2 . One afternoon I toured an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the wonderful works.

A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted________between themselves. I watched them a moment and ________she was doing all the talking. I admired his patience for________her constant words. Annoyed by their noise, I moved on. I encountered them several times as I moved through the various rooms of art. ________I heard her constant talking, I moved away quickly.

I was standing at the counter of the museum gift store making a________when the couple approached the exit. Before they left,the man ________into his pocket and pulled out a white object. He turned it into a long cane (手杖) and then fought his way________into the coatroom to get his wife's jacket.

“He's a_________man,” the clerk at the counter said, “Most of us would________if we were blinded at such a young age. During his recovery, he made a________that his life wouldn't change. So, as before, he and his wife come in whenever there's a new art show.”

“But what does he get out of the art?” I asked, He can't see.”

“Can't see! You're wrong. He sees a lot. ________than you or I do,” the clerk said, “His wife________each painting so he can see it in his head.”

I learned something about patience, courage and love that day. I saw the________of a young wife describing paintings to a person without ________and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life. And I saw the love________by two people as I watched this couple walk away arm in arm.

3 . This past summer, I applied for my very first job at a small bakery in my neighborhood. I knew that if I were _______ there, I would learn how to use a cash register, prepare sandwiches, and _______ cake orders. I imagined that my biggest struggle would be _______ demanding New Yorkers, but I never thought that the act of tying a box would become both my biggest _______ and greatest teacher.

On my first day of work in late August, one of the employees quickly explained the _______. It seemed simple: wrap the string (绳子) around your hand, then wrap it three times around the box both ways, and fasten it. I _______ the message in my head, “three times, turn it, three times, tie it” until it became my prayer. After observing several employees, it was _______ that anyone tying the box could complete it in a matter of seconds. For weeks, I failed endlessly, only to watch the strong and small pieces of my pride unravel (散开) each time I tried.

As I _______ to push half-tied cake boxes into plastic bags with embarrassment, I could not help but _______ what was wrong with me. ________ the weeks progressed, my skills slowly began to improve. Of course, there were days when I just wanted to throw all of the string in the trash and use tape (胶带) instead; this sense of defeat was never ________, but remarks like “Oh, you must be ________” from impatient customers made me angry and determined to try even harder.

Gradually I began to realize that I should not be ________ if it takes me longer to learn. I kept on, and I continued to tie boxes every weekend at work. Even though I occasionally fell back into desperation, I always rewrapped the string around my hand and ________ over because I learned that the most satisfying victories come from not ________.

4 . I was deeply moved by the kindness of an elderly flower seller at Sydney’s Central Station one evening. I was feeling as cold as the chill winds ______the steps of the workers who buried hands deep into coat pockets. In many ways, 2020 had proven a ______year. My teenage daughter had left home for university, my job of 23 years was no more, and a creative project I’d given my all to for years had also been ______ called off. I also found out a person who I’d thought was a friend was ______it.

A year earlier, I’d dreamt about an earthquake. In the dream, a red light flashed inside a building and then the earth began to ______. Walls collapsed and pieces of brick rained down on me as I ran into the open, feeling ______for the people I hadn’t loved enough. ______I was buried completely by the falling world, I stretched out my hands and ______, “Abuelo, ayudame,” in my native Spanish. “Grandfather, help me!”

Now, with the very real aftershocks of a number of ______endings, I walked into a little flower shop to buy a gift for a friend. The gentleman at the checkout looked at me and ______for a moment, returning with a fragrant flower. “For you. You need to smile today,” he said in a rich and beautiful accent, ______me the flower with eyes full of care. It took all my strength not to ______tears. Then he ______me in a grandfatherly hug that made me want to tell him everything. ______, I just thanked him and headed for the train. How did he know? I wondered. For the first time in weeks, I felt ______.

5 . “My greatest strength is that I am what some people call ‘disabled,’” I said, answering the _________ job interview question, “What is your greatest strength?”

My last interview was five years ago when a search committee was _________ the next president and CEO of MAP International, an organization that provides _________ and health supplies to those in need around the world. In some ways, the job was a/an _________ made in heaven.

