1 . I was born in a poor village in Uganda. I spent the ________ days of my childhood there. My mother died when I was born. My father never cared about me, which ________ me to leave when I was ten. For the next three years, I helped people do something and they provided me with shelter and food ________. Luckily, a ________ family paid for me to go to school. For the first time after leaving home, I felt ________. Then, I attended school and got a job. I always ________ to help children in need. Yet I ________ felt I could do something more.

In 2016, I got passed to be a foster (收养) parent. By the end of 2019, ten kids had filled my house. In 2020, I got a call from a center for ________ children. When asked if I could take Anthony, I ________ it because ten kids were all I could do with. ________, I was talked into taking Anthony just for the weekend. I didn’t ask about his situation ________.

Anthony arrived that night, “Can I call you Dad?” he asked.

“No.” I needed to keep my ________.

Monday morning a worker in the center came to ________ Anthony. From their talk, I learned he had been ________ three times, but nobody would take him in.

Looking at Anthony, I saw something that made me think of the ________ boy I had once been. “I’ll take him in,” I said.

2 . One morning, Lindsey Sheely ordered delivery from her favorite restaurant. After _________ the food, her then two-year-old son, Cohen, ran out to say goodbye to the delivery man. The child was _________ a package of sauce with one hand while his other arm was outstretched (伸出) for a hug. The pizza guy _________ to lean into the boy’s hug and said. “Enjoy your _________!” The enthusiastic baby even tried to kiss the pizza guy, but his mom told him to just blow kisses.

The _________ interaction was captured on Sheely’s doorbell camera. The following day, she posted the interaction on the Internet. “We thought it was so _________ and funny,” she wrote. “I hope it gives you a(n) _________ and warms your heart like it did for us.”

Then, she received a _________ from a man named Ryan Catterson, who told her that he saw the video and that he was the one who handled their _________. He was the pizza delivery man. Catterson __________ his sadness that his 16-year-old daughter, Alyssa, __________ passed away just a week before.

“After losing my daughter this past week, Cohen’s gesture __________ me because it was like my daughter was there. It really just __________ a lot to me.” said Catterson. Just like that, the hug was the perfect timing. Catterson had been informing the whole family how much he needed hugs before they came. Luckily, that sweet little __________ gave him one. It was almost as if his daughter had known and __________ it to him.

3 . Kate Chandulal-Dee’s unique and infectious smile can brighten anyone’s day. It’s a(n)_______ she’s always had, which has helped Kate bravely face many challenges in life.

Kate was born with the rare genetic disorder (遗传性疾病), which has resulted in her having 138 _______ to date.

Kate’s many operations have _______ serious and life-threatening procedures. One important procedure when she was 14 was the _______ of a tube from her throat that helped her to breathe. After it was gone, Kate could _______ eat food. “It was like my mouth was waking up for the very first time,” she recalls.

Kate’s story was known to the public in 2010, when she was just seven years old and _______ school. Now 20, Kate is all grown up and has just finished the last of her _______ at Edgewater College in Auckland. She plans to _______ with a degree in the creative arts and media.

As a child, the thought of attending school _______ her will to live. “School has been ________ to keep me going and to help me with my self-confidence,” she tells. “Through school, I found my abilities and talents, like writing and drama (戏剧). I’ve also learned how to be ________ and interested.”

Last year, she challenged herself and ________ drama. She was cast as a nurse in a school production of Romeo and Juliet. Kate has also written four books and recently ________, and edited a documentary called Still Smiling, about the challenges that she has ________ in life.

She said, “I’m going to miss the teachers and the school community. They have taught me that I can ________ anything with enthusiasm (热情).”

4 . I was 10 when flooding displaced my family from the Butaleja District of eastern Uganda in 2008. Illegal sand mining along the riverbanks_______flooding already caused by climate change. We_______ our farm and home, so we moved over 130 miles away to Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, where we lived with my______. But her home quickly became______, so we moved to a one-room rental (租赁)—much______and less beautiful than our old home. It was too much for my father. My mother raised my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and me after he______. She often ______to find enough food or money. I can’t______how many times we went to sleep hungry because we couldn’t afford food. But back on our farm, we had______to eat.

And we still couldn’t______the impacts of climate change. I’ll never forget one night in November 2014. It began to rain, the power______, and water flooded our room. We stood outside all night. The next morning, we moved back into our grandmother’s house for four months until my mom could afford to______a new home.

Living through______flooding made me realize I had to protect the environment. In 2020, I ______ Earth Volunteers, a climate nonprofit organization currently supporting youth climate education. Knowledge is______: I believe my father wouldn’t have abandoned (抛弃) us if he had known why those floods hit in 2008, or how to respond.

5 . Mr. Charles is a beloved Berkeley County School District bus driver. He _________ more than 70 students during the morning and afternoon _________ routes daily. Kameron was among them.

Kameron’s kindergarten experience _________ behavioral challenges, leading him to frequent visits to the principal’s office. Noticing Kameron’s _________, Mr. Charles decided to step in and offer his support.

He affectionately called Kameron his “little buddy (兄弟)” and made a _________ with him. If Kameron _________ well, Mr. Charles would reward him with a(n) _________ every Friday, marking the beginning of their heartwarming story of friendship.

Stephanie Williams, a special education teacher at Cane Bay Elementary, started accompanying (陪同) Kameron to the bus at the end of each school day. Since then, Kameron’s behavior _________ significantly. He became more open to new experiences and showed remarkable _________. Their friendship developed through shared conversations, small gestures, and the weekly surprises Mr. Charles __________ prepared for his “little buddy”. The __________ regularly enjoy outings to McDonald’s and ice cream. Mr. Charles even __________ Kameron’s baseball games on the weekends. Mr. Charles expresses __________ affection for Kameron and hopes their friendship remains strong.

