1 . One day, a poor boy was begging for a meal at a house. However, he lost his ___________ when a lovely young girl opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of warm ___________. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I _________ you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught me never to accept ___________ for a kindness.” As he left that house, he felt   ___________ and stronger physically.

Many years later the young girl was ___________ ill. She was sent to a big city for ___________. Dr. Howard Kelly, a famous doctor, was _________ for the consultation (会诊). When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he went into her room and ___________ her at once. He ____________ to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special ____________ to her case.

After a long struggle, the battle against the illness was ______________. Dr. Kelly looked at her final bill and then   ______________ something on the side. The bill was sent to her. She was ______________ to open it because she was sure that it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked, and the ______________ on it caught her attention. She read those words: “Paid in full with a glass of milk. (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.”

2 . How long have you been going to the same hairdresser or barber? It’s a question that gets us thinking about the unique friendship we _______ with our stylists over the years.

You have confidence in each other. You have a laugh together and regularly _______ each other’s news. Plus they try to make you look and feel your best. That’s a (n) _______ not only for a great friendship, but also for the perfect relationship with your hairdresser. When you find a good barber, it’s something to _______ .

Many people have _______ experiences with their hairdressers. I’ve had my hair cut by Claire Miller for more than 15 years. She’s taken me through all kinds of _______ , and she’s helped me find a totally new look now during the post-chemotherapy (化疗后) period with dyed blonde hair! _______ hairstyles, there have been communications about the joys and trials of motherhood, the challenges of health problems and _______ in our careers and lives — the stuff of 15 years that we have _______ in the three salons Claire has worked in.

While she cut my hair recently, we chatted about that special ________ that forms between hairdressers and their clients. “You hear so many stories from them, and sometimes you feel like a counselor ________ a hairdresser. You assess their needs, and you know how to react to them,” says Claire.

For Claire, the customer interaction is something she loves about the job and that she has ________ developed throughout her working life. “It’s about being human and ________ about people. A lot of my clients are my friends and like family now: It’s my ________ to cut their hair, making them look and feel good, but I also want them to feel ________ by the experience,” laughs Claire.

6 . My friendship with the students in a primary school in Uganda started on a shaky ground. The ________ of not being understood was hidden within, for they spoke a language different from that of mine and mine too fell on ________ ears.

I greeted them with a broad smile, and they replied with ice cold ________ when I spoke further. A ________ echoed (回响) in my mind: you must live through it to get to them. So I gave it another try. I spoke ________ English with hand gestures and a bit of dancing. If all failed, the smile would ________. Soon we picked up and then the _______ of the learners came into play. At the mention of a name, reddish cheeks and shaking voices were the response I got. I decided to ________ a desk with a team each day during group work to get closer. After school, I ________ them home.

________, we became friends. They were even aware of my favorite fruit, avocado (牛油果). If I didn’t get one on my desk, it would ________ me wherever I was. My slippers were ________. One night I left them out as no one could steal a pair of slippers in that state. The next morning, I was ready to drag my slippers on as usual and I was surprised they had been ________. Wow!

The little things we do for each other bring us great joy and ________. We don’t have a proper spoken language, but we are fluent in the language of ________.

9 . When Leah was 10, she saw a need for change in the world. “People are supposed to show _______ and sympathy,” she says. “But that wasn’t happening.”

Leah decided to _______ her handmade bracelets (手镯) at a local event and asked each person who got one to do a kind deed for someone else. A note _______ to each bracelet said, “Let’s just show other people they are _______.” As Leah gave out bracelets, _______ spread. She began to receive bracelet requests worldwide, and to hear from people who’d delivered kind deeds. One person _______ a tired store clerk with sandwiches. Another paid for a stranger’s coffee. “A story that _______ touched my heart was that someone established a homeless camp!” she said.

When Leah couldn’t _______ requests for the bracelets, she began selling wristbands with “Kindness Travels” on the outside and “kind” on the inside in _______ languages.

So far, she has sent out 10,000 wristbands. She has ________ a party for kids at a homeless shelter, paid the rent for hurricane ________ and more, using the money from wristbands ________ and donations.

Leah hopes to ________ other kids who want to help others. ”Just come up with ideas! Never be ________” she says. “Age is just a ________ . You always have the power to do something.”

10 . Pooja Rani entered the boxing area at age 18 all thanks to her coach Sanjay Kumar. However, even with much _________, Pooja felt shy to wear the boxing gloves. She also knew that her father would not _________ her taking up this “violent” sport. But Pooja went after her interest _________ anyway until one day when _________ came to her father — he discovered the truth and stopped her playing the sport. “My father wasn’t _________ of boxing because he thought it violent. He didn’t _________ me playing other sports but boxing was a _________ no-go zone,” Pooja said. It then took six months of continuous _________ from Pooja and her coach Sanjay to _________ her father to change his attitude.

She won the National Youth Boxing Championship in 2009, which __________ her career on an upward path. In 2012, she __________ two silver medals at the Asian Boxing Championship and the Arafura Games. Later, she acquired a gold medal at the South Asian Games in 2016, thus making her __________ for the Rio Olympics that year.

Unstoppable as she was, her wins came to a pause for some reason. During that time, she was __________ by many people. It took her a whole year to get back on __________ with their assistance. And what a comeback! Pooja __________ in an impressive way, winning back-to-back gold medals at the Asian Boxing Championship in 2019 and 2021. Given the long and winding road she took to get here, for us, Pooja is truly the “queen of boxing”.