1 . I teach digital technology. Although this class is high-tech; we try to make it high-touch. In other words, we keep screen-time to a ______

One day, I helped my Grade 8 students build robotic arms. They’re ______ their robots to perform tasks from the ______ —dipping a tea bag into a mug—to the complex, like cleaning up radioactive (放射性的) waste. Like most days, things often don’t ______ as expected. Sometimes it’s the wiring that’s not working. Sometimes, it’s a ______ problem, like the glue holding the parts together ______ because of continuous movement. I do my best to encourage students to continue through ______, though, truly, their peers are the best cheerleaders. When things aren’t working, they make ______: “That happened to me, and here’s how I fixed it.” They ______ each other up: “Try again! You can do it!” They also do a lot of playful ______. But when things finally work, they celebrate together. ______, this is a classroom of teammates, not ______.

Educators and parents have done a lot of thinking lately about the future of ______. We don’t learn best on the ______. More and more, I’ve come to believe that the future of school lies in classrooms like the one we’ve built, where students ______ technology with human creativity and connection.

2 . In the summer of 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife, Vanessa, had just moved to Santa Ana, California. One day, Peterson was reading the book Love Does, when his quiet was ________ by a homeless man. Encouraged by the book’s sympathetic message, Peterson made an conversation with him, and ________ that the man called Merda had moved here to ________ a career in music, but he ended up living on the street for years.

“It was the ________ thing to me,” Peterson recalled later on the podcast Top Artist. “I saw the ________ on the face of a man who hadn’t ________ or showered in probably a year. But his story, the life inside of him, ________ me.” And even though Peterson, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn’t ________ a paintbrush in about 8 years, he ________ himself asking if he could paint Merda’s portrait．

Peterson painted Merda’s portraits, ________ his traits and life experiences．________, the painting was sold for a few thousand dollars, and the money was put into a “love account” by Peterson for his model. Merda used the funds from his portrait to ________ an album, fulfilling his musical dreams.

Peterson’s ________ with Merda led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization focused on befriending and painting portraits of members of the community who are ________. Up till now, with 41 portraits painted and sold, Perterson has helped many people get back on their feet, and established the friendship with someone people might have ________.

5 . As an only child in her family, Nicole Renae often felt lonely in her youth. But that all _________ when she turned ten. For her birthday, Renae’s grandmother surprised her with a lovely gray puppy named Chloe. From the very _________ the two were always together. “She was my best friend.” Renae says.

But when Renae was 14, her father got a new job and they needed to _________ to a new city. With no easier _________, the family had to give Chloe to a humane society (保护动物协会). Renae felt so sick and sad about leaving Chloe.

Over time, _________, Renae grew up, got married, and had a child of her own. Renae wanted her daughter to _________ the same — keeping a pet dog. Then one day she saw a _________ on Facebook about an old dog that needed a new _________. To her surprise, the dog in the photograph looked a lot like Chloe — she was even named Chloe. Immediately it was decided: She would _________ this old dog.

Then, Renae went to meet Chloe. When she __________ the dog, it seemed so __________. “I couldn’t believe my eyes and I was crying. I just knew in my heart that it was her.” Renae says. And Chloe appeared to __________ the same way about Renae. “She __________ to me and started licking (舔) my face.” adds Renae.

After years of __________ she’d never see her pet dog again, Renae now gets so excited to come home and see Chloe play with her daughter every day.

As for Chloe, “she’s made herself right __________,” Renae says. And why shouldn’t she? “She knows that she’ll be with me forever.”

6 . Jenny Johnson felt so lucky being a city girl and living near a riding stable (马场). She had always ______ horses. Her favorite one there was called Star because the horse had a star on his head.

One afternoon, Jenny found her father sitting on the sofa, looking very ______.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” she asked.

“Nothing, honey. Your mom and I were just making some plans.”

“Plans for what?” she asked. “Well, sweet heart,” her father said. “We’ll start a ______ life together. You see, we are moving to a small town in Michigan in about three ______. I’m going to have my own business.”

“But that’s so far away from...”Jenny said.

“From your ______--true,” her father cut her off. “But you can have your new friends.”

“But ... what about Star?”

“There will be other horses, Jenny.”

Since it was already ______, Jenny said no more. In the following weeks, she never went near the riding stable because she thought she was ______ to see Star. It was quite a shock (震惊) when she ______ got there to find the horse gone. Soon it was the big day - the Johnson family moved out of their house and Jenny never ______, just ahead. When the family arrived at their new home, Jenny couldn’t believe her ______. There were many trees around the house and a little dog was waiting at the door. Jenny’s room was so large. She looked through her window and saw two cats in the backyard. So many ______!

Then she noticed a barn (畜棚)! ______ she walked towards the barn, she heard a sound. She listened again, and ______ ran as fast as she could in the direction of that sound.

Star! She ______ to see her parents standing right behind her. “Mom, Dad,” she shouted excitedly. “My Star, he’s here! You brought him here, didn’t you?”

“You are right, Jenny. Now ______ new life will really be complete.”

7 . One day, Fainsilber Katz, who is 60 years old, went to visit her favorite ______ . She parked her car and ______ the beach with everything she ______ for the day: a chair, a beach umbrella, flippers, sunglasses and a cooler. With so many things, it was ______ for her to keep her body balance when climbing over some rocks.

When she reached a part of the beach entrance, she found there was a large step down. Unsure whether she could take the step ______ , she stopped, ______ what to do. ______ a young man, about 30 years old came over to Fainsilber Katz, and asked, “Do you need some ______ ?” “Sure!” Fainsilber Katz ______ .

The man took some of the things that Fansilber Katz was ______ . Then he gave Fainsilber Katz his ______ to walk her down the ______ . Fainsilber Katz felt ______ .

The man’s act of ______ comforts Fainsilber Katz and reminds her that when life gets hard, one doesn’t have to do it ______ . Where there is a help, there is a hope.

8 . My dad is easy-going and has a gift for chatting. He ________ a fast food restaurant called Queenie’s Weenies, which is specialized in hot dogs. I work with my dad at the ________ on weekends.

One Saturday, we went ________. As we got into the checkout line, I ________ something: our cashier (收银员) was very ________! She ________ no smiles, no greetings and no small talk. Her “anger aura (光环)” was obvious and kind of ________ to me. When we ________ to check out, I was thinking that we should just pay for our things and leave quickly. My dad had a different ________. When it was our turn, he started ________ her.

Dad said, “Hi, how are you today? This is my son. I have a restaurant, and we ________ together. It’s called Queenie’s Weenies. Drop by my restaurant sometime and I will ________ you to my hot dogs. I’m good at cooking them.” By the time we ________ checking out, the cashier was smiling. She said, “Thanks, umm… I hope you and your son have a very nice day.”

Back in the car, Dad said to me, “The cashier was obviously ________ today. It happens to everyone. Smile ________ or give a few kind words, which is all it takes to make one a little more delighted.”