1 . If you could save someone’s life, would you? That question was ______ in the hearts of Julia Harlin’s children. Their mother was at risk of dying without a liver transplant. Julia did not want her children to become living ______ , but the kids had other ideas. Eileen Harlin and two of her siblings (兄弟姐妹) made the ______ to have testing as possible ______ without telling their mom.

After securing a good test result, Eileen phoned her mother, “Hey, don’t get ______ , but I’ve been tested to see if I’m a match. And I am, and I want to do it. How can you be mad when your daughter is going to save her mom’s life?” The news went around and was ______ tears all around.

The transplant surgery went ______ on August 16, 2022, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Unfortunately, Julia received bad news shortly after getting her new ______ of life. She was experiencing kidney ______ due to her liver disease, so even though the liver was mending, the kidneys had too much damage to ______ .

Without a second thought, Eileen ______ and another transplant was ______ on December 19, 2023, at the same facility.

Daniel G. Maluf, M. D. , the surgeon for both of Julia’s procedures, said, “The mom’s kidney function recovered ______. And both of them were home two or three days after the transplant. Julia is a wonderful patient, very ______ of her kids’ efforts. And obviously, the hero of the story is Eileen, who ______ twice to save her mother.”

2 . As a traveler with a disability, I have always avoided cruises. This expedition-style small-ship cruise changed my mind.

When our expedition leader ________ we would make a Zodiac (卓迪船) ________ at Jan Mayen, a tiny island in the Arctic Ocean, I stepped out onto my balcony aboard our ship, ________ to find clear skies and calm seas. ________, I was met with a gust of wet wind and a view of mist-covered mountains in the distance. Jan Mayen wasn’t on our itinerary (行程), and due to its ________ location and often unpredictable weather, very few people ever ________ the island. I knew the ________ weren’t ideal, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.

In fact, the possibility of ________ adventures was one of the reasons I chose this small-ship cruise. So I ________ joined my shipmates in the mud room, where we put on waterproof clothes and life jackets before hopping in the Zodiacs for a bumpy ________ to a black-sand beach. Even the fierce wind and rain couldn’t ________ our excitement as we ________ our way to the beach and hiked to a viewpoint, pausing to photograph little purple flowers ________ the volcanic rocks.

Our visit there wasn’t about what we could do or see. It was an opportunity to just be—to exist in a brief ________ on a tiny, often inaccessible, volcanic rock in the Arctic. And that’s something I never thought I’d ________ in my lifetime.

3 . Rachel was looking forward to the final project. Mr. Hill required them to work in pairs to make it ______. He came up to Rachel and said, “Rachel, I want you to work with Jane.”

Jane! Rachel looked over at the girl —________ brown hair, silly clothes, and seldom speaking. “This project is ________, ” thought Rachel, when Jane walked over to Rachel’s desk and just ________ there.

“OK,” Rachel let out a ________. “Do you have any ideas?”

“I thought we could do a film,” Jane said.

“Yeah, right,” laughed Rachel. “________?”

Jane continued, “I’ve been playing around with making ________ for a while.” Jane took out a laptop. “This one is about dreams,” she said about her first ________ , which was amazing. “And this one is about my mom.” The short clip was a ________ to Jane’s mother, who had died recently. Rachel was deeply moved and really ________ her partner’s excellent skills at making videos, “Could you show me the process to do this ________?” Jane nodded, “Yeah, I can.”

After that, Rachel spent all her free time learning about the camera and about ________ from Jane. She also learned about her ________ friend.

Eventually, it was ________ day. When it was done, Mr. Hill passed an approving look at them. Everyone ________ for their perfect cooperation. Rachel looked hard at Jane and flashed her a little smile.

4 . A son and his father are walking on the mountains. _________, the son falls, hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhh!!!” To his surprise, he hears the voice _________, somewhere in the mountain: “AAAhhhhhh!!!”

_________, he shouts: “Who are you?” He receives the _________: “Who are you?” And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!” The _________ answers: “I admire you!” Angered at the response, he screams: “Coward (懦夫)” He receives the answer: “Coward!”

He looks to his father and asks: “What’s going on?” The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.” Again the man screams: “You are a _________!” The voice answers: “You are a champion!” The boy is _________, but does not understand. Then the father _________: “People call this ECHO (回音), but_________this is LIFE. It gives you __________ everything you say or do.

Our life is__________a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, __________ more love in your heart. If you want more competence (能力) in your team, __________ your competence. This relationship __________ everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it. “YOUR LIFE IS NOT ACOINCIDENCE. IT’S A __________OF YOU!”

5 . Dylan and Sara are siblings. Their parents had always directed them to meet at a particular place if anybody got ________. They had never considered such a thing before. But now, in the airport terminal, Dylan was ________ his sister. He could have planned a reunion spot.

Dylan could impossibly ________ the plane without his sister. He ________ himself by the possibility that she must be somewhere in the airport. Instead of moving, Dylan tried to ________ what his sister was wearing. A red ________!

The sea of people continued to ________ past Dylan as he stood fast, searching ________ for a glimpse of a red sweater. It was 4:48. Their plane boarded at 5:00. Hoping that his sister had walked to Gate 34C as well as ________ about missing their flight, Dylan made a ________. Like a ship changing course, Dylan turned sharply down the hall that led to Gate 34C．

At the hallways, Sara saw Dylan ________ her and hurry toward Gate 34C. She fell into step beside her brother. “________ timing! I was concerned we would be late,” she said, before he had noticed her ________.

