1 . Brothers Mike and Nick Fiorito had a smooth life in the first 30 years. _________, they decided to quit their highly paid jobs since they realized that they often felt unfulfilled. At first they felt _________ about future without knowing what to do, but eventually they came up with an idea to help the homeless folks after _________ their poor situation on the street.

They _________ Blankets of Hope with their own efforts, which turned into a global nonprofit organization that also encourages kindness in schools. The brothers sent the blankets to schools. The kids would write the notes, and then _________ the brothers in delivering the blankets to homeless shelters in their local communities. They _________ students so that every blanket includes a note handwritten in classrooms to _________ homeless folks across the country.

Now, their organization is very _________ — reaching nearly 20,000 people in need across America, Canada and Mexico.

Adults can _________ as well. They can make efforts by donating on a GoFundMe page so that the brothers could have enough money to purchase the blankets. Thanks to people’s generous __________, the brothers aimed at __________ another 20,000 blankets this winter. And they expected these blankets would not only keep people warm, but provide a friendly __________ to another soul. The brothers tried to do what they could to make a __________ despite the sweat. They are __________ that more and more people can join them in __________ the kindness.

2 . Last year, my friend, Kydee Williams, and I started a non-profit project because we wanted to do charity work differently. Thus, The Pop-Up Care Shop was _________.

TPUCS is a traveling shop of _________ donated goods for people in need. During the holidays, we _________ clothing drives and then went to women’s shelters. Our main goal was to help inspire women who were _________ with hope as well as bring a little holiday cheer to our local communities. _________ any project or movement wasn’t easy. Brainstorming and coming up with cool ideas was the _________ part, but actually bringing those ideas to life can seem almost _________ at times. However, there were lessons about _________ that we didn’t fully realize until we started this journey.

From our experience, we learned smaller shelters, especially those in less-commercialized areas were often _________ when it came to getting community support. Actually, they were typically more __________ to new and creative ideas and would greatly welcome __________ who offered help. Under our inspiration, many __________ people devoted themselves to non-profit work. Many shelters are understaffed and the staff overworked. Working directly with them helped us __________ the specific needs of the shelter.

While material things like food, clothes, money, and shelter can help people survive, what __________ helps people live is the intangible (无形) necessities like love, presence, patience. Even though we can’t help every single person in the world, we can __________ a world of difference for at least one person.

3 . Peter worked at a grocery store. Recently, he _______ a second job to help pay for his sick friend Dan and his own son’s _______.

Although the job was boring, there were times Peter especially _______. At that time the supermarket was _______, being full of customers. One day, a young woman named Angela caught Peter’s _______ when she turned to her two children, “Sorry, babies. Mommy can’t _______ to get your sweets and snacks, so please put them back, okay?”

The children began to cry and Angela tried to _______ them. Then Peter quickly swooped (接近) in, _______ to help her to pay for the _______. Peter was glad to see the children happy and Angela a little at ease.

The next day Angela returned to the store and explained to Peter, “Thanks for your kindness. It really ________ a lot. I’m a single mother and lost my job, so things are a bit ________.”

“Well, I am ________ aware of your situation. I need help with my friend’s medical bills and my kid’s college. Nothing comes cheap.”

Angela was grateful for Peter’s help. Peter’s actions and ________ touched Angela, and she thought to herself, “This man had his share of ________, yet he was still kind enough to________ and help me. I should pass this kindness on.”

4 . My PhD project is to protect a tiny species of fish, whose color is greenish. To ______eggs, Clanwilliam sandfish (沙鱼) swim to ______tributaries (支流) of the Doring river system in South Africa. Local people say it was once a ______event: The water seemed to change ______ as thousands of sandfish migrated to the shallower tributaries. Now, ______those numbers have reduced to dangerous levels.

