1 . I grew up in a community of South Indian immigrants. Every auntie I know has a kitchen drawer containing a carefully _______ collection of yogurt dabbas. Dabba is an Indian word for “box”, but it refers to all manner of _______ too.

The reused dabbas _______ storing leftovers, religious offerings and pot-luck contributions. When I went away to university, my mom used to _______ food and send it to me with strict _______ to wash the dabbas and bring them home.

But just _______ every auntie cherished her dabbas, every uncle hated them. Whenever my father _______ about them, my mom would shoot him a look that would surely have killed a _______ man.

Now, I found my way to Halifax, where I’m a physician and have a family of my own. Like my mother, I’m also a(n) _______ owner of an expensive dabba collection, which I ________ with great enthusiasm. No matter how many glass, microwave-and oven-safe containers I have, no matter how beautiful and ________ they may be, I cannot stop collecting yogurt containers.

When I married my husband, an American from Boston, handling cultural differences is surely a(n) ________. The other night, I heard him ________ in the kitchen, and the next morning, I found my dabbas in the recycling bin. I narrowed my eyes a little as I ________ them out, washed them up and replaced them in their drawer. I was practicing my mother’s death ________.

2 . A sunny afternoon before Christmas, a little girl was decorating a box with a gold wrapping paper to put it under the Christmas tree. Money was tight, so the girl’s father _________ her for wasting almost all roll of that _________ paper.

However, the next morning the girl _________ the gift to her father. “This is for you, Daddy.” she said. He opened the box and found it _________, so he became angry again. “Don’t you know, that when you give someone a _________ it is supposed that there would be something inside it.” he said _________. The little girl looked at her father with _________ in her eyes. “Daddy, this box is not empty, I _________ it with my kisses, all for you.”

The father was extremely _________. He felt so embarrassed that he could just put his __________ around his little daughter and beg for her __________. For many years of his life the man kept that golden box near his bed. Wherever he felt __________ and downhearted he opened the box and thought of __________ that the little child had put into it.

Each of us have been __________ a present of unconditional love from our children, family, friends and God. It is the most precious __________ that anyone could hold.

3 . Tooth-fairy nights were always filled with expectation at our house. One such night, our daughter informed us that her loose tooth had finally __ .

“How exciting,” we told her. “Put it under your pillow____the tooth fairy will visit you tonight.”

“Okay,” our daughter agreed, carefully guarding her newly acquired prized____in a loose fist.

We reminded ourselves to check for her tooth once our____was over. However, when the film was over we ___forgot.

The next mooning, we were awakened by cries of____from our daughter’s room.“Mommty! Daddy! Come and see what the tooth fairy brought me!”

Astonished, my husband and I exchanged____glances. Quickly,   we____our way to our daughter’s room and found her sitting quietly on her bed,___out the window at a___.Her eyes shone with pure___.

As she was absorbed in the rainbow, I____under her pillow to “check for any other____that she may have overlooked.”

“Are you sure you felt all around when____your prize? ”I asked, and we watched as she carefully explored underneath her pillow.

“Wow! Two prizes! ” she said, proudly waving the dollar bill. “She must have overlooked during her first treasure ___ ."

4 . I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited about Christmas presents. At age eleven, my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my_________.But every chance I got. I_________each present under the Christmas tree.

The company of my family went broke, so it had been a_________year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at these presents, she would_________and looked disappointed. In years past, the presents would_________under the tree. I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving,” but thought that whoever had said that must have been out of their_________.Getting presents was the whole point!

On Christmas morning, we rushed into the living room and opened our presents _________. “Here’s another one for you, honey,” said Mom. I looked at the package, confused. It had not been mine. It was my mom’s. A new label had been put on it, with my name_________in my mother’s handwriting. “Mom, I can’t…”I was stopped by my mother’s joyful look — a look I could not really_________.It was a hair dryer.Though this may seem a simple gift to me it was a huge act.Tears__________my eyes and I thought in__________ about how much my mom must love me to give__________her Christmas so I could have a few more presents.

