1 . Lobb, a 24-year-old banker from Toronto, has been sharing everything with his friend, an artificial intelligence engineer Jafri.

One day, the two were _______ in a lunchtime workout on Pier (码头) 15, overlooking the East River, when Lobb froze. “Somebody’s in the water,” he said. _______ Jafri could respond, he climbed over the rail and jumped into the cold water without any slightest _______. Seeing this, Jafri also swan-dived towards him even without _______ his shoes.

_______ the unconscious victim, Lobb saw that it was a big, middle-aged man. He was 3 feet _______ the surface by the time Lobb reached him. The rescuer dove, _______ the man and kicked upward until they both appeared above the water. With great efforts, the pair _______brought him back to Pier 15 where a crowd had gathered.

Both men, extremely _______ from 20 minutes in the water and bleeding from numerous cuts, watched as rescue workers loaded the nearly drowned man into a(n) ________ and drove away. They even ________ learned who he was, what became of him or how he’d fallen into the river.

In place of that knowledge, they have a story they get to tell now, another experience that has further ________ their bond. Lots of people were on the piers that day,________ only the two of them jumped in the water — because, they say, they were the fittest people there and, so, had a moral responsibility.

“If I know I’m ________,” Lobb says, “why wouldn’t I help?”

Jafri ________, laughing, “People always say, ‘If your friend were in danger, would you reach out to him?’ I think I answered that one.”

2 . Coming together for a meal always has symbolic and sentimental (情感的) value. That’s what Peggy Winckowski has been doing since October 2021.

Sam Crowe, Winckowski’s grandson, and his friends had a plan to go to school late on Wednesday morning and would have breakfast together at a restaurant. However, one day they _______ that Winckowski’s breakfast served more warmth and deliciousness. Soon after discussing it with his grandma, it became a tradition for Sam and his friends to _______ every Wednesday for the delicious meal. 66-year-old Winckowski shared, “Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. I will _______ them as long as they come.” The teenagers and Winckowski grew to have a wonderful _______ week after week.

_______, in 2022, something bad happened when young Sam passed away in a car accident. Winckowski was very _______ at the loss of her young grandson. However, Sam’s friends _______ appeared at her house on the day when their beloved friend’s passed away. The youngsters _______ to be there for Winckowski, selflessly appearing the whole week after Sam’s passing to _______ that she was all right. The question appeared at the end of the school year when they were not sure whether this heart-warming tradition would __________.

Winckowski, without doubt, kept her home and heart open to the young students and assured them that even others were welcome to __________. After over a year of losing their dear friend, the tradition continues. Winckowski __________ their hearts. What began as a simple meeting with friends __________ to be a remembrance of love among over 30 students.

“It’s a tiny house but its walls are filled with __________,” said Winckowski. She connects her meetings with the students to those of her late grandson, expressing that it makes her feel __________ to him.

3 . In 2022, a father and his son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman (铁人三项) competition. Jeff, 59, and son, Johnny, 28, weren’t the typical ________. Johnny is disabled and Jeff would ________ his arms and legs. To ________ the competition, athletes must complete a(n) ________ 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running within 17 hours.

“I wanted to ________ his dreams,” Jeff said. “I started doing things I never would have dreamt possible.” Finishing the Ironman competition would be another dream come true.

The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the Choptank River. The ________ completed the swim in 90 minutes, and completed the difficult bike part in eight hours, then set their sights on the ________ leg of the race — a 26.2-mile marathon with Jeff ________ Johnny in the racing chair. They’d been competing for 5 hours, leaving another 3 hours to make their time. But at mile 19, Jeff began to panic, convinced they were going too slow. Somehow he ________ the energy to pick up the pace.

With 15 minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, Jeff stopped to help Johnny out of his racing chair. In the first decade of his life, Johnny could only walk 23 steps. ________, after years of painstaking work, he ________ his step number and was determined to finish his races on his own. Johnny saw the clock ticking down and ________ they wouldn’t complete it. “Not because I wouldn’t get my moment,” he says, “but because Dad had worked so hard.”

After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds — with just four minutes and 25 seconds to ________— father and son crossed the finish line together.

As the crowd cheered on an excited Johnny, a(n) ________ Jeff kept a low profile (保持低调).

“He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says Johnny. “He wanted it to be ________.”

5 . I’m not a good traveler. Without curiosity to get out and ________, traveling has never been my strong point. Sightseeing is not an experience that I find ________: when it’s too hot, I’m uncomfortable; when it’s too cold, I’m uncomfortable. Not knowing what the food will be like at new places has always made me ________.

