2 . On a sunny afternoon, Anthony Perry stepped off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. The 20-year-old, who worked nights in a grocery store, was on his way to see his _________.

On the platform, something unthinkable happened: a man _________ the edge and onto the electrified train tracks! As Perry and other _________ passengers watched, he shook uncontrollably as the _________ moved through his body.

“Help him!” someone cried. “Please, someone!”

Perry couldn’t just stand there and _________. He sat at the edge of the platform and eased himself down. _________ all rails between the man and him were electrified, he quickly leaped towards the victim, using a high-knee technique from his high school football days.

Perry soon _________ down and grasped the victim’s wrist. _________, he felt a powerful electric shock shoot through his body. Perry jumped back. He reached down a second time, and was shocked again. But the third time he seized the man’s wrist and forearm, and managed to move the guy’s body away from the _________.

“Give him chest compressions!” yelled an old lady on the platform.

Perry was no expert, but for a few moments he worked on the man’s heart until the victim regained __________. Then, first-aiders arrived. Perry let the professionals __________. Heart still racing from the electric shocks, he __________ back up onto the platform, grabbed his __________ and continued on to his grandfather’s.

The evening news reported the incident, __________ an unnamed hero with saving the victim’s life. To many, Perry’s __________ deeds demonstrated the power of choosing compassion over personal safety.

3 . In 2019, Thierry Henry, a bus driver, found there was a rise in bike ________ in his city, Reykjavik. Rather than ________ that the bike was gone forever, he decided to take matters into his own hands and started to find the bikes and return them to their ________ owners.

The 44-year-old has helped return hundreds of stolen bikes in the past 4 years. His social media account has over 14, 500 members and helps people ________ more than just lost bikes. His page ________ to people who have lost tools, cars and other items of high value. On top of his ________ act, Henry has helped the bike thieves to reform in the process.

Initially, Henry would deal with the thieves with ________. However, over time, he realized that most of the thefts were driven out of poverty and other issues. He went from feeling ________ towards the thieves, to developing ________ for their situations. It was very tough at first. But Henry decided to try to ________ them and just talk to them.

From this moment onward, he reached out to the thieves, offering help and guidance. After the ________ in his approach, Henry found that the bike thieves began to often hand back the bikes to him. Amazingly, some former thieves that Henry helped now ________ him in looking for the stolen bikes.

“It’s like a ________ that has got bigger and bigger,” says Henry. “It’s not only me. Many times, someone ________ a bike hidden in a bush and takes a picture. Then someone else ________, ‘hey, that’s my bike’.”

Thanks to Henry, everyone’s looking out.

4 . I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And unless otherwise ________ a seat by the teacher, I always chose to sit at the back of the classroom.

All this________ after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I ________ the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy ________ because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the ability to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “________ for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the half of it! When I first started ________the practice sessions, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much worse what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get ________and take a shot at the wrong direction, which made me feel really stupid. ________ I wasn’t the only one "new” at the game, so I decided to focus on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t ________ “just yet”.

I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the rules and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive________ in me was winning over my lack of   ________.

With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the process-friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much ________!

With my improved self-confidence comes more ________ from teachers and classmates. I have-gone from “________” in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself, to raising my hand-even when I sometimes wasn’t and not 100 percent   _________ I had the rightanswer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

6 . When working in person, most of us have a natural understanding of non-verbal (非语言的) signals. That is to say, all the ways in which we _____ work out without words. ____, in the digital workspace, this kind of communication can seem less _____.

Many work _____ now happen via online chats, and even video meetings can go ahead with cameras off.

Parts of non-verbal communication have always _____ outside face-to-face interaction, of course. For example, these unnoticeable _____ could begin with a profile picture on your CV (简历); even deciding whether or not to add an emoji (表情图标) in a work group chat can change the ______ of the interaction.

Yet the new workplace shift in where and how we work has _____ the world of non-verbal communication greatly. For instance, in video calls, backgrounds can give all sorts of non-verbal _____ about co-workers’ lifestyles, _______ and level of professionalism.

Let’s say if a co-worker positions the camera below the chin (下巴), ______ others to look up, you begin to dislike him or her, almost _______. Indeed, data have shown that during video calls, factors like camera angles, distance from the camera and ability to make eye contact all ______ how likeable people are noticed to be.

In a new world where ______ working is rapidly developing, being willing to engage non-verbally makes it ______ to understand others and to be understood.

7 . Chris Smith looked like any other young boy in his class except for the constant evictions (驱赶), and eventually being homeless.

Chris’ father was reckless (鲁莽的) with finances and _______ in business. His mother tried her best to run the home until Chris’ little brother drowned, then his father went to prison, and finally the family _______.

