1 . It was Christmas Day. For Antony, this was another day spent in a white-walled _______. His wife and son were enjoying the festival feast at home. But for Antony, he couldn’t enjoy the Christmas _______ with them. Instead, he was surrounded by flashes of red from roaring ambulances. He was saving lives.

About fifty years ago, Antony was born in a little village in Northern Greece, where traditions ran deep and religious festivities were _______ with the highest honor. However, he was a boy who _________ Santa. When asked the reason, he laughed out and said, “He was always there, but he never brought me Christmas presents.” He laughed even louder, trying to _______ his sorrowful feelings as he described how all the other children in the village received gifts except for him.

Antony further revealed that his parents’ inability to afford gifts unintentionally _______ his belief that Santa was an _______ magical man who deliberately overlooked him. While his peers enjoyed new toys, Antony felt the pain of exclusion. Yet, with time and maturity, his hatred towards Santa _______.

Instead of toys, Antony found _______ in exploring his older brother’s medical textbooks. His appetite for reading and the example his older brother set ________ him to study hard and eventually he became a respected cardiologist in the hospital close to his village, where doctors were especially needed. He worked ________ at the hospital, like Santa, faithfully ________ the greatest gift of all.

Antony’s story serves as a ________ that one’s upbringing does not ________ their future, but determination and diligence can pave the way for remarkable achievements. We can rise from ________ beginnings but we should never give up striving for excellence.

Chinese comedienne and actress Jia Ling recently revealed that she was losing weight for     1     upcoming role during her gap time.

Jia Ling has lost 50 kilograms for her new movie YOLO. From the exposed photos, Jia Ling looks like a     2     (whole) different person. In the early teasers for YOLO, audience caught glimpses of Jia Ling’s dedication     3     her role as a boxer. However, it wasn’t until the movie’s release     4     viewers truly got to witness the extent of her transformation. Her     5     (define) abdominal (腹部的) muscles are clear and beautiful, making it hard to imagine that this is the same Jia Ling we once     6     (know).

    7     (slim) down from 100 kg to 50 kg can’t be achieved overnight. She thought if you can’t bear the pain of discipline, you will have to accept the mediocrity (平庸) of yourself. She is unwilling to settle for mediocrity and has chosen to challenge herself, determined     8     (exchange) sweat and effort for her glamorous transformation today. Her path to success has been filled with hardships and challenges,     9     she has never given up on her     10    (pursue)and dream for herself.

She shows us through her actions that regardless of the circumstances, as long as you have determination and perseverance, you can definitely achieve success. She not only brings us laughter and touches our hearts but also conveys a positive and uplifting energy.

4 . The girl Guo Yujie got a _______ gift on Saturday—a gold medal of Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. The teenager, who turned 18 on March 16, sped to the finish _______ in the women’s sprint standing event to _______ the first-ever Winter Paralympic gold medal for a Chinese woman on snow. She hoped to tell the young people with disabilities that they should keep _______.

Guo was born in Shangyi county, Zhangjiakou, with disabilities on her left hand. She first tried _______ when she was 11. “I was happy when I was skiing,” Guo said. She then _______ to become a cross-country skier and biathlete. Her decision was also _______ by her family.

In biathlon (冬季两项), Guo _______ her lack of stamina (耐力) in skiing with accuracy and speed in the shooting part. “I just _______ the quick change between high-speed racing and controlling my breathing for ________. I hope more young people with disability can find their ________ in snow sports. Actually, disabled people are not ________ at anything. We can take part in the Winter Paralympics and become ________. People shouldn’t look down on themselves just because of their disabilities,” Guo said.

Guo’s ________ is the result of five years of hard training. She said that her parents, relatives, and friends watched her compete live on TV. “They are all very proud of me. ________, I have lived up to their expectations.”

5 . Paen Long has had a dream ever since he saw a plane for the first time at the age of six. His dream was to _________ a plane. Last year, the 30-year-old man started building his plane _________. “I was afraid that people would _________ me, so sometimes I worked at night,” he said. It was a long time _________ he put his dream into practice. Paen Long tried to build his own plane, using the money he had _________ from running his own garage. He has spent three years watching YouTube videos in order to _________ how to make a plane.

It took him a year to build his plane, using mostly recycled materials.The plane’s first _________ came at 3 pm on 8th, March. Local villagers gathered excitedly to watch the plane fly. _________, the plane only got 50m in the air before crashing (撞击) to the ground. “When all people were looking at me, I felt very _________,” he said.

Although the first try __________, Paen Long remains __________. His next project is to build a seaplane. Paen Long thinks the plane will cost over $10,000. “I never feel __________ for spending all my money building a plane,” he said.

