1 . Last night my husband and I were walking when we saw a man bent over on the ground, crushing(碾碎) something with a rock. He was so focused on his _________ that he didn’t look up at anyone passing by. We kept noticing him and _________ what he could be doing. I thought he was crushing stones to make sand, but why would he do that?

_________, we decided to go up and ask him. He was crushing pieces of left-over bread that he had _________ to prepare food for the birds that come there early morning. The large pieces of bread would be _________ for the birds to eat so he crushed them into powder. Every _________, after coming home from his job as a tailor, he goes around the villa(乡间别墅), collecting left-over bread from all his housemates. He then eats a quick meal and comes here, and spends the next 1—2 hours _________ crushing each piece and makes a neat pile for the birds. He has been doing this for the last 3—4 years. What _________ us more was that he was _________ that we were even taking an interest in this, since for him it wasn’t a big __________.

When we asked him what encouraged him to do this act of __________, he said, “It’s just something __________ I do, so that the left-over bread doesn’t go into the rubbish and the birds get food.” We __________ his story with the hope that it would __________ us to be aware of leftovers too and that it might __________ someone to start something similar in their own area.

4 . When Julie got back home from school that afternoon, she noticed a pigeon(鸽子) sitting very closely to the front door of her _________. It seemed the pigeon hadn't moved at all. Julie moved _________. She noticed the pigeon had a wound on its wing. She was worried that a dog or a cat would eat the _________ animal. Julie ran upstairs to tell her mom about the pigeon.

"We have to help it!” Julie insisted. Julie's mom made a disgusted face. "I don't want to. Pigeons have diseases,” she said. Julie began to cry. This made Julie's mom feel bad. She _________, but she gave Julie some _________. The pigeon had to stay in the kitchen in a storage bin. Julie's mom didn't want to touch the _________ bird.

While Julie tried to feed the bird bits of moist bread, Julie's mom looked online for local animal rescue organizations. She felt _________ trying to save an injured pigeon though. Finally she found an organization that would take the bird, but not until the next morning. Julie stayed up all night _________ the bird.

The next morning Julia and her mother took the _________ to the bird rescue organization. Many people on the train gave Julie and her mother __________ looks. Julie's mother just shrugged. When they got to the destination, the worker smiled warmly, "It's so kind of you to do this. This means __________ to the pigeon!” __________ goodbye to the worker, Julie looked so __________ with a slight flush(脸红) on her cheeks. On their way home, leaning on her mother' shoulder. Julie said softly, "Thank you, mom, for your __________ and company." Julie's mom patted her head, "I'm proud of you, sweetheart. You've taught me __________: Every life deserves(值得) to be respected and loved."

5 . While walking through the woods an old man found a cocoon (茧) of a butterfly. He _______ it home.

A few days later, a small _______ appeared; he sat and _______ the butterfly for several hours as it struggled (挣扎) to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any _______. Then the man came up to _______ the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors (剪刀) and _______ the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then came out _______.

But it had a swollen body and small wings. The man had expected that the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to _______ the body. However, neither happened! _______, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling (爬行) around. It never was able to ________.

What the man did not ________ was that the struggle for the butterfly to ________ the tiny opening was nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its ________ from the cocoon.

Sometimes, struggles are __________ what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any difficulties, it would weaken us. We would not be as ________ as what we could have been. And we could never fly.

6 . When Mina was just nine months old, she was deserted by her parents. But she was _________ by a family after a year of living in an orphanage (孤儿院).

From an early age, Mina began to play with animals and _________ she had great love to them. In fact, what she loved to do most was _________ the local animal shelters, and when she was 8 years old, the family also adopted a dog named Lily. Mina liked the dog and _________ it many tricks, including how to give a hug.

One day while _________ Lily, Mina met Dr. Stecco, who was walking her dog as well. Stecco has adopted many _________ dogs for Senior Dog Rescue, a nonprofit organization that rescues and re-homes senior dogs. _________ by what the organization does, Mina visited the Senior Dog Rescue, where she made a _________ to assist senior dogs.

