1 . Tyrion was asked why he reads so much? He answered, “I have a realistic grasp of my own ______ and weaknesses. My mind is my________. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his war hammer (战锤)… and a mind needs ______ as a sword needs a whetstone (磨石), if it is to preserve its edge.” George R.R. martin once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he   _____. The man who never reads lives one.”

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early ______ at the kitchen table reading his book. One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the book just like you but I don’t   _______ it, and what I do understand I forget ______ I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”

The grandfather ______ turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water ______ before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time.” and _____   him back to the river with the basket to try again. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket ______ . The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough, ” and he went out of the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was ______ , but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water _______ escape before he got back to the house. Tiredly, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“Look at the basket carefully,” the old man said. The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that he basket was _______. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean. That’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be _______, inside and out.

2 . It was Mother’s Day, but our mother was far away from us. I decided to drive to the ______ with my wife and our children to gather flowers.

After we arrived, we went hiking, played games, and collected all kinds of flowers and so on.How happy we were! Finally, though, we had to ______ our car and got ready to go back home. While the kids chatted and I drove, my wife sat behind me, surrounded by her flowers, a(n) ______look in her eyes.

Suddenly my wife ______to me, “Stop the car.Stop right here!” ______ I could ask her what had happened, she was out and went up a nearby grassy hill with the lilacs (丁香花) still in her arms. At the ______ of the hill was a nursing home and, because it was such a beautiful spring day, the patients were outdoors talking with relatives.

My wife went up the hill, where an elderly patient was sitting in her ______, alone with her back to most of the others.My wife ______the flowers to her and said something. The patient raised her head and smiled. They talked for a few ______before my wife ran back. As the car ______ away, I found in the mirror the woman ______ with the lilacs.

“Mom,” the kids asked, “Who was that? Why did you give her our _______ ? Is she somebody’s mother?” My wife said, “I didn’t know the old woman. But it is Mother’s Day. And she seemed so ______. Who wouldn’t be cheered by flowers? ______,” she added, “I have all of you, and I still have my mother, even if she is far away. That woman needed those flowers more than I did.”

Now, every May, our own yard is _______ with lilacs. Every Mother’s Day we drive to the countryside to gather flowers and sow more seeds in our yard. And every year I remember that lonely old woman in her wheelchair, and her smile on her face.

3 . I stood in the front of the classroom like a specimen (标本) under examinations of 23 pairs of eyes. I began stuttering (结巴) and gave wrong answers to some questions.

In the summer of 2016, I worked as an assistant teacher at a children’s day camp. Lacking in experience, I _______ to create weekly lesson plans. Kids shouted at each other in class. Sometimes, I had to pull apart kids who were _______ each other. The rare moments of silence came only after my booming calls for attention. Every day was a _______ between me and these wild little creatures.

One day I suddenly _______ that I was supposed to teach them instead of being led by the nose. It was time to do something to change the _______. I was older, more knowledgeable, and most importantly, I had more authority. The next day, I firmly _______ into the classroom and stood in the front _______. The students studied me curiously. But I did not stutter this time. It _______ me that the class went smoothly without being disturbed for the first time. From that day on, they gradually started to pay attention. Some _______ started calling me “Ms. Amy”. Seeing a sign of respect in their wild eyes was like getting ________ for my achievements. I was finally acting as an authority figure. The respect I received also increased my self­confidence. It made me believe that I had the ________ to overcome difficulties.

One month after my summer job ________, I went back to visit the students. I saw the same kids running around in the classroom. ________, their playful shouts were a different kind of music to my ________ now. Instead of the unpleasant sound I heard the first day, this was a ________ song that played during my march to self­confidence.

4 . After their business trip, John and Mary returned, eager to see their lovely children. As they drove into their hometown feeling glad to be back, they noticed ________, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a ________ in flames. Mary said, “Oh, well, it isn’t our fire, let’s go home.”

But John ________ closer and screamed, “That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn’t be ________ work yet, maybe there is something we could do.” “It has nothing to do with us,” Mary ________.

But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror-stricken to see the whole house in ________. A woman on the lawn was screaming, “The children! Get the children!” John ________ her by the shoulder saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!” “In the ________,” cried the woman. “Down the hall and to the left.”

In spite of Mary’s disagreement, John ________ for the basement which was full of smoke and ________ hot. He found the door and two children. ________ he left he could hear some more sobbing. He ________ the two badly frightened children into ________ arms and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him ________ more and Mary grasped his arm and screamed, “John! Don’t go back! It’s ________! That house will fall down any second.”

________ he ran into the smoke-filled hallway and at last he found both children. As he climbed up the ________ stairs, the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely ________ about the little bodies next to him, and at last when they came out into the ________ and fresh air, he found that he had just ________ his own children.

The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.

5 . What do you do with a withered orchid (兰花)?____ you’re an expert, you may find that they never ____ for you again.

Everything has a life cycle and orchids don’t ____ forever. I can’t ____ throwing out orchids. I have tried my best, but in ____. After so much ____ and error, I was almost ____ that they have died.____, my wife had other ideas.

Some of the plants were moved to a table in the living room, and others were ____ on the kitchen window.

Actually, everything has its own life cycle. Sure, you can ____ hope. It was easy to believe that those orchids would never flower again—that is, until my wife decided to come to their ____.

My wife kept moving the plants around the house looking for the right light.____, the orchids stayed alive. Tiny new stems (茎) grew from the old ones a year later. And now, nearly all of them are flowering.

