1 . Ida Keeling was 67, weak and sick, when her daughter Cheryl suggested a run to her. Cheryl thought that maybe what would pull her mother out from dark cloud was something that would get her _______ again.

Keeling lived a hard life when young, growing up _______ in Harlem, and doing hard work in factories during the Great Depression. She had _______ her husband early, and two of her four children died in drug-related incidents in 1978 and 1981.

Keeling had sunk into a deep _______, her health had begun to _______, and her daughters began to _______ that they soon might be losing their mother as well.

It had been decades since Keeling had done any _______, and she would later recall that first “mini-run” feeling as if it would never end. But when it did, “I just threw off all my bad _______.”

She hasn’t stopped running since, and it’s no longer as _______ as it was during that first meet. “I was just exercising then,” she says ________ regarding that first run, “and now I’m all over the world.”

When she’s not running, she must be ________. She’s in the gym three to four days a week on a ________ basis. Part of her healthy diet is occasional consumption of alcohol mixed with her coffee or water to ________ blood circulation.

She’s written a book about her ________, titled Can’t Nothing Bring Me Down: Chasing Myself in the Race Against Time. Her ________ is also suitable for everyone: “Every day is another day forward.”

2 . Shawn Cheshire rode across the country on her bicycle, depending on Jesse Crandall, a chemistry professor, to guide her every step of the way. Cheshire lost her ________ after an accident nine years ago and turned to ________ because she believed sports and physical challenges gave her “another opportunity at ________.” Through a friendship with Crandall, she has ________ bicycling to her activities, traveling across the country, meeting and inspiring people all along the way.

To Crandall, teaching and guiding are about helping others through ________. “For many students, chemistry is something they have no experience with,” Crandall said. “So, when I’m teaching, it helps to think about my experiences ________ my blind friend Cheshire. Then I try talking about the lesson in a language that, ________, everybody can understand.”

Crandall and Cheshire have been skiing, climbing and bicycling together for the past decade. In 2018, the ________ faced the steep terrain of the Grand Canyon, completing a ________ hiking in just over 24 hours. As they walked 42 miles through the night, Cheshire ________ warnings of dangers from Crandall, as well as the noise of the bell he wore, which ________ as they advanced. In 2021, Cheshire ________ another world record by riding her own bicycle from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

While their next adventure remains uncertain, Crandall knows that there are no ________ with Cheshire. They have discussed skiing across Antarctica as a potential future endeavor. Their ________ and shared determination will continue to motivate others to overcome setbacks and ________ boundaries.

3 . A stand-up comedian is, supposed to be, a fluent communicator who is also good at using body language to _________ jokes.

However, for 27-year-old comedian Zhang Jiaxin, it takes a great effort to _________ pronounce the sounds of each character and sentence and be _________ on the stage. At birth, the oxygen _________ to his brain was curtailed (限制，削减), which _________ later problems with speaking and walking. The other long-term impairment is the loss of full use of his right hand.

It was two years ago when Zhang first performed stand-up comed yon the stage. At the time, he worked for the new media operation department of a company _________ in Xiamen, Fujian province, and had to prepare for a performance at the company’s year-end party.

He didn’t know much about stand-up performance. _________, as someone who likes to watch and be amused by entertainment shows from a very young age, he decided to give a humorous monologue at the party to amuse and _________ his colleagues.

It opened Zhang’s door to a colorful world of stand-up comedy.

He started to pay attention to the stand-up comedy live shows in Xiamen and got the _________ of a woman who worked at a local stand-up club.

“She sent me some videos of Drew Lynch (an American stand-up comic who developed a(an)__________ stutter (结巴) due to a sports injury earlier in his life) and told me that my defects are what make my appeal special,” he says. “That __________ me to have a go.”

After he read through a manual for writing and performing stand-up comedy, he started to __________his daily life to identify humorous __________ that could be used as jumping-off points to launch into stories.

Once he walked onto the stage, the audience __________ noticed his differences.

“__________, they were kind of walking on eggshells to spare my feelings. As I gradually opened myself to them, the atmosphere turned to be relaxing,” he says.

Wows and claps resounded. His jokes went down well as he worked the room with his humor.

4 . It was a dream born in fire. Andrea Peterson was five when she and her mother were trapped on the ledge（窗台）of a burning building.

“Throw the_________down!” said one of the firemen below, and little Andrea leaped into lifesaving arms, which motivated a life-long ambition: She wanted to_________fires as her rescuers did. She told that to the men who had_______her, and they laughed good-naturedly the way_________do when a kid says she wants to be an astronaut or a sports star. “You'll be a good mommy, “the_________told her. “But you can never be a firefighter.”

And then, as it tends to do, life doesn't___________her dreams. Pressured by her parents, she studied in an aviation school to become a flight attendant-and that's where she met her husband, Dennis. Unfortunately, Dennis was diagnosed with cancer. Peterson___________thirty-one years caring for the man she loved.

It wasn't until four years ago, after her_________passed away, that she felt that long-ago childhood dream calling. She _________volunteering at a local fire station. She spent a year lifting weights and watching her__________to keep fit. Later she began____________alongside men in their teens and 20s until she was____________.

Finally, Peterson became the only woman of the department's staff of twenty-seven firefighters. She has now       ________ more than 350 emergency calls, helping so many people beat back fires. She says, “I've always known that this is my____________.It doesn't matter how____________ I had to work or how long I had to wait.”

5 . When other teenagers hang out with friends in the summer vacations. Erica doesn’t join. Instead, the 16-year-old senior high student is ______in filling cake orders and updating her website. She ______Kayke Bakery, a home-based business.

Erica started baking out of ______in the year 2021. Her first attempt was a(n) ______.Yet she made more cakes the next day and ______her techniques through teaching videos on a daily basis. “I saw other people’s decorated cakes and was ______to be a cake artist instead of just a baker,” Erica said. After due ______, she asked her parents about setting up her own business. “Seeing how ______she was,” Erica’s mother recalled, “we ______beginning to help her cope with all the legalities for its opening.” Soon, she had ______customers always coming to her for custom cakes. “______dealing with both school and a business is tough on occasions, but I managed to get______.” she said. “I’m glad to be able to do what I love.”

Always considered a ______, Erica finished her senior year with almost full marks. She plans to ______cake decorating after senior high. “I’m thinking about starting non-profit organizations.” In these years, besides learning various techniques, Erica has become more ______ . “I realize I possess great potential and power.”

7 . Of all the stories of Olympic medalists, the most touching one is that of weight-lifting champion Oscar Figueroa.

During his athletic _________, the 37-year-old man had the chance to _________ in the Olympic games four different times. But he met with plenty of heartbreak and _________ before he finally succeeded.

In the 2004 Olympic games, Figueroa made his first _________. Because he wasn’t satisfied with his result, he looked _________ to competing in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games to prove himself. _________, just two weeks before the event, his hand was _________, which set him back in his weightlifting and _________ him the chance. By the London Olympic games in 2012, Figueroa took home the silver medal.

In spite of all, he’d already _________, he still aimed higher. In 2016, he headed to Rio to __________ the highest prize and he did. After his final lift, he __________ his shoes and put them on the stage, indicating that he would __________ from the Olympics. Amazingly enough, he took home the gold that year!

No matter how hard he felt, he never gave up, serving as a __________ example of hope, perseverance, and determination. Oscar Figueroa is the __________ Colombian man to have even taken home the gold in his field. He said he was __________ for the whole country in the competition in an interview.