1 . My father used to like drinking. Every time when he got _______, he would shout loudly and beat my _______, who left my father and I when I was seven.

I went to a boarding (寄宿) _______ when I was thirteen, and I finally didn’t have to see my father drunk every day. However, I didn’t talk to anybody and _______ all my spare time alone in school because of the pain in my heart. When other boys were _______ on the playground, I would sit there alone. This lasted for several weeks until a new _______ who was about forty came to our class. She, of course, _______ I was different. She asked me to answer her question in her first class. I _______ and answered her question in a very _______ voice, with my head down. That noon, after lunch, she found me and had a ________ with me. She asked me ________ I needed any help. Nobody had ever cared about me like that. I ________ told her everything about my family.

“Things won’t get ________,” she said.

From that day on, every time she saw me, she would give me a ________. She often asked me to answer her questions in class, and she helped me with my ________ after class. As time went by, I didn’t feel so ________ as before.

The day I left that school, I ________ her why she did all that for me. “My mother ________ when I was ten. I know how hard it is ________ a mother,” she said.

I will never ________ her — my dearest teacher.

2 . I ran into a stranger as he passed by. “I’m so sorry” was my reply. Then he said, “Excuse me too. I wasn’t even watching for you.” We were very ______, this stranger and I. Then we went on our ______ after saying goodbye.

But at ______, a different story is told about how we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later in the kitchen, as I ______ the meal, my daughter walked to me, very still. When I turned, I ______ knocked her down. “Get out of the way!” I shouted with a frown (皱眉). She walked away silently, with her little heart ______ I didn’t realize how rudely I had spoken.

That night, when I lay ______ in bed, there was a quiet voice that spoke to me, “While ______ with a stranger, you are calm and polite, but with those you love, you are quick to get excited. Go to look around the ______, you’ll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers she brought for you. She ______ them herself — pink, yellow, and your favorite blue. She walked away quietly and you never saw the ______ in her eyes.”

By this time, I felt sad and small and my own tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt (跪) by her ______. “Wake up, my dear,” I said. “Are these the flowers you picked for me?” She smiled, “I found them out by the tree, and I______ them in a napkin (餐巾), just for you. I knew you’d like them, especially the ______ I said, “I am so sorry that I missed them today. And I shouldn’t have ______ you that way.”

And she whispered, “Mommy, that’s OK... I still love you anyway.” I ______ her and said, “I love you too, and I love the flowers.”

You should know that: if you die tomorrow, the ______ you are working for could have someone easily replace you in a matter of days. But the family you ______ behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into our ______ than into our families—a(n) ______ investment (投资) indeed.

Remember that FAMILY= (F) ATHER + (A) ND + (M) OTHER + (I) + (L) OVE + (Y) OU.

4 . Obocho Peters may only be 11 years old, but he’s already a role model to his community.

The boy ________ giving low-income families a better life, especially when it comes to ________. And he’s making it happen through a ________ he started two years ago.

The wheels began turning in Obocho’s head after he saw “Avengers: Infinity War” in 2018. He ________ the movie and asked his mom Sasha to buy him toys of the ________, but as a single parent, she couldn’t ________ them. So Obocho decided to ________ his old clothes so he could buy the toys himself.

He also began ________ how he could make a difference in his community.

“When my mom ________ her hardship with me, I realized that other families must face the ________ problems when taking care of their ________,” Obocho wrote. “That idea turned into the ________ I have today — to help the community grow.”

He set up Obocho’s Closet, a shop that sells donated (捐赠的) pieces of clothing for $10 and under. It ________ as an online store, but after raising more than $10,000 on GoFundMe, Obocho opened a physical location this year on his birthday!

His main ________ is to provide families with affordable choices so they can ________ money for college funds (资金), but he also uses some money he has earned to ________ local financial literacy classes (金融知识课), where parents can ________ enough financial knowledge.

In June 2019, Obocho was presented with a “Heroes of the Month” award (奖) for his great ________ to his community. What a smart, ________ kid! He’s already made his mark on the world. Sasha must be so ________!

