1 . It was 4:30 pm. As I was packing up, I noticed my colleague had left his laptop bag in the office. So I decided to bring it to him. It took me about 15 minutes to get to his house, where I _____ the bag and got right back on the road.

Suddenly a snowstorm came and within minutes I was in a whiteout. I stopped because I was afraid of driving into a farmer’s field, or worse. I kept the car _____ to stay warm and called 911.They told me to sit tight and wait things out for the night.

Those seconds after the call were _____. Breathe, I told myself. Panicking won’t help.

I texted my colleague, joking about my good deed ending in _____. He suggested I share a satellite view of my _____ on my social media. And I did so, praying that anyone who knew the residents of the nearby farms could get me rescued.

Waiting in the car, I doubted whether _____ would be able to come. Soon enough, though, I got a message from someone who was going to put me in touch with them.

At 8 pm, I saw a tall figure in a yellow raincoat striding toward me in the dark, carrying a flashlight. I’d never been more _____ to see someone in my life. It was André Bouvier, who’d walked about 550 yards to come get me, fighting the wind and snow each step of the way.

He turned around and started to trudge through the snow, sure of the direction. I drove behind him, feeling my heart begin to beat more _____. When we reached his house, I burst into tears, all my fears turning into relief and _____.

The experience has been a game changer for me. I now ______ challenges with a sense of calm I’d not known before. But best of all, it brought André into my life.

2 . On the morning of my first marathon, I woke up before my alarm and ate a classic runner’s breakfast. I had slept eight hours. My unreliable left knee wasn’t bothering me. I was _________.

Then my girlfriend, Louisa, knocked on the door, asking whether I had checked my email. Race officials sent an email at 5 a. m. announcing The Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis and St. Paul had been _________ due to record high temperatures.

While I understood why the race organizers didn’t want to put runners at _________, I also knew that I had trained in the baking and humid Washington D. C. all summer. If I could start earlier than planned and finish around noon, I’d miss the worst _________ of the day.

I went to the starting line and saw many runners despite the cancellation. I joined a group of local runners who knew the route. While running, I was overfilled with _________ to still see neighbors who gathered outside their houses _________ out bottles of water as they watched runners go by. The runners and supporters made the race feel like a real marathon, during which the shared goal of reaching the finishing line and the affirmations from the crowds made me believe I could run the _________ race.

The last one mile of the route was downhill. By that point in the race, my legs felt like jelly. But from the top of the hill, I could see dozens of supporters cheering runners home, which _________ me to move on. When my smart watch finally ticked to “26.2” miles, I called out “I’m done” to Louisa, who had been giving a much needed _________ along the way. I let out a dry sob and gave Louisa a hug. After months of training, the unexpected emotion felt like a total release.

My first marathon was canceled, but I ran 26.2 miles   __________.

3 . Yes Day

My friends and I were having breakfast at a Mexican holiday resort (旅游胜地) while enjoying the cool sea breeze. It promised to be another ______ day, as we embraced the break from our busy routine.

We were looking over the list of the resort’s activities. After we ______to convince (说服) each other of what would be best to do, I said, “Let’s have a YES DAY and say yes to EVERY activity, even if it’s not in our comfort zone. Let’s ______ and enjoy ourselves in unexpected ways.”

I hate ______ , but the zipline over the resort was at the top of our list. I was scared when I climbed into position. I wanted to back out, but my friends cheered me on. So, I jumped off the platform and screamed the whole way down. But I was glad I ______ it. Besides the ______, I also appreciated the amazing views. Thankfully, I didn’t say no, otherwise I would have missed this wonderful experience.

My friend Katie, who didn’t want to do karaoke, also had to face her _____ of being the center of attention. We danced and sang, laughing all night long. We were _____ brave enough to attend a wedding party and danced on a glass topper over a swimming pool.

We still talk about our magical Yes Day! When we see the photos from that magical time, we are so happy. In fact, we may miss so much if we only ______ what we are comfortable doing. I believe we all______ Yes Days.

4 . On a sunny afternoon, Anthony Perry stepped off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. The 20-year-old, who worked nights in a grocery store, was on his way to see his ________.

On the platform, something unthinkable happened: a man fell over the edge and onto the electrified train tracks! As Perry and other horrified passengers watched, he shook uncontrollably as the ________ moved through his body.

