3 . When Alex Walker was four, she had to stay in the hospital to get some tests for her epilepsy (癫痫). Her dad had given her a stuffed animal, Sky Bear, which kept her ________. But when she saw other kids in the hospital without stuffed animals, she felt ________.

Alex had ________ up some money that she had ________ to use at Chuck E. Cheese. ________, she used it to buy stuffed animals for the other ________ on her hospital floor. They were so happy to receive the gifts that Alex decided to ________ even more. She called her project Alex’s Fluffy (绒毛的) Buddies and began ________ money by growing and selling tomato plants and flowers. “I love growing things,” she says. “And I know people love to eat tomatoes because they’re really good.”

As people heard about Alex’s Fluffy Buddies, they wanted to ________. They sent her stuffed animals and money to buy more. In the last six years, Alex has ________ almost 8,000 Fluffy Buddies to hospitals, shelters, and other programs. “People are ________ to help so that I can make kids happy,” she explains.

Alex also raises ________ for Canine Assistants, the organization that recently provided her with a service dog. “I want other kids to have a friend to help them through ________ times too,” Alex says. “I still give away Fluffy Buddies and donate to Canine Assistants. I want to help as much as I can! If you want to help others, look for something people ________ but they don’t have, or look for a way to ________ someone’s day. See how you can help.”

4 . A man got depressed about life. In spite of all his ________, he got nothing but failure. Feeling ________, he left everything and relaxed himself in the woods, where he met a farmer. The man shared his ________ with the farmer.

“Do you see that fern (蕨类植物) and bamboo there?” the farmer said, pointing towards two ________. He told the man that when he planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, he took very good care of them. Within a short period of time, the fern ________ grew from the earth. However, ________ the bamboo seed had been watered for years, it did not outwardly grow as much as an inch. But the farmer did not ________ the bamboo seed and continued to ________ it. By the fifth year, a tiny sprout (嫩芽) grew out of the ________. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.

“So, did the bamboo tree lie quietly for four years only to grow rapidly in the ________?” the farmer asked. The answer is quite ________. The little tree was growing underground, developing a root system which was ________ enough to support its potential for outward ________ in the fifth year and beyond.

“Did you know that you had been ________ all the time and that you were growing strong roots?” said the farmer. Hearing the farmer’s words, the man ________ the value of hard work.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s iconic hat was sold at an auction (拍卖会) on Sunday, fetching a history-making $2.1 million. While French auction house Osenat expected the hat     1     (go) for up to $875,328, it went far beyond that amount — and the previous record holder, a Napoleon hat sold at the same auction house for about $2 million in 2014.

Napoleon,     2     was a French general, was key to the French Revolution and then overthrew the French government,     3     (eventual) becoming the emperor of France. The hat with the colors of the French flag — red, white and blue — dates back     4     the 1800s, according to auctioneer Jean Pierre Osenat.

“Our hat     5     (use) by Emperor Napoleon I in the middle of the Empire during the period when Baillon was assigned to the Emperor’s Palace (1806-1815),” the     6     (describe) on the Osenat website reads.

In a video about the hat ahead of the sale, Osenat said this particular hat had been through many     7     (event) and symbolized Napoleon’s history of 15 years that changed France and     8     world. He added, “The image of Napoleon     9     (wear) this type of hat — sideways, unlike everyone else —     10     (be) the image we have in mind when we think about Napoleon’s world.”