2 . Hansen and his 10-year-old son Chase search the streets of Salt Lake City every weekend for the homeless to take to lunch. They started Project Empathy(共情)four years ago to ________a meal, listen to their stories and figured out how they could ________ help.

“Just start with a smile, a hello. It really just starts with that. If you do it, you can make a connection. A small gesture can have a ________ impact on others less fortunate,” Hansen ________ in an interview.

Some of these shared meals have turned into stronger ________ .Ward, a homeless, was ________ in a flat. He credited the Hansens with helping him ________the difficult process of moving off the streets. “It is great to have friends who make us feel ________ and I’m impressed with the pair,” Ward said.

Father and son’s ________have developed into a passion project that ________ faith and community, which emphasizes the ________ community members can have in uplifting the homeless. They know they can’t settle the homeless ________ alone. They’re hoping empathy will ________.

“My hope for the future is to ________ more connection across our country. We could and we will succeed ________ we have other people join in and help the homeless,” Chase said.

3 . If Confucius (孔子) were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of ________. He’d need a fan or a ________ to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, ________ people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even ________ the birthdays of their own ________.

But this doesn’t ________ that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a ________ that foreigners must cross if they want to ________ a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have ________ huge popularity in Western universities. ________, the Chinese government has ________ Confucius Institutes in more than 80 ________. These schools teach both Chinese ________ and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually ________ Chinese art, history and philosophy (哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the ________ of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to ________ Chinese. So they will be ________ for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about ________ to understand their Chinese customers. So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive.

Today China ________ the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his ________ is.

4 . As the foreign English teacher at my school in Japan, I have a weekly English _______ broadcast. I try to get the students to _______ songs to me. I usually _______ who recommended the song and then play it for everyone to _______ during lunch time. I give everyone a chance including one _______ student. This student _______ gets into fights with the other students and doesn’t study. Most of the other teachers and students push him away. I _______ , though, that he just needed a friend, or at least someone he can _______ with.

I could tell he was _______ to me over the last year. I told him to think of a song he likes and that I’ll play it on the broadcast for him. He eventually recommended a song. I actually really ________ the song and made sure to announce his ________ , so everyone knew that he ________ such a great song. ________ , the boy was ________ , and he’s been much happier and focused in English class ever since. While everyone else misunderstood him and pushed him away, I saw right through that he just needed someone who ________ him. There’s still a(n) ________ barrier between us, but words aren’t needed, and you can always ________ where you’re at with someone. He recently walked by me and gave me the most ________ smile that I’ve ever seen. My coworker turned to me and said “I’ve never seen him smile like that before. How did you get through to him?” “I gave him a(n) ________ ,” I said, “through just one ________ .”

7 . In my younger years, my mother gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “________ while you’re still young,” she told me, “as much as possible.”________ whenever I have days off, I usually travel somewhere. And thanks to this ________ I met Sato Taeko, a Japanese film producer, on the Isle of Skye in the UK.

I still remember the moment Taeko and I first met. Skye is a mountainous and isolated (偏远的) island in Scotland ________ public transport is inaccessible (难到达的), so I joined a ________ tour on the island and arranged to stay at a local bed and breakfast.

We didn’t meet until breakfast the next morning. It was so ________ to see an Asian face on this isolated island, so we started to talk. From our ________, I learned that Taeko was traveling around Europe ________ she and her colleagues had attended the 67th Cannes Film Festival in France with their film An American Piano (2014).

After chatting for only 20 minutes, our friendship took ________. We exchanged phone numbers and left ________ our separate bus journeys after breakfast. ________, afterwards, we reunited with each other again and again in different cities in the UK.

Taeko is an elegant and friendly lady who always speaks to people in a ________ voice. Although there’s a huge age difference between us, we still ________ many interests. Taeko told me her husband was a ________ in American literature at the University of Tokyo. They met one another at a party in their 20s, with a mutual love for literature ________ them together.

But ________, her husband passed away 18 years ago, and Taeko has remained ________ since then. She produces films, runs marathons, travels around the world and makes global friends. You can never tell ________ she will be tomorrow.

Once, I asked her if she ever felt lonely, ________ she said she never did. ________, she feels fulfilled. She’s been doing exactly what she likes to do: be happy.

8 . The 65-year-old Steve Goodwin, suffering from early Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默症), was losing his memory.

As a keen lover of the piano, he was truly _______ to play music, _______ he had never performed outside the family.

Melissa, his daughter, insisted it’s _______ worthwhile to save his music. Steve _______, tears in eyes. _______, Naomi, Melissa’s best friend and a talented pianist, came and met Steve for the first time, showing willingness to help.

She told Steve she’d love to hear him play the _______. Steve moved and sat at the bench, hands _______ as he gently placed his fingers on the keys. Naomi put a small _______ near the piano. In great difficulty, Steve pressed on, playing for the first time in his life for a _______.

“It was amazingly ________, worth saving.” Naomi said after listening to the recording.

They met every other week. He’d move his fingers ________ on the piano due to the disease, and then she’d take his place. He ________ to explain what he heard in his head. He stood by the piano, his eyes closed, listening for the first time to his own work being played by someone else.

Steve and Naomi spoke in music. He heard it, all of it, but just couldn’t play it.

However, working with Naomi did ________ for Steve. It had completely excited within him the faith ________ he could write one last song. Steve called it “Melancholy Flower”.

Naomi managed to ________ 16 of Steve’s favorite, and most personal songs. The Goodwin family found a sound engineer to record Naomi playing Steve’s songs. They thought that would be the end. But it wasn’t.

In the months ________ the Christmas concert, Naomi told the director she had a special one in mind: “Melancholy Flower”. She believed that Steve’s music was beautiful and professional and needed to be shared to the ________. They were soon ________ to add it to the playing list. Steve considered it an honor, too.

By then, Steve was having a hard time remembering the names of his friends. He arrived and was________ in the front row, surrounded by his family. The house lights faded. Naomi took the stage. Her fingers. His ________.