Whitaker has been blind since birth. His parents     1     (tell) that he only had a 50% chance of survival, and he underwent 11 surgeries before two years old.

Despite being faced with the slim chance, he exhibited an extraordinary gift     2     playing the piano. By the age of 3, he     3     (write) his own songs without ever having a teacher.

Later Whitaker entered a famous music school, making him the     4     (young) person to attend the school.

Whitaker's talent caught the attention of Dr. Charles Limb, a neurologist     5     fellow musician. With the     6     (permit) of the musician and his family, Whitaker underwent MRI exams.

What Dr. Limb was surprised to find was that the     7     (genius) brain seemed to have repurposed its own disused visual cortex (皮层) to build other neurological (神经病学的) pathways. “It seems like his brain is taking that part of the tissue that’s not being stimulated by sight and using it     8     (perceive) music,” Limb told CBS News. “It's sort of borrowing that part of the brain and rewiring it to help him hear music.”

When Dr. Limb presented Whitaker with his brain scans     9     (show) how his brain lit up when he listened to music, the musician was amazed. When asked about     10     he thought his brain was illuminated (使光辉灿烂) in such a way, he simply said “I love music.”

Robert Owens felt     1     (defeat) and helpless on Sunday as he waited in Louisiana’s capital city for one of the most     2     (power) hurricanes ever to strike the US.

The 27-year-old man had spent days     3     (anxious) watching long lines of cars leaving for safer locations as Hurricane Ida     4     (approach). He had hoped that his wife and two children would be among them. But leaving would have required money for gas and a hotel room—something they didn’t have.

Out of desperation, Owens went to the bank on Saturday and applied     5     a payday loan. But he     6     (tell) he didn’t have enough credit history.

“Our bank account is empty-we can’t afford     7     (leave),” he said. “A lot of us here in my neighborhood have to stay and wait, not knowing how bad it’s going to get,” he said. “It’s     8     terrifying feeling to think my family is getting left behind.”

“The fact     9     we are not middle class or above just keeps coming back to bite us again and again, in so many different     10     (direction)and ways. A simple payday advance is just one of them,” he said. “It’s like we have to pay for being poor, even though we’re trying not to be poor.”

A couple of years ago, on one of     1     hottest days of the year, I was pulling my car into my home when I saw a man cutting the grass at the bank next door. I didn’t know him, but I     2     (realize) he needed a cold drink. I    3     (quick) went in the house and took a drink     4     my fridge and went back outside. Then I stood on my sidewalk where he could see me when he turned the mower (割草机) around. I held up the drink and pointed to him. He nodded. When he came over to accept the bottle from me, he thanked me again     5     again and said he was just now considering     6     (go) to the nearby gas station to get something to drink. Ever since that day, he     7     (do) a lot of things for me. He often cuts the grass around my sidewalk, and gives me good     8     (suggestion) whenever I need help. However, he refuses     9     (take) any pay for all these things. He just shakes my hand and gives me a smile each time. I’ve been repaid in     10     (kind) so many times.