“My mom shut down _______. Everything got worse,” Chris remembers. Then she was gone and ran away from home without telling Chris. He did the _______ he could, sleeping on his newly married sister’s sofa. “They didn’t have much money, and I know it was a _______ to take me in at 17 years old, I was going to _______ from school and make it on my own.”

But Chris’ history teacher had different ideas. When Chris’ _______ began to go down, she _______ him. “You’re the smartest kid in the class,” she told him, “If you don’t graduate, you’re going to _______ it.”

“School was my safe place.” Chris says. School also ________ him heat and food. It became the closest thing to home he could find, ________ to his father’s old truck that became his bed and his study space.

When ________ came, Chris earned a full scholarship to college and graduated in the top 10 of his class. When it’s time to apply for medical residencies (住院医生), Chris set his ________ high. He applied for residencies around the ________ and included the No. 1 program in the nation: Johns Hopkins. And then the letter came. Chris was in.

“I didn’t really think I had a chance. But I had learned to ________ everything my best shot. Life is never fair. But if you don’t give up, you will give yourself a better chance to make it.” Chris says.

8 . Meagan, my youngest child, studies in a high school. She’ll _______ it soon and she has gained a scholarship from a university.

Her brother is a physician; her sisters major in computer. In a way, all of this came about for my New Year’s resolution made years ago. That evening my husband, Gary, said, “I’ve decided on my New Year’s resolution. I’ll take _______ lessons.” I answered, “What about me? I’m stuck in the kitchen, bed rooms, and yards due to the kids. It’s not that I don’t _______ being a mother, but that sometimes I wish to do something for myself, too.”

“Why don’t you?” Gary _______. “Surely you can think of something to be away from the _______.” His words comforted me. Since I was a non-native English speaker, I thought I could take an English class at college to improve my _______ so that people would understand me better. Later, I realized taking a class would _______ me, and that my kids would have an advantage, too.

“You’re right,” I replied. “I decide to take an English class and see if the college will accept me.” “Give it a(n) _______,” Gary said. “I’m sure you’ll make it.” _______, in my heart, I just felt a bit doubtful.

And before applying to college, I was __________ baby number three. So I __________ my plan made before. One day, Gary said excitedly, “I have finally found an excellent guitar teacher.” And he added, “What about your resolution? Have you signed up for your classes?”

I __________ my head, explaining it was because I was pregnant and that I had decided to apply to college after my delivery. Gary __________, saying I should register for the spring term before the baby came. I followed Gary’s advice. Later, I went to a good college and filled out some papers. I was __________ that after my papers were read, I was given a chance to take classes.

Now I fully realize the __________ of the New Year’s resolution. My following through that resolution inspired my kids, greatly contributing to their achievements in education.

9 . Many years ago, I bought a house in the Garfagnana, where we still go every summer. The first time we _______ there, we heard the chug-chug-chug of a motorbike _______ its way down the hill toward us. It was neighbor called Mario, coming to _______ us a box containing some tomatoes and a bottle of wine. It was a very nice _______ for him to make. But when we looked at the tomatoes, we were worried because they were so misshapen: not at all like the nice, round, _______ things you get in a supermarket. And the wine was cloudy, in a funny old bottle with no label on it. These can’t be any _______, we thought. But we were thankful for his kindness, so we _______ them.

What we discovered is that it’s _______ to judge what you cat only by its appearance. Those tomatoes had _______ that reminded me of the ones my uncle used to grow when I was a child. Nowadays supermarket tomatoes ________ perfect but taste of water. Nobody’s going to have a ________ memory of those. It’s a surprise they haven’t managed to grow square ones so that they can ________ them easily. Mario’s wine may have been cloudy and come out of an old bottle, but it was ________.

It’s good to eat things at the correct time, when they’re ________, and as close as possible to where they were grown. What Mario had ________ us was the taste of the Garfagnana.

10 . I was waiting in a checkout line. A woman and two boys were ahead of me. At the cash desk, a white-haired man had begun to _______ his goods. Then came the _______. Sometimes it’s a customer with multiple coupons (优惠券), or someone who forgot to _______ a piece of fruit. Fair enough. One waited.

But today, it was something else. The man didn’t have _______ money. So he began the process of choosing which _______ to keep and which to hand back. He _______ over each one before keeping or abandoning it. We waited. The line became longer.

Eventually, his _______ came to an end. The man turned back to us as he left, _______ and apologetic. We _______ off his chagrin (懊恼). It could happen to anyone.

But I had no idea just how ________ the family of three ahead of me were until their turn came. The woman asked the cashier to add all the ________ goods to her bill as quickly as possible. Then the two boys ________ through the exit with the small bag of groceries. When they returned, it was clear that their mission had been ________.

Then I realized all it took to witness this flash of ________ was waiting a little longer in a checkout line. I could have caught the bus. But I felt so ________ on my feet that I walked home instead.