“Where did you come from?” Dylan exclaimed, trying to hide his ________ at seeing her.

Sara ________ not to smile. “What do you mean? I’ve been right behind you this whole time.”

6 . When my son Reace celebrated his sixth birthday two years ago, he made a wish that I would get a transplant. Less than a week later, his wish came true when I received new _________.

Born with a breathing disease, I was able to manage my _________ without a hospital visit until I was 23. At 30, _________, it steadily worsened and I was _________ for a transplant. I started having check-ups once a year, then every six months, then every three months until I was _________ living at the hospital and reliant on oxygen to survive. Everyday _________ like having a shower or brushing my hair became _________.

After four months on the list, I _________ the call to say a pair of lungs was available. The transplant was successful and the _________ was noticeable. Before my transplant I had been so __________, I couldn’t even walk from the couch to the front door without __________ my breath—and it was only six paces. __________, I was so used to being breathless that I didn’t know any difference. I had __________ what it would be like to be a __________ person and now I know. I can do everything an ordinary mum would do: housework, workout, or taking Reace to basketball.

I am extremely grateful to my __________ and his family.

7 . As my son entered adolescence, we spent most of our time in separate rooms. I know it’s _______ for teenagers to shut themselves away, but sometimes I find myself trying to think up ways to _______ him out of his bedroom.

_______ by this desire, I booked two tickets to Beijing for the September school holidays. With hurriedly packed luggage and a basic plan built around some last-minute Google searches, we _______ the airport. We landed _______ and excited at 4: 30 am. There is something very freeing about arriving in a place where you have no _______. We just walked for hours every day, _______ when we were hungry, wandering back streets, sharing more _______ than we’d shared since he was very little. Within a day he’d become the _______ , and I was the lost one. He taught me how to ________ shared electric bikes when we arrived at Xiangshan. He showed me how to accelerate and led me speeding up and down hills.

I saw him ________ in China, not the child running late for school or forgetting to eat carrots and peas, but as someone taller than me who understood when to ________ on a train so someone older could take his seat, and how to ________ buying things with his own money.

Travelling meant we were more like ________. And instead of complaining about the ________ version of him, I saw the adult he was becoming.

8 . The year ending, it’s time to do my charity donations. I pick up my pen, but instead of writing the checks, I just hold it, _______.

Last week, two websites I wrote for said they decided to“_______cautiously for the gloomy market” . Yesterday I was e-mailed from the magazine I frequently _______, saying no more articles. Although my part-time teaching helps pay the _______, I haven’t got as many calls lately. To save money, the board is _______schools, meaning fewer teachers are needed.

So, can I really _______to give to charity? Doesn’t charity begin at home? My home. I could be tempted to _______ my check book by those thoughts, but I don’t.

My house is worth less now than it was for the _______market, but I still own it. Since I’m not looking to sell, I can wait until the economic _______ends. My fridge isn’t bursting with food, which I regularly donate, but some friends aren’t as ________. One lost six teenth because she couldn’t afford ________ care while I just had one repaired. Yes, the bill ________almost as much as the operation did, but the pain ________ soon.

Suddenly, I feel so lucky and rich that I hold my pen determinedly and write ________. Future is unpredictable, but now I can share my good ________ with others. Charity beginning at home shouldn’t stay there.

9 . The elementary school in Minnesota has a great playground. But it wasn’t _______ to children with some kind of physical disabilities. There was no wheelchair merry-go-round or any adaptive _______ in the playground. And the students of Betsy Julien’s fifth grade class felt like that should _______. Wyatt Feucht, one of the students, told CBS News, “It just didn’t seem _______ that some kids were just left out.” So, they asked their teacher if she could buy the equipment for the playground. Julien said yes but _______ the costs to be around $300.

So, the children decided to _______ the money themselves. They _______ bake sales, saved their money and went door to door to ask for   _______. With the _______ of the Glen Lake Parent Teacher Organization, they ________ reached their goal. Julien is ________ of her students. She told the news channel, “My future as an adult is ________ knowing that this generation of students, of changemakers, sees something that needs fixing, and they ________ for it headfirst.” And the students with physical disabilities are really ________, too. John Buettner, who is in a wheelchair, told CBS, “First time I set foot on this playground I’m probably going to start crying from seeing the ________ that all the school has made.”

10 . Eric loses his dog, Nova, on a walk. She has pulled the leash (绳子) from his hand in ________ of a rabbit. He puts up signs, ________ neighbors, and enlists friends to help search for Nova, but with no ________.

A week later, a beautiful woman named Vanessa shows up at Eric’s front door. She has Nova. After Nova and Eric reconnect in a chaotic, ________ display of affection, Eric thanks the woman. They talk for a while and seem to ________. Soon, Eric and Vanessa fall in love.

A couple of months go by. While driving on his way to pick up Vanessa, Eric is T-boned at full speed by a distracted driver who ________ a red light. Eric is ________ unconscious. Later, he finds himself in a hospital. A doctor ________ Eric of what has happened and explains that he has suffered a severe head ________ and that they will need to run a brain scan to ________ if there’s any chance of permanent brain damage.

The next day, the doctor comes into Eric’s room and tells him they have found a tumor (肿瘤) in his brain. “________, we only catch a tumor after someone realizes something’s wrong when they start to feel the ________ which is almost always too late, but this tumor is caught before it grows into any other areas of your brain, which in almost all cases becomes ________. Eric, this car accident basically saved your life.”

This ________ of events led Eric to realize that sometimes a ________ could be a blessing in disguise.