His wife, Hing Muoyheng, worries about her husband, especially as they have two young sons. However, she has no __________. “I don’t know how planes work and he doesn’t have any __________ to help him. He can only search for information himself,” she said. “I tried to ask him to stop a few times because I was afraid, but he said he wouldn’t __________, so I have to support his dream.”

6 . In a heartwarming tale from Georgia, a 72-year-old senior recently celebrated his college graduation in cinema studies, an achievement made even more special by the presence of his proud 99-year-old mother.

Sam Kaplan of Lawrenceville decided to start on his educational journey at Georgia Gwinnett College in 2019, half a century after he had firstly chosen not to get higher education following his high school graduation in 1969. The catalyst for his return to academia came when he heard a radio announcement about a degree programme in cinema studies.

Recalling that moment, Kaplan said, “I was driving down the highway when I heard about the degree programme. The next exit led to Collinsville, so I immediately exited, and within five minutes, I was enrolling in classes. I’ve always had a passion for writing and storytelling. I longed to transform my narratives into screenplays, but I realized I needed the basic knowledge to do so,”

Kaplan admitted that the journey was a mix of anxiety and excitement, but it proved to be greatly rewarding. He graduated with a 3.975 grade point average and perfect grade honours, majoring in cinema and media arts, and had desires to continue creating screenplays in the future.

“It was an exciting and nerve-wracking (神经紧张的) challenge. Re-recognizing myself with the art of studying and communicating with fellow students was a lot of fun,” he told FOX5 Atlanta.

The most heartwarming thing of Kaplan’s graduation day was the presence of his mother, 99-year-old Virginia Kaplan, during the ceremony. Virginia expressed her huge pride, saying, “I am so proud of him. He faced numerous challenges but insisted, and I am delighted, pleased, and extremely proud,” the mother also added. “With his new degree, he’s going to stand out in whatever he does. Who knows, I might even make an appearance in the movies.”

8 . When Alexa couldn’t crawl, stand or walk as a baby, her mother sensed that something was wrong. _______, doctors told her not to worry— perhaps Alexa was just a “lazy baby”. After seeing a specialist, though, Alexa was diagnosed with a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which affects the central nervous system and the _______ in the body.

Throughout Alexa’s childhood and adolescence, there were no _______ medicines to treat SMA. Her muscles continued to weaken over time. But Alexa was outgoing and loved to exercise her _______ through pretend play and performing. This adventurous spirit led her to work as a child _______, appearing in movies, television shows and commercials.

With hard work, determination and courage—not to _______ plenty of support from her loved ones — Alexa graduated from high school, and attended a law school. While in law school, her symptoms became especially _______. She noticed that it was becoming more difficult to _______ her hands and move her fingers. Around that same time, she _______ an experimental drug for SMA that was in clinical trials. She started ________ to learn as much as she could about this possible medicine and what it might do for her. Finally she received the first-ever approved treatment to ________ the progression of her disease.

Now, Alexa works as an entertainment lawyer for a Hollywood production company. Although Alexa doesn’t let her SMA define her, it has certainly ________ who she is today: optimistic, courageous and ________. The limitations SMA places on her have been a (n)   ________, but they’ve also ________ as a motivator, leading Alexa to get as much out of life as she can.

10 . Betty Sandison was having lunch with some friends when the subject of wish lists came up. Although she had spent more than 30 years working as a registered nurse, Betty told her friends that she regretted never finishing the bachelor’s degree she’d started more than 67 years earlier.

Betty was the first person in her family to pursue higher education. With a dream of becoming a nurse, Betty enrolled at the University of Minnesota. But when she was just 25 credits short of getting her degree, for some reason, Betty dropped out of school and soon got married. Her career was put on hold as the couple moved around for her husband’s job, spending time living in different places.

Many years later, Betty returned to community college to become a registered nurse. She worked as a nurse for more than 30 years before retiring in 2013.

But in 2018, she still felt regretful over her unfinished degree. Encouraged by her friends, Betty decided to return to university to complete her bachelor’s degree. She chose to live in the dormitory and got on well with her roommates. She enrolled in classes and started working on those last 25 credits. However, she was discouraged by the new technology used when taking online courses during the coronavirus pandemic. Even so, Betty persevered.

At age 84, Betty got her bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies from the College of Continuing and Professional Studies. She described the accomplishment as “pure joy, pure satisfaction”. Betty may even audit (旁听) college classes now that her degree is complete. She is not sure what’s next, but there’s one thing she does know: Life’s too short to live with regrets!