3 . I was required to read one of Bernie Siegel’s books in college and had a great liking for his positivity from that moment on. The stories of his untraditional _________ and the exceptional patients he wrote about were so _________ to me and had such a big _________ on how I saw life from then on. Who knew that so many years later I would depend on Dr. Bernie and his CDs again to _________ my own cancer experience?

I’m an ambitious _________, and when I started going through chemo (化疗), even though I’m a very _________ person, I lost my drive to write. I was just too tired and not in the _________ . One day, while waiting to go in for _________, I had one of Dr. Bernie’s books in my hand. Another patient _________   what I was reading and started a conversation with me __________ he had one of his books with him as well. It __________ that among other things, he was an eighty-year-old writer. He was __________ a published author, and he was currently __________ on a new book.

We would see each other at various times and __________ friends. Sometimes he wore a duck hat, and I would tell myself, he was definitely a(n) __________ of Dr. Bernie. He really put a __________ on my face. He unfortunately __________ last year due to his cancer, __________ he left a deep impression on me and gave me the __________ to pick up my pen again. I __________ to myself, “If he can do it, then so can I.”

4 . Are parents rational (理性的) about their children? No. Parents aren’t rational because _______ isn’t rational. Young people can understand this about romantic love, but they find it hard to _______ this element (元素) in parental love.

My eldest daughter’s _______ the other day brought this up. “Let me ask you something, Dad,” she began in a tone of patiently controlled _______ that every experienced parent knows.

“I sailed around the Mediterranean in a yacht (游艇) when I was seventeen,” she said. “I hiked through the Pyrenees from Spain to Paris. I’ve done rock climbing and deep-sea diving and slept in rainforests in the jungle of Indonesia. Right?”

“Right,” I said, “So _______?”

“So this,” she went on. “When I go to the corner drugstore to pick up some shampoo, why do you always tell me to be _______ when I cross the street?”

There is no _______ answer a parent can give to this.

All I could mumble (嘟囔) in _______ was that when I was 50, my mother would _______ me not to drive too fast. If I were 80 and she were still alive, I would be getting the ________ warning. No matter the ________, a child is a child.

There is something else, too, that children find it hard to ________ . When they are far away, there is nothing we can do about their ________ . They are in the hands of the gods. Parents try not to ________about it.

But when the children are ________ , the old protective urge quickly comes back, and it doesn’t ________ how far they have been or what experiences they have got through.

Most ________ happen around the corner, not in the rainforest. The most instinctive (本能的) act of almost every creature is to ________ its young, and with humans this ________ stays for a lifetime.

In the parent’s mind, a child ages but does not ________. Rational? No. But if we were rational, would we want children at all?

5 . Ice cream can’t cure cancer or bring back a lost love, but it can make one feel better for a while. About 18 months ago, my father was in hospital recovering from a major lung operation. My mother had recently_________ , and my father had taken the loss of his partner of 55 years very hard and had lost interest in ________. Trying to get him to_________ each day was quite a chore (苦差事) as he didn’t want anything. The one thing,_________, that he would ask us to bring him was ice-cream. One evening, to our ________, he refused to eat the ice-cream,_________ I placed it in a staff room freezer (冰箱). A little while later, my son decided he wanted it, so I ________ it for him. As I passed another ward (病房), a ________ asked, “Are there more ice-creams?” When I explained the ________, she apologized. She then said that she had cancer and could eat very little,_________ the occasional ice-cream. The next evening, I decided to buy two ice-creams. On the way to Dad’s room, I stopped in at the ________ woman’s room, and ________ her the ice-cream I’d bought for her. She was ________ stunned (大吃一惊) that I had thought of her, and ________ the gift with tears in her eyes. I spoke with her for a few minutes,_________ what was happening in my family and listened to her ________ story of pain and suffering. It was apparent that she did not ________ many visitors, and the ice-cream and our short chat meant a great deal to her. I ________ the gesture (举动) a few days later, and this time was_________ with a huge hug. I never even thought to ask her name, and never saw her again, but it made me realize that an act of ________ can be more rewarding when you give it, rather than receive it.

6 . I had worried myself sick over Simon’s mother coming to see me. I was a new ________ and I gave an honest account of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn’t read his own handwriting. ________he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected (反映) his ________.

So when Simon’s mother entered the room, my palms (手掌心) were sweating. I was completely ________ for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you,” she said, ________ me beyond speech. Because of me, Simon had become a different person. He talked of how he________ me, he had began to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had ________spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. She wanted to tell me how grateful she was for the ________I had nurtured (培养) in her son. She kissed me again and left. 

