1 . Each morning at 6 a.m., Kamaljeet Singh, 57, is up and out of the house. He starts by spending three hours helping ________ food to nearly two dozen drop-off locations across Delhi, India, then ________ the numerous facilities run by the volunteer organization he leads with his brother, Premjit. The organization, Veerji Ka Dera, was founded in 1989 by their father, Trilokchan Singh.

“He was a very ________ man,” says Kamaljeet of his father, who died in 2010. In the 1980s, Trilokchan began organizing volunteers to help him clean temples. Then they began ________one of India’s most underserved groups (弱势群体): the migrant workers who came to Delhi from rural areas. It started with a free breakfast, and eventually the group was also providing basic first aid for minor, often job-related,________.

After his death, Kamaljeet and Premjit, inspired by their father’s lifetime of service, ________ the organization. “We are continuing helping the poor,” says Premjit, 61, “Our aim is that no one goes hungry and ________for in Delhi.”

Veerji Ka Dera now ________ about 2,500 daily wage workers and homeless people a day, in addition to offering basic medical care to as many as 500 people. It’s all made________ by the roughly 250 families who ________ their time to cook, drive, nurse, farm and clean. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with special ________ from the government, it ________ down to feed 5,000 people a day and offer medical care to those ________.

In 2023, the award — the Real Heroes of Rising India — was ________ to them by India’s Health Minister for their ________ act.

2 . I was interested in volunteering at a hospital because both of my parents work in hospitals. I wanted to see what the ________ was after hearing them talk about it. To be more ________, I wanted to work at the VA — Veterans (老兵) Affairs hospital — in Palo Alto because the ________ of VA is “to serve those who served” and I really ________ this very idea.

To my greatest joy, I was ________ the VA program, and throughout this summer break I’ve spent around 110 hours ________ at VA Palo Alto in different departments. To be honest, I had never at all felt more welcomed and ________ in every department I went to. After some initial experiences, I ________ to work in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) since I am interested in computers, and I wanted to see how they are used in a hospital setting.

My overall experience of volunteering at VA can be ________ into the words of “eye-opening and ________.” Throughout my whole life I have been ________ to health care, from both my parents being physicians and my health problems, but I have never ________ been on the other side of the glass, so to speak. What I ________ most about my experience was the ________ to see what it’s like to help people. I want to continue volunteering at VA because I believe there is no other experience that can be as ________ as working in a hospital that treats Veterans.

3 . For the past 18 years, my daughter has been around me all the time. Now that she is in college, the _______ of our relationship has totally changed and our relationship is completely _______. I’m not going to be there every morning to have breakfast with her. I won’t know when she’s mad or when she’s happy. Here’s a little story of our new _______.

A week ago, my daughter wanted to _______ so she called me during the day as I was in meetings. I _______her later on, but she was in class. At midnight, she reached out _______ to ask if we could talk. Well, guess what? I was _______ . I thought we would talk the next day, but she was not   _______ .

Research shows that parents are _______ when their children are grown up, but for me that is when I start to get concerned. I am always left to________ , how can I, as a parent, remain ________to my daughter to guide, support and love through life's changes?   

We may have to ________ the way we communicate. My daughter encouraged me to go digital. That’s how I ventured into the world of social media, following her updates and occasionally sharing my own experiences. Through this   ________ presence, the physical gap is ________and I feel I still have an active role in her life. This experience serves as a reminder that ________, however scary, holds the promise of growth in our shared journey.

4 . What I will be hosting, to be exact, is a series of meditation retreats (冥想静修) to be held this spring. During each retreat, about a hundred _________ will come here from all over the world for a period of a week to ten days to deepen their meditation practices. Some of them are _________, but many have never been to India. My role is to take care of these people during their _________ here. For most of the retreat, the participants will be in _________. For some of them, it will be the first time they’ve _________ silence as a devotional practice, and it can be intense. However, I will be the one person they are _________ to talk to if something is going wrong.

