1 . My son had just gotten his driving license. On the way home, I _____________ the car to a side road, unfastened my seat belt, and _____________ places with him. “Okay,” I said. “I want you to drive home.”

Sitting behind the steering wheel, his body looked tense and _____________. “Mom,” he said quietly, “I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re _____________ going to feel ready. At some point, you just have to go for it.”

“No,” he took a deep breath and _____________ my father’s words. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits. You told me that!”

For a brief moment, time _____________. I saw the very old photograph forever _____________ in my memory. It shows my family standing arm in arm and _____________ for the camera, with the then tallest roller coaster(过山车) we decided to ride together in the background. No one knew I was _____________ terrified. I just didn’t want to be the one to stay behind. We ______________ our way up the line and finally reached the end. Suddenly, my body was stiff with ______________, and I knew: I just couldn’t do it.

Too ______________ to face my family, I simply called over my shoulder to Dad that I was leaving. Dad asked me what happened. “I guess I was too chicken. Sorry.” What Dad said next ______________ surprised me. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits,” he said. “And don’t let someone make you do something you’re not comfortable with. I’m proud of you for the choice you made.” This was the exact ______________ of what I expected him to say.

Instantly, I understood exactly how my son felt. Knowing the limits isn’t an ______________ of weakness. It’s actually a sign of strength.

2 . Jack was a strong boy and could complete any task in physics class. One day I asked the kids to integrate art and physics into a ____________ using pulleys (滑轮). They should solve a problem of their own design, drawing it on paper, yet with absolutely physical ____________. “Mr. Lampert,” Jack said, “I can’t ____________.” I was very ____________ with his reaction but assured him he could do the ____________.

The day the assignment was due, Jack invited me to his barn (谷仓). As we ____________, I saw a whiteboard with Jack’s simple drawings of pulleys, ropes and various mathematical calculations. We walked further and I was ____________ to see what Jack had been working on. ____________ from a high girder (大梁) was a strong rope winding through several pulleys; at the end was a platform ____________ with at least four hundred pounds of hay (干草) and old tractor parts. Jack said to me, “Mr. Lampert, jump on!” He explained to me how he had ____________ the exact lifting force needed and then Jack smiled as he pulled the entire weight and me up and down ____________. “What do you say? Is that an A?” he asked. “Jack, that’s an A-plus!” I said ____________ as he let me down.

While I had ____________ whether Jack would solve his shortcomings, Jack had clearly stepped up to the challenge. He created a masterpiece and ____________ that students can and will solve pretty much anything you present them. Jack was strong physically, but more importantly, he was ____________.

3 . People usually pay a lot of attention to Intelligence Quotient, or IQ. It is regarded as a useful tool for ____________ what the mind can do. But there is a ____________ to what IQ scores can tell us. They provide information about how ____________ people can perform certain tasks, but they have nothing to say about how people get on with each other.

What can ____________ a child with a high IQ score when he grows up? As a child he ____________ he would conquer (征服) the world. But somehow it hasn’t happened. He ____________ why people who are less intelligent than he is get promotion (提升) at work while he doesn’t. Maybe his friends could ____________ him. But he doesn’t have any friends. And don’t ask about his ____________.

What has gone wrong? Our friend has a first-class problem-solving ____________. But as far as everybody else is concerned, he is the ____________. He is clever about things but ____________ about people. He has no “emotional intelligence”, which is actually very important for both ____________ and personal happiness.

Perhaps the ____________ thing about EQ — “Emotional Quotient” — is that it is not limited to a small number of ____________. Not everyone has a high IQ. But ____________ can be emotional intelligent. Not taking intelligence tests too seriously is a good start.

4 . About a week ago, when I was playing basketball at our local park, I noticed a small group of boys picking on a smaller, skinnier boy. They were _________ him names and even pushed him to the ground and kicked dirt in his face. _________ I saw that, I walked over to the group.

I stepped _________ them and the smaller boy, and asked them politely what this boy had done worthy of _________ they were doing to him. One of the boys replied, “He’s weird.” At that, I asked one of the boys if he thought his friend was weird, and the _________ was “No.” So, I asked another boy what the word “weird” _________, and he said, “Different.” That was my cue(暗示). I told them that everyone is _________, and that they all looked just as different to the other boy as he did to them. They all stood _________ for a moment, and then the most amazing thing happened. One of the boys helped the small boy off the ground and then said sorry to him. He _________ to let him play with them.

I thanked the boy for being so __________. As I looked around, I realized that there were dozens of other people at the park __________ no one else had stopped to help this boy. I felt happy that the boy was strong enough to stand up against his friends to __________ someone in need, but I felt sad that __________ else had even taken a second look.

I hope that my action helped them __________ that they could have made a difference with a little __________, and maybe next time they will be the ones who choose to help.