Now, as an adult with children in my life, I can understand my mom’s actions. I see now she was not “giving up her Christmas” as I had__________, but was finding an even__________joy because giving truly is better than receiving. My mom’s simple act meant the__________to me.

5 . The bell rang. Jacob smiled and he was glad his math class was _______. He grabbed his lunch bag out of his backpack and looked inside. He blinked. Beside his usual lunch, there was an envelope. Jacob opened it and slid out a (n) _______. It was of a suitcase. Jacob _______ what it meant.

The next day at lunchtime Jacob opened his bag. A new envelope peeked out. Inside was a tiny toy _______. Now he was _______! When he got home, he asked his mother, “Are we taking a plane somewhere?” She just _______ at him, her eyes sparkling. “I guess it’s a mystery(谜)” was the only _______ she gave him.

Over the next few days, Jacob _______ more: a small American flag, a leaf from a palm tree and _______ a juicy orange. Then one day, when he finally got to open his lunch bag, there was ________ in it except for his usual lunch. His heart sank. Maybe he had been wrong after all. Maybe there was no trip. He was very ________.

Just before the end of the day, the school secretary handed Jacob a small box. “This is for you and ________ your mother outside.” He opened the box. A smile slid across his face. He ________ and pulled out a small black hat with two round mouse ears.

He hurried down to the main school doors where his mother and father were waiting, with suitcases. “We’re going to Disney World, right?” Jacob couldn’t contain his excitement. “Mystery ________,” laughed his mother. “Come on, we’re headed to the ________!”

6 . Our church has a way of assisting those who have financial difficulties without making the receiver feel shame or guilt by dropping money into an offering box with only the name of the receiver on the envelope. The envelopes are then distributed to those members without them knowing the _________ of the giver.

There came a time when my husband and I were among those _________. We did not talk about our financial difficulty with anyone. The only reason our _________ knew was because we had to cut back on many things._________, we hoped they were not aware of the extent of our need. We did not want to _________ them with a problem they were too young to do anything to solve.

Our situation wasn’t improving, and just as we reached the point of _________, our church gave us a gift envelope left in the offering box. We were ___________ to receive a big sum of money, enough to help us _________ that desperate time. We couldn’t help but wonder who had given such a generous gift.

A year later, our seventeen-year-old son was applying for a student loan so he could _________ university. It was then that we discovered that his savings account was almost __________.

His father and I were very disturbed by this. From the time he was nine years old, he had worked very hard for his small __________. I asked him repeatedly to tell me where the money had gone. At first he would not tell me, but I would not let the matter __________.

Finally, in tears, and with much __________, my son admitted that the year before he had put his savings in the offering box for his father and me. I stood there __________, tears filling my eyes. It had taken my son years to save that money. He had given it to us __________—without telling us what he had done.

7 . Steph Clemence always intended to go to college. ________ when her father died in a car accident, leaving her mother to support three daughters on a ________ income, paying for college became out of the question.

________ going to college, Steph found a job, and tried to________ what to do with a life so different from her plan. The ________came from two pages from her English teacher, Dorothy Clark. One afternoon she walked into the classroom carrying a stack of papers titled “Mrs. Clark’s Book List.” It wasn’t homework, the teacher announced, but it could be a road ________ .“Some of you might not go on to higher education,“ Mrs. Clark said, “but you can ________ to learn.”

“I was determined to ________ myself,” Steph says. She studied the ________ and so it began. Each of those books sparked her ________ to learn more. “Reading books is like a treasure hunt,” says Steph. “What am I going to ________ ? How will my heart change?” That made her look for other books that weren’t on the list, hoping to ________ her knowledge.