“Help him!” someone cried. “Please, someone!”

Perry couldn’t just stand there and ________. He sat at the edge of the platform and eased himself down. ________ all rails between the man and him were electrified, he quickly leaped towards the victim, using a high-knee technique from his high school football days.

Perry soon reached down and grasped the victim’s wrist. ________, he felt a powerful electric shock shoot through his body. Perry jumped back. He reached down a second time, and was shocked again. But the third time he seized the man’s wrist and forearm, and managed to move the guy’s body away from the ________.

“Give him chest compressions!” yelled an old lady on the platform.

Perry was no expert, but for a few moments he worked on the man’s heart until the victim regained ________. Then, first-aiders arrived. Perry let the professionals ________. Heart still racing from the electric shocks, he climbed back up onto the platform, grabbed his things and continued on to his grandfather’s.

The evening news reported the incident, ________ an unnamed hero with saving the victim’s life. To many, Perry’s ________ deeds demonstrated the power of choosing compassion over personal safety.

5 . While I was in hospital for a heart surgery, something affected me and made me do something meaningful. Before my surgery, my doctor showed me a video, in which there were patients like me and they each had a heart pillow, so I decided I would get one.

Right after my _______, I asked about the heart pillow. Unluckily, I was told they didn’t offer it but it could be _______ at the hospital gift shop. So my daughter bought one for me. It was comfortable and became my “security blanket”. However I was _______ that many patients couldn’t get that comfort. So I took this whole mission upon myself. I called various hospitals to find out what they used for patients after heart surgeries. I also found a site _______ that the cloth pillows were considered dangerous because it might spread bacteria to patients. I _______ understood, but that didn’t stop my mission. I continued to call the manufacturers. Finally, a lady called back and told me about the heart pillow that they had produced, which could be _______ and disinfected (消毒).

I did all my _______ so that no one could think of a reason why this wouldn’t work. It took me over a month to be able to meet with the hospital authorities to _______ my finding. I’m glad that they agreed and are _____ getting these pillows for patients. I cannot be ________— I actually did something that will help many patients.

6 . Sachin invested everything he had and borrowed some money from friends to start his textile business. Despite his best efforts to maintain top _______ in his products, he was only getting small projects and the earnings were not sufficient to _______ its basic cost. His friends started asking for their money back, leaving him feeling defeated. One day, while sitting on a farm, Sachin met a farmer who asked him why he looked so down. Sachin explained his business wasn’t giving him the _______ he’d hoped for and that he was thinking of selling it.

The farmer then took Sachin to see a mango tree and a bamboo tree.

“Both the trees were planted at the same time, _______ nurtured with water, fertilizer, and sunshine. In the first two years, the mango tree grew quickly, while the bamboo tree remained relatively dormant (休眠的). It continued for the third and fourth years. In the fifth year, the mango tree started _______ fruits. Still, there were no _______ of growth in the bamboo tree. My fellow farmers told me not to waste any time on it. But I never gave up. One week later, there was a _______ growth in the bamboo tree. Then within six weeks, the tree grew to 100 feet. Actually, in the first four years, it was developing its root deep underground for a strong base for outside growth.”

Sachin realized that the same principle _______ his business. He went back to his friends, requested for more time and then began exploring opportunities to get big orders. In the third month, a(n)_______ order from a multinational company worth millions of dollars came in. Sachin and his team delivered the order on time, maintaining their high standards, and the company continued to give them more orders. Eventually, Sachin’s business became highly profitable, and he________ all the debts he owed to his friends.

7 . Sleepy-eyed, I arrived in Jordan just before midnight: Picking up the rental car, the agent mumbled (咕哝) something about a gas station. Trying to stay _______, I really didn’t pay attention.

The next morning, I headed the desert castle excitedly. While driving, I noticed that there wasn’t a fuel gauge (指示器) on the dashboard. That was _______, but I didn’t think twice about it. I had just got the rental so there would be plenty of fuel.

After passing numerous gas stations, I was finally in the open desert. Complete _______. And that’s when my car suddenly came to a stop.

What? In the middle of nowhere, I stared at the engine with no idea what to do. _______ seized me.