You see, I walk with crutches because I had polio (小儿麻痹症) as a child. My life would be _________ if the polio vaccine—costing about 20 cents—had been _________ to me and my family in Korea where I was born. My _________ in life is to help other children receive the medicine they need to _________ life-long illness or even death.

So when I told the committee interviewing me about my strengths and weaknesses I could _________ say that I had a lifetime to prepare for the job of helping bring medicine to those in need. I knew firsthand what it meant to __________ because an inexpensive dose of vaccine was not available.

But I also know that __________ my challenges each and every day makes me a better leader. It’s true that my daily life is more __________ than most people’s. A simple flight of stairs, a rocky path, a door with a difficult handle—these are common occurrences that are major __________ for me. Yet I have to prepare myself each day to face the unexpected.

Your __________ can become your strength. Whatever your weakness is, __________ it today.

6 . Earlier last year, as I was turning pages in a library book, I came upon a photograph of my high-school music teacher, Graham Jackson.

It was in the 1970s at Drexel Catholic High School in Atlanta. As a successful musician who had been_________to play for several Presidents, Jackson was well off and didn’t need to work, but he loved_________.When Jackson announced he wanted us to join the chorus, I_________the chance. For the first time ever, I’d learn from a man whose skin was as_________as my own.

Jackson was in his 60s then, but he did have _______! He rushed into the room like a train that had lost its brakes. Jackson made all of us believe we could sing. In fact,_________in ourselves was one of the most important things he taught. “Just come to class with your ordinary voice, and I’ll show you how to do the rest”. He would run around the room,_________each of us to be sure we were singing the right note.

Jackson never talked about playing for Presidents. He_________spoke of his accomplishments or about his hurts. In those days of the civil-rights movement, whose heroes inspired some of us to participate in sit-ins and marches, Jackson’s_________as a white man’s musician made him an easy__________. Some thought Jackson’s diamond ring and__________suits were too showy. When he took out a handkerchief to__________away sweat on his forehead, the gesture called to mind the kind of old-fashioned Negro (黑鬼) we teenagers didn’t want to be.

I didn’t know whether Jackson__________too far toward pleasing his white audience, but as an old man now, I know he did what he had to do to survive. And above all, he__________the way for the next generation by providing an example of what we could become if we committed ourselves to excellence. I’m__________now to say that I loved him.

7 . On a steamy July day in Bayonet Point, Florida, Gene Work and his brother-in-law, Mark Rouco, were re-sodding（重铺草皮）Gene’s yard. It had grown brown and uneven in the heat, and the Homeowners’ Association had threatened to _______him if the situation wasn’t improved. But the job was slow-going.

Gene, then 40, wasn’t feeling right. He went inside to take a(an) _______and collapsed on the couch, holding his chest. His wife, Melissa Work, called 911 quickly. _______he was face to face with death, Gene had one thing on his mind: that lawn（草坪）. If the lawn wasn’t put down that day, it would die. “ While he was having his heart attack, in and out of _______, he kept _______ me to have it put down because he didn’t want it to go to waste,” Melissa wrote in a Facebook post. Soon EMTs (急诊医士) arrived and took them to the hospital, _______ Roucoto to deal with the yard.

Within an hour, Rouco had managed to _______ the old grass. He was about to lay the new lawn, when two emergency vehicles appeared. Seven men—the same ones who had _______ his brother—got out. Gene had told them how bad he’d wanted to get the lawn laid, so they had returned to _______. The job was done within two hours. ________, Gene had surgery to insert stents（支架）in his heart.

He’s home now, fully ________—and enjoying his beautiful lawn. The works are still ________ that those EMTs went above and ________ their job description. “These men,” Melissa told tampabay.com, “saved Gene’s life, and then came back to save his ________. That’s just so ________.” These EMTs returned from the hospital to make sure their patient’s lawn didn’t die.

8 . Emma, my 11-year-old, has a serious letter-writing habit. She _______ actively with her favorite people. A letter from Emma is likely to include Mime art, a joke or two, and enough questions to guarantee a_______.