My PhD project at South Africa’s University of Cape Town is in ______with a nongovernmental organization in saving sandfish. Human activity, climate change, etc, are drying up the rivers. As newly young sandfish try to ______to the upstream (上游), they now get ______in shallow tributaries. The sandfish population has decreased by more than 90% since we began keeping count. They’re now regarded as ______species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.When the river starts to dry up, we ______young sandfish and put them into buckets of water, then move them by truck to prepared fish nurseries (鱼种场) ______ by local people. The support from local people is amazing. Once the sandfish are large enough to be less threatened, we will ______them to the natural ecosystem.

The data so far show the project has been ______. We’ve ______ about 36,000 young sandfish over the past three years. I’m looking forward to ______those numbers next year.

5 . While warming up to a cheerleading competition, 17-year-old Keianna Joe experienced a scary medical event. She _______ suddenly and went into cardiac arrest (心脏骤停).

Andrea Joe, Keianna’s mother, said her daughter’s cheer coach ran madly, _______ for help, and asked someone to call a/an _______. Andrea Joe then witnessed her beloved daughter _______ and without a pulse. Andrea, a certified medical assistant, _______ into action, working to save her precious daughter’s life. “I just _______,” Andrea said. “I know CPR. I know how to do this. This is my baby and I have to _______ her.”

For about ten _______, this loving mother worked to save her cheerleader daughter in cardiac arrest. She _______ CPR (心肺复苏术) on Keianna, hoping to get her heart beating again.

Then, a portable defibrillator (除颤器) arrived on the scene. Thankfully, Andrea had received training on these ________, but there was something different about this one.

“The machine said, ‘Shock required’,” Andrea said. “And I mean, I’ve trained on these AED (自动体外除颤仪) devices before and they’ve never told me, you know, ‘Shock required’.” Nevertheless, Andrea used the defibrillator to ________ Keianna’s heart back into rhythm and performed even ________ CPR on her. Finally, a heartbeat returned! Andrea had saved her daughter’s life!

After a 10-day hospital stay, Keianna is out, but with a mini defibrillator in her ________. It still remains unclear what on earth ________ Keianna to go into cardiac arrest. Andrea stated, with tears ________ up, that on the way home from the hospital, she made Keianna hold her hand.

“She’s with me, she’s here, she’s right next to me and I’ve got her,” Andrea said. “And it’s the best feeling ever.”

6 . Everyone deserves healthy meals. However, unfortunately, not everyone has ________ to fresh foods, ________ those in poor communities.

A teenager named Lauren Schroeder ________ this when she volunteered at a community food nonprofit. All vegetables for families in need came in cans and boxes, rather than straight from the fields. ________ to make a change, Lauren set out to grow produce so she could donate it to ________ families.

“I wanted people to get the nutrition they needed from fresh vegetables,” Lauren said. This ________ her to start a garden on her parents’ farm. While her mom was supportive, she made her ________ of how much work it would take-still, the teenager ________ the challenge.

To kick-start her project, Lauren got economic ________ from the National FFA Organization, which ________ agricultural education, to pay for seeds and gardening supplies. Then, the ________ work began. Since the summers in Iowa are very hot and dry, she had to water them daily. Lauren added, “I did a lot of research online and every day, it took about two or three hours.”

But all her efforts ________. Her first harvest resulted in 40 pounds of produce. “It was really good to know that anyone who wanted fresh vegetables would be able to get the ________,” Lauren said, “I knew that I wanted to keep going.”

So far, she has spent over 1,000 hours working in the garden, producing 7,000 pounds of vegetables. “I want to ________ community members. It makes a(n) ________ when you help other people out. That’s what makes me happiest,” Lauren said.

7 . It all began on a cold, rainy day．

Sarah, a poor single mother, was ________ to make ends meet. While waiting for the bus with her two children, Sarah ________ an old man sitting on a nearby bench. He was shivering (颤抖), his ________ jacket providing little protection against the freezing weather.

Sarah ________ the man and offered him her coat. She knew it would make her cold, but the thought of this stranger ________ while she had something to give was too much to bear. ________ by her selflessness, the man thankfully accepted the coat and gave back a smile. Little did Sarah know that her simple act of ________ would make a huge difference.

