1 . Steph Clemence always intended to go to college. But life has a(an) _________ throughout her early childhood years to _________ barriers. Growing up, she led a nomadic (漫游的) life because her mother, who remarried several times, was always on the _________. By the time of high school, Steph had lived in 25 places.

When her stepfather died in a car accident, leaving her mother to support three daughters on a(an) _________ income, paying for college became a serious question. But she still tried to figure out what to do with a life so _________ her plan for schooling.

The _________ came one afternoon when she was cleaning her bedroom. She _________ a thick document where she found a handout titled “Mrs. Clark’s Book List” by her high school English teacher Dorothy Clark.

It wasn’t homework, but it could be a(an) _________ for those not able to receive higher education due to _________ problems like her. The teacher had spent months creating a list of 153 books whose contents would be as __________ as a two-year study at an arts college.

Steph studied the list. Each of those books __________ her to learn more. The reading list was also a(an) __________ in her everyday life, even __________ with her on vacations to find out the next book. She never did get to college, but has now only four books left before __________ the list. She wishes she could thank Mrs. Clark for how reading the __________ on the list has changed her life.

3 . Hannahs daughter Isla has spent half her life home. Lockdown began when she was seven months old. Parks were a ______: the only places where Hannah could ______ her daughter there was more in the world than their flat. Lockdown ______ Hannah, an opera singer, and her husband, a director, months of work. They ______ every other day they would go out to a park, finding some ______ in the world. Hannah read maps for new places of green to ______. Every time they would find something new. Hannah says, “When we ______ this time, we’ll remember it as the year we three sat ______ on a million pretty places of grass.”

About five months later, lockdown ended. For months parks were almost ______. The only sounds were the footsteps of lone figures and the sound ______ from their headphones. Then came chats as people started ______ in twos. Summer arrived with speakers sending out loud music. ______, cheers, different kinds of instruments and shouts ______ the “noise” as impromptu (即兴的) concerts returned. Parks are really ______ to show people’s reactions to lockdown. Some people may feel depressed, but ______ people like Hannah and her family can be always seen everywhere.

4 . Alvin, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane last December when something like litter on the ground caught his eye. It was a _______ balloon with a note attached.

“Dear Santa,” the note _______. “My name is Luna. Four years old. This year I have been _______. I would like candy, Spider-Man ball, My Little Pony. With love, Luna.”

Alvin’s heart hammered in his chest. It reminded him of his childhood wish. He smiled and set out to _______ Luna’s wish. He posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas wish list on his Facebook page, asking for help _______ the sender.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez, the mother of four-year old Luna, had no idea that such a(n) _______ was underway. It had been a hard year for her family as COVID-19 spread. On a _______ tough day last December, she _______ the idea of having Luna send a letter to Santa by releasing a balloon. They enjoyed a _______ Christmas together, and then the calendar turned to a new year.

One day, Gonzalez received a call saying that someone had found Luna’s balloon. Her jaw ________. She logged on to Facebook and saw Alvin’s ________. She called Alvin and finally agreed to let Alvin fulfill her daughter’s wish list.

“Santa dropped your balloon ________,” Gonzalez told Luna, “but one of his elves (精灵) found it.” Not long after that, Luna received three boxes’ worth of ________with a note signed “Alvin the Elf.”

Now, having received so much ________, Gonzalez and her girl intend to pay it forward this year. After all, when Alvin could have just ________ that balloon in the trash, he went more than the extra mile.

5 . At a speed of roughly 20 miles a day, the Ardines experienced practically all the extremes the United States has to offer. The brothers kept a detailed record of their ________ on the blog. With the support of friends and family back at home, the brothers’ journey started to gain more ________ . By day 60, they were already 1/3 into their initial goal. News media started to ________ their story. In July, their news caught the attention of Verizon Wireless, who ________ the brothers new cell phones and donated to the cause.