When the original list ________, she typed up a new copy. And then another. Over the years, the family moved around a lot. Through it all, the reading list was a ________ in Steph’s life, traveling with her even on vacations. Now Steph is 70, and she never did get to college. But she has only four books ________ to read from the list. She expects to complete them sometime in 2023.

8 . I was so excited when Mrs. Burks announced we were going to the skating rink (溜冰场). I’d never been roller-skating and really wanted to learn how to skate.

When we got there, everyone _________inside. Some of us rented our skates and soon began lacing (系好鞋带) them up. Then, everyone but me _________away from the wall and started skating._________ onto the handrail (扶手), I pulled myself along the side as I tried moving my legs back and forth. After a few failed_________, Mrs. Burks skated over to me.

“When you start to_________, relax. If you struggle to keep from falling, you’ll be more _________to hurt yourself,” said Mrs. Burks. Mrs. Burks _________for one of my hands. I took a deep breath and _________her warm hand. As we moved away from the wall, she called out, “Get your_________. Move your foot forward at an angle and then do the __________thing with the other foot.”I tried to follow her __________in every way. “That’s good! You’re moving your feet like you should. But remember to relax when you start to go down. Let’s try again,” Mrs.Burks said.

So I did. When I began losing my balance, I __________crumpled(倒下) to the floor. Mrs. Burks was right! It didn’t __________as much. I was able to get up faster and try again.

Later I began to see how Mrs. Burks’ instructions worked for other__________. As long as I kept trying to do my best, I could learn something even when I__________. I could get back up, try again, and trust God would be there to help me.

9 . Dreams are like stars. You may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to success.

My daughter had talent for acting. When Alex was accepted into New York University’s musical theater program, I_________the dress I’d wear to her Broadway debut(首秀). But now she decided to be an exercise instructor. It was_________for me.

“I thought_________at gyms was just to pay the bills until you got your big break?” I asked when Alex_________her full–time job at a gym called Equinox in New York City.

“Acting was my childhood dream.” she explained. “I loved_________,but my adult self wants to help people be _________.

Even after Alex earned her personal training certification, I still couldn’t accept her_________.

When the COVID-19 crisis shut New York’s gyms, and Alex returned jobless to Richmond, my_________of working on her acting website was rejected. Instead, she launched online kettlebell classes and rounded up clients using social media. Her_________took off, and our house became her virtual studio until she returned to Manhattan in August 2020.

One day I signed up for her private sessions. In between dead lift(拼全力一举) sets, I asked, “What are you doing to find a real job?”

Alex pointed to her waist,__________my form. “Mom, this is my__________. I’m growing a business.” And she was. Soon she was making more than what she ever did in gyms and had total__________of her schedule. I was one of many who__________from her patient encouragement. Over time, my lower-back pain disappeared and I could lift a heavy box__________. Through my training, I learned she knew the right__________for her.

10 . Charles has faced a lot of obstacles in his 87 years of life but he is not giving up or slowing down any time. He has always had a______ passion for riding motorcycles, and it is what he passed down to his son, Jack. But a hit-and-run in 2016 ______ to take their shared interest away.

Charles was left disabled, and he spent eleven______ in the hospital. But even an accident this______ could not keep Charles down for long. Upon getting out of the hospital, he started looking online to find something he could ride.

With loads of time, research, and hard work, Jack finally found ways to get Charles back on the______   again. He didn’t just______ there-he went on to help others like his dad with his own______ , which he named Charles Mototrikes,selling adaptive riding equipment.

Charles has confronted even more barriers, his latest one involving cancer.______ ,this incredibly close family has found a way to once again do what they always do:______   the good. One way they’ve done this is by having a fun gathering with friends and family before Charles begins his cancer ______   in the hospital. What______   way to spend their time together than by going on a 100-mile ride______ the Green Mountains in Vermont?

This gathering is also a way to______ what Charles has accomplished and ______   in his life. “Never give up,”

Jack said, “Look at him, 87 years old and still______ . You can’t beat that.”