2 . When I retired, my wife Peg said “Great! You’ll have time to clean the garage!” After 30 years’ ________ as director of a radio station, I would finally have more time for housework, but I worried I’d lose the sense of________ I had felt in my profession.

I pushed at the garage’s wooden doors, but they were as ________as I felt in this new stage of my life. I finally got the doors open and started to empty the shelves. Then my hand hit something ________. It was a common old metal can. I ________ the cover and found a ________ envelope with a postmark of May 13, 1940 inside. ________, I opened it and found some flower seeds in it, “ Eighty years old! I wonder if they’ll still grow. ”

I ________the seeds in a plastic pot. I checked it every day, but nothing happened. “I guess they’re just too ________to be any good, ” I told Peg in ________ . I picked up the pot to get rid of it, but something made me ________. I changed my mind and set it aside. Meanwhile, I was keeping ________, buying some books to improve my photography skills and teaching my granddaughters everything I knew about gardening and dogs.

Six weeks later, I was out in the yard when I ________ to notice the pot. A new bit of green-a leaf had ________. I proudly showed it off to my granddaughters. “Look, girls, even something this old can still ________ for its purpose and be pretty cool. Just like your grand- papa!”

3 . Age is truly just a number if our hearts are young. Lee Minor, an 85-year-old retired psychologist, has________this by finishing his 600th marathon race with 32 members of his family by his side. “Runners don’t have a________line. We just keep going,” he toldGood Morning America. “I felt________running with my family.” Minor has been running three days a week since 1969, and his heart is filled with enthusiasm for running.

“I like to run in all kinds of________. It is so childish as the rain touches your face. And I love to come here after snow and you watch your________as you go along.” he concluded.

Minor’s enthusiasm for running is________. “It is my joy. And I want to live as long as I can. And I mean live, not________.” His words ring true for Ron Robert, a man diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease who decided to ________ a three-year bachelor of artsprogram at King’s University College in London, Ontario. “I was always taught early in life that the brain is like the most ________instrument we have in our body,” said Robert.

Last fall, Robert graduated from the university, despite the challenges of his illness. “When I went across the stage, and as I’m getting my________, the kids all stood up andyelled and clapped,” he________. “I had to hold back the tears. It was something else, just wonderful.” He hopes that his story will give hope to others facing________difficulties. “There will come a time when I won’t be able to, and I fully________that. Butin the meantime, I’m living a full life.”

The stories of Minor and Robert are reminders that age and illness need not________us. We can choose to pursue our________and live life to the fullest, no matter whatchallenges we may face.

4 . Misty Copeland spends most days twisting, spinning and _______. She practices and _______ the graceful movements of her art. When she isn’t performing she is practicing. When she isn’t practicing, she is stretching. She takes classes almost every day. She takes care of her body so she doesn’t _______ it when she goes to work in a ballet theatre.

“I treat my body with the respect that any musician would to their _______.” says Misty. “I love my body,” she adds.

Was she _______ confident? Actually, she was a _______ girl and avoided the spotlight. But Misty loved music and movement. When she was thirteen, Misty’s teacher suggested she _______ a free ballet class at the Boys&Girls Club. For two weeks, Misty sat on the gym bench watching the class, afraid to _______. Finally, she gave it a _______. At first, she felt ________in the class. She didn’t know anything about ballet, and she was ________ than most of the students. Over time, ________, she began to enjoy the lessons. She discovered that her body — especially her long legs and flexible muscles — was just ________ for ballet. After the class season ended, Misty received a scholarship to a nearby dance studio. Most ballerinas (女舞者) start their training much younger than thirteen. But Misty’s natural abilities and hard work made her improve quickly.

Over the next five years, ballet was Misty’s ________. She practiced, performed, competed and attended ballet programs. “Performing was my favourite part because I felt ________ and open onstage,” she says. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged.”

5 . My 88-year-old grandfather and I are both starting 2022 as new college graduates. He was ________ to continue school because he got married and started a ________ in the 1950s. Over the next few decades, he managed to ________ his roles as a husband, a father of five, working at a local bank and taking a college class here and there.

Our higher ________ journey together at Palo Alto College began in 2016. I had just ________ from high school then and my grandfather, 82, was ________ to take classes to make his lifelong dream of earning his bachelor’s degree become a ________. In 2017, we were both ________into the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Over the past year, his health has continued to ________ and he now has difficulty speaking. As graduation day ________ in December, my family and I ________ university officials to approve of my grandfather having a degree of recognition. We had the ________ that he could have that memory before his death.

My grandfather was worried he would steal the show from my graduation moment when I told him we were graduating together. I told him this is our moment and that I want to _______   it with him. I’m so ________ and proud that I was able to have this moment with him.

I ________ my grandfather’s lifelong passion of learning and his strong wills.

6 . In 2017, my husband-to-be, Ricardo, brought his border collie (牧羊犬), Jack, on our first date. I was swiftly struck by the pair of them. Fast forward 18 months and they’d fitted in _______ with me and my daughter, Cayla. The _______ between Jack and us is like no other — he brings us great joy and makes us happy. Now we were all _______ to take on a new family member.