I can help them. I am so _________ to help. All the listening skills I learned as a (n) _________ bartender, all the antennas (直觉) I’ve ever developed throughout my lifetime that have taught me how to _________ what people are feeling — they were all accumulated __________ I could help ease these good people into the difficult task they’ve __________. I am so consumed by __________ at their bravery. These people have __________ their families and lives for a few weeks to go into silent retreat with a crowd of perfect __________ in India. Not everybody does this in their __________.

5 . Last year, my friend, Kydee Williams, and I started a non-profit project because we wanted to do charity work differently. Thus, The Pop-Up Care Shop was _________.

TPUCS is a traveling shop of _________ donated goods for people in need. During the holidays, we _________ clothing drives and then went to women’s shelters. Our main goal was to help inspire women who were _________ with hope as well as bring a little holiday cheer to our local communities. _________ any project or movement wasn’t easy. Brainstorming and coming up with cool ideas was the _________ part, but actually bringing those ideas to life can seem almost _________ at times. However, there were lessons about _________ that we didn’t fully realize until we started this journey.

From our experience, we learned smaller shelters, especially those in less-commercialized areas were often _________ when it came to getting community support. Actually, they were typically more __________ to new and creative ideas and would greatly welcome __________ who offered help. Under our inspiration, many __________ people devoted themselves to non-profit work. Many shelters are understaffed and the staff overworked. Working directly with them helped us __________ the specific needs of the shelter.

While material things like food, clothes, money, and shelter can help people survive, what __________ helps people live is the intangible (无形) necessities like love, presence, patience. Even though we can’t help every single person in the world, we can __________ a world of difference for at least one person.

6 . Forty years ago, Mrs. Austen was my first-grade teacher, an old lady with salt-and-pepper hair, firm but kind, patient and _________ . She let us bake gingerbread men in the school cafeteria —a delightful _________ that amazed me. And whenever we read the “Jack and Janet” books, she wouldn’t let the other kids _________ my classmate Jack or me.

But I came to truly _________ Mrs. Austen when a dress-up day was _________ . On that day, we were encouraged to wear clothes in the _________ of the mid-1800s. My mother, a superb tailor, made a pioneer-style dress for me. I was so proud _________ it as I walked to school that day. When I got there, however, I was the only one in my class who had dressed up, feeling kind of _________ . Mrs. Austen oohed and aahed over my _________ and then went to her office. It didn’t take long before she __________ in a frontier-style dress! She explained that she had asked her husband to bring the costume.

We moved away two years later, and I still __________ that I never told Mrs. Austen how __________ I was to her, a teacher who went out of her way, and even __________ her husband’s help, to keep a little girl from feeling __________ . I had many wonderful teachers throughout the years, but Mrs. Austen has always held a(n) __________ place in my heart.

7 . “What’s your name? ” My fifteen-ear-old daughter, Jessica, asked a stranger on the street. Her eyes sparkled with ________ and her face wore a broad smile. I wish she could make it because she has a disability with autistic (自闭症的). I stood nearby, waiting ________ for any potential result.

To be honest, the ________ nature of hers is a result of her disability. Ever since Jessica was real young, she had ________ right up to strangers on the street and ________ a conversation, never expecting to be refused. Children with autism don’t relate well to others. As her mum, my thoughts are ________. On one hand, I tried my best to prevent her from ________ others. On the other hand, I don’t want her to be discouraged. Happily, when Jessica talks with someone, it always ________ me that people patiently answer her, although they must sense she’s a bit different.

What about this time? Would this man respond kindly or just ________ her and walk away? A few minutes later, Jessica skipped to me. Obviously, it was a successful ________. Jessica shared with me the ________ they had talked about, which would certainly ________ my daughter’s day. The man just treated her like an ordinary girl, nothing special from others.

As we continued on our way, I felt a renewed sense full of ________ for the future. Despite my daughter’s problem, an equal ________ the kind people gave her created a moment of ________ interaction.

