1 . Jacqueline Means started hosting science events two years ago to encourage more young girls of color to embrace STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). And then she knew that not all of them were going to _________ warmly.

She remembers one _________ little girl who came to her second event but didn’t seem _________ to be there. As the day went on, _________, Means helped the girls make lava lamps and elephant toothpaste ,and the girl’s _________ changed. “She came up to me after the event and said, ‘Miss Jackie, you were right. _________ is pretty cool. I’ll definitely be at the next one,” Means _________.

And that’s exactly why Means, who calls herself Delaware’s STEM Queen, created the initiative: To show low-income girls of _________ in her community that they can succeed in science, technology, engineering and math, no _________ what their gender or home address.

“Being able to see their faces __________ and seeing how much fun they’re having are really amazing,” she said.

Two years later, the 16-year-old’s program called the Wilmington Urban STEM Initiative has gained both local and national __________ and support. She was __________ to the “Today” show a couple of weeks ago, and Subaru gave her $ 10,000 __________ of supplies for her events. In May, she went on the Steve Harvey Morning Show and was given $ 5,000 to __________ her program. She also recently got $ 10,000 from Chemours to help with her program.

“It just feels amazing because I just want to make my __________ a better place,” she said.

3 . I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be _________ Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d _________?” Just when I started to _________ that there would not be a Christmas gift that year, three women _________ at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of _________ that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t _________. Somebody had thought _________ of me to bring me a gift.  

Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my _________ Christmas there special and memorable, I _________ remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of __________ for as many children as I could possibly reach.  

So I __________ a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans(孤儿)at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colourful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies, __________ with a child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were __________. Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I __________ them that they couldn’t open their presents __________ every child had come forward. Finally the __________ they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three. Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles __________ up the room. The __________ in the room was obvious, and __________ wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling — the feeling I knew __________ that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.

4 . Many years ago, Christmas was just around the corner. It looked like it would be a(n)________ one for my family. The factory where I was working had laid off (解雇) many of us workers, so we didn’t have much ________. My wife and I had saved to buy our young children some toys, but an unexpected car repair had taken most of our cash. We decided that we could only ________ to get one small gift for each of our children. 

We arrived at the ________, walked down the parking lot and saw people putting gifts into their cars. We searched all through the store ________ to find one thing each of our small children would like. ________, we were able to get one for each of them. We headed for the checkout (结账台), bought the toys and were ________ that we even had a few dollars ________. As we walked out of the store into the winter air, I stopped and dropped those ________ into the charity box. I didn’t have a dime (10美分硬币) left but that didn’t ________. Suddenly, it felt like Christmas. 

I think the ________ actress Dale Evans ________ it best when she said “Christmas, my child, is love in ________.” It doesn’t have to be a gift of money, either. When we ________ our smile, it’s Christmas. When we give others our ________ and compassion, it’s Christmas. When we do anything at any time to help others, it’s Christmas. May you do all you can to make it Christmas every day of the year and every day of your life here.

8 . The story I’m going to tell you happened two years ago when I was in high school in Poland. I came to school early on a sunny day, _______ I felt that there was something wrong. Students of my class were behaving _______.

I noticed that Tom was absent from school that day. Later, I _______ what happened. Tom had got sick and had lung cancer, a very serious disease. It was _______ for my friends and me. I couldn’t believe that this had happened to him. He was so _______ and he was good at sports.

Anyhow he had lung cancer, so he had to have a(n) _______. It was successful. After that, he returned to school and felt very good. Twice a month he went back to the _______ for medical examinations just to make sure that everything was going well.

One day, the doctors noticed that the cancer had _______ to his brain. When I heard this _______, I felt like bursting into tears, “Why does this happen to him? It is not ________.”

A lot of my friends ________ their faith and hope, and they even thought that there was no ________ for him to live, but they were wrong. Tom was eager to live, and he said: “No way, I’m not going to ________. I will fight!”

The doctors performed another operation on his brain. The operation ________ well and now he feels great and everything is fine. From Tom’s ________, I learned that whatever happens in our lives, we can’t give up or lose heart.

9 . In 2011, a law was born. A kind of ladybug (瓢虫) became the state insect of North Dakota. When the governor _______ the bill into law, four kids stood behind him!

Jaden, Logan, Megan and Isabel were in first grade_______their idea for a law was born. Megan and Logan were farm kids and they had been_______with the ladybug already. They knew that farmers had difficulty in controlling crop-eating pests called aphids and that ladybugs tended to_______on aphids. The more ladybugs were around, the fewer_______the farmers had to use.

They decided that this ladybug should be their state insect. This ladybug was of great_______to the crops on the farm and deserved a place of honor. But they had no idea how to _______ a law. So they asked help from their teacher, who happened to _______ their local state representative. When they all met, he told the kids they would have to present facts and reasons to_______lawmakers that North Dakota was in need of the ladybug as the state insect.

The students spent much of that first-grade spring________ladybugs. There was no doubt that their research was hard work, ________, they fell in love with it. “Even if we hadn’t achieved what we wanted,” says Jaden, “even if the bill hadn’t been passed, I think it was really ________a lot.”

In the fall of their second-grade year, they were invited to speak to a committee. In________, Megan wrote songs for the group to sing, they contacted more experts for support, and they practiced their presentation a lot! They showed up at the state building in ladybug costumes and presented their case.________, the bill was passed!

The students want everyone to know that kids can make a ________ . “Whether you are 8 or 80,” says Isabel, “you have a voice in your community (社区).”

10 . Survival in the Andes

On October 13,1972, a small plane crashed into a mountain in the Andes. How some of the passengers_______ to live is one of the greatest survival stories ever told.

The survivors_______ inside the remains (残骸) of the plane, and waited for a _______ that never came. It was urgent to find a way to _______. Three of the passengers — Canessa, Parrado and Vizintin — volunteered to _______ through the mountains to search for help. The three men _______ that they would survive and bring back help.

For part of the first day, they were glad to make some _______. But as the land and weather changed, climbing became _______. After several days, they reached what they thought was the top. They had _______ this moment for days. On the other side of the top, they hoped, would be a ________ leading down and out of the mountains. However, they saw the same snow-covered tops. All hope wasn’t lost. Parrado ________two low tops far away that didn’t have snow.________ they could get there, they would be out of the Andes.

Within the following days they walked toward the two low tops. “This is the valley,” Canessa said. “This is the way ________.”   By December 21, the extremely ________ men made it to the town of Los Maitenes, and a rescue team was sent to ________ for the survivors.

Finally all of the remaining survivors were saved.