2 . It was the most destructive wildfire in California history. It started in Paradise (天堂镇) and caused $16.5 billion in _______, destroying nearly 19,000 buildings and killing 85 in all. The beauty of this _______ named place was gone.

Grammer, working in Los Angeles, grew up there. When his friend Edwards posted pictures of his white chimney — the only part of his house to survive — he felt _______. And then he had an idea.

“I’ve got to _______ that chimney,” he says, “I’m not trying to say anything. I’m an artist. It was an opportunity for me to _______.”

Grammer spent three hours painting an image of a woman on the _______ — a reminder of the chimney, of the beauty of life, or even just of _______ itself.

Grammer posted the image on Instagram. Those who were affected by the fire, _______, could not calm down. Someone _______, “You bring beauty and hope.”

Greatly inspired, Grammer returned eight times. Outside one house, he found a photo of a girl, Eleanor. He painted a picture of her on the wall of her home left __________. It was a stamp that life was here and that life can __________ to be here. The painting has __________ meaning for the homeowner. Eleanor’s father, recalls how she used to play just feet away. Eleanor herself returned once to __________ the painting.

Ironically (讽刺的是) that first painting, on the chimney in Paradise, __________ only a few months — the bulldozer (推土机) is a cruel art critic. However, Grammer couldn’t be more delighted. It means that the __________ of Paradise is rising again.

4 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.

She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9­year­old daughter Bailey.

He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.

Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”

After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.

5 . An Urban Farmer’s Garden of Eden

Ivy Lawrence-Walls didn’t set out to choose farming. But it chose her. She grew up on a five-acre farm in Houston and credits many ______ life lessons to her childhood. She remembers observing a bird build a nest as an inquisitive seven-year-old. She learned ______ as the nest gradually grew bigger overtime.

She didn’t know then that many of those childhood lessons would be ______ to her life now as a full-time farmer and enterpreneur. Now at 27, she has ______ the farm into a farm and vegetable garden ______ creating sustainable, healthy food access for neighborhood communities.

The garden grows carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, peppers, and delivers for free to local residents. It also hosts various plant pop-up events at local schools to ______ the next generation of farmers.

“Starting the farm in the early stages of the pandemic was a leap of ______,” said Lawrence-Walls. Now her daily ______ is not working in the hospital but trading in her lab coat like a doctor to produce food full-time. ______, she is still ______ in public health. “Food is public health and we hope to ______ some of the issues that we do face in the neighborhood through food and community wellness, green spaces, and mental health awareness.” she stressed.

Lawrence-Walls said her biggest challenge ______ from her nine-to-five to a full-time business owner was ______ the news to her mom, who thought she was crazy to leave her corporate job to dig holes. Additionally, she had to mentally move past the ______ by which success traditionally gets defined in society. “It took a lot for me to realize that, yes, I am digging holes. Yes, I am dirty 90 percent of the time, but I’m happy and realizing that this work is ______” she said frankly.

6 . “If that little girl is causing that much trouble within your group of friends, I would simply stop her,” I said as Abby was about to set off to school. Abby listened carefully, as I continued. “If she causes any more _________ to you, I will go to your teacher to _________ her to never let her sit next to you.”

By this time, Allyson, my then eight-year-old daughter, had joined us, listening to every word too. Neither of my daughters cut in as I finished my _________. Then, as I was telling each of them what I thought _________, Allyson’s real words of wisdom (智慧) came about. “Mom,” she said. “I was just thinking maybe Abby is supposed to be that girl’s _________. Maybe Abby is supposed to let that girl see forgiving (原谅) and goodness through her.”

Hmmm, I had become a _________. And at that moment, I _________ that wearing the “Mother Hat” didn’t mean I was always right. In fact, I wanted to pull that hat over my face and _________ so that they couldn’t see my awkward (尴尬的) look.

“Yes, that’s a good point,” I said, forcing a _________ at my girls. “Abby, __________ this situation the way you think is right.” “OK,” she said before walking out of the door and off to __________. “Bye, Mom!” Allyson called, __________ her big sister out the door. I was left __________. In those following quiet moments I was lost in thought and felt __________ that my two daughters were little in height but big in heart. Sometimes our children have great lessons to teach us — if we’ll only __________.

