1 . I have to admit I’m an old-school reader. Put simply, I   _______old books.

Alone in a new city to _______my first daily newspaper job, I was feeling vaguely anxious as I dipped into a used   bookstore to_______my   mind. The   shelves, full of the smell of the past, quickly_______me. One of the occupational hazards (职业病) of journalism, my chosen_______, is a desire to stay on top of the Next Big Thing. With their cracked spines (书脊) and yellowed_______, the titles in the shop usefully pointed me toward the longer view. “No_______to get too worked up over today’s headline,” they seemed to say. “ There is not much _______ under the sun.”

Francis Bacon’s essays are always a ready antidote (解药). “Prosperity (繁荣) is not without many___ and dislikes,” Bacon wrote, and“___ is not without comforts and hopes.” For me, that comfort and hope often come from a second-hand____.

Reading deeply from the   past can be   at   least as______ as   following the day’s   news. Don’t _____     missing out on the___ gossip. All matters of fact, which a man did not___ before, are news to him.

2 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere _________ it. I scrolled through my friends’ _________ into late night and turned my phone on before my eyes were fully open. I enjoyed having it until that day when I realized that what had started as a useful tool had turned into a(n) _________. So, I made a _________ decision to turn off that smartphone and _________ my old dumb phone out of hiding.

When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I _________ picking up the phone and checking out “what everyone else was doing.” Now I had to pay attention or find a way to _________ myself with my thoughts instead. When I visited New York City, I had to write out _________ and ask people where an intersection (十字路口) was _________ pulling out my phone.

I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased __________ from not constantly having to fight with the __________ to check my phone while I’m trying to get something done. I am allowing my thoughts to speak to me instead of my phone. I am connecting with others in a __________ way that isn’t all about me. Instead of always posting about what’s going on in my __________ perfect life, I am connecting with my friends one-on-one, talking about the reality of our lives and being there for them from a place of __________.

As much as having a smartphone was __________, not having one is freeing on a much bigger level.

3 . Gaining work experience is key for boosting your employability, especially as a business student.That’s why, after my second college year, I ________ to intern (实习) for a part of the summer.

I ________ a six-week internship at a local bank, called Rawbank. At the start of each week, we were sent to a new department where we were ________ about work process and then given an experienced employee to ________. During the process, we mostly took notes and were given small tasks. After two weeks I was ________ to a “permanent”position at the front desk, where I ________ small daily operations such as check deposits, withdrawal slips and such.

In short, for four weeks I was treated and ________ like a regular employee of the bank. I had to be there at 7:30 every morning, and ________ to have positive interactions with clients at all times, no matter how I was feeling personally.

During my internship there, the ________ was working the front desk the morning of pay day. I had to deal with an endless stream of impatient and demanding ________, but just seeing my colleagues supporting each other, and heading out together to socialize after work, made it all ________.

My six weeks there allowed me to ________, and it also helped me to gain new skills and experience that I did not ________ have. Most importantly, I gained a new sense of professionalism and a clearer ________ of what it meant to be in the professional world.

So I would advise everyone to take the opportunity and do all internship, ________ it is not necessarily in the industry that you wish to work in.

4 . In December, an adult day center nurse in New York came to the rescue of her patient after deciding to adopt the dog he could no longer look after.

John Burley, 60, was a daily _________ at the Adult Day Healthcare program at The Grand Rehabilitation (康复) and Nursing at Rome, where Jennifer Smith _________. Just before Thanksgiving, he was _________, leaving him unable to look after his 13-year-old dog Boomer.

Jennifer Smith knew _________ what to do — she visited the humane shelter and adopted him herself. “She went right to the Rome Humane Society that day and _______ the adoption fee, took him to the vet, and went _______ for food, toys, and doggy clothes. He is really _________,” Kimberly Hare from The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Rome said.

Now John Burley is a rehabilitation patient at the center. He is able to _________ daily visits from Boomer who has _________ the “mascot (吉祥物) of the adult day program.”

“Once John was ______________ in his room, Jennifer and Boomer made their way over to his nursing unit, but I told her to stay out of ______________. I asked John if he was feeling ______________ a surprise visit and he said yes,” said Hare.

“When he saw Jennifer and Boomer come around the corner, he just burst into tears and ______________ for his pal. John would get off bed and get around with Boomer happily. There was not a ______________ eye in the room between residents and staff. He was so happy to see the dog and so ______________ to Jennifer for saving him.”

5 . My father was a restaurant owner. My name is Vincent Lim. I’m a chef and restaurant owner. Running a Chinese restaurant is one of the hardest and most_________things in my life.

When we first arrived in Australia, my dad_________a Chinese restaurant. I would go there on a_________basis to help him out. And slowly I developed my_________for cooking. The hard work that my dad put into Chinese food makes me feel so proud that I am lucky enough to learn from a_________

The first dish that I ever learned to cook was the fried rice, which is the easiest but also the _________one to get right. From years of experience, I can_________you the difference between a good fried rice just from the feel and from the smell, without even taking a bite.

