1 . 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.

2 . 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.

3 . As my husband and I saw someone publicizing the benefits of spending time outdoors, we were lost in thought. Noticing my daughter had _________ a little homebody, we knew we had to _________ sport into our routine. We were determined to make skiing a family activity. But we needed our daughter’s _________.

When we persuaded my daughter to join us, we _________ two days at an all-inclusive family ski resort aiming to minimize the _________ of skiing with kids and maximize the fun that came on the slopes.

“Well done! You’ve arrived as scheduled,” said our ski instructor as we reached the resort. It was negative nine degrees. It was _________ , but we got ready soon. I could _________ recognize my daughter because her face was wrapped in thick clothes like the others.

The resort took account of almost all the trouble we might have in skiing. Of the fifty-three runs, eight were greens labeled with _________ reading “Route For Beginners”. However, when our instructor _________ us to ski, our hopes of being a __________ skiing family were dashed (使破灭). “Ahh!” escaped our lips. She was __________ and said, “Sorry, I thought you were ready.” Then she went on to lead us down a gentler way. We still __________ many times. Everyone slid down the slope, but not without falls.

While the experience frightened us, it also __________ our dinnertime conversation. My daughter told us, “Although I had a hard time skiing, there is no __________ of happiness.” I responded, “Your father and I enjoyed ourselves, too.” The next day, we __________ there as beginner skiers, but we believed we would be certainly expert skiers.

4 . 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.

5 . 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.

6 . 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.

7 . 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.”

8 . Last summer I talked with my daughter studying in her last year in high school about her graduation album. I asked which _________ she selected to take her pictures for it. She told me she _________ no one, adding she’d rather have a friend or family member snap a few candid (抓拍的) shots and _________ from them. It would be a good idea to me since she _________ available photos of herself, and it would be a _________ to spend hundreds of dollars and have her like none of the photos. Of course, I asked her several times to be _________ afterwards.

After two _________ she still didn’t like any of the photos I took for her very much and told me she wasn’t submitting one for the graduation album. As the _________ was fast approaching, I warned her that the school might use her _________ from her school ID and asked again if she was certain she wanted to go this route. Her answer was __________ so I decided to let it go.

Yes. I could have picked a photo my daughter didn’t like and submitted it behind her back, but I knew it wouldn’t have __________ well. So I didn’t do that.

My daughter is __________ enough to make such a decision on her own. It’s her senior year. The fact that she doesn’t want to __________ a senior portrait for the graduation album doesn’t __________ there’s anything wrong with her. I need to let her do her thing.

I had my senior year and did it the way I wanted. Now it’s my daughter’s __________.

9 . In one’s lifetime, especially during adolescence when mental maturity is yet to be achieved, everyone is likely to make some foolish mistakes that will be remembered for a lifetime. The way parents _________ these situations often directly determines the value attributed to these mistakes.

When I was ten years old, I got really angry one day and ended up breaking my favorite pen. Instead of scolding me, my parents chose a different _________. They quietly kept the broken pen and used it as a silent reminder of my mistake. Every time I saw that _________ pen, it served as a gentle yet _________ lesson.

In the beginning, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t yell at me or punish me _________. However, as days went by, the broken pen became a symbol of my _________ actions. It made me reflect on my behavior and the consequences of letting anger _________ me.

The silence from my parents _________ louder than words ever could. It wasn’t about the pen itself, but rather the lesson it represented. I realized that patience and self-control were _________ qualities to cultivate. Instead of reacting impulsively (冲动的), I learned to take a step back and __________ before acting.

Time __________, I eventually became a more patient and thoughtful person. The broken pen, once a source of __________, became a catalyst (催化剂) for positive change in my behavior. My parents’ quiet discipline __________ me a valuable lesson about the power of reflection and the importance of learning from my mistakes. This experience __________ me into a better person, reminding me that sometimes, the most profound lesson come in the form of silent __________.

10 . My son asked me months ago if he could switch from his mainstream high school to a   ________ school. At that time, I was unsure and a little ________

He wasn’t doing well in his school, and I knew the best thing for him was to ________ to another learning environment to complete his study. But my heart hurt a little that he would not walk the same graduation ________ that I had walked, and also the scenario (设想) I had created was no longer beneficial to his ________ .

My son is extremely ________ and had a small friend group. Large groups are complex for him. A school of over 2,500 kids can be difficult for anyone, let alone my boy with social ________ .

Then, we decided the vocational school (职业学校) was an option with the same general curriculum ________ by our state to graduate high school. The ________ he had already earned would carry over, and he could graduate early.

By allowing him to go there, we have watched him ________ ! The difference is astonishing. He ________ friendship, he was productive and participated in a life skills course to help himself with real-life studies, and he ________ with his teachers.

The most significant change was that he would come home ________, enthusiastic about his day, and excited to ________ how his day had gone.

As his momma, it is all I needed to know that my son has chosen what was ________ for him.