7 . Francis Kere is the first African to win the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture. However, his ________ to the peak of his field was far from smooth. Growing up in a village where there was no kindergarten, he was ________ into an extremely hot classroom with over 100 students. At the age of 7, Francis Kere had to leave his family home to attend school because his village didn’t have one of its own. This ________ of poor building facilities contributed to his vision of better educational lives of local children, using architecture. Thirteen years later, he boarded a plane for Germany on a scholarship to study architecture.

His early reputation came in helping ________ a school in his village after graduating from college. He ________ the whole village to provide ideas and drew the ________ on sand for all to see. ________, he involved them in constructing the school, using local wood and local clay (黏土).

The result of their hard work was a welcoming structure with a “floating” roof that ________ ventilation (通风) in a hot climate and wall openings that bring ________ for students to learn even without electricity. He showed the villagers that ideas to ________ climate or other challenges are always at hand.

In this process, local people learned ________ skills that they could later use to find work. By cooperating with them, Kere ________ the idea that climate solutions started with big institutions. He ________ that everyone could contribute to addressing the major issues related to education and climate and ________ a global impact by acting locally.

Adopted by architects in dozens of countries, his ________ is rooted in the “unique” aspects of each community now.

8 . There was an old couple who had been married for 40 years. They loved each other deeply and went on dates together. Every time they went out for supper, the husband would order pie for dessert, which became their_________. Although the wife always_________ to order any, she would _________ the first bite of his pie every time.

But then the husband began to _________ a type of disease. He started to slowly _________ who his wife was. It _________ progressed to the point where he didn’t recognize his wife at all and became troubled by living with a stranger.

He moved out of the house and into a nursing home. She was _________. However, she thought of good _________to help him recover. She would visit him with items (物品) that he loved before, but he never knew who she was. Even seeing pictures of them together from their past _________ him.

One of the doctors __________ the wife to start taking him on a few dates like before, so that the husband could gain a new kind of familiarity with her. The wife __________ his suggestion. So she took him to a __________ they had been going to their whole lives and had dinner. Afterwards he ordered pie, and without thinking she stole the first bite of it. The husband looked angry, and was ready to leave. But __________he stopped and seemed shocked, and then started crying.

Everything had come back. His wife’s __________ made him get back to who he was. Tears came to his eyes once more. They moved back together and __________ their lives again.

9 . Anna was cleaning when she spotted a hidden door leading to part of her attic (阁楼).And in the secret room she _______ two boxes stuffed with hundreds of letters, which were handwritten in the 1950s. The letters were _______ to a Betty McGhee. There were dozens penned by a young man named Vance, _______ the same way: “Hi honey”. Anna read a few and a new romance was blossoming on the old _______.

Once realizing the _______ nature of the notes, she was hesitant to pry (窥探). However, she _______ that the letters would likely be meaningful to someone else. So she turned to social media to try and find the _______ to pass them on to. Within days, she found a(n) _______ clue with the aid of strangers who saw the post.

Finally she _______ to Dalton, who lived 3,000 miles away. Dalton confirmed that Vance and Betty got ________ following a string of written correspondence and eventually started a family. He ________ this because they were his grandparents, and were wed for 50 years.

Dalton was close with his grandparents. ________, he knew little about how their ________ started. With his beloved grandparents now gone, to ________ words to that time in their life was going to be incredible. He was grateful that Anna saw the ________ in the written words.

Atule’er, a 200-year-old village in Sichuan province, made beadlines around the world when photographs emerged in 2016 of schoolchildren     1     (go) down the cliff (悬崖) on unstable hand-made ladders     2     “sky ladders”, as locals called them.

The two-hour climb     3     (be) the villagers’ only way to access the outside world. In recent years, local authorities have replaced their hand-made ladders with a steel one,     4     (extreme) reducing their travel time.

This week, however, 84 households of Atule’er left the ladders behind     5     good, resettling in apartment blocks closer to     6     town centre of Zhaojue county, 46 miles away. New apartments they live in, ranging from 25 square meters to 100 square meters,     7     (equip) with modern kitchens, toilets, running water, electricity and gas.

Not all villagers have been relocated, however — about 30 households are planning to stay. Atule’er has become a tourist attraction.     8     (far) development will facilitate that industry, with a cable car (缆车) being constructed     9     (intend) for transporting tourists up and down the cliff.

In 2019, the Chinese government had made a     10     (commit) to lift all of its 1.4 billion people out of poverty by 2020. The clifftop villagers’ resettlement is part of that broader drive, and they are not alone.