It would be kind to say that I have a low sense of ________. So, I was ________ about doing a travel show that centered on pushing my ________. But it just goes to show that we’re never too old to ________ ourselves.

South Africa was the biggest surprise. I had never really ________ to go on safari (观兽旅行) and was not excited about the prospect.

Once I was ________ there, all of a sudden, I knew why people say it’s exciting. I started to develop a great ________ for the animals. We visited a rhino conservation park (犀牛保护公园), where rhinos which have been badly injured by hunters are taken good care of. I even bottle-fed these beautiful babies. The most memorable part was the people I ________.

I’ve always been a very ________ person. But the experience of meeting so many new people has been ________, allowing me to ________ some of the cobwebs (蜘蛛网) that have formed for many years. Seeing the world has helped me ________ my natural cynicism (悲观情绪) and turned me into a more outgoing and positive person.

6 . People will do all sorts of crazy things for their loved ones, and 72-year-old Raynor is a case in point. The American elder has been devoting a lot of his time to his _________ job, a beauty blogger, for which he _________ all sorts of beauty products, from creams to lipsticks for fans all over the country. It’s not exactly typical _________ for a man of his age, but his is not a _________ story.

Six years ago, Raynor’s grandson Jason was diagnosed (诊断) with a rare and cruel disease — spinal muscular atrophy (脊髓性肌萎缩). The boy was only five at the time, and doctors _________ that he only had about 18 months to live. But far beyond their _________, he has been battling his condition ever since. But it hasn’t been a (n) _________ battle. The only drug used to treat Jason’s condition could only be _________ from the UK and cost around $100,000.

Strong _________ to save his life drove his family to sell their house and borrow as much money as they could, but it still wasn’t enough. So Raynor started looking for alternative ways to earn some money and __________ live-streaming. __________, he knew nothing about beauty products, but he wasn’t afraid or __________ to learn. He went to cosmetics (化妆品) shops and kindly asked the staff to teach him about the products and how to use them. Soon Raynor’s online __________ started growing, and the financial burden on the family has eased considerably. __________ some negative comments online, the 72-year-old pensioner continues to work as a beauty blogger, testing products on himself and __________ them to his followers.

7 . I walked through the market for diapers (纸尿布), the thing we needed the most; they were the first thing I _______. My one-year-old son, who was admiring everything on the shelves with his mouth open and eyes wide, was pretty _______ about anything. Suddenly, he pointed at a bunch of bananas and _______.

“Nanas!”

I pulled out my wallet only to find the lonely bills: a five and two ones, with no coins. If the bananas didn’t weigh too much, I had just enough cash to _______ the cost. Otherwise, I had to write another cheque. I still _______ the bananas, happy to see the smile on my son’s face. He tried to open one, but I told him, “Not yet,” and he waited patiently.

The total _______ came to $7.87. I gave the cashier the seven dollars in cash and started writing a _______ for the only eighty-seven cents. It was hard, and a little _______.

It was already halfway written, while a _______ came. “Don’t worry.” I looked up at the lady who reached ________ out of her purse and handed it to the cashier. “I’ve got some ________.”

Trying my best to ________ tears, I said, “Thank you so much.”

I’ll never forget that day, ________ the beautiful woman showed me what real ________ was, the kind of giving with love behind it. And I, ________, will do the same. Whenever I have change and anyone in front of me in line is in need, I make sure to dig into my purse and provide.

9 . Tucker’s adventure began in early November, when McCall, a retired electrician, spent the night in a hotel in the town of Cleveland, Tennessee. McCall’s budget was tight, and her head was full of questions. In the _______ two years, McCall had lost her husband to cancer, and their grandchildren to _______. And an accident had left McCall partially disabled and _______ to work.

“Honestly, after all the _______, I was ready to give up,” says McCall. “If it hadn’t been for Tucker, the cat, I don’t think I would’ve made it.”

McCall planned to spend the night in Cleveland and _______ on. But when she returned from breakfast the next morning, ready to _______ and hit the road again, the cat was gone. Panicked (惊慌的), she _______ along the busy road for hours, but he was _______ to be found.

As _______ fell, McCall realized she had to go. She couldn’t ________ to stay another night. ________, she got in her car and got back on the way.

The next day, Lillard, 27, was jogging just down the road from the hotel where McCall had stayed when she spotted Tucker. She took him home, certain he was someone’s missing friend, and ________ his story on Facebook. McCall, too, had been posting about Tucker. Within hours, someone made the ________, and soon McCall was on the phone with Lillard, hearing Tucker’s meows and sobbing with ________. One month and a half later, Tucker was ________ to McCall, just in time for Christmans.