1 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

2 . Back in 2019. I had the pleasure of traveling to China. My friend who was accompanying (陪伴) me on this trip and I ______ our flights and hotels online, excited about the adventure we planned for weeks. During our trip, we had so many exciting ______ . A week later, it was time to ______ home, and this is when my anxiety started to kick in. My friend’s flight was a day before mine, which ______ I had to go back home alone.

By the time I ______ my way to the airport, I was tired. Carrying my luggage and making sure I didn’t get ______ , I just wanted ______ to accompany me during this journey. Then the ______   happened. I got on the wrong train to the airport. This made my ______ even worse, and I started crying.

It was at that point a (an) ______ approached me. As I was trying to ______ how I got lost, he sat down next to me and ______ if I was a traveler. I told him I was a traveler going back to the United States and ______ the wrong train to the airport. He told me he knew ______ where I was going and asked me to follow him.

We finally reached the ______ stop. And to my unpleasant surprise, more stairs were in front of us. This was when he ______   my luggage and heavy suitcase up the stairs. It was at that moment I knew he was an angel. We ______ our goodbyes, and I expressed my ______ to him for helping me. After having a moment to myself, a sense of appreciation came into my mind for what I just ______ . Three years later, I still look back on this experience and the ______ that stranger showed me will never be forgotten.

3 . Let’s face it, studying is hard work. But if you’re honest with yourself you know that all the effort will _________ in the end. Doing well in school will mean you have a _________ chance of getting the career you really want. Okay, so you knew that already.

_________ did you know that someone who studies harder is far more _________ to become a better person too?

Here is a real story for students to read.

The story becomes special when you see what troubles she overcame.

She had a _________ childhood. She was once stabbed (刀刺) in the face by the young gang(帮派)member, and at times eating only ice because her family couldn’t afford _________.

You can conclude that she lived in a poor neighborhood where _________ was a common thing.

On top of that she was very bad in school, _________ at math and chemistry. That didn’t stop her from going on to graduate in the top five of her college class with a degree in _________.

After the __________ in which she got stabbed, she __________ to a new school. But she couldn’t afford to move to a(n) __________ neighborhood. Now she was two hours away from her new school, going every day through two very __________ areas.

She was interested in the people in her new school. An interesting fact is that her English was “good” __________ to kids in the new school. She meets mentor (辅导老师) that teaches her math so she could get __________ grades. Through this process, she __________ how actually smart she is and the only thing that was stopping her was fear.

To make the story __________ she started to teach math and later she got an offer to work for NASA on real rocket design.

The only thing that stops you is the __________ of unknown. __________ is that hard that you can’t learn or overcome. I __________ you to check her book called Mathaphobia: How You Can Overcome Your Math Fears and Become a Rocket Scientist by Olympia LePoint.

5 . Of all the stories of Olympic medalists, the most touching one is that of weight-lifting champion Oscar Figueroa.

During his athletic _________, the 37-year-old man had the chance to _________ in the Olympic games four different times. But he met with plenty of heartbreak and _________ before he finally succeeded.

In the 2004 Olympic games, Figueroa made his first _________. Because he wasn’t satisfied with his result, he looked _________ to competing in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games to prove himself. _________, just two weeks before the event, his hand was _________, which set him back in his weightlifting and _________ him the chance. By the London Olympic games in 2012, Figueroa took home the silver medal.

In spite of all, he’d already _________, he still aimed higher. In 2016, he headed to Rio to __________ the highest prize and he did. After his final lift, he __________ his shoes and put them on the stage, indicating that he would __________ from the Olympics. Amazingly enough, he took home the gold that year!

No matter how hard he felt, he never gave up, serving as a __________ example of hope, perseverance, and determination. Oscar Figueroa is the __________ Colombian man to have even taken home the gold in his field. He said he was __________ for the whole country in the competition in an interview.

6 . Surgery (外科手术) can be frightening at any age. However, one ___________ is working to reduce patients’ fears in a unique way. Modesto Medical Center in California has two___________ cars for its smallest patients to ___________ into operating rooms to help calm their nerves.

Modesto Medical Center has two cars for its ___________ surgical patients: a black Mercedes and a pink Volkswagen Beetle. The center bought the first car, but the second was generously _________by an employee and her family.

Employees of the center ___________ the cars reduce kids’ _________, anxiety and fear before they go into the operating room. “When the children find out they can ride in a cool mini car, they _________ and in most cases, their fears ___________,” Nurse Kimberly Martinez, who __________ up with the idea, said.

“In addition, when ____________see their children put at ease, it puts them at ease as well,” Martinez added.

Martinez said she notices an immediate difference since they’ve __________ the cars, and said she hopes the __________ have a lasting influence. “It can be difficult for a young ____________ to be taken away from their parents as they ____________ into surgery,” she said. “This truly helps everyone involved.”

According to Martinez, the cars are __________ made just for kids, aged 2—7. Both are__________ with a stereo (立体声系统), which has a variety of preloaded music and an MP3 player, as well as functioning headlights, taillights and dashboard lights. They can be __________ by the kids themselves, or by remote__________. The cars are very____________—they have working doors, a seatbelt and a horn (喇叭).