3 . I still remember the day I was driving to the supermarket I own. When I came out, I found a boy cleaning my car with a brush. I went over and patted (拍) him _________ the shoulder, which surprised him very much. In no time he began to smile at me, so I was sure he _________ some money. From the shoes he was wearing I could hardly imagine how _________ he was. So I offered him a $100 bill. To my great surprise, he _________ to take it. When I was wondering what he was doing, he said, “I was waiting here for 4 hours, waiting for you. Your car is so beautiful and I like it, but I don’t need that.” I knew he was mentioning the _________.

As he had refused the money, I offered to drive him around the town. The boy became so _________ that he got into the car at once, “Would you please drive me home? It is only about 3 miles.” What the boy wanted to do was to show off to his friends and his family.

As soon as I stopped, he jumped out and ran into an old building, telling me to wait there for some time. Very soon he came out, saying to a little girl on his back, “Look at this beautiful car. I will buy you _________ some day.”

I noticed his sister had a pale face. What’s worse, her legs were too thin, and she was unable to _________.

After that day I went to his home several times. And I got to know more about him and his family. Poor as they were, the boy once again refused my money, and said, “I can _________ money by myself, thank you.” Soon I told my manager of the supermarket that a boy would go to work here the next day. No matter how poor we are, we would __________ give in (屈服) to ourselves.

4 . This morning, I started very late in my car to my office. I was in a hurry to reach my office as someone was waiting for me there. Unfortunately, I got _______ in a traffic jam. All the cars stood up in a line, and drivers honked(按喇叭)at each other to get rid of their _______. I got down from my car and moved forward in search of the _______ of the traffic jam. At a turning a young man was trying hard to move forward his car that might have _______. Everyone there was just staring at the man without coming to offer help to him. At the same time, they were _______ the man for the traffic jam. The number of cars was gradually increasing. The man looked _______ as everyone I put him to the scorn(奚落)for creating this public inconvenience. Nobody was going to forgive the man for his fault.

Seeing this, I _______ rushed to help the man, followed by other four drivers. We worked together to push the car. Very soon it started with loud sound. The man smiled in _______ the moment his car worked again. Then he thanked us and made an apology to everyone there and moved off.

After that I went into deep thinking over the human attitude in the times of crisis(危机). Every human on this earth unavoidably make mistakes. When other people do that we blame, but when we are in the same condition we desire to gain _______. In the times of crisis we should try to solve the problem instead of blaming others. Forgiving is a __________ choice, as it not only avoids conflicts further, but also spreads love.

5 . For nearly ten years, I have spent my Monday evenings attending rehearsals for my amateur choir(合唱队). Mondays are not my favourite day, and I often arrive in a bad mood, but by the end of the rehearsal, I usually feel energized. The singing does me good. So do the people. With a few exceptions, I would not describe my fellow choir members as close friends. We exchange brief chats, smiles and jokes-—but that is enough for me to come away feeling a little better about the world.

There is no choir practice now, and won’t be for a long time. I miss it. In lockdown, I do not feel short on emotional support, but I do feel short of friendly faces and casual conversations. Another way of putting this is that I miss my “weak ties”.

In 1973, Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, published a paper entitled “The Strength of Weak Ties”. Until then, scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the quality of relationships with close friends and family. Granovetter showed that quantity mattered, too. He categorized a person’s social world as “strong ties” and “weak ties”. His central insight was that for new ideas, weak ties are more important to us than strong ones. As Granovetter pointed out, the people whom we often talk to swim in the same pool of information as we do. We depend on acquaintances whom we see infrequently to bring us news of opportunities.

This was the idea behind the Pixar building, the design of which was overseen by Steve Jobs. The building has a large central hall through which employees from different departments have to pass several times a day. Jobs wanted colleagues to bump into each other and shoot the breeze(闲聊). He believed in the power of these seemingly random conversations to fire up creativity.

Encounters with weak ties can be good for our mental well-being, too. Gillian Sandstrom, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Essex, investigated the extent to which people get happiness from weak-tie relationships. She found that on days when a person had a greater number of casual interactions with weak ties-say, a local barista(咖啡师), a neighbour, a member of yoga class-they experienced more happiness and a greater sense of belonging.

For these reasons, we should continue to find ways to cultivate weak-tie relationships, during lockdown and beyond. Sandstrom adds that we can also engage in more weak-tie-style interactions with our strong ties. The goal is to let others know that you are thinking of them without asking for a great deal of time, energy or attention.

