1 . Nixon, 59 years old, was born and grew up in St. Petersburg. Each morning, he sits on a bench, watches the sunrise, and connects with _________ from all walks of life.

Eight years ago, he decided to begin each day from a bench (a kind of chair) with an impressive view of the St. Petersburg waterfront (圣彼得堡海滨), because it made him feel calm and _________ before starting his day.

About a year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that _________ Nixon’s view on his daily visit. She said, “Every morning when I see you sitting here, I know everything is going to be OK.” That’s when Nixon _________ he needed to pay attention to the people walking past.

Instead of staring straight ahead at the waterfront, Nixon started _________ at people and talking to them. And pretty soon, some early risers began _________ him on the bench, sometimes sharing their pressure and asking him for advice about personal problems.

No matter what problem a person wants to _________, Nixon lends an ear. One day, a couple came by to talk about their problems. The husband was always working. It was destroying their _________. Nixon told him, “You have to know what’s really important.” The man admitted he’d put everything he had into his _________ for many years instead of focusing on his family. “He started to cry and agreed that he needed to __________,” Nixon says. “We hugged each other and became friends after that.”

Nixon was always happy to listen, and he listens without __________ and without any kind of return expected. “You have to listen with an open heart, because you never know who’s going to walk up,” Nixon says. He is a loving and loyal __________ to many. For those who walked past the bench, they were always __________ with a smile and asked how they were doing. No topic is off limits, but some people don’t want to talk. They simply want to sit next to someone and share the __________. Once a woman stopped and just sat with Nixon for an hour; then she said thanks and walked away. She just wanted a moment of peace and to know she wasn’t __________.

And at that moment, she truly wasn’t.

2 . There are always some persons in your life who touch your soft heart with kindness.

As a little girl, my favorite thing was _________. And when I thought about _________ I wanted to be when I grew up, I figured I’d be a librarian, just because the two librarians changed my life.

At that time, the town library limited the number of books a person borrowed _________ two once a week. I _________ the books in just three days. So to read more, I was _________ about what books to choose. The librarian, Mrs. Tonne, was a warm person. Every time I went into the library, she greeted me, _________. When learning about my trouble, she often _________ some better books. Thanks to her help, I _________ a lot from these books.

Gradually, I developed an interest in writing, _________ poems. When I was in fourth grade, our school librarian, Mrs. Ketelsen, encouraged me to write more. When my poem was not accepted, she __________ me with comfortable words. Once she helped __________ some poems I’d written about dinosaurs to Highlights magazine. It was my first published writing!

Later, at the University of Iowa, __________ I majored in journalism, my dream was different. I realized that I was shy about interviewing people, which made me __________. When I recalled Mrs. Tonne and Mrs. Ketelsen, I made a decision without __________ to be devoted to writing. And now I am an editor at Reader’s Digest.

Whenever I think of the help from them, how __________ I am. It is their kindness that makes me what I am.

5 . One day I had heard whispers at home about moving to New York. But I thought that can’t be _______and had nothing to do with me. However, a few days later, my family and I _______ into our Buick, and we were on our way to Long Island. How could I be _______at the age of 13 when my friends meant so much?

We were moving into a new _______, and in just days, it was time to go to a new school, Freeport High School. Oh, that first day of walking into a “foreign” classroom and being _______.

My junior year at Freeport High School, I wanted to become a cheerleader. How _______! The way those white, pleated skirts _______back and forth when the girls walked, not to mention the red sweaters and big megaphones (扩音器). Most of all, _______, it was the amazing red winter jackets with fur-lined hoods (兜帽). It would be great to be one of the _______and popular. I went to practices, and then came ________. I carried my cheerleader shorts and blouse in a bag while other girls had their outfits on hangers (衣架), ironed to ________.

When the moment arrived, my face ________ and my legs trembled. It was impossible to ________ any kind of smile. I knew they wouldn’t call my name for the ________. On the bus ride home, though, I sat next to another girl who also had tried out, and we both ________ we could accept being rejected.

After opening my front door, my mother’s question sent me ________ onto the floor. It was difficult to recover because I had wanted so ________ to be a cheerleader.

I didn’t know that three years later, I would ________ my college cheerleading team at SUNY New Paltz. The next day, I ran to the town jeweler to finally buy that megaphone necklace that ________ on my neck to this day. If only we could look into the future to see that some of our ________ would be achieved.

8 . When an infectious disease broke out and supermarket shelves were ________, Daniel and Nancy decided they no longer wanted to ________ others for food. The couple decided to start a year-long ________ where they wouldn’t buy a single thing to eat. ________, they would grow, raise or catch everything.

Daniel said, “It is something that we have wanted to do. When the disease ________, it gave us that extra ________. At that time we were both ________, and that gave us   even more motivation to see if we could ________ ourselves.” The pair built a house for chickens and ducks and studied online about where they would get all the things they needed. Daniel adds, “We had to learn so many new things like how to grow mushrooms and ________ salt from the ocean.”

“Now after five months, they both feel well but Daniel ________ the first few weeks were difficult as their bodies adjusted to ________ coffee, wine and sugar all on the same day,” he says. “After three weeks our desires for them ________ and now we feel great.” Now February has come to a(n) ________. As they survive winter, they feel ________ about continuing with this way of living, with their challenge ________ ending in August.

9 . When I decided to leave my home country of Iran to pursue a PhD in Canada, I hadn’t expected that communication would be an issue. In Farsi, I was a(n) _______ speaker. I had taken English lessons in my 20s and scored well on the English test for university _______.

But soon after my _______ in the English-speaking world, I realized how wrong I was. Now I had to be careful and deliberate. I needed to _______ follow the conversation. I needed to _______ it into my native language, reflect and generate thoughts and ideas in _______. Then I needed to find the right English words and put them in the right order to _______. I had a hard time remaining present and focused in _______, because I was constantly thinking about what I would say next. I gradually turned inward and _______, particularly when surrounded by native English speakers. And I worried about my future. After all, effective communication in English is ________ to being included and recognized in many ________ and professional operations.

Later, I ________ to say exactly what I meant in discussions over and over again. Suddenly, a simple idea ________ to me: why not ________ the discussion in writing, in an email to my colleagues? That small adjustment was a game changer, because writing gave me ________ to reflect and comfortably ________ my points in English.

I made a ________ of sitting at my computer and putting my Farsi thoughts into English words, taking my time to ________ clear sentences with accurate vocabulary and ________. With some efforts and a willing heart, I grew more ________ with oral communication, which revived my spirits.