1 . Renee Dixson is the director at a preschool in Indiana. She has always taken her role in her students’ lives very _________. Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic(流行), many of her kids' lives have changed _________. Renee said some of their parents are now _________ foodbanks to feed their families, which _________ any extra money they have will go to _________, not to Christmas gifts. That's why Renee has _________ it upon herself to make these little ones smile!

In addition to her day job at the preschool, Renee has started driving for Uber to _________ some extra money. But she won't be keeping it for herself. _________, she'll buy presents for all 50 of her students.

Thankfully, she isn't doing this _________! Several people in her community have __________ up and donated to her __________. Between their help and her Uber __________, she has been able to make massive(大量的) trips to Target to __________ up on toys. In fact, her office is quickly filling up with __________ for her students!

“I know how it feels to be __________ as a child because your parent doesn't have anything,” she said. She feels that   __________ she didn't do this for them, she would be letting them down. With or without presents, it's __________ that she could never disappoint them because she clearly goes above and __________ for them!

“Everyone always told me I have a big heart,” she __________. “I said, ‘No, I love children.’”

It's safe to say both are __________ for this selfless individual! Thank you, Renee, for making sure everyone has a wonderful time this holiday season!

2 . I enjoy feeding a colorful group of birds in my garden. On the ground, I put out black—oiled sunflower seeds, broken peanuts, and_______grapes and apples. Some birds respond for their daily_______when I call out the names I’ve given them.

About three years ago, I noticed a newcomer to this festive_______. It was a baby chipmunk(金花鼠), apparently on its own. Over that summer, I watched it _______. The next summer,   the chipmunk was_______, and l wondered whether it would_______me to feed it by hand. I named it Chip.

I decided to adopt the_______I use to persuade wild cats to come close for food:patience, a soft voice, slow gestures and_______.

Before Chip would_______, I’d put down its favorite__________, sunflower seeds, bent down and keep very__________. I’d leave my__________hand in place, unmoving, so the animal would know l wouldn’t__________it. I continued doing this for a few weeks.

Finally, late in that second summer, Chip did__________more trust. One day as I__________a seed in my fingertips, it approached and carefully took the seed into its mouth.

After about two months of this__________, I went further. With my finger, I touched its back__________once. Chip stayed   __________, eating seeds, before rushing into the bushes. Today, the chipmunk comes out of hiding when I call its name, and lets me pet its soft, silky body.

I’ve developed a greater respect for nature and its__________and the opportunity to__________, protect and save wildlife.

3 . When I was 24, I moved into an apartment and the couple next door were loud all the time. After putting up with it for a couple of weeks, I decided to ___________ them and politely ask them to be ___________ after noon, as I had to work at midnight, so I ___________ went to bed around noon.

I went next door and knocked on the door and an old woman answered. I ___________ myself and she asked if I came over to complain about the ___________, and I said yes. She ___________ both she and her husband were going ___________ and that they needed to speak loudly to hear each other. She ___________ me in and offered me a coffee and we started talking. ___________, we heard a loud bang in the kitchen. Then we found her husband had fallen onto the ground. Immediately, we rushed him to the ________________.

When I came home from work the next day, there was a ________________ on the door from the lady asking me to come over. When I reached her ________________, she asked if I'd drive her, to the hospital, to which I said no ________________. When we got to the hospital, I ________________ her to his room, where he thanked me. Soon I ended up being friends with this couple ________________ they moved away a year later.

One day after ten years, I got a ________________ from a lawyer. I was ________________ what was going on, so I went down and when I arrived at his office, the lawyer asked me if i knew a ________________by their names and I said yes. He told me that the couple had died and he was ________________ by their children to find me. They wanted to thank me personally. I________________ the family and then we became friends!

You can never know when, where or how you are next going to make new friends. Life is full of surprises. Whatever happens, try to treat others exactly as you would like to be treated.

4 . Alla Wagner has lived in her lakefront house in Millarville since 2011. Last year, Wagner fell off her chair and though the fall wasn’t very _______ , she ended up hurting her back. The _______ left her with pain and she hoped it would get _______, but it didn’t. Ever since that, she’s been _______ to go up and down the stairs, so she decided to sell her house. Wagner _______ to sell the house, but she didn’t want to put in an elevator or make other _______ that would make it easier for her to get around.