5 . People at a downtown coffee shop in Canada were having an ordinary Monday until a young man walked in, _________ a cup of coffee, and asked a question.

“He asked me, ‘How many coffees do you sell in a day?’” said store manager Joanne Averion. “Then he asked me to _________ 500 large coffees.”

“I asked him if he was going to drink all these coffees or was he going to give them to someone?” Averion said. “He said, ‘You have to give them to the next 500 _________ .’”

The _________ for the act of kindness is unknown. Averion said they questioned the young man, but he didn't say much and left quickly after paying the $859 bill. She said it was not until 8:00 a. m. Tuesday morning that they were able to _________ the 500 free coffees.

Customers were very _________ when they were told their coffee was free. Averion said some wondered why and others wouldn’t believe it. People have also been busily guessing the reason.

“We were thinking maybe he was so excited that he wanted to share his happiness, or maybe he won the lottery or _________ ,” Averion said. She added, “The store has seen people buy free coffees before, but _________ more than four or five cups.”

The store manager said, “It has truly nothing to do with us. I can _________ . We do have our own program called Random Cups of Kindness that we ran at some time of the year. But this has nothing to do with that! It’s surely an act of __________ .”

6 . For many people, being locked down during the pandemic means having more free time to get those creative juices flowing! Fanni Kovacs and Hosszu Norbert are professional _______ and entertainers. The fun-loving couple _______ going out in the world to entertain others, so they decided to use their _______ to spread smiles in a new way. Since they’re such big movie fans, they figured they would recreate _______ from their favorites!

“Our love for movies is what inspired this series. When we were still at university, we loved _______ whenever we had the chance. _______ those days, we had saved up a lot of accessories (配饰) and costumes. Thus, we could _______ our theatrical work when we were stuck at home,” Fanni said.

“We mainly choose topics for the _______ based on which setting we can pull off and which is relatable to the topic of lockdown in general,” Fanni added. “We have been _______ something like this for quite some time, but now we finally have plenty of ________ to make it happen.”

They’re also finding other great ways to give. Norbert ________ as a Red Nose Clown Doctor, which means he visits hospitals to cheer up sick kids. Now that he’s unable to physically go to see them, he’s switched to online ________.

They’re just trying to make people ________ during these hard times. They are ________! These pictures are amazing. These two really know how to use their talents to bring joy to others, something that’s more ________ now than ever before. Great work, you two!

8 . A day I wish to forget. That would be the day when everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

I reached ____________ at the usual time. The first lesson was in the science laboratory. Mr. Kanan ____________ and explained the experiment we were to carry out. My partner Ru Ern and I set to work. Halfway, we noticed a couple of ____________ flying around us. This was the first time we noticed insects in the lab. One of the mosquitoes landed on my arm. Instinctively, Ru Ern smacked my arm hard to ____________ it. It made me drop the bottle of ammonia (氨水) I was holding. The bottle broke and the ____________ smell of ammonia spread all around us making us choke. Everyone dashed out of the lab. The lab assistant had to clean up the mess. Mr. Kanan was quite angry at our ____________. Ru Ern and I wished the ground would open up and swallow us. But no, we had to suffer the killer looks ____________ at us the rest of the day.

With the disaster keeping me preoccupied, I ____________ forgot about the inter-house basketball semi-final in the afternoon. We played against Red House which was a(n) ____________ opponent. We were neck to neck right till the final minute and then the golden ____________ to win was given to my team because of a foul (犯规). Everyone watched ____________ as I took the free throw. As the ball flew towards the hoop, I held my breath. The ball hit the metal ring and bounced away. How could I have ____________ it? But I did. My team members’ ____________ was unbearable to me.

I ____________ home as quickly as I could. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up to a new day, hopefully, a day when everything would ____________.

9 . John Berry of Burlington, Kentucky, was just 15 years old when his mother died unexpectedly. He has lots of ______ of her mother from his youth. ______ , when she passed away, he didn't have many physical ______ to remember her by.

A few years after her death, John's father ______ her car to a collector in Michigan. As he grew up, John's ______ was still on that green car. Over two decades ago, John reached out to the car's owner to ask if he could buy it, but the man ______ .

For about 20 to 22 years, John kept contacting with that gentleman. Finally, after years of ______ , the man wrote to John and said he was ______ to pass the car on. The gentleman said, "I am 81 years old, and get to thinking about your ______ for the car. I think it is time to let it go."

When receiving the car, John ______ the entire experience was like a trip down memory path. Not only was the car still in ______ condition with just 42,000 miles, but the glove box also contained a time capsule from his mother's ______ : a pair of sunglasses and stamps that she had ______ there.

Some things really are worth the wait! John finally realized his ______ and now his own children can take a ride in the very car their grandmother owned. ______ really does pay off.