1 . A crow (乌鸦) became rabbits’ friend. It all began when Andrew Silverwood heard of a helpless ______ crow lying injured on a busy road. Without ______, Andrew decided to begin a crow rescue mission, knowing that the bird’s chance of survival was ______ in such a busy street.

Upon ______ the location, Andrew found the baby bird had fallen from his nest. In most situations, the best ______ for the baby bird would be to return the animal to his nest. However, as the nest sat high upon a tree, Andrew had no means of ______ the bird with his family. Besides, the crow had a broken leg, which would require ______ for the animal to survive. Then he took the crow home.

The Silverwoods ______ intended to provide care for the crow until he could be released back into the wild. However, fate had ______ plans in store for the crow, as Andrew soon found there was an unexpected ______ between the crow and his rabbits. The pet rabbits welcomed the crow into their cage, leading to a heartwarming and unconventional ______.

As days turned into weeks, the crow ______ the rabbit family. Surprisingly, the crow took on the characteristics of his rabbit companions.

Despite their differences, this little crow, his human parents, and his rabbit friends ______ happily. Their heartwarming tales serve as a gentle ______ that every living being deserves love and care, regardless of their ______.

2 . I vividly remember the day when my husband and I set off on a new journey to Tanzania. He had been ______ a position there as a Civil Engineer. Accompanying him, my aim was to find a job shortly after. As you can imagine, I was very excited, even rather ______, as I’d never been abroad before. So, my first ______ was to get settled in this small town called Dodoma in the middle of Tanzania.

As we got off the train, however, at six in the morning, a lady came rushing along the ______ towards us. Completely out of breath, she said, “We’ve heard you’re from England and our school ______ needs an English teacher — please say you’ll help us.” I felt tired and ______ a shower after the journey. Though shocked by her ______, for some reason or other, I agreed to ______ it!

I washed, changed, had a quick bite to eat and was ______ to the two local teachers and my ______ at 8 o’clock. It felt like being thrown into the deep end, as my teaching timetable began ______ at 8:30! Although I’d hardly had time to get my breath, I never ______ my sudden decision.

Though my entry into this ______ was unexpected, I found joy in teaching those youngsters and gradually became part of the local community in the following years. I’ve been fortunate to ______ lifelong friendships, which has left a lasting ______ on both my students and myself.

3 . Dad often says that hope is everywhere. In his fifties, he lost his job. But he managed to get the chance of a newspaper delivery. It became a family _________. Dad drove around delivering the papers most weekday mornings. We all helped.

Delivering papers is one of the most _________ jobs you can imagine. I was young, but I always worked. When I was   _______ enough to drive, Dad bought a car that I was _________ to drive to high school. My brothers and sister were all _________ and living away by this time. So I became the No.2 _________ on Sunday mornings. Not only would I _________ the papers, but I would jump into the car and drive a section of the _________. Mike was a hired worker, a year younger than me. We worked with _________ and my parents really trusted us.

The paper delivery, though very hard work, gave me many things. First, it __________ me with my father in a way that I __________ needed. He trusted my driving __________, and gave me directions on how to drive down icy steep streets in winter. I felt I was a __________ member of my family. Besides, I learned to love the early morning sounds of the city, the awesome quiet of __________ neighborhoods, and the relationship that only two teenagers working together could ever __________.

4 . Dreaming of photographing the world’s beauty, I wrote a travel wish list and hung it on my wall, not expecting to actually go anywhere. However, a local photo contest gave me a _________. I chose the Grand Canyon, one of my bucket list places to visit, since I got my first camera.

The journey was _________, with unique touches like aspen trees towering and lizards (蜥蜴)rushing about. After a day’s _________, I decided to have a good rest and start fresh the next day for the mission to _________ the Canyon’s grandeur.

The next morning, I woke up early to capture (拍摄) the _________. Reaching the overlook, I found an elderly man alone on a bench. After exchanging _________, he noticed my camera and _________if I’d captured any favorites. I _________ shared a couple of photos, not anticipating any further conversation that followed. He _________, revealing that he and his late wife, Betty, visited the Grand Canyon annually for their anniversary. Her __________the previous year marked his first return without her and he spent each sunrise reflecting on their treasured __________. His heartfelt tales __________ me deeply, as I, too, had experienced a recent loss, making the moment __________.

Returning home with numerous photos, I __________the best from my adventures for the contest. This journey taught me the value of chasing dreams, embracing challenges, and __________with others through shared moments, making it a truly enriching experience.

5 . During my teens, I was the champion of the sports day every single year, and my mother won the moms’ trophy (奖杯) every single year. Why? Because she was always chasing me to _______ me for various “crimes” I had committed, and I was running _______ not to get my ass kicked.

We had a very Tom and Jerry relationship. She was the strict disciplinarian; I was the _______ boy in the whole neighborhood. She would send me out to buy _______ , and I wouldn’t come right home because I’d be using the _______ from milk to play video games at the supermarket. Lost in the games, time would _______ away until a sudden jolt (震惊) of reality arrived in the form of my mother’s belt-wielding (挥舞) presence. Thus began our _______ race.

When I was little, she always caught me, but as I got older and faster, and when speed _______ her she’d use her wits. If I was about to get _______, she would turn to the ________ weapon, the two magical words “Stop! Thief!”. In my birthplace, nobody gets ________ in other people’s business-unless it’s public safety incident, and then everybody ________. So with her yelling “thief”, even strangers would instantly join the ________, mistaking me for a genuine thief.

Reflecting on those exciting days two decades later, I’ve come to understand that amid the ________ of our wild chases, amid laughter and shouts, my mother and I were deeply ________ by our unique, unforgettable game.

6 . When AI was initially emerging, I had a fear of job losses. I was afraid that my skills and knowledge would become out of date.