Wagner tried to _______   her $1.7 million house for months, but no one was _______. So she decided to try something _______. Drawing inspiration from a 2015 contest (竞赛) to win a historic hotel in Maine, Wagner decided to ________ a writing contest, with her house as the prize. To have a chance of winning the house, people must write a ________ to Wagner that answers the question: “Why would moving to this lakefront dream home change your life?” It will cost $25 for Canadian to enter the contest.

Wagner ________ to raise about $1.7 million for her house. If there are not ________ entries (参赛的人) to pay for the house (about 68,000 are needed), the contest will be ________ and the entry fees will be given back.

Part of the ________ will be given to the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter. Years ago, when Wagner was homeless, she was ________ by the shelter. Because of that ________, she wants to help homeless women.

Wagner chose a writing contest ________ she used to be a librarian and words had been important in her life. “I don’t want people to ________ if they’re not good writers. It’s really the ________ behind the letters that I’m interested in. I know it’s going to be a beautiful story in the end,” Wagner said.

5 . "Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It's Friday, and we don't have any _______.   Can I, please?" Mum was sitting at the kitchen table.   Dad was _______next to her, resting his head on his arms.   Mum could _______that James wanted so badly to have his friend over.

"I'm so sorry, James," she said.

"I'm never allowed to have friends come to the house? Why, Mum?" James asked sadly, almost in _______.

"I know it's _______for you," Mum said softly.   "But I'm just worried other people might think we're a little. . .   strange.   And then they would make fun of you. "

"No, they wouldn't, Mum," James protested.   "We're not _______at all.   We're just ordinary people. "

Mum sighed heavily.   "To tell you the truth, James, my neck has been so painful that it's given me a heavy _______.   And your poor father — he doesn't feel _______.   He really needs a rest. "

"I can help, Mum!" James said.   " _______I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please?"

"Well. . . " Mum began.

"Great! Thanks, Mum!" James almost shouted.   "Just sit there, don't move. " He rushed over to the kitchen drawer and ________what he needed — two spanners(扳手).   "Hang on, Mum," he said.   "This won't take a second. " After some ________, James was finished.   With a smile of ________on his face he said, "There! How does that feel?" "Oh, James," Mum said.   "That's much better! How did you do it?"

"Easy," James said ________.   "Dad had tightened your neck bolts(螺栓) too much! I just________them slightly! I learned that in robotic science at school. "

"What about your father? Can you ________him?" asked Mum.

"I'll try," James replied.   He ________up Dad's hair at the back of his neck, and plugged the electric wire into Dad's head.   Then he turned the ________on.   Dad opened his eyes and ________immediately.   "He just let his ________run too low, that's all," James said.   "Shall I tell Brett to come over straight after school tomorrow?"

"I guess so," replied Mum.   "Your friends will just have to ________that we are a very unusual family.   Thanks, son!"

6 . When I search my mind for who has made an impact on my life, my father steps out first. To be honest, my father is not an_______ dad because he can be defined as a workaholic without_________ I had a memory that he has been_________like a machine for days and nights. As a famous teacher and the boss of a training institute, his schedule is filled up with_________to give and decisions to_________ on management. It was he who left me weeping alone_________ a locked door when I was 5 years old. In adolescent years, I rarely _______his words on anything. When I grew up, I still find it_________to communicate with him.

While I believe I won’t _______my dad in some parts, I deeply understand him and even feel________about him. He was ________for 7 years into high school because of the Cultural Revolution, but later his diligence and ________brought him a diploma of a key university, a job in a big city and his enterprise. His single-parent ________ and his childhood with his grandparents hold him back from taking the father’s ________in the best way and showing his love to his son.________ , I do know he loves me so much.

After I failed the college entrance exam, he________me to take it easy, and encouraged me to be confident and ________. In that summer, he got up early in spare mornings, took a walk with me in the park, telling me his story of fighting against________. During the Spring Festival when he stood at the window,________me lighting fireworks outside, smiling, I said to myself it was such a wonderful moment. It was the first time we had been so________to each other.