5 . For my grandpa, Tatay’s 90th birthday, our family threw him a big party.

We _______ the backyard with colorful flags so it would look like the neighborhood parties with which Tatay _______ in his home country of the Philippines. We _______ a big lechon, a roasted pig. And the guests were _______ to wear traditional Filipino clothes.

_______ I was excited to wear an orange patadyong—a Philippine skirt and wrap—my white husband Darren, from Nashville, Tenn., felt _______ in his barong, a shirt woven from pineapple leaf fibers. My aunt had told all the guests to dress in _______ clothes.

“I feel like this is cultural appropriation,” he said, pulling the collar and looking around _______ . “I honestly feel uncomfortable.”

I could understand Darren’s _______ . But wearing a barong to Tatay’s birthday party this, I felt, was not appropriation but ________ . It filled me with great ________ to see my white husband in the clothing of my family’s tradition. I knew my family was ________, too. My uncle lent his clean shirt to Darren. My cousins wanted to ________ photos with him.

I ________ him by saying he was expressing ________ and a sense of unity with my Filipino family. And we were wearing these clothes as an act of kindness to Tatay.

After all, appreciating different cultures helps understand the world.

6 . Stephen Hawking not only changed the way people thought about science, but he also changed the way people viewed ________. Diagnosed (诊断) with motor neurone disease in his twenties, many of his scientific discoveries were made while his body was ________.

When Hawking studied at Oxford University, he had a ________ for being lively, humorous and popular. ________, during his final year at Oxford, he fell over for no particular reason. When noticing his speech (说话的能力) began to be ________, Hawking sought medical help. It was then that he was diagnosed with the disease. Doctors at the time gave him less than two years to ________.

Luckily, he survived. However, after his diagnosis, his ________ failed quickly. Throughout the 1960s, he required a stick to walk, ________ a wheelchair for many years. It was only by the end of the 1960s that he ________ accepted he would need a full-time mobility aid (助动器).

Despite Hawking’s poor health, he made some important scientific ________. It was in 1974 that he discovered what now is ________ as “Hawking radiation”. Later, in 1988, Hawking published his book A Brief History of Time.

It was his ________— focusing on what was possible rather than impossible — that defined (定义) his public image. His books made science easily ________ for a wider public. Hawking once said, "My advice to other people would be: ________ things your disability doesn’t prevent you from doing well, and don’t ________ the things it interferes (干扰) with. Don’ t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.”

8 . It was a long weekend and my partner, Gabe and I were taking a road trip. We are both _________, and we couldn’t wait to go hiking and exploring.

At around 5:30 pm, we were _________ on a steep mountain road. I was _________ updates to my family and enjoying the view. We weren’t aware there had recently been flooding in the area. When I _________ from my phone, I saw a wave of _________ and an enormous tree rolling down the mountain, right in front of Gabe’s car. He _________ to stop the car, but it was too late.

The mudslide sent our car falling nearly 300 metres down a rocky cliff. It _________ on its side among some trees. I don’t know how long we were _________, but I woke up to the sound of Gabe moaning (呻吟). Every time I moved, I was hit with extreme chest pain and my right _________ was smashed. Parts of Gabe’s skull were crushed and his vision was damaged. But the body is a(n) __________ thing, and somehow we were both able to crawl out of the car.

We had no phone signal, so all we could think to do was __________ for help. But my chest hurt too much to even breathe. So Gabe __________ yelling as loud as he could. We were shocked when, after just a few __________, we heard someone call back.

When the emergency medical technicians __________ got to us, they loaded us into ambulances. I was in the hospital for a week and a half, but Gabe for six weeks. Even after __________, I’ll walk with difficulty for the rest of my life, and Gabe permanently lost the __________ in his left eye.

Before this all happened, we were happy-go-lucky people. We’re even more __________ now. Despite the __________, we’re grateful that we’re still living a pretty __________ life. The experience also __________ us as a couple. We still go on road trips.

10 . 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.