be _________ from the UK and cost around $100,000.

Strong _________ to save his life drove his family to sell their house and borrow as much money as they could, but it still wasn’t enough. So Raynor started looking for alternative ways to earn some money and __________ live-streaming. __________, he knew nothing about beauty products, but he wasn’t afraid or __________ to learn. He went to cosmetics (化妆品) shops and kindly asked the staff to teach him about the products and how to use them. Soon Raynor’s online __________ started growing, and the financial burden on the family has eased considerably. __________ some negative comments online, the 72-year-old pensioner continues to work as a beauty blogger, testing products on himself and __________ them to his followers.