1 . At 65 years old, Warburton experienced great changes in her life. She _________ her mobility due to an illness, which made her upset and _________ about what to do in the future. During the boring _________ at home, Warburton came across some real estate listings (房地产宣传单) brought by her daughter one day. Among the listings, an offering of a small barbershop _________ Warburton’s eyes. She admits “the place was awful,” but she loved it _________. She regarded it as an opportunity to do something she’d _________ to do—run a bookshop.

Soon after making her _________, Warburton bought the store with the support of her family, and _________ her new business, The Book Rest.

Warburton has been a (an) _________ book collector since she was a child. She married a man with a similar __________. Therefore, their home was __________ with books. “The books are our __________. It still feels, when a special book goes out, which means a __________ to me—as if some little part of me has been __________,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “But later the thought that the book may __________ others came to my mind, which gave me much __________. I was happy to __________ knowledge and happiness to them through my books,” she says.

Although Warburton’s business __________ a lot during the pandemic, she has no plan to close it. She sees every day in the bookstore as a chance to help others realize their dreams. “All the dreams are in the books and they are all there waiting to be __________,” she says.

And as a gatekeeper of her own small universe of literary wonders, Warburton says she plans to stay around __________ she can to ensure that they do.

2 . I was working in my upstairs study when the doorbell rang. I _______ ran downstairs. It must be a(n) _______, I thought. I didn’t even remember ordering anything, but I was still delighted by the possibility. It’s almost more _______ when you don’t remember; it’s like receiving a gift you never _______.

I quickly opened the door, afraid they might leave, only to be _______ by a Jew who came to collect tzedakah (the Jewish tradition of charity). I was _______ not just that the expected material item hadn’t arrived, but at the _______ of the petitioner (请求者). I even thought, if only I hadn’t been in such a _______; if only I hadn’t opened the door.

I made my contribution — politely but with little _______. The recipient, on the other hand, showered me with blessings. I felt ________. Why was he, the one in ________, able to keep such a(n) ________ attitude? And why was I, the more fortunate one, so depressed and bitter? It was time for a little self-examination.

Firstly, I wasn’t even ________ whether I had ordered anything. Secondly, even if I had, did I really think that material item, whatever it might have been, ________ the level of excitement I was feeling? I knew it was just a thing, something that would eventually be ________ or given away, that wouldn’t give me meaning or blessings. Thirdly, if I had so ________ myself from others’ needs that I was unable to understand their pain, that I saw them as disturbing rather than as an opportunity to ________, to uplift others?

Now I know I made a ________. I realize how unfriendly I was. But at least I still have a little ________. And I want to be better. So let the doorbell ring. I’ll ________ a heartfelt smile. I’ll greet all petitioners with love and generosity.

3 . On a cool autumn day in Minnesota, hundreds of runners gathered at the starting line for a challenging cross-country race. Among them was an athlete named Amelia Anderson who became known for her determination and _________through the events. When the race started, Amelia ran at a fast pace, pushing herself to the _________. However, fate had something else _________for her that day.

As the race progressed, Amelia, more than two-thirds of the way through her _________, noticed a fellow runner, Isabella Harris, suddenly collapsing to the ground in pain. Without a moment’s hesitation, Amelia _________Isabella and extended a helping hand, offering to assist her in completing the race.

As reported by a local newspaper, Amelia took Isabella’s arm, trying to support her in _________forward. Recognizing the severity of Isabella’s condition, Amelia _________, allowing Isabella to climb onto her back. With _________determination, Amelia not only carried her across the finish line but also an _________300 feet to where Isabella could receive much-needed __________attention.

Once there, Isabella was quickly __________ and subsequently transported to a hospital, where she learned she had serious injuries in one of her knees. It became __________that without Amelia’s timely intervention, Isabella would have __________extreme pain to reach the aid checkpoint on her own.

After this extraordinary act of kindness towards Isabella, Amelia remained modest. She was more __________ about why her act was considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her.” Amelia humbly explained to a reporter, emphasizing that, in her eyes, she was merely doing what she believed to be the right thing.

In a world where competition is common, Andersod’s kind act __________as a powerful reminder that the greatest victories are not always about __________the finish line first, but rather about helping and connecting with others. This was beautifully exemplified (是……的典型) when Amelia and Isabella, __________ strangers, became close friends through their tough experience. Although neither won the race, the __________of human kindness won the day.

4 . My son Dan was going to fly out to France in a couple of hours. When we had to say _________, I looked closely at his face. I would have liked to have provided him with some _________, but not a sound came from my lips.