“I love the Senior Dog Rescue,” she said. “The dogs may be old, but they’re so friendly and not _________, which is why I want to help them.” Later she started a pet-sitting (宠物看护) __________ called Pet Fairy Services and donates her __________ to the Senior Dog Rescue.

Up to now, she has already __________ seven thousand dollars of her own money. “I feel very proud to know that. I have saved many dogs’ lives and given them another chance to enjoy life for the __________ years of their living,” she said. “I feel like all dogs should get a forever __________ just like I did.”

She said “I took care of my grandpa very __________ and want to look after these dogs in some way because they’re senior and just like my grandpa.”

8 . A Race Against Death

It was a cold January in 1925 in Nome, Alaska. The town was cut off from the rest of the world due to heavy snow.

On the 20th of that month, Dr. Welch________a sick boy, Billy, and knew he had diphtheria, a deadly infectious(传染的) disease mainly affecting children. The children of Nome would be________if it struck the town. Dr. Welch needed medicine as soon as possible to stop other kids from getting sick. However, the closest supply was over 1,000 miles away, in Anchorage.

How could the medicine get to Nome？ The town`s________ was full of ice, so it couldn't come by ship. Cars and horses couldn’t travel on the snowy roads. Jet airplanes and big trucks didn`t exist yet.

________January 26, Billy and three other children had died. Twenty more were________. Nome`s town officials came up with a(n) plan. They would have the medicine sent by________ from Anchorage to Nenana. From there, dogsled(狗拉雪橇) drivers—known as “mushers”—would carry it to Nome in a relay(接力).

The race began on January 27. The first musher, Shannon, picked up the medicine from the train at Nenana and rode all night.________he handed the medicine to the next musher, Shannon`s face was black from the extreme cold.

On January 31, a musher named Seppala had to________a frozen body of water called Norton Sound .It was the most________part of the journey. Norton Sound was covered with ice, which could sometimes break up without warning. If that happened, Seppala might fall into the icy water below. He would________,and so would the sick children of Nome. But Seppala made it across.

A huge snowstorm hit on February 1.Amusher named Kaasen had to brave this storm. At one point, huge piles of snow blocked his________.He had to leave the trail (雪橇痕迹) to get around them. Conditions were so bad that it was impossible for him to find the trail again. The only hope was Balto, Kaasen’s lead dog, Balto put his nose to the ground,________to find the smell of other dogs that had traveled on the trail. If Balto failed, it would mean disaster for Nome. The minutes passed by. Suddenly, Balto began to________. He had found the trail

At 5:30 a.m. on February 2, Kaasen and his dogs________in Nome. Within minutes, Dr.Welch had the medicine. He quickly gave it to the sick children. All of them recovered.

Nome had been________.

9 . Over the years, thanks to my life’s obstacles, I understood the meaning of faith and the strong will to survive. It was Hurricane Ike that made me fully ______ the beauty of our strength and a human’s motivation to recover.

Mom had a two­week ______ in summer. While we enjoyed our holiday in Southeast Texas, we didn’t realize the fact that Ike would cause months and likely years of “labor”. By September 7th, the “eyes of Texas” were watching Hurricane Ike more ______, making the typical mad rush for last­minute hurricane ______. Two days later, both oil and ice were in high demand.

In the early hours of September 11th, some neighbors were planning to ______ the storm in their homes, ______ others were making final preparations to get away. At first, we decided to stay. But that afternoon, the Houston­Galveston area would be on the more ______ side of the storm. Mom and I packed some of our most precious belongings in the car and ______ the East Texas town of Lufkin.

As Ike pushed farther inland, we ______ power in Lufkin. On Sunday, our next­door neighbor told us via cell phone that our house had remained well. Our hopes could not have been ______. But a few hours later, the neighbors reported that our brick chimney had ______, and it was sitting on our living room, ______ a hole in the roof between two skylights(天窗).

We wouldn’t be allowed to return home ______ September 17th. I climbed upstairs, and looked toward the hole in the roof which showed a beautiful blue sky. Without hesitation, I shouted, “Wow! A third skylight！” My neighbors could not believe I was making jokes ______ crying, but ______ is always good medicine. It was with that joke that I knew, given time, everything would be okay.