7 . Madagascar was not the paradise I expected. A reporter and I were ______ there to find out who was helping with drought relief and the prevention of famine(饥荒).

After a three-hour ride in a van, we ______ in the small town of Ambovombe.Peter immediately headed over to the hospital to speak with a local ______ on our topics of interest. Since I didn't need to photograph the background ______ with the doctor, I wandered out to the road.

I raised my ______ to get some images before the sun went down. I've ______ been to Madagascar before, and until you've actually photographed in a place, you don't know how people will ______ to the camera.

I ______ a handsome man who was leaning against a wall in the golden light of dusk. No reaction. I took a breath. After a while, everyone within a 20-yard radius had ______ me. Some called out to each other, playfully teasing those I'd ______ .

Soon after, a mother encouraged me to photograph her young children.I ______ a moment. They were dressed in ______ clothes. One of them may not have even had any pants on---not because her parents were neglectful, but because they couldn't ________ them.

Their mother really ______ me to photograph them. This happens everywhere I go. Parents, ______ of their children, ask me to take a photo. I'd taken this photo of cute smiling children over and over. I don't usually save ________ ，but I saved this one.

Why? The children's _________ .It's something so powerful yet so ______ that we sometimes miss it. This mom, despite all the ________ obvious to an outsider's eyes, found in her children something she wanted a photograph to remember. That's because she saw a(n) ______ picture: She saw them with a mother's heart. As should we all.

8 . I was out for my usual morning run and found myself in the late-summer heat, thirsty. If only I had taken a_______bottle. After I stopped under a bridge to shelter myself from the sun for a moment of_______, I saw two young,_______men standing next to their sleeping bags. One smiled and gently_______his hand as if he were about to say hello, but he didn’t say a word. He wasn’t asking for_______. I smiled and raised my hand, too.

As I started back on my_______, I thought about how much we all_______to connect with other people. At that moment, this homeless man seemed to want to connect with someone else_______he wanted food or money.

We have all had_______of feeling separate and lonely. I once felt lonely being in a relationship that________an emotional connection. Feeling separated doesn’t have anything to do with being alone,________is about the human desire to feel________by being seen and valued by another person.

We all________from connection. That homeless man affected my day. After meeting him, I felt more grateful and it made me________all that I have. He made me feel concerned for him. I had the choice to move toward________or connection. Separation is looking at the homeless person and focusing on how________he looks. Connection is understanding that he influenced my day by________to me. I can________times in my life when, like him, I was in a situation I had never expected. There have been times when I felt down, and times when I needed someone to________what he was doing and say hello to me.

Pay attention today and notice whether you tend to move toward separation or toward connection. If your tendency is to spend time alone,________saying “yes” to invitations. Practice moving toward rather than away from people.

9 . “Two reporters will visit our new school. And______of you will be in the photo.” Ms. Myers told Room 5.

Brad was small. Kids were always making jokes about how______he was. “They won’t put Brad in the photo______you’d need a magnifying glass(放大镜) to see him,” Charlotte said. The other kids laughed. Brad tried to smile, even though what Charlotte said was______. He believed they didn’t mean to______him.

Two reporters named Rick and Tegan______half an hour later. “Time to______Photos,” Tegan said. “Who do you______, Rick?”

“I’ll have these three girls.” He pointed to Brooke, Reehta, and Gabble. “And these three boys.” He pointed to Jocob, Eddie, and Brad could hardly______it.

Rick______the six kids in front of the new library’s big painting. “It’s big?” he said. “We’ll get you guys to kneel(跪) in front of it, so it looks even______.”

“Is that why you picked Brad?” said one of the Room 5 kids. “So it looks______big?” Some people laughed. Brad also gave a______as he usually did.

But Rick______his head. “No,” he said. “I______him because he’s got a huge smile two miles wide.”

He looked at Brad and said, “Plus, this guy is big inside, where it______. Right?”

This time, Brad spoke before he could think. “In my______, I’m three miles wide.”

Room 5 laughed again. But Brad knew that they were laughing with him, not______him.