I knew that this wasn’t the first time I had let such a(n) _________ pass me by. When Dan was a little boy, I followed him to the bus on his _________ day in preschool. He looked at me when the bus stopped. What’s it like, Dad? Can I do it? And then he _________ the bus and disappeared. The bus drove away. And I hadn’t said a word. Some ten years later, something _________ took place. His mother and I drove him to university. When it was time to say goodbye, I _________ to come up with something to say. _________, the words let me down.

There was one chance I didn’t _________, however. One day I advised Dan to take a year’s sabbatical (休假) after he graduated from university. I said he should travel around the world, __________ I believed that was the best way for him to get a deeper understanding of life. Dan thought it probably was not a bad __________.

The night before his __________, I lay twisting and turning in bed, __________ about what to tell him. I couldn’t __________ anything. Maybe, I thought, it wasn’t really __________. But when I stood in front of Dan, I knew saying something really did __________ something.

“Dan,” I finally said, “if I had the __________, I would have chosen you every time.”

That was all I could say. I was not sure whether he __________ what I meant. But then he stepped towards me and put his arms around me. For a short while the world and everything in it__________, only Dan and me were there.

What I told Dan was simple and __________. It was nothing. And yet it was everything.

5 . Once there was a little bird that lived in the old times. When a sage (智者) was thrown into a ________ by his enemy, the little bird saw what happened and decided to put it out to ________ the sage. The little bird ________ bringing a few drops of water in his ________ mouth from the nearby river. The larger birds in the tree ________ and laughed at the little bird, saying, “Why are you carrying the ________?”

The little bird said, “To put out the fire around the sage.” The larger birds continued ________, “How could you put out such a huge fire with so little water? It is ________.”

Do you know what the little bird ________? “I don’t know whether I will manage to put out the fire or not but I know what I have ________ is to stop the fire.” Hearing the answer, all the larger birds were ________ .

We often think that our effort is the factor responsible for our ________ . This is a wrong way of ________. If we believe we can succeed, we shall succeed. Our ________ is just a sacrifice (牺牲) that we are willing to make. ________, the little bird knew that with a few drops of water the fire would not be put out but it was his ________ to do whatever he could to achieve this goal.

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that is ________. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your ________ or may not be in your time, but that doesn’t ________you stop doing the right thing. You may never know ________ results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

6 . I was living in Cali, Colombia. One day my younger sister decided to visit me for a holiday and I was supposed to go to meet her at the airport. I somehow lost ________ of the time and realized that I was ________my home much later than I had wanted to. And to make matters _________, when I went outside, the rain was pouring from the sky and I couldn’t get a taxi to save my life. I ________ jumping on board a public bus to Palmira, where the airport was .

The driver said that I would be dropped ________ at a crossroads which was located six kilometers away from the airport. I had no ________ but to travel with the bus. The journey took ages, however. When the bus did eventually ________ the previously mentioned crossroads, the driver pointed in a given ________ and told me that the airport was down that way. By this time, I had descended into tears. My sister would be arriving in twelve minutes, and there was no way I was going to be able to make it ________. Beside myself (失去控制) with worry, I ________ the driver to drive the six kilometers down to the airport to drop me off. He stood up and took a vote from the other passengers. Fortunately, they all ________. Thanks to them, I arrived on time. This was my first encounter with Murphy’s Law (墨菲定律): Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. And the only way to beat this devil is to take ________for the outcome of all your actions. I should have made a Plan B by ________ the possibility that there would be no taxis available. Of course, some major victories were achieved by the very fact that they did not have a Plan B to ________.

However, most of the situations we encounter in our lives are much less dramatic and can often be ________ in more ways than one. It is ________to have a Plan B because you cannot always guarantee that your original plan is going to work out, and in some cases, your contingency (不测之事) plan might just be even ________ than your original one .

Now more than ever, in this rapidly changing world, ________ is often the key to success. If you are prepared to bounce back when everyone else ________, you will be the winner. Think of your contingency plan as a form of ________, one that, if nothing else, can give you the peace of mind you need.

7 . I’ll never forget May 12. 2008. We were having classes at Beichuan Middle School, Sichuan Province, when a huge ______ hit the area.

At about 2:28 pm, our ______ , Mr. Wang, was teaching us singing on the fourth floor of the Teaching Building. ______ we felt the building shaking violently. It was an earthquake! Our building starting to ______ . It was too late to rush out to the ______ . We were told to hide under the desks. ______ later, the whole building fell down. We were ______ and couldn’t move a little at all. No one could really imagine at that split second, how much pain we had ______ or how desperate( 绝望) we felt as we waited to be ______ . I heard Mr Wang calling our names again and again…

Hours later, some people came to rescue and ______ of us were saved luckily.