Then came our _______ to the animal rescue centre. It was a love at first sight between Cayla and a little dog, Ruby. As I _______ this little creature instantly sat back. She made herself as tall and _______ as she could, trying to contain her _______ while apparently letting me know what a good girl she was. It _______ our adventures as a family of five _______.

One day, Cayla scootered (玩踏板车) off out of sight along the footpath, Jack and Ruby by her side. Before long, with an ________ bark. Jack ran back, forcing us to ________ we did, and found Cayla, bloody-kneed after falling off.

Cayla looked up smiling, overjoyed that the dogs had come through for her in her moment of ________. One went for help while the other ________ the wounded. It’s a wonderful ________ of how our dogs care for their pack. And I can’t ________ our family without them.

7 . “Dad, just touch the green button! The one with a little picture of a telephone on it!” I was shouting to my father as I _________ him on how to answer it.

My father is already in his eighties and lives alone. To communicate better and _________ his later life, I bought him an iPhone, but my father _________ resisted using it. After my repeated attempts of persuasion, he unwillingly _________ this strange device.

It took my father about a year to learn to answer and make calls. Fortunately, my father’s tech skills have _________ to FaceTime capability. During a FaceTime call, we had a rather _________ moment. As he couldn’t _________ me well, he held up the screen to his ear. This meant all I saw was his large _________. For a long time, I could still _________ Dad’s ear emerging on the screen, which made me laugh.

Then this past summer I introduced him to Wordle — a popular word puzzle. He caught on fast and became __________ about it. Now he looks forward to __________ the puzzle as soon as the new game comes out after midnight. Every morning he sends me a text, telling me the __________ of the day. This has unexpectedly strengthened our bond.

It is quite __________ that at 89, my father has mastered the iPhone to the level that he can access and send emails and texts, and even do his banking online.

The __________ to smartphones has been blamed for damaging interpersonal relationships. However, I can say the iPhone has __________ our relationship.

8 . I have been volunteering for Tri-County Wildlife Care (TCWC) for 7 years. The job is emotionally demanding, and even more _________ for a migraines(偏头痛)sufferer．So why do l throw myself into it? Because at the most difficult time in my _________,saving wildlife saved me too.

I have had migraines for as long as I can remember. Sometimes it was a(n) _________to attend school. I would have to put my head _________ my desk to reduce the pain. So I chose to study at home. But being disconnected from the rest of the world made me feel _________.

“I can’t_________this anymore!” When Mum came to get me from the clinic, I nearly _________.

Then on our way back home, I _________a fallen nest. Two baby birds lay on the ground. Were they still alive? I _________closer. Thankfully they were__________! “You’re going to be okay,” I said to the birds. “I promise.”

The next day Mum and I __________took them to a wildlife care center. For the first time in a long time, I felt helpful instead of helpless. It was as if the baby birds' __________for me was stronger than my pain. I did find something__________ to do.

Then I began volunteering for TCWC. Every time I hold a bird in my hands, I feel a sense of __________, because it brings me so much __________to help these homeless animals.

9 . In 2019, I was staying at a fitness camp in Thailand. After doing 2.5 hours of kickboxing, I began to cough. Thinking it was probably from the intense workout, I brushed off the _________.

But over the next few hours, I started struggling to_________breathe and my heart began to _________. I panicked and decided to get help. As I was _________myself to the front desk, a Thai woman saw me and asked what was wrong. I tried to _________that I couldn’t breathe.

The woman was so _________. She was on the phone within 10 seconds, _________a car to get me to a hospital. Another Thai woman came and talked to me for a few minutes, _________me I would be okay at the hospital. Ten minutes later, the car came._________, I was taken to a doctor’s office. The nurse couldn’t speak English but __________me the whole time she examined me. Then she __________“bronchitis” (支气管炎) on her phone and gave me some medications.

When I got back to the __________, many people asked me if I was okay. They checked in on me multiple times a day and brought me food. Over the next week, I __________.

It is hard to describe the __________that I felt at the time, as well as the relief and thankfulness I felt being surrounded by so many __________strangers who took care of me. I don’t know what would have happened without them.

10 . “I knew when I saw you, I wanted to take you home,” my dad says to me when I visit him one Saturday. There is a deep-seated _________ of a father seeing his daughter when she was born.

My father has Alzheimer’s (老人痴呆症). He does not _________ express in words, so the sudden accuracy of his words _________ me.

Another Saturday, he points to a photo of me and says, “She’s smart.” Does he know the _________ person, 30 years older, is sitting beside him? It does not matter. At that moment I can feel his _________.

Now I bring a spoonful of yogurt to his lips. With a _________ hand, he touches me and says, “You’re very good. Thank you.” He totally forgets it was he that _________ me in lifting a spoon to my mouth.

These words are all he can give now. But they make me understand more _________ my generous father.

His door was always _________. Drop-in visitors were welcomed with a drink. He would not ____________ to give money to a family member in need. In the community, he ____________ his time to preserve the historical buildings.

Time, advice, money. There were many ways he ____________.

And he gives, still. The ____________ has taken much from my father. What’s ____________ are his words. It’s ____________ for him to find the right word and say it out loud. Yet he keeps going.