8 . Adrienne Tully, an amateur photographer, went to the coast of a beach in Belmar, New Jersey. She planned to take photos of the ______ against the sea. Instead, she was able to ______ a frightening but happy journey. It all started last Sunday morning when she noticed a crowd ______ on the beach. Naturally, she joined them in the ______ of learning what was going on.

For a minute, Adrienne was ______ about what everyone was looking at. From how far away they were, it almost seemed like a bird. Looking closer, ______ , it was clearly a deer who was ______ on a raised rock in the middle of the ocean. The deer made a couple of ______ to swim back to the shore but the turbulent (汹涌的) water ______ all its efforts. Then someone who came out of nowhere ______ rode his surfboard to the deer. After a short magic while, the ______ managed to guide the deer out. Upon ______ ashore, the deer just ran north on the beach. Those watching nearby were no doubt ______ at the way this nameless young man ______ to help. But he somehow disappeared too, leaving people to hope he knows that he is greatly ______ for what he did.

9 . My son, Andrew, is nonspeaking autistict (孤独症的) .

For many years, we have ______ a picture chart, which Andrew uses to communicate. The chart is banged up and ______ . It has been lost, found and rebuilt. Andrew also uses a text-to-voice app on an iPad that conveys his ______. Though far from ______ it helps, these tools offer him the simplest, quickest way to communicate. Years ago, we ______ that Andrew could communicate more than just his basic needs through the use of a letter-board-by pointing to individual letters on a board to ______ words, statements, thoughts. It’s a simple but profound tool. We have ______ the letter-board on the back of his picture chart. Using the letter-board requires significant time and ______ for Andrew, but we persevere.

One Saturday morning on his 15th birthday, we went to a shoe shop to get him a pair of sandals.

We ______ the trip, arriving right when the store opened. Andrew prefers to go shopping when it’s not ______ . “Size 41, please,” I told the two clerks at the shop. Andrew slipped his socked feet into the shoes with no ______ or head banging (signs of distress we have seen in the past) . A perfect ______. Everything was nice. We ______ them up and paid, and I thanked the staff.

As we headed toward the ______ , I said, “It’s Andrew’s birthday today. Fifteen! Got our new shoes and now we’re off to celebrate with family.” “Happy birthday!” the sales assistants replied. “Have fun!”

Instead of having Andrew point to the “thank you” symbol on the picture chart, this time, I paused, and asked Andrew how he’d like to ______ . As I focused on the effort of using the letter-board, and the shop assistants were quiet, watching, Andrew pointed to each letter, one by one: “Thank you.”

10 . The rangoli (印度传统地画艺术) was a giant good-luck charm. Grandma used to make one for the start of the new year. First, she would draw on the floor with chalk. Then, she would fill the drawing with uncooked_____________ rice.

This year, Manju was old enough to help. He____________ paper into a cone (圆锥体) and filled it with rice. Side by side, he placed rice across the drawing together with Grandma. Sometimes his rice skittered outside the drawing, sometimes he used the____________ color. And sometimes he rubbed away the____________ , so Grandma had to redraw it. But____________ , the bright swirls of rice transformed into a beautiful peacock. When Manju admired the peacock, he____________ a small piece of tile (瓷砖) peeking through on Grandma’s side.

A____________ ? But Grandma was away to answer the telephone. Should he fix it?

“I’ll surprise Grandma!” He decided. He____________   across, trying to reach the gap. Almost. His left leg inched up. There! Suddenly, Manju began to ____________ . His proud smile vanished. “No!” He crashed down onto the rangoli, scattering rice____________ .

Manju rose to his feet and pushed the rice back. But the colors were____________ . When Grandma came back, Manju____________ . He said, “I’m sorry. I should have waited for you.” Grandma shook her head. “You saw a____________ and tried to fix it. I’m proud of you.” They picked up the rice,____________   each grain by color. Just before nightfall, they finished fixing the rangoli.

Grandma lit candles around the rangoli. In the flickering light, the peacock seemed____________ with mystical powers. Manju smiled. The new year felt full of good luck, thanks to Grandma—and him.