1 . I have had no interest in football for as long as I can remember. While my classmates played, I _________ to stay in the library. I never _________ the passion for the game and would throw away the sports section of the newspaper, as if it _________ the rest of it. As I grew up, I proudly wore my _________ .

But occasionally, whether in a taxi or when meeting a friend's father, I found myself faced with a _________ opener like, “Terrible season we’re having, eh?” or simply, “Who do you support?” My heart sank, knowing my response would unavoidably _________ them, despite their good intentions.

I realized that my _________ had closed off many conversations, outings, and even potential friendships I might have _________ enjoyed. Although I couldn't change the fact that I found football boring, I began to regret being a(n) _________ .

Then I became a father. I didn’t want my boy to __________ this valuable social experience, so I took him to watch the Lions play. During those matches, we sat close to the field, surrounded by families who had a genuine __________ with the players. My kid’s questions kept me somewhat __________ in the game. Slowly, I started to__________ for the Lions.

During one victorious match, we even met David, the Captain, who happily __________ for a photo with my son. __________, I had an answer to the question,“Who do you support?”

2 . I’m an online columnist. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about my life, ending up receiving some _________ reviews on a regular basis. I have become _________ used to being criticized like that. In the following days, I was also surprised when more lovely words _________ in. They told me that my running adventures had _________ them to go out to work out. Yet more _________ me for giving tips on the mental health issues they had also experienced. I have been so touched by all these people.

As an online columnist for ages, I have constantly encountered _________ readers. A lady was _________ about my daughter when she was hospitalized and a gentleman offered to _________ me for my training when I was badly off. There was also a couple who sent me a jar of home-made marmalade when they read about my _________, in the hope of cheering me up. As I thought about __________ of these kind people, I wondered why our brains are programmed to focus on the bad things __________ all the lovely ones.

At that moment, I’ve realized we don’t have the luxury of negativity. Our life is too short to be __________ by it. To stop engaging in it, the key is our __________ to be dragged down by it. In that spirit, I’ve __________ that from now on, I’m only going to focus on the positive. I’ll keep a file on my cellphone containing all __________ for me, and look at them when times get tough.

3 . In 1980, Foley was a new nurse, working the night shift in a maternity ward (产房). One night, a baby girl was born with a _________ congenital (天生的) disorder that affected her brain. She was _________ to die soon.

As Foley had seen in similar cases, babies in this _________ were often placed in a bassinet (摇篮) and received little _________ until they died. But Foley said Nancy Allspach, a colleague of hers, had a _________ approach.

“She went into the nursery multiple times through the shift and _________ that baby,” Foley recalled. “She put her _________ right down next to the baby, and she talked to the baby. And she even _________ the baby a bottle and rocked her in the big rocking chair. And she _________ the baby as though she were her own.”

Foley __________ remembers how the baby was treated, and how the mother was treated, too. Over her nearly 50-year __________ as a registered nurse, Foley has __________ many babies and children who died later. And looking back, she said she always tried to treat both the children and their parents with compassion (同情)—the way she __________ from Nancy Allspach.

“I never forgot the importance of touching and being __________ to the baby or the child, and also the parents,” she said. “Because, at that moment, what they need is __________. And Nancy taught me that.”

4 . A woman about 100 years old just proved that age means nothing by breaking three amateur(业余的) swimming world records.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, Betty Brussels _________ the Victoria Masters Swim Club Meet and beat the rivals in the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle in the 100- to 104-year-old age _________.

Betty Brussel didn’t get into _________ swimming until she was in her 60s, and this was the first time she had been able to _________ such an achievement. She was able to break the records despite _________ a pacemaker(心脏起搏器) she received after suffering a heart attack in her 70s.

Betty finished her 50m backstroke in 1:24.91, which was almost five _________ faster than the previous record. She surpassed(超过) the _________ standing 400m freestyle record of 16:36.80 by _________ hers in 12:50.03. Betty set the first record for the 50m breaststroke with a time of 1:56.22.

“I was surprised by my own _________ yesterday,” said Betty. “I gave it my all; I never give up. It was wonderful. I was totally __________ by everybody’s support. I like to win, but __________ have never been the most important thing to me. If somebody else wins, I am __________ for them.”

Even though Betty Brussels only just __________ her own achievements, award-winning filmmakers Hannah Walsh and Emma Puchniak are already talking about a possible __________ that could be released in about a year.

“I live life every day and __________ it,” Betty told the publication. “I feel very fortunate to do what I do.”

5 . Many people agree that pets are family. It’s because they _______ pets like human family members. Unfortunately, so many animals have much _______ lives than us. And it seems like we can never get _______ days together.

Julia Earheart knows _______ how strong the love for a pet and the pet _______ to its owners can be because she has her own pets. Based in Michigan, Julia works as an independent photographer with plenty of _______ customers. But it’s her non-paying customers that get the most out of the sessions.

When elderly and sick pets _______ their final months with their humans, Julia offers to take pet photos for _______. She photographs these owners and their pets so even when the pet dies, its owner can enjoy every last moment together.

And these pictures couldn’t be more beautiful but heartbreaking at the same time. “The shoots can be emotional and difficult, absolutely,” Julia said. “But when you look at the pictures, you can see that _______ is possible even when there isn’t much ________ left.”

Julia wants the owners to be able to spend the money on vet bills and toys ________a photography session. Thanks to her, some lucky owners can ________ the final days with their companions so the owners couldn’t be more ________.

“I won’t be able to get to all of them and that’s the hardest thing for me,” Julia said. Even though she can’t help all of the owners, she is an angel for giving this ________ gift to so many heartbroken pet parents. Above all, she uses her talent to________love and comfort.