Yes, you can ____everything you think is important—your beauty, your wealth, even your family — but as long as you are alive, you can find new life within something you thought was never going to bloom (开花) again. Never lose ____ on finding new life, even if the chance is ____.

6 . I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid behind my older sister, whenever I had to speak to a(n) _______ person — including the McDonald’s cashier, or even a distant relative.

_______ asked to speak in class, I could hardly _______， much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (羞怯的) voice earned me jokes­about being a girl.

Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I _______ voice lessons. After a little bit of _______， I did — as long as it stayed a secret. I began a series of vocal (发声的) exercising. After exercising a lot, I finally gained _______ in my voice.

A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people. I thought I would do better than before _______ the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and nothing. I couldn’t remember the words of the song! My face turned hot. The _______ pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing.

Then the thought _______ me: I’ve embarrassed (尴尬) myself enough in front of this ________ . There’s really nothing else to lose. So in my second song, I just ________ and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.

After that, I started singing to myself as ________ as I could in my own room. That’s something I would never have done before.

On a recent school trip, I was asked to sing again. It was ________ how much people liked my singing. One classmate ________ said that I should be in the school’s talent show.

I am not a shy person any more. ________ has made me more outgoing. Today, I’m almost a loudmouth. I can meet people without being afraid. I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.

7 . Takamizawa, aged 91, was one of the more than 200,000 people who volunteered for the Tokyo Olympics. English is not required for service, but it is a helpful_______for volunteers. Takamizawa was in high school when World War II_______in 1939. She said, “In my second year there, English was banned because it was the language of the_______.”

Takamizawa said that her grandchildren_______her she was not too old to learn. “When I talked to my grandchildren about my_______, they said, ‘it’s not too late. We will teach you one word a day. But it’s going to be a good_______for you.’”

Takamizawa’s English_______is her granddaughter Natsuko. Natsuko_______a new English word to Takamizawa’s phone every day. They also often work together_______on phrases that Takamizawa will need for the Olympics. “Welcome to Tokyo. This is the Olympic stadium. How can I help you?” Takamizawa answers when________to say some English sentences she has learned. Natsuko________that she wanted to give her grandmother something to enjoy. “I can clearly see her English is getting better. It’s also my________now.”

For the level of English spoken in a country, Japan ranks 49th among countries where English is not the________language. This situation is slowly changing as younger generations________English. Japanese students often learn English at a much________age than they did in the past. However, Takamizawa________real change will not happen unless Japanese people become more   ________to the rest of the world.

With several hundred days to go until the Games begin, the whole Takamizawa family is ready to introduce Tokyo to the world. When Japan last held the Summer Olympics in 1964, Takamizawa was too busy________a family to go to any events.

Takamizawa said she never thought the Olympics would be________twice in her lifetime. “It’s good,” she said, “ to ________long.”

9 . “Just sign here, sir,” the deliveryman said as he handed Oscar Reyna a package.

The package consisted of a long, narrow box ____ wrapped in brown paper. ____ the box, Oscar saw an umbrella inside—a very old one with a beautifully carved wooden handle. ____ he had not seen it in more than 20 years, he recognised it immediately.

Oscar was 16 when he first saw the____ umbrella. He had gone to a concert with his grandparents. As they were leaving, he noticed an umbrella on an empty seat. Impressed by its beauty, Oscar felt a strong desire to find its ____.

Oscar ____ the manager to look in the record of advance ticket sales. Just as he thought, a name matched the seat ____ Oscar had found the umbrella. The name was Mrs. Katie O’Brien.

Oscar talked his grandparents into going by Mrs. O’Brien’s house on their way home. He rang the bell, the door opened, and an elderly woman appeared. “May I ____ you?” she asked.

“I’d like to return it if it’s yours,” Oscar said, ____ the umbrella as if presenting a gift that had long been wished for.

“Why, yes! It’s mine,” replied Mrs. O’Brien with a ____ smile and shining eyes. “It was given to me by my father years ago. Thank you so much for returning it. May I offer you a reward for your ____?”

“No, ma’am,” he said. “My grandmother says that a good deed is its own reward.”

“Well, that’s ____ what my father used to say. What is your name, young man?”

Years later Oscar was staring at the finely carved handle of the umbrella as he remembered Mrs. O’Brien. It was in perfect condition, considering how ____ it was. Why had it arrived here today?

As if ____, a note fell from the paper. It read: Mrs. O’Brien wanted you to accept this umbrella as a present for a kind, ____ gesture long ago.

10 . I was visiting Costa Rica when I found myself in a bad situation: all my bank cards weren’t _______ abroad, and I only had $5 and a return ticket in two weeks. Back then, there were no cellphones or Internet. It was _______ who came to my rescue to get me home.

I thought the city dangerous and decided to find kind people in the _______. With my remaining coins, I _______ to the bus station and found a countryside that I could _______. Five hours later, I arrived at Santa Rosa. I went knocking door to door, _______ my situation with my very poor Spanish, but everyone pointed me to another _______.

Finally, I _______ a Chinese restaurant. The owner was extremely _______. She heard my story and felt ________ for me. She said her son had a similar ________. At that time, some other people were very kind to him, and she remembered how ________ that made her feel. She invited me in, gave me food, and called the Red Cross to ________ me. I spent my remaining days in Costa Rica with the head of Red Cross.

I realized that being able to receive kindness is a ________ for other people as well. And kindness ________ more kindness in small ripples(波纹).