I sat, stunned (惊呆), for about half an hour, ________what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing ________ to that boy without even knowing it? What I finally came to ________ was one day, several months before, when some students were ________ reports in the front of the class, Jeanne spoke ________, and to encourage her to raise her voice, I had said, “Speak up. Simon’s the expert on this. He is the ________one you have to convince, and he can’t hear you in the ________of the room.” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention, ________ more, and became happy. And it was all because he ________to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed ________was the one who took the last seat that day.

It taught me the most ________lesson over the years of my teaching career, and I’m thankful that it came ________ and positively. A small kindness can indeed make a difference.

7 . Afroz Shah, a lawyer in Mumbai, hasn’t had a weekend off in four years. But he hasn’t spent this time preparing for _________.

His mission? Saving the world’s oceans from _________ pollution.

It’s a calling he found in 2015 after moving to a community in Mumbai called Versova Beach. He had played there as a child and was_________to see how much it had _________. The sand was no longer _________ because it was covered by a layer of garbage more than five feet thick — most of it plastic waste.

“The whole beach was like a_________of plastic,” he said. “It hurt me. The _________ mess.” What Shah had seen is part of a global environmental crisis. More than 8 million tons of plastic _________in the world’s oceans each year. It’s predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. “Plastic in the ocean is a _________. And the sea species have no choice at all, ” Shah said. “We are ______________ their habitats.”

In October 2015, Shah began ________________ up plastic waste from the beach every Sunday morning. At first, it was just him and a neighbor, and then he began calling on others to join in. Word ________________ and with the help from social media, more volunteers got ________________.

For Shah, the work has always been a ________________ journey, but it has earned global attention. After he was ________________ as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations in 2016, Shah now devotes nearly all of his free time to this ________________.

He’s now spent 209 weekends on this mission, ________________ more than 200,000 volunteers, some of whom are young students, to join him in what’s been called the world’s biggest beach cleanup. By October 2018, Versova Beach was ________________ clean and Shah’s cleanups expanded to another beach as well as a stretch of the Mithi River and other regions of India.

“This world talks too much. I think we must talk ________________ and do action more, ” he said when interviewed by CNN in October 2019.“We are a smart species. Well adapt. We’ll learn. And with these youngsters rising up, I see ________________.”

9 . Different colors usually stand for different feelings. Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like _______. Red is used for signs of _______ such as STOP signs and fire engines. Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a _______ color. They associate orange with happiness. Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful color. They associate yellow with happiness too. Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing color.

In general, people _______ two groups of colors : warm colors and cool colors. The warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Where there is warm color and a lot of light, people usually want to be _______. Those who like to be with _______ like red. The cool colors are black and blue. _______ are these colors, people are usually worried. Some scientists say that time seems to _______ more slowly in a room with warm colors. They suggest that a warm color is a good way for a living room or a _________. People who are having a rest or are eating do not want time to pass quickly. ________ colors are better for some offices if the people working there want time to pass quickly.

10 . Just as we take care of our friends and families, our homes and Mother Earth take care of us. Our homes give us a place of shelter that ________ between us and the rest of the world. The earth is a(n) _________ giver of life and the keeper of our physical and spiritual needs. Her rich ________ bring us up, give us air, and offer us cooling shade. Her waters ________ our thirst. Yet it is easy to take both of these wonderful _________ for granted. ________ the thanks you feel toward your home and Mother Earth for the gifts each   ________   you. It can help you stay   ________ of where many of the gifts in your life come from. Each time you give thanks, you’ll be ________ of the importance of caring for your home and for Mother Earth. There is a simple and beautiful _________ you can find to show your thanks. Begin by finding a ________ place where you can be alone. Sit comfortably and breathe deeply ________ you feel relaxed and then read the following out loud:

“Thank you, home, for allowing me to live ________ your walls. Thank you for allowing me to stay strong and ________ me. Thank you, Mother Earth, for the land I ________ on and farm. Thank you, plants, minerals (矿物质), and animals on the land for allowing me to ________ your beauty and your amazement of life, and for the ________ of living with all of you on this earth. Thank you for the wisdom and       ________ you bring to us.”

You can do so as often as you like and anytime you feel particularly thankful for the many gifts that you have ________. Each time you do this, you’ll strengthen your connection with all that _________ and supports you.