1 . Family quest brings joy and tears

Li Yong reunites with his family in Liyang, Jiangsu, on Dec 31, 2023.

When Li Yong took the train to the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, more than 1,500 kilometers away from his hometown — Liyang, Jiangsu province, he was just 2 years old. He was among about 3,000 children from the southern China, who were adopted by herdsmen in the late 1950s, when the country was _________ by natural disasters and the government of Inner Mongolia took the initiative to take care of these children.

Over the past six _________, these adoptees learned to adjust to their new environment and families, but they haven’t stopped digging into their past and exploring their _________. Li _________ learned that he was adopted when chatting with villagers. After his foster parents (养父母) passed away, Li _________ the idea of looking for his biological mother. _________, it was not easy for him as he didn’t know his biological family or even his birthplace.

Although _________, the journey for some has been realized _________ the application of the DNA technology. The _________ point came in 2021, when Li’s daughter told him that the Ministry of Public Security was helping people find their parents through DNA comparison with the __________ of a national DNA database. After having a blood sample taken at the local police station, Li waited for two years. Late last year, he got __________ that his mother had been found.

On Dec 31, Li finally reunited with his mother, 97-year-old Shi Bamei, in a village in Liyang. Bursting into tears of __________, Li hugged his mother, who kept __________ for the long separation. At Shi’s home, Li served his mother a spoonful of tangyuan, a sweet dumpling symbolizing reunion, on Dec 31.

“With the support and cooperation between the police and __________ groups, I believe there will be more good news for people with long-lost relatives. There will be new reunions and new __________,” he says.

2 . At 13, I resolved to be an amazing teacher, overwhelmingly driven by a _________ desire for superpowers, which some of my gorgeous teachers had.

In fifth grade, Ms. Charlotte, an English teacher could magically _________ us to different worlds every day. She encouraged us to find something beautiful on our way home or to school. Perhaps, it could be a _________ of freshly baked bread drifting from someone’s house, or the sound of breezes slightly rustling leaves. She _________ curiosity into us. She guided us to bravely _________ joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, loyalty, duty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, creativity, truth and faith.

She told us stories from books we would otherwise never _________. Currently, I still remember highlights of the classic she shared, The Old Man and the Sea. After Santiago, an old fisherman came in empty-handed for eighty-four days, we couldn’t imagine what difficulty he had _________ a huge marlin. At the sight of the beautiful huge _________, he was unable to _________ his excitement, with a bright smile __________ to his face. Yet, a __________ battle lay ahead. He felt faint but held on the great fish with all his strength. “I moved him,” he thought, “Pull, hands. Hold up, legs. Last for me, head. You never went.” For two days and nights __________, the huge fish dragged the boat drifting. The elderly was in danger. Once, twice more, once more he tried and he felt himself extremely __________ when he turned the fish. Finally, the fish was stabbed (刺，戳) and tied to the boat.

What a man! So Ms. Charlotte inspired us to fight for our own pride and defend it, __________ the fact that life will set obstacles on the way to future with challenge, hardship, perhaps loneliness too, which will take all of our courage. It is true that a man can be destroyed physically but cannot be defeated spiritually.

Now, dear teachers, we love you and thank you from the bottom of our heart! I will keep the __________ song you’ve taught us in mind.

When your dreams come alive you’re unstoppable

Take a shot, chase the sun, find the beautiful

We will glow in the dark turning dust to gold

7 . I started collecting shopping lists around 1997. One day, I was shopping for my daughter’s birthday party in St Louis, Missouri, where we lived. After leaving the store, I_________ a yellow note in the parking lot. I picked it up and it was somebody’s shopping list. I thought, “That’s interesting. Well, whenever I see one, I will _________ it.”

People collect all sorts of things you would never _________ . It’s as if all these _________, unimportant things, when put together as a collection, suddenly become meaningful. The first list I found was nothing special. But after you see a lot of them, the odd ones_________. One says at the bottom: “NO MORE CHIPS, JESSICA.” Another one I found is a long _________ of stuff and then, in the margin (空白处), someone had written: “If you dare to_______ any more rice, I’ll hit you.”

The shopping list_________started slowly. At first it was just me and people I knew who would_______ lists for me. Then at the beginning of the 2000s, I put it online and I started receiving lists from everywhere in the world. It seemed there was a(an)__________supply (供应).

In 2012, I was__________ by a publisher who wanted to turn my collection into a book. Then I started going through all my lists,__________ ways to sort and explain them. The project is continuing, but it grows more __________ now. Technology has made shopping lists more__________, because most people use apps, like I do. I guess there might not be another__________.

8 . Their father passed away, their mother is laid off, and the family has no heat in their house as the winter sets in. This is just one of the _________ stories that social workers in Northwest Suburban High School District 214 have _________.

Sometimes the solution is _________, like paying for a couple of nights’ stay at a local hotel, or providing a gift card to buy _________. When social workers are able to _________ that good news, there’s a sense of relief (宽慰), and usually tears from students and their parents who are _________ difficult times. “It’s things that we wouldn’t even think of, but for the family it is a big _________,” said Raymundo Galarza, a social worker with 214 Cares.

_________ in District 214 three years ago, 214 Cares is here to stay, now addressing _________ needs of students and their families, from helping pay the rent to putting food on the table. But the needs have __________, so social workers are trying to __________ the 214 Cares fund (专款) by calling on people to donate (捐赠) money.

“There have been other needs that have come forward, like medical costs for students,” said Michael Happ, the program’s director. “So there’s a real __________ for us to have a fund, which is trustworthy, and __________ by the community. People know they can give __________ to 214 Cares and it will go to help those kids and their families __________ in our community.”

10 . My wife Lynn was beginning her third day on an oxygen mask (氧气面罩). “She must _______in the next twenty -four hours, or you will probably leave her here,” the doctor said to me. Those _______words had me near the breaking point. However, I didn’t want to _______.

Suddenly, a(n) _______hit me. I wrote on a piece of paper, “Keep Hope Alive ! Miracle (奇迹) in Progress !” Then I put it up on the wall, hoping for a miracle. _______, there was not any sign of _______. In the afternoon, the shift changed and a _______who I had not seen before came in. She had a soft smile and a caring manner. She _______cleaned her face and body. After finishing her work, she was ready to _______, but she stopped when she noticed the ________on the wall. She said to me, “Don’t ________, sir! I believe she will be fine. You know, my name is Tammy Miracle.”

The next morning, Lynn awoke. I couldn’t help________. The other day, I was further surprised to ________that Tammy Miracle had been called in from another department because of a shortage of ICU nurse. I was ________that Tammy Miracle was sent to us. So if you ________hope, try to believe that a miracle may be waiting for you, too.