Thanks to the __________ connection he shared with Mr. Charles, Kameron __________. What was once a challenging situation is becoming a journey of growth, positivity, and friendship.

6 . Imran, 22, is in his second year studying community development at college. But after he puts down his books, he spends most of his spare time helping________a families.

Imran leads a team of 350 youth volunteers at IMVN, a non-profit founded by himself. Since 2020, Imran has________more than 200 small social events, like distributing food and raising funds. That’s pretty________considering that in 2020, Imran was just 19 years old.

Imran is committed to helping lower-income families, because he has________first-hand how it was to be in need. When in middle school, he and his family________together in a one room shelter. “It was difficult to live there because of the________constraint(束缚).There was no privacy; it also made studying________,” Imran recalled. “But it also opened my eyes to the________of being less privileged,” he added.

They had to stay in that shelter for two years before managing to________for a rental flat. They have been living there since. It was his experiences living in a________that influenced his passion for volunteer work. “I know how it feels to have________, so I really understand how our beneficiaries(受益者)feel, so it gives me a________to continue assisting them,”says Imran.

His passion for volunteering is something that________over time.________, he started volunteering because it was a free activity that could keep him occupied. Now, he feels satisfied when he is able to help bring a________to people’s face.

7 . A 23-year-old woman just set a record for the fastest solo row across the Atlantic. Departing from the Canary Islands, Payne rowed 59 days, before arriving in Antigua. The _________ achievement was made for a charity. More than $14,200 was raised to help people _________.

The challenge was described as one of the hardest ones on Earth. No _________ was allowed—all necessities must be brought along. But she was _________ enough to keep going without extra help.

The last 8 miles was really _________ for Payne. It was that point where she knew she couldn’t give up and that she had to _________ it. Although 8 miles was _________ in the great plan of 3,000 miles, it felt like some of the longest for her. However, hunger, lack of sleep and the test of body and mind were _________ by sighting fantastic sea life and _________ the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. So the __________ was worthwhile.

Payne rowed 15 hours per day alone in the Atlantic Ocean with strong winds. “In the last week, I thought I wasn’t going to break a __________ at all because the wind dropped and I was going nowhere,” she said. “There was one day when I rowed __________ for 18 hours, but I only rowed less than 10 miles. That was pretty__________. I could just feel the race record slipping away.”

But finally Payne __________ it with a strong will. She received the cheers of the crowd when approaching Antigua. She could hear the __________ from her family and friends waiting for her.

8 . I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. This year, I had the opportunity to _________ the community in many ways. I volunteered at several organizations. These experiences further opened my eyes to the needs of my community.

Years ago my family struggled with _________ and Helping Hands Charity was _________ enough to help us pay our electric bill. _________, I wanted to pay back the program. At first, however, I found little _________ in sorting piles of toys but then the manager told me that _________ would be very happy to receive these toys. This helped me know _________ isn’t about me; it is about playing an active role in the community, bringing joy to families who are _________, and giving hope to the hopeless.

I also had the _________ to help with the Meals on Wheels America, from which my grandfather once __________. He still remembered how he looked forward to a hot meal daily, and __________ me to help someone in the same way. It was __________ to deliver hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one. This experience made me realize how __________ I am and the benefit I have got.

At the Science Museum I helped prepare for community services such as the Science Nights. When I was young, I had the opportunity to participate in one of the activities they hosted. I remember how the volunteers worked hard cooking our breakfast. It was beneficial to be on the __________ end instead of the receiving end. The Science Nights is a good way of making education __________ and exciting for the children.

9 . Shortly after I placed an online order, a driverless car pulled up beside me. Once I ________ the car. I was asked to scan the QR code to show I was the person who had ordered the taxi. Then I had to ________ my seat belt. The car had sensors which wouldn’t let it ________ with anyone unfastened. When I was ________, the car pulled off by itself.

Even though I was running on what looked like a(n) ________ road, with normal traffic all around, the road here was special. It was fitted with sensors and ________ mapped, allowing the car to take me to my ________ safely. The ride was ________ and uneventful, and I was even asked to rate my ________ in the app in the end. I knew I was rating an AI driver, ________ I gave five stars just in case Al takes over the world later and they know how to hold grudges (报复).

Since the ________ license for testing driverless cars was issued in 2018, dozens of cities have set up test roads that ________ AI-driven cars to take to the streets. But there’s a problem with these cars: they’re still not allowed to operate without a human behind the wheel to take control of the cars in case of ________. By 2025, they think these types of ________ will truly be fully driverless, so you have about five years to get used to the idea if it’s something that ________ you.

10 . It has been an unwritten rule that those who become 30 years old must have already been in a stable (稳定的) place. _________, they might be considered a failure.

I am turning 30 tomorrow and I ask myself, “Should I _________ this deadline?” I am still renting an apartment, and living alone. This seems far from _________ for most, but it looks nice to me.

When I graduated years ago, I _________ worked as a journalist because I had been dreaming of writing stories for the _________ since childhood, and I thought I would stick to it forever. But as time flies, I realize that it will be unwise to _________ myself to just one path. Therefore, I decide to start my another pursuit—studying law.

Was I _________ before? No. I have learned that there is no single formula (公式) for _________ and happiness. Our lives are filled with _________ possibilities. While I really love my current career, I have also been interested in being a __________. So why should I __________ the dream to the end just because I am 30 already?

Turning 30 can also be a chance to do whatever you like. You needn’t care about how others will __________ your decisions. The most important part is that you are just being yourself and __________ it. Turning 30 is just like any other birthday. Stop feeling __________ about your age and try to __________ all the opportunities and surprises that life throws on your way.