6 . My mom is about to have a spinal (脊柱的) operation. The operation is_______ minor, but does carry a risk of paralysis (瘫痪). Friends and family have reacted to this news by talking in such pessimistic terms that Mom has come to_______ this kind of talk as “psychological theft”. It occurs when other people increase your anxiety _______ providing comfort.

Last week Mom ran into Geoff who works for the local school. “How are you?” he asked. “Not great,” she replied, “I have been having some trouble with my back and I’m going to need an operation.” “Oh, the back is the most _______ place to operate on! My mom had that and she was in terrible pain.” He responded. Geoff’s _______ had been kind. He’d given his own mother’s story to show sympathy, _______ Mom only heard danger and pain.

People could have alternative things that would be equally true, but more familiar to patients. “The specialists in our hospitals are among the best in the world.”—That’s a good one. “You’re going to feel much better _______ .”—That’s another.

I’m not suggesting patients should be _______ from the reality of the risks they’re taking. But if the decision to have an operation can’t really be _______, what’s the purpose of stressing the________? It’s just common sense to say, “Get well soon, and how can I help?”

7 . Once, I was invited to see a performance by my friends. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.

After the host made a brief introduction, the young musician, Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes, was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the piano. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. About ten minutes into Patrick’s performance, someone came on the stage and said, “I’d like to share a seven-minute video.” Then the lights went dim.

Patrick Henry Hughes was born with no eyes and the inability to fully extend his arms and legs, which left him disabled for life. However, as a child, he was fitted with artificial eyes (义眼) and placed in a wheelchair. Before his first birthday, he discovered the piano. His mom said, “I could hit any note on the piano, and within one or two tries, he’d get it.” By his second birthday, he could play simple songs as requested. His father was excited. “We might not play baseball, but we can play music together.”

Later, Patrick became a junior at the University of Louisville. His father attended classes with him and he made nearly all A’s. He was also a part of the marching band. He and his father did it together. They attended all the band practices and performances.

But even more than his unbelievable musical talent, it was Patrick’s “attitude of gratitude” that touched my soul. On stage, between songs, he talked to the audience about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, “life made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! It gave me the ability… the musical gift I have… the great opportunity to meet new people.”

When his performance was over, Patrick and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes.

8 . Years ago, my grandmother was in a nursing home. She was a retired university professor, which brought her an ocean of _______ she had taught before.

_______ from my grandmother, almost no one came to see the old man next door. He was _______ most of the time.

Once I greeted (打招呼) him, “How are you doing recently?” He gave me a(an) _______, saying nothing. Thinking he was _______ of hearing. I raised my voice and asked again. He just shook his head slightly. After a long while, finding I was _______ there, he just said, “Fine.” Then he looked away. I had to shut up, feeling rather _______.

Later, I learned that the old man had got quite a few companies from his family. Since he was not a good _______, he annoyed many people and even made his family and friends pull away. And _______, his companies all failed.

So what is the most important __________ a person can have? Perhaps you think making money is the answer. No! But the ability to __________ your thoughts is. It’s extremely important for a person to learn to put what he thinks into __________. It makes a relationship __________ and a career flourish (繁荣). I’m afraid this is something many of us don’t have. Just think: How many of us have ever __________ those who love us just because we are not good at speaking? So, more often than not, it is not what we think but how we speak that __________ how far we can go in life.

10 . In December 2004, I had just become a professional photographer and was working on a project about communities who live on the sea.

One morning, I went out to _______ with six fishermen in a small boat. It was about 8 am, and the sea looked different. The water was totally still.

20 minutes later, one fisherman pointed to a small white _______ far in the distance. It was getting bigger and bigger very quickly. A tsunami(海啸)wave was _______ through the ocean! We were stuck. I began to feel really _______. Then the captain took control. He told us where to sit, so we would _______ the boat. My camera was in my backpack. I wanted to picture the scene, but I couldn’t. Any movement would imbalance the boat. Suddenly there was a huge noise. The wave _______ the boat, but the incredibly _______ captain managed to swerve(使突然转向)us up and onto the wave. We surfed it for a few seconds. Then the boat glided(滑行)from the tip of the wave down into safe waters. Everyone let out heavy sighs. The captain had _______ us all.

Surviving gave me a deep understanding of how _______ life can be. The picture I wanted to take on the boat remains “the one that got away” - I think every photographer has one. But mine ________ my life.