Later, I ______ this huge earthquake scaled 8.0 magnitude. It hit several provinces including Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi. So far it has ______ more than 80,000 and injured 360,000. My hometown—Beichuan was ______ the worst-hit areas. Our school, which was ______ filled with vigor (活力) and laughter, was a dead valley.

World after such a(n)______ could appear nothing but empty and pointless. So many people’s lives were taken away, so much ______ was done and the whole city was ______ . Beichuan has become a history.

Now, some of my classmates and I were ______ to study in a middle school in Jiangsu Province. I still ______ dreaming and still strive for a better future: to make our homes beautiful yet ______ .

May victims rest in peace. May survivors live to be stronger.

8 . I had spent a full day on my work again. And now I only had twenty minutes before my three _________ girls would come with various: storybooks and homework demands that would keep me on my toes until their _________.

I was a(n) _________ in a small publishing house, writing several columns and several others. I spent my days at the _________, my nights at my home computer, and somewhere in between, parented my children and ran our busy household. I felt like I was _________ so much time and energy on my work that it was hard to _________ the passion for my children.

There is a quote which reads: “Our children deserve the best of us, not the rest of us.” The _________ of my day, and then of the past weeks, months and years, gave me clear memories: I _________ at work with the enthusiasm of a new day. _________, when I came home, I was always __________ and spent. I realized how much I had been putting in my work and how little I had __________ for my children. This quote describes everything that was __________ with my priorities, with my work-life balance, in a few simple __________.

The following day, I gathered up every bit of courage and __________ my boss for a chat. We spoke for a while, working out a way to __________ my job and move some of the burden out of my __________. So, I could come home __________ and have some emotional reserves given to the most __________ people in my life. The shift was __________. The more family time we had together, the more delighted they became. If you want to feel wealthy, __________ the things you have and that money can’t buy.

9 . A week before Christmas, my grandmother passed away. My boss _______ gave me several days off to go home for the funeral (葬礼) in Nova Scotia. I planned to leave on the 20th so that I could get home ______ to help my mother with both the funeral preparations and the preparations for a very ______ and busy Christmas.

Here, my string (一串) of bad luck began: my plan was ______ by a big storm, and I had to ______ a ferry (渡船) ticket for the 22nd, the last day that the ferry would run. I left as the roads were still ______, and I was two-thirds of the way through the long drive when my car ______. I pulled over and found, although I had a ______ tire (轮胎), I didn’t actually know how to ______ it. And it was snowing; I was so anxious that I almost ______. Just then a car stopped nearby. A lady came out and asked whether I was asking for ______. I told her I had to go home ______ for my grandmother’s funeral, but I had a flat tire and I would ______ my ferry. After hearing what I said, the lady took out her ______ and quickly helped me put on my tire at no charge! I was filled with ______. Thanks to her ______, I was able to catch the very last ferry, _______me hours of driving.

The woman is a stranger, ______ she tried her best to help me get home — even enough for me to give a hand to my mom and say goodbye to the dead. I’ll never ______ the kind stranger, who made a hard Christmas a lot easier, for both me and my family. I ______ the world is beautiful because there are lots of kind people in it.

10 . Today we see writing all around us. We would be _________ without writing.

The earliest people have no _________ of writing. However, writing _________ over thousands of years in different cultures around the world.

_________ writing existed, drawings were used as a form of _________. Rock drawings have been found in many places. One rock drawing in a mountainous area of New Mexico _________ a mountain goat standing up and a man riding a horse upside down. Experts believe that the drawing was a _________ to riders that the road was dangerous.

Modern forms of writing began when people _________ to use symbols, such as letters, words, to stand for _________. At first, they used __________ that stood for words. __________, a picture might show a hunter, the tools the hunter used, and a pair of deer the hunter killed. __________ developments took place in Mesopotamia, where people learned to use the same symbols to stand for different words. The writing used by ancient Egyptians also used __________ known as hieroglyphs (象形文字).

Even greater advances were __________ in China about 3500 years ago. The Chinese used tens of thousands of signs. With their systems, they could __________ new words. This, __________, was a different system. To make writing __________, things had to be simplified in some way. The __________ was the development of alphabets. The Phoenicians (腓尼基人) are __________ considered to have developed one of the first useful alphabets. The Phoenicians alphabet used about 20 or 30 signs. They were well on their way to at least one type of modern writing __________, as we know, the modern English alphabet uses 26 letters.