A man, who saw the heartwarming ________, took a photo and shared it on social media. The post quickly became a ________, with thousands of people sharing and commenting on Sarah’s ________. Encouraged by her, people began organizing events to ________ those less lucky. Schools added lessons on the ________ of helping others, and businesses started a “pay it forward” project, where people could buy more and leave the ________ meal for those in need.

Reflecting on this unbelievable journey, we can ________ our individual power, which may create an effect that would ________ reach every corner of the globe.

8 . As an immigrant from China, my mother loves Chinese culture deeply. She _________ Chinese food every night. She prefers to do it herself at home because she thinks the local restaurants aren’t authentic. _________, strangely enough, she likes to take my son to Panda Express to have _________ with her friends who are also from China. She is even _________ to point it out whenever they are at a food court.

Why is American Chinese food not _________ among some Chinese Americans? How is American Chinese food not better than _________ Chinese food? I can’t _________ that it’s not as good as authentic Chinese food. In fact, authentic Chinese food really tastes better while American Chinese food _________ to have food with its own taste — they are right for different persons. It’s important to _________ American Chinese food from authentic Chinese food. They are not the same __________ and have their own characteristics. So they should be treated __________. That’s why my mother thinks that Panda Express is not very authentic, but can still __________ it. Actually, American Chinese food is often created by Chinese immigrants according to their own preferences. As people from various countries have differences in their __________, it is changing.

My mother has a deep feeling for authentic Chinese food and restaurants, so I decide to open a restaurant where she and other immigrants can feel the __________ of Chinese family dinner. My son says he’ll learn Chinese cooking skills from me, which, I think, should be __________ from age to age. Likewise, I’ll also pass on the Chinese food culture to the world.

9 . I teach digital technology. Although this class is high-tech; we try to make it high-touch. In other words, we keep screen-time to a ______

One day, I helped my Grade 8 students build robotic arms. They’re ______ their robots to perform tasks from the ______ —dipping a tea bag into a mug—to the complex, like cleaning up radioactive (放射性的) waste. Like most days, things often don’t ______ as expected. Sometimes it’s the wiring that’s not working. Sometimes, it’s a ______ problem, like the glue holding the parts together ______ because of continuous movement. I do my best to encourage students to continue through ______, though, truly, their peers are the best cheerleaders. When things aren’t working, they make ______: “That happened to me, and here’s how I fixed it.” They ______ each other up: “Try again! You can do it!” They also do a lot of playful ______. But when things finally work, they celebrate together. ______, this is a classroom of teammates, not ______.

Educators and parents have done a lot of thinking lately about the future of ______. We don’t learn best on the ______. More and more, I’ve come to believe that the future of school lies in classrooms like the one we’ve built, where students ______ technology with human creativity and connection.

10 . A curtain-making couple, Liao Peisheng, 41, and Liu Xiaohui, 39, from Linyi, Shandong province recently caught many viewers’ attention. They _________ in a TV program on Chinese poems broadcast by China Central Television, inspiring many to _________ their dreams. _________ busy with their business, they still enjoy their lives, which is all thanks to a common _________ in poetry.

Liu likes the works of Su Shi. Liao, _________, loves poems by Du Fu, believing that it is the truest _________ of his life. Finding joy in reading and recitation, the two _________ poetry into their daily routines. Poetry permeates（渗透）every _________ of the couple’s lives.

One of the couple’s longtime dreams was taking part in the Chinese Poetry Competition, a(n) _________ television program broadcast nationwide, and __________ it to the final. The two have signed up __________ for 6 years. In 2021, both made it to the Top-100 __________. This year, they finally made it to the semi-finals.

On stage, Liu introduced herself to the __________. Liao, sitting aside, watched from the side as camera focused on him. Off the stage, other participants wondered what would happen if the couple compete against each other in the coming rounds, but the couple wasn’t __________.

After earning herself a participation medal, they returned to their __________ lives. “Our life is plain and ordinary, but there’s nothing wrong with such a life, right?” asked Liao.