A few days ago, she wrote to our mail carrier Daren and expressed how_______ she was to him for taking her letters and_______ them Emma wrote, " You are very important to me because you make it possible for me to stay in touch with my friends since I don't have a phone. I make people happy with my _______ , but you do too."

The next day, Daren replied, expressing how _______ he was. Interestingly, letters _______ to Emma kept arriving. Daren had _______ Emma's note as a "Token （表示）of Thanks' in the internal US — post. Many postal folks wrote to thank her.

These letters are filled with family, hobbies, and a sense of kindness, and something more. People felt _______.“I work alone in a small rural post office…”“Few people think about how ________we work …”“I can't tell you how much it ________ to read your letter...”

We've all been in a moment of________isolation that is amplifying （放大）a real epidemic of loneliness, anxiety, and depression. Emma's ________to me was simple： It's the small things that________ most. Send a letter. Make a call. You can start the same goodness with the people that you ________ , respect, and love. Just tell them that you miss them, love them, or just see them.

9 . A Game of Light and Shade

It was a sunny winter day. I had gone up and down the tower when, outside the door at the foot, a blind man came over.  I looked at the ________ that said “To the Tower”, and decided to follow him.

I caught up with him in the ticket office. There I was ________ to see the attendant selling him a ticket as if he were any other visitor. Then, with the ticket in one hand and ________ the wall with the fingers of the other, the blind man reached the stairs ________ to the hallway.

“That man is blind. What would a blind man climb up the tower for?” I said to the attendant, expecting him to show some ________, but he didn’t answer.

“Not the ________ certainly,” I thought. “Perhaps he wants to ________.”

I bought a ticket and ________ up the stairs. The man hadn’t gone as far as I ________. A third of the way up the tower, I heard his ________. I slowed down and followed him at a little ________. He stopped from time to time. When he got to the balcony, I was a dozen steps ________. As I reached it, I saw him at the corner of the tower.

At last, after ten minutes, I ________ him. “Excuse me,” I said as ________   as I could, “but I am curious to know how you came up.”

He smiled. “Coming up the stairs, you will notice how not just light but sun ________ into the tower through the narrow windows here and there, so that you can feel the ________—the cool stairs suddenly become quite warm—and how up here behind the wall there is ________, but as soon as going opposite a window you can find the sun. There is no ________ so good as this for feeling the difference between light and shade. It is not the first time I’ve come up.”

The blind man seemed quite ________ just like a child who was enjoying his favorite games. He told me the truth that blind men can also find the beauty in life ________ they cannot enjoy the sights of the world.

10 . When Mike Mushaw joined the national bone marrow (骨髓) registry three years ago, he never really gave it a second thought.

About six months after the sign-up, Mushaw did get a call that his bone marrow _______ a patient in Virginia. Mushaw didn’t know it at the time his donation would go to a five-month-old girl named Eleanor. Neither did he know whether his donation would _______. Eleanor, sick with a rare immuno deficiency disease, had seldom left her house _______ to travel to the hospital or the doctor. Her immune system was far too weak to risk even the most _______ human contact. Her mother, Jessica, told NBC, “The _______ were to either get a transplant or face death.” Still, there was no _______ of success.

Instead, after a few weeks, the doctors came back with _______ news: Eleanor’s condition hadn’t just improved — Mushaw’s bone marrow had _______ her. Mushaw says: it was more of a _______ and happy feeling than anything.

About six months after the procedure, Eleanor’s parents sent him an e-mail to thank him for saving her life. “When I was told it was a little girl, I ________,” Mushaw says.

But their surprising ________ was only beginning. Mushaw and Eleanor FaceTime ________ to check on her progress. In August, about a year after Eleanor’s ________ transplant, Mushaw invited her family to one of his games. Tiny shouts of “Mike! Mike!” could be heard as the little girl cheered on her very own hero: a six-foot-two, 225-pound football player with a very ________ heart.

In January, Mushaw ________ with Eleanor to celebrate her birthday. Two complete strangers now have become such a big part of each other’s lives.”