Along their heroes’________, Aiden and Louis met their own everyday heroes. A driver in Nebraska ________ them on the road in the extremely hot weather and doubled back to give them ________ drinks. In Iowa, a couple invited them over for a hearty meal of steak and cheese. In Nevada, a woman who ran a campground let them stay ________. These actions made their hearts ________ with warmth.

Walking by 11 states, Aiden and Louis ________ the sandy beaches of San Francisco after 162 days.________ by their parents and other supporters, the brothers were not only delighted that they achieved their goal, but that they doubled it. Thanks to the Ardines, $70, 000 was ________ between the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and the COCO Fund, nonprofits created specifically to ________ food workers hit hard by the pandemic（疫情）.

Without the help of a huge community of people, they wouldn’t have been________. It was confirmed that people are kind in their ________ and ready to help others at all times.

7 . In India, there are many ironing vendors (商贩) who _________ people’s clothes for a living. Their main tool is an iron box _________ by charcoal (木炭).

India’s science and technology department _________ that there are about 10 million ironing carts in the county. Each of them uses more than 5 kilograms of charcoal each day on average, Reuters reported.

After seeing her _________ ironing vendors throw the _________ charcoal away on the street side, Vinisha Umashankar, 15, told NPR that she started to “think about the amount of charcoal burned every day and the damage it does to the _________”. Burning charcoal releases greenhouse _________ such as carbon dioxide, which leads to climate change.

Vinisha, a student from Tamil Nadu, India, had the idea of creating a renewable energy source to _________ charcoal.

She spent six months designing a wheeled cant. The cant has solar panels which _________ sunlight to provide electricity that fuels the iron. Surplus energy can be __________ in a battery for use on cloudy days, according to Time magazine. Five hours of bright sunshine is enough to operate the iron for six hours.

To complete the invention, Vinisha devoted herself to reading college-level physics textbooks to __________ how solar panels work. Then, she submitted her concept to the National Innovation Foundation, run by the Indian government. __________ there helped her build a full-scale working prototype (原型) and apply for a patent, NPR reported.

Now, her innovation is getting __________ recognition. In this September, Vinisha was invited by Prince William to __________ a speech at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow, UK, in November.

“I am not just a girl from India. I am a girl from Earth,” Vinisha said in her speech. “All of us should understand that environmental issues are real and can’t be __________ at a later date,” Vinish a continued. “There is no stop button. There is no magic fix.”

9 . Born in May 1987, Djatougbe Akouvi Aziaka is a girl from Togo, a country in West Africa. Working as a (n) _________, she has seven years of experience of writing about social, environmental, gender (性别) and cultural problems.

She also has other _________. She is president of a youth association (社团) known as Welfare Togo, as well as the owner of a media company in the West African country of Togo.

These two associations are working on sustainable (可持续性的) development challenges and have strong working relationships with many UN organizations. Welfare Togo has been _________ by many UN organizations. Its work _________ many areas, including climate change, gender equality (平等) and human _________.

For example, the _________ is now working with the UN and Togo’s government to _________desertification (荒漠化) . Togo has very little forest coverage. _________ the use of wood for fuel, as well as the practice of slash and burn (刀耕火种) agriculture, the country’s forest coverage dropped by nearly 10 percent from 1992 to 2018.

One of the Welfare Togo’s recent projects is the Signature Tree Project, which encourages students to leave their mark by _________ trees. It also promotes (促进) the __________ of energy-saving stoves (火炉) in rural areas in order to use less forest resource.

The association now has 4,090 young __________ working in five different areas in Togo. “As the leader of these young people from __________ educational and cultural backgrounds, I have learned the importance of having good leadership skills,” Aziaka said.

__________, Aziaka’s media company is trying to encourage the public to pay more attention to environmental challenges. Many people in Togo don’t know the importance of __________ the environment through their everyday practices and habits. To educate __________, the company makes documentaries (纪录片) on sustainable development problems.