Within 10 minutes, a Jordanian _______. He didn’t speak English and my Arabic was limited. After _______ my car, he told me through hand gestures that I was out of gas. Who knew that rental cars didn’t come with a full tank of gas there?!

The man _______ me to get in his car and drove to the nearest gas station to get extra petrol. We then got back to my car to put the gas in.

When I pulled out my wallet to pay him, he refused. My thanks, a smile, and one photo together were all he wanted. Before we fully _______, he even followed me a bit to ensure that I was safely on my way even though it was not getting late.

Today, whenever I think of Jordan, this memory _______ comes to mind, and my heart swells with gratitude. It is the stranger who saved my trip and reminded me of the importance of ________.

8 .

My wife and I usually don’t keep houseplants. Anything in pots gets either overwatered or underwatered. But after my diagnosis with a brain cancer, I loved the idea of having something green and ________ around us.

Last year, my friend Mitch gave me a lucky bamboo plant. Tending to the plant gave me a sense of ________ at a time when I sometimes felt useless because my ability to move was limited. As a physician, I was used to being the one who ________ care. Watering the plant ________ me to a core part of my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver.

However, after several weeks growing in perfect condition, the plant ________ began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the leaves kept ________ and dropping to the floor.

“I can’t even care for a simple plant!” I yelled. “If my lucky bamboo dies, I might die too!”

Identifying with the green and growing plant had offered me comfort. But when the tree was struggling, I felt increasingly uneasy and ________.

It was several months later when I recovered from surgery that I realized I had wrongly linked my careful nurturing of the plant—something over which I had at least some control—with my own ________—something over which I had no control.

As my ________ lessened, I began to study online tutorials to figure out how to care for the tree. I transplanted it to a larger pot, and when it was back in the sunny window, we both began to thrive (旺盛) again.

Now whenever I look at the tree in its new pot, I make a point to relax and think of the things I can ________.

9 . When I was little, I’d play chess with my grandfather, and he’d smoke his cigar while telling me stories about growing up, pursuing dreams, and travelling around the world. Yet it was only after he passed away that I _________ how fast his stories had faded away.

Hence the importance of preserving _________ dawned on me, which ultimately changed my previous outlook on remembering our loved ones and the stories we share.

All too often, we take for granted the value that our family histories and personal experiences have had in our lives. They help to _________ who we are, providing markers of our growth. I believe to some degree we are all naturally _________ about our ancestry, but we can be stuck on knowing what questions to ask.

Full of regrets but armed with a newfound _________, I thought about solutions to help other people record the precious memories for those they love—before it’s too late. As freelancer (自由职业者) platforms became mainstream, I discovered many highly qualified writers were _________ around the world, so I began matching ghostwriters (代笔者) with clients to help them write a book. Then, Story Tree, a memoir-writing service, was _________.

Since then, we have explored the power of stories and their ability to connect us with our past and _________ the present. It has been documented that learning more about one’s family history has been linked to _________ emotional health, increasing compassion and providing a deeper sense of cultures and traditions.

Among all the heritage stories at Story Tree, family is a dominant theme. Other common themes are love, enterprising spirit, overcoming difficulty, and settling in new surroundings. However, __________ is a thread that always ties these together.

10 . We’ve all heard the saying “Laughter is the best medicine”. And there might be something in this idiom. Numerous studies have shown that people who report greater _______ tend to have better medical outcomes.

For instance, a 2017 study at the University of Nottingham tested the effect of mood on 138 retirees _______ the normal flu injection. Those who felt happy on the day of the vaccination went on to _______ more flu-fighting antibodies. Earlier work at Yale University and the University of Florida has also shown that people’s mood affects the activation of genes that fight disease.

But does happiness lead to good _______, or is it the other way around? After all, it could be that people who have strong immune systems _______ have higher levels of other mood-improving brain chemicals as well.

Here is a possible evolutionary _______. Humans evolved as social creatures that cooperate in groups to _______ food and protect themselves from wild animals. We were happier with a(n) _______ network of friends and family because this improved our chances of survival. But closely socializing groups are also breeding grounds for respiratory (呼吸的) _______ such as flu and colds, so we would have needed to increase the activity of the genes that fight these diseases.

For those who were _______ from society, however, infectious disease was less of a problem, and genes that help recover from physical injury may have been prioritized instead of the ones that fight disease.