1 . A 40-year-old man in China found his calling — teaching quantum mechanics (量子力学) on social media — after being unemployed for more than 20 years. Li Wei, from Qinghai province in northwestern China, became ________ for teaching science in an easy-to-understand way on his Douyin account.

Such is his popularity, he has ________ 1.8 million followers. “I don’t like ________ people,” Li said. He ________ a bachelor’s degree in law 20 years ago, but he did not find ________ in that field because of his personality. “I suffered a great failure,” he said. The turning point in his ________ came two years ago when he ________ his friend in the photovoltaic (光伏电池的) business and was ________ to find that lots of people have no knowledge of the technology.

Photovoltaic ________ a special electrical system that produces energy from a ________ and inexhaustible source, usually the sun. With a strong ________ to help people understand, Li came up with the idea of creating clips to teach science using simple everyday words ________ of terms. As he created more teaching videos, he began to realize he was good at it and ________ his subjects to include quantum mechanics and life sciences. Despite experiencing a series of failures, he finally found his ________. It’s never too ________ to do what we enjoy.

2 . When Shelby Lattimore, a math and science teacher, saw her third graders weren’t attending class, she found a fun way to change that. The 25-year-old teacher started her class ______ to encourage them not only to ______ but to get excited about learning.

In the class, students can choose from a variety of “______”, from being a door holder to being a cleanup crew. They get “paid” every two weeks and the ______ they get depends on which job they take on. The money is not real but play money spent on a homework pass, a seat change, and so on.

Each month, Lattimore’s students also have to pay “rent” for their class desk and chair. To keep things interesting, Lattimore also introduced a new ______ to her current class. At the beginning of the school year, she ______ students $5 and then once the new year hit, the ______ increased to $7. “So that was kind of an ______ that they had to make,” she said.

Students can buy rewards once a month. The reward ______ low, medium and high price ranges, with $2 candy being the cheapest option to a more ______ $5 “lunch with Ms. L” reward. Students can also ______ until they have enough money for the most expensive reward, for example, being the teacher for $ 30.

Today, Lattimore has seen how much they’ve learned about various ______ from budgeting and saving to reading a receipt and ______ change. She has also heard from students’ families, who are ______ of this idea because their kids are learning something they never learned at this age. “That’s really the goal here, to not just ______ them this year, but to keep it going,” she added.

4 . I’m proud to say that I finished my dissertation (学位论文) successfully. But as I reflected on the _________I received from my advisor for my work ethic (职业道德), I believed it was _________ from my dad’s tire shop.

When Dad _________ a small tire shop during my high school years, I began _________ for him despite having no _________ with motor vehicles. I was _________ to learn and work hard, motivated by my _________ to help my dad and make customers think highly of him. The early employees of my dad’s shop were _________ with me, teaching me everything they knew about their trade.

I stayed late, avoided gossiping, and focused on being respectful and curious. The work was _________, physically exhausting, and dirty, but the __________ of honest labor made it all __________. I found meaning in every task that helped the business was, __________, helping my dad.

Years later, my dad retired and sent the business to my elder brother, who has skillfully __________ it. Whenever I return and visit the larger tire shop now, I recall the countless wheels I fixed. More importantly, I remember a sense of __________ that comes with honest labor. I’m __________ for the experience, the lessons learned, and the memories that will stay with me forever.

5 . This happened on March 1, 2020. Just weeks before much of the country issued shelter-in-place orders, a mother and her teen daughter _________ on a near-six-month-mission: to backpack the Appalachian Trail, a 2,000-mile _________ thruway (过境道路) that passes through 14 Eastern states.

When they began, the pair—Briana Sullivan and her daughter Cambyr, who started out 13 but _________ 14 on the journey—had intended to simply disconnect from the “typical world”. It wasn’t _________ a few months into their journey, when the _________ of the pandemic began to reach them in the woods and small towns they passed through, that they realized they were now _________ from the outside, too. They leaned on each other to get through all the _________.

Eventually, the pandemic made it _________ for the pair to shop and find places to sleep._________ they came across what they __________ as ‘trail magic’ and people who were looking out for them, offering them the support hikers needed. Although it may seem __________ to spend the days walking, the Sullivans shared it never felt that way.__________, each day felt different from the next as the two kept themselves busy learning new skills and __________ a stronger relationship with one another.

Throughout their journey, “__________ is everything.” That got them through every day, knowing that “when you feel __________, the only way you can go is up…if you wait long enough, the moments going to change,” Cambyr says.

7 . When I was growing up in Auckland, my relationship with clothing was all about utility (实用). Clothes needed to be __________ and keep me at the right temperature. I had a very clear picture about myself: Someone who didn’t __________ clothes. Naturally, I came to __________ the act of shopping, an activity where __________ were largely unavoidable.

But it all began to __________. My first day out in London was unexpectedly cold. Jetlagged (时差) and overwhelmed (不知所措的), I walked into a department store. That’s when it __________ me; I think: It was the __________ procedure that was important, the weighing up of __________, the imaginative projection of the person you might be in this scarf, versus that one. This was the important bit, far more than the __________ act of choice. And it was not __________ at all.

Over the remaining two years in London I began thinking about what I liked, what my __________ was—whether a style, a fabric, a color. I began to see that shopping didn’t __________ need to involve a purchase. The world opened up. I stopped avoiding my own reflection. I still wear items of clothing that I __________ during my stay in London, 20 years ago now. More than this, I __________ people differently. I try to look with care and __________ at how they present themselves to the world, and the stories and messages these choices send.

8 . Kim Stemple, a special-education teacher, faced terrible diseases during her stay in a Boston hospital. While ________ with depression in her hospital room, Stemple received an unexpected present from a friend: a medal.

Before Stemple got too sick to ________, she had been a marathon runner and the medal brought back her racing memories. It served as a much-needed pick-me-up, ________ her of the strength and perseverance she once possessed. ________, it worked like a charm, and then some, ________ her spirits and renewing her determination.

Inspired by this life-changing ________, Stemple began to think about how such a simple act could bring hope to others going through ________ times. And from this ________ of inspiration, her charity, We Finish Together, was born. This initiative ________ medals from strangers — runners, dancers, swimmers, singers, and even spelling bee win-ners — and donated them to individuals in need.

Part of the process ________ the donor writing a personalized note on the ribbon, giving the recipient a unique ________ to someone who cares. Indeed, for those who were ________ in hospitals and battling health challenges, being presented with a medal and reading the warm ________ really made a big difference. It ________ a reminder that they were not ________ in their struggles and that there was always support available to them.

10 . Back in the day when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, I was studying to become a firefighter. As a firefighter, you’re _________ thinking of other people and trying to help children. That’s the mindset.

One dark night I _________ at a burger place. I got my burger and started to head for my car when I was _________ by a homeless man. He was very dirty and obviously very hungry. He asked me for some _________ to buy a little food. As I was pulling out some, I had an idea.

I _________ to see if he wanted to eat a real dinner, so I asked him to follow me back into the burger joint to order. He was _________ of the way he looked and said he did not want to. But I _________. When he eventually followed me in, the people behind the _________ refused to let him in, but I told them that I was buying him dinner and he had a _________ to be there. After some negotiating, they finally __________. It seemed like he was __________ a bit to be finally sitting at a table. Well, I asked him to order whatever he wanted. He only ordered a burger, so I had to __________ him to order whatever and however much he wanted. He __________ ordering enough to fill his stomach at least 3 times over!

Now I often think about this story, because to me it’s not just about helping someone out by __________ them, but giving him the respect and __________ of being a human being and allowing him to feel good about himself that was truly rewarding.