But then, something _________ my mind. I came across ChatGPT, a powerful and skilled AI system that can generate natural language for diverse _________. ChatGPT can create poems, stories, songs, and more. It can also understand and communicate fluently in different languages, which were previously _________.

Amazed by the creativity and intelligence of ChatGPT, I realized that AI is not a threat, but a _________ to explore skills and find greater opportunities for growth by _________ our capabilities. Hence I started to _________ the idea of learning and working with AI. I enrolled in online courses, read books and articles, and joined communities _________ to AI.

Ultimately, I _________ that AI is not a magic black box that can do everything superiorly to humans. It is a(n) _________ field that requires human input, guidance, and collaboration (协作). It is not merely about technical skills, but also about ____________ skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, and lifelong learning. I learned to ____________ the value of human-AI interaction and ____________ the strengths of both humans and machines to achieve better outcomes.

From my learning journey, I ____________ new skills and insights that helped me advance my career. I no longer fear the potential ____________ of jobs. I’m sure AI is a stepping stone towards a more progressive and ____________ world.

7 . When realizing the Internet was robbing me of too much time, I decided to have a(n) _______: doing Tech-Free Sundays.

On the night before my no-tech _______ starts, I told everyone who might get in touch with me that I wouldn’t be _______ until 9 pm on Sunday. Did this feel unpleasant? Yes. But it also felt _______: Everyone uses WeChat or the telephone to _______ others. If I am off the network, it seems my _______ to inform those who might need me.

The next day, I turned off my phone. I read. I thought. I used a _______ to make a grocery list on paper. I _______ my dog in the neighborhood, and then, because I had nothing else to do, I took her to the pet shop. “See how _______ I am! I can leave the Internet and live in the real world.” I thought.

But by 8 pm, I was ________ the minutes until the experiment ended. For better or worse, my ________ is online, and most of our work can’t leave the Internet. And I was anxious to order a hat online. Then the clock ________ struck 9.

Through this ________, I’ve realized there is so much time when you are disconnected from the Internet. I’ll ________ taking tech-free baby steps: turning off the phone; ________ intentional periods away from my computer; being present in real life.

8 . My mom is the greatest mom ever. She seems to have the _________ to solve any challenge. Also, whatever the situation is, she _________ any challenge with a positive attitude.

One day I saw my father, who was out of work, looking at my mom with a worried face. We hadn’t paid rent because of _________ problems, so we had to move out of the house. My sister and I were _________ and my mom comforted us with smiles as if any problem could be _________ easily.

That whole week she tried her best to _________ a place for rent. Worse still, we also had nothing to eat since the food my dad had bought the week before had _________. Even though she didn’t show pain and _________ then, I felt how much it hurt her not to provide a shelter and food for us.

After that whole week of seeing her struggle, _________ fortune smiled at my family. There was a place near my school, which __________ my family even though it was pretty small. Afterwards, my father got a job and could afford the rent and the food. Relief and happiness __________ anxiety and worry on our faces.

Things like these __________ to make me ad mire my mom’s power. When bad situations __________, there are some people complaining about their misfortune, but my mom has the __________ that horrible moments in life should be a chance to become stronger. When things seem to be the worst, we believe she can __________ carry us through the test.

9 . When Chandra saw his baby girl, Karunia, for the first time, he wept. But as he looked upon his little daughter’s face and hands, the dreams and hopes he had prayed for came _______.

The girl’s fingers were formed together into a club (一团), where there had five _______ tiny fingers and nails because of Apert syndrome (综合征), which _______ hands and feet while there is no cure. He wrapped the baby in a blanket to cover her feet and hands before handing her to his wife with a(n) _______ smile. Then Chandra called his friend to help break the news of their daughter’s _______ to his wife, Angelina. “I just cried and wondered why,” said Angelina.

Neither Chandra nor Angelina had a good education and they _______ to care for the baby girl who needed _______ care. But help came from the local Compassion Survival Program when the girl was a year old.

_______, the couple had a better understanding of their baby’s disability. Their fears and anxieties _______, and they accepted her condition.

Early intervention and monthly ________ checkups helped Karunia to become healthy. Staff helped the family to ________ a government program for low-income earners that funded a special surgery to create fingers on her right hand, while the program ________ the costs of her medicine. A second surgery ________ to provide her with more ________ in her right hand.

“She is our own flesh and blood, and we have to ________ her for she came into our life,” said Angelina.

10 . That morning in September, at a five-kilometer race, I waited for my 11-year-old son at the finish line. He’d run 30:34 at another 5k in late spring, so I ________ he could run a 5k in about 30 minutes. When I didn’t see him at the 35-minute mark, I began to ________.

It’d already been an ________ morning. About an hour earlier, when we drove into town, my son noticed a lovely tiny green tree cricket in my car. It jumped onto my son’s hand where it stayed so long that we eventually gave it a name: Little Friend.

Minutes before the race, it jumped onto the sidewalk. Maybe it wanted to seek freedom, but this wasn’t a safe place due to the ________ pedestrian traffic. So my son knelt and ________ his hand. Little Friend came back. But I told him he would ________ it during the race.

I ran well and felt thrilled at the finish line. However, that ________ gave way to anxiety when my son didn’t show up. I ________ asking people if they’d seen him. No one had. So I returned to the race headquarters. In my confusion, I didn’t even see him ________ the finish line. But there he was, just ahead of the 45-minute mark, with Little Friend ________ on his right thumb.

My ________ were wrong. My son didn’t run fast, and he didn’t lose Little Friend. These two ________ seemed somehow related. He ________ a cold he was getting over, but I knew it was more than that.

Sometimes life gives you something beautiful, but fragile. There’s no need to ________ ahead. Treat it ________ and hold on when you can.