To lots of Chinese immigrants like us, the restaurant isn’t just a business. It’s a sense of _________. The wok hei (锅气)_________every ingredient in the wok, producing an appealing smell. The fragrances of the food__________the air and lingered around so much longer. Those memories, they become nostalgic (乡愁). The sense of home is what makes a__________good dish taste.

In 2017, my dad passed away. I realized that my love of cooking dishes was from my childhood. I __________the restaurant that I own today. Cooking was a__________way to my dad. I wanted to __________everything that he taught me. Cooking__________all the hard work and memories that we had.

6 . In the fall of 2008, I was looking to leave my current job in a doctor’s office to explore something more ________. So I started investigating the new world of travel nursing. With a bit of ________, I was connected to Carlyn.

At this time, I am working on all areas of my life...... in the ________of becoming a stronger, more confident person, and ________more about who I am. Without amazing, enthusiastic and supportive Carlyn, I wouldn’t be where I am today. For the past 2 years, Carlyn and I stayed in ________through email, facebook, and a periodic phone call, becoming friends…. I had a whole view of all the things she was ________in her life and it inspired me much.

I was anxious to ________Carlyn face-to-face for the first time. But, as soon as she ________in front of my house, it was like we had done it a million times before. This “my friends” is the ________ of the human connection that she talks about. It takes two people from ________to friends!

Now as fate would have it, Carlyn has ________my world. So now, I hope to repay her ________for all that she has helped me ________. I am fortunate to be part of a friendship that is a by-product of her ________. She continues to inspire me and I hope to learn and meet more through her _________.

7 . Being vulnerable (脆弱的) is not a choice. It’s a _________ in our life. What we do with vulnerability can either open doors to deeper connections, or build walls that _________ progress and fulfillment.

Vulnerability _________ the state of being exposed to the possibility of being harmed, either physically or emotionally. It’s part of human _________ because we are vulnerable in some way at all times. We are vulnerable to viruses, accidents, misunderstandings and _________ caused by whatever reasons. The only choice we really have is whether to _________ it or not.

When some people _________ that they have no vulnerability, they are hard to develop meaningful social connections with others. They are just _________. No one likes to spend much time with people who are dishonest or _________ to open up their feelings. Most of the time, a great friendship starts by __________ each other’s vulnerability.

Indeed, it’s not easy for us to admit our vulnerability in front of others. In order to protect ourselves, we tend to struggle with __________. But in fact, when we are vulnerable with people, we have signaled that they can also __________ share their anxieties. And we don’t have to worry too much about the results because a far more common reaction of people is to respect our __________ instead of laughing at us. Under this shared circumstance, we become less __________ by vulnerability and also we __________ a relationship.

9 . During my first improv (即兴表演) class, I learned a core concept of improv: “yes, and.” It means that, as improvisers, we accept what fellow performers say. If someone says that zebras are librarians, for example, then zebras are librarians. We do not _________ the logic. we say “yes” and continue with the scene as if nothing is wrong.

To do this _________, our teacher warned us that we’d have to avoid second-guessing ourselves. Sometimes scenes go in unexpected directions. The best improv_________ when performers stay open to different possibilities and say whatever pops into their minds.

I got a taste of how _________ that is when acting out my first scene. My classmate turned to me and said, “Mom is going to be so mad.” Mad about what? My mind spun out ideas, and my inner critic shot them all down. We broke the car? No, that’s too easy. We failed a test? No, you don’t want your classmates thinking you’re stupid on the first day. I finally _________ an answer: “Yes, we’re going to be late for dinner.” The scene proceeded from there, and we eventually finished as two sisters who lost their way on a hiking trip.

The first few scenes were hard, but as weeks turned into months, I became more comfortable thinking on my feet. I never _________ my inner critic entirely, but over time, I didn’t police my words with quite so much vigor. I also became better at _________, relating to my conversation partners, and communicating clearly in the moment.

The training came in handy 6 months ago, when I was giving a seminar (研讨课) about my science. An audience member surprised me with a question that didn’t _________ the information I’d presented. Instead of getting annoyed, I _________ the “yes, and” approach — accepting the question at face value and letting my mind focus on why it was asked. That helped me find an appropriate answer.

The benefits of improv go beyond __________. Early on in graduation school, I would get stuck when I got unexpected data in my experiments; my inner critic would assume I had made a mistake. But now, after accepting the “yes, and” concept, I no longer go into an experiment thinking that I already __________ the story my data are going to tell.

Last year, I used that approach after encountering confusing data. Instead of getting __________, I kept exploring the data and ended up identifying a new type of cell. If I hadn’t stayed open to the possibility that the results were __________, I would have missed out on the most exciting finding of my PhD. so far.

All scientists can benefit from this lesson. If the data say zebras are librarians, then it’s worth investigating whether zebras are, __________, librarians. Our job as scientists isn’t to get data that __________ a pre-understood story. Our job is to say “yes, and”.