6 . That day was Nancy’s 30th birthday and she was alone at home. She was standing by the living room window, with her eyes filled with _________. She was sure her sister would _________ her like she always did.

Looking out from the window, Nancy _________ her journey. All these years, she took up different _________, from a factory worker, a waitress to a hotel clerk. Her only goal was to _________ Kate, her younger sister. To her relief, Kate was a(n) _________ student, always doing well at school. For Nancy, Kate _________ much to her. She was her dream and happiness.

As lost in thought, Nancy was _________ by footsteps approaching her room. Her eyes lit up right away. She rushed to the door and sniffed (嗅) the air to catch the _________ smell of the chocolate cake. However, unlike usual, Kate arrived, __________ this time. No cake; no beautiful gift box. Nancy’s __________ disappeared. Kate gave Nancy a big hug and said, “Happy birthday!” “Thank you,” Nancy just replied __________. And then Kate took an envelope from her pocket and said, “Here is your birthday gift.” Looking at Kate questioningly, Nancy __________ it. Inside was a(n) __________ letter. Kate continued, “I signed you up for the community college with the money I earned through part-time work. I want you to __________ from where you left.”

Nancy hugged Kate tightly, crying with joy. She finally got the best ever birthday gift.

7 . It was like finding a needle in a haystack. Shelly Romo surveyed what was ________ of her home in Maui, which was hit by a deadly wildfire, hoping to find her wedding ring, expecting to leave ________. But luckily, after three hours’ ________ with volunteers, it finally appeared, the diamond ________ but the band completely damaged. Romo and her husband went straight to No Ka’ Oi Jewelers — a local business that has been ________ fire-damaged jewelry free of charge.

No Ka’ Oi owner Omi Chamdi said he was one of the ________ ones — the fires had avoided his home and storefront. That’s why, in its aftermath, he immediately sprang into action and advertised ________ restorations. “When the fires here on Maui occurred, pretty ________ I decided this is something I can do and I really want to do for the ________ community.”

However, Chamdi doesn’t restore the jewelry himself; ________ he has been paying for the restoration services. When asked if he ever ________ that, he shook his head. “These are not just ordinary items, these are the most ________ possessions that people go back and dig through the ________ to find.”

________, Romo was not ready to say goodbye when the fires destroyed her home. But finding her wedding ring and getting it restored gave Romo some peace about ________.

8 . Isabella Springmuhl Tejada is one of the first professional fashion designers with Down Syndrome (唐氏综合征).

Her path to success wasn’t ________.Although she showed her________.for design in childhood, when she would spend hours designing paper dresses for her dolls, she was________from several fashion schools due to her disease. She had no________but to seek other ways. She________for a sewing course, where she was________to sew clothing for finger-sized traditional Guatemalan (危地马拉的) dolls, which she________happily. Meanwhile, she also made a(n)________in designing dolls, creating some life-sized dolls and dressing them in the colorful traditional embroidered jackets she’s now famous for.

This design experience helped Tejada develop her own design style,________traditional Guatemalan patterns, colors, and materials in her culture. She also created her own brand Down To Xjabelle,________for people with Down Syndrome, knowing how difficult it was for people like her to find________! clothes. The new brand ________right away, making it all the way to London Fashion Week, proving fashion can________all barriers and borders.

And the ________designer talks about her plans for the future as well, “I want to export my brand all over the world and________that people with Down Syndrome can do what they set out to do.”

9 . Growing up on a farm, Tori James spent much of her early years outdoors, building shelters and playing in muddy streams. She _________ herself as an ambitious and adventurous child and owes the Duke of Edinburgh Award to her love for _________. James says she could never have _________ that one day she might be the youngest British woman to _________ the peak of Mount Everest.

Today, James is a(n) _________ adventurer. Alongside her successful climb of the world’s _________ peak in 2007, she was a member of the first all-female team to _________ a tiring 650-kilometre ski race to the Magnetic North Pole in 2005, and in 2014 she set the _________ for the longest non-stop open-sea kayak crossing in UK waters.

Yet ahead of her first exploration at the age of 18, James had _________ her ability to last a month out in the cold without the comfort of a hot bath. “It’s only by ____________ our comfort zone that we understand our true potential,” she explains, “That’s when the ____________ happens.”

James encourages would-be adventurers not to be ____________ by the conventional image of the rugged (粗犷的), hardy explorer. “I am such a believer that, with the right support and skills, everyone can bring ____________ to an exploration,” she adds, “Sometimes, it’s only out in the field that someone’s ____________ talents emerge, ____________ in the process of exploration.”

10 . It was July 2019 and Mum had taken me on a 120-km mother-and-son walking holiday as a treat for my birthday. Although I was still on my first special ________, I’d love to see some ancient civilisation.

“Why don’t we go to Egypt?” I said. “It sounds ________, but I’m not paying for it,” Mum smiled and replied.

“I’ll save up my pocket money, and get a ________,” I said. I started saving my $10-a-week pocket money and washed my parents’ car for ________ cash.

In 2020, we moved to Perth. One day, I ________ a brochure in the letter box which was advertising a job delivering catalogues (目录). I applied for the job, and ________ I got it a week later.

On a Monday, a mountain of catalogues were ________ at our house. It took me nine hours to sort through them, and then I ________ them to 430 houses. At first, I used my bike and ________ the catalogues in my backpack, but this wasn’t very ________ so I bought a trolley (手推车) which improved my speed. As time went by, people started ________ me and saying hello on my rounds.

After three and half years, I’d ________ a massive $6,500, and in January this year I flew to Egypt. I had a good time visiting the powerful pyramids at Giza, ________ local food and sailing down a river. I fully ________ that nothing can stop a person from following his ________.