2 . I used to think my life was perfect. My mom had her dream job and a beautiful office, and I had my own room with a computer and a garden to ________. But one Sunday, everything changed. A hurricane ________ our neighborhood while we were visiting my grandparents in Raleigh. Our kitchen was damaged, and our clean and comfortable home was in ruins.

But something ________ happened. Our neighbors, the Flores family, came to our help. They helped clear broken pieces and ________ us a place to stay. Their ________ was most impressive. We had ________ spoken to them before, but they ________ their home to us and made us feel like family.

We started a new ________ of having weekend dinner together. We invited other families from the neighborhood to join us, and our ________ were filled with laughter and delicious food. It was a beautiful thing to see our ________ come together in a disaster.

I never knew Rosica, their daughter, ________ the hurricane. But she quickly became my friend. She had a gift for ________, and our evenings together were filled with adventure and laughter.

Looking back, I realize that the hurricane ________ unexpected advantages. It brought us closer to our neighbors and ________ our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Sometimes, it takes a(n) ________ to bring out the best in people.

4 . I had always been warmly praised for my shooting ability when I was in high school. But when I went to Ohio State, I discovered that everyone on the team was_________in his hometown.

To win a starting job on the team, I had figured I would have to_________the coach with my shooting ability. But it_________that the team was already full of attacking players and what it needed was someone to_________on defence(防御). Unwillingly, I decided to take that role, but didn't expect the_________was to make all the difference to me later.

One day, when we were_________for a game against the Bucks, I was called out by the coach, Milwaukee, who gave me the_________to guard our court. Though feeling a bit_________, I accepted. Throughout the game, I continued playing the role.

Then, near the end of the game, in a(an) _________to widen the gap, Milwaukee gave me a precious__________. He asked me to organize an attack. Driving up the middle of the court, I__________the ball. It was a__________three-point play and minutes later the championship was ours.

Standing there in that circle of cheering audience, I came to__________the importance of teamwork, Just as Milwaukee said, “__________teams often have one or two players who stand out; good teams have five who work together. It is amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who gets the__________.”

5 . A weak old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and a four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands _______and his eyesight was poor. The family ate together at table, but the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands made eating rather_______ Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, often _______ spilled (泼洒) on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became _______ at the mess (脏乱). “We must do_______about grandfather,” said the son. I’ve had enough of his spilled milk and food on the floor. So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family had their dinner at the dinner table _______. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a _______ bowl. Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather’s _______, he had a tear in his eye. Still, the couple always blamed him when he_______a spoon or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in________

One evening before supper, the father ________his son playing with small wood pieces. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” The boy ________, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up.” The words so ________ the couple that they were speechless. Then tears started to ________ down their cheeks. Though no word was ________, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took grandfather’s hand and led him back to the family dinner table gently. From then on, the grandfather ate every meal with the family.