2 . Most stories of kindness do not begin with a Marvel movie superstar. Mine does. It was at a garden party for the ACLU. I was _________ my grandmother to the event. When Robert Downey arrived, in a gorgeous cream—colored suit, my grandmother _________, far more interested in _________ her paper plate with cheese. He wasn't Cary Grant or Gregory Peck. What did she _________?

After the speeches _________ with thanks, we stood up to make our exit. But as she rose, my grandmother_   _________ and fell into the wheelchair ramp(坡道) that provided the disabled with _________ to the stage. The wheelchair ramps had _________ edges, which sliced her leg right open. The blood was _________. I put my head ________ my knees because I thought l was going to faint(昏倒). __________, somebody took control of the situation. That person was Robert Downey.

He ordered someone to call a(n) __________. He took off his gorgeous suit, ________ his sleeves, and grabbed my grandmother's leg. Then he took the suit, which I'd __________ he'd taken off only to get it __________, but he tied it around her wound. I watched the suit turn red with her __________. He knew how to speak to her, __________ her, and—most critically—play to her vanity (虚荣心).He told her how beautiful her legs were. He stayed with her until the ambulance came.

Believe it or not, I hurried into the ambulance without a word. I was too __________ and too shy to thank him. We all have things we wish we'd said, moments we'd like to revisit and re—experience. Rarely do we get that chance to   __________ those times when words completely __________ us.

3 . One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor ________ the question papers, with the text facing down as usual. ________ he handed them all out, he asked his students to ________ the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no ________, just a black dot (点) in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following:

“I want you to write what you________ there.”

The students, ________, got started on the inexplicable (令人费解的) task.

At the end of the class, the professor ________ all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no ________, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been ________ , the classroom was silent, the professor began to explain:

“I’m not going to grade this. I ________ wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the ________ part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same happens in our ________ . We have a white paper to observe and ________, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a ________ given to us with love and care and we always have________to celebrate: nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that ________ our livelihood and the miracles we see every day.

________, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots: the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the________ relationship with colleagues, the ________ with a friend, and etc.

The dark spots are very ________ compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.”

7 . My 14-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat at the same time at a second-hand clothing store. It had a black velvet (丝绒) collar, delightful tailoring, a Fifth Avenue label and a(an) _________ price of merely $28. We looked at each other, saying nothing, but John’s eyes _________. Dark, woolen topcoats were popular just then with teenagers, but could cost several hundred dollars now. John put the coat on and _________ it. He turned from side to side, _________ himself in the mirror with a serious, studied _________ that soon changed into a smile. It’s a perfect _________.

John wore the coat to school the next day and came home wearing a big smile. “How did the kids like your coat?” I asked. “They love it.” He said, carefully _________ it on the chair and smoothing it flat. Over the next few weeks, the _________came over John. Quiet, reasoned discussion _________ argument. He became more thoughtful and eager to ____________. “Good dinner, Mum,” he would say every evening. One day when I ____________ that he start on homework before dinner, John said, “You are right, and I guess I will.”

When I asked one of his teachers ____________ caused the changes, she said with laughter, “It must be his coat!”

John and I both know we should never ____________ a person’s clothes for the real person within them. But it is meaningful to ____________ a standard of excellence for the world to see, to practice a standard of excellence in thought, speech and behavior, and to ____________ what is on the inside with what is on the outside.

8 . When I was a little girl, there was the magic of Mercurochrome(红药水). It was good for cuts, scratches(抓痕), or other_______. My brother and I tested and_______the powers of Mercurochrome many years ago.

It was summer and hot. Mama was not feeling well and had become_______tired. She told us that she was going to_______on her bed. Only a few minutes had passed when Ronnie_______a scratch on his knee that needed immediate_______.We tiptoed(踮脚走) into Mama’s room and asked her if we could put Mercurochrome on Ronnie’s scratch._______on her back, Mama had fallen into a deep sleep and made no answer.

We stole into the bathroom and took the Mercurochrome and_______Ronnie’s knee. Undoubtedly, he immediately began to feel better._______, we tiptoed into Mama’s room to show her that we had taken care of our scratches without__________her. But she was in sound sleep. Then we whispered that__________Mama didn’t feel well, perhaps Mercurochrome would make her feel__________.

Twenty minutes__________, we painted every scratch and every freckle(雀斑)of Mama’s skin. She had Mercurochrome__________her legs, arms and face. At Ronnie’s encouraging, we__________tried to paint her fingernails and toenails.

When Mama screamed in__________, we knew that she was awake. With all the__________, it didn’t seem at first that she was feeling better,__________she burst into laughter as she stared at her image in the mirror.

We laughed a lot the next few days. If anyone had asked us, we would have__________that Mama had been cured by the__________of Mercurochrome.

9 . My history with music was not good. I still remembered when I took my short-lived piano lessons, my grandfather said _______   to my grandmother, “Why didn’t   he make any progress with much practice?” I_______ to make my piano performance attractive. However, my efforts were_______ .

So I gave up playing any musical instrument until my old friend Leroy _______   me to play the violin with him when I was 57. It made me enjoy the joy of playing music again. On day, Leroy sent a text_______ me that there was a music performance and he wanted me to join him. Thinking of my past, I _______ his invitation. I expected to hear his words that I would become_______ with practice on stage. But he said,   “OK, only   play if you want to.” I was totally_______ by the unexpected answer and made no reply except to tell him goodbye.

No one was_______ me to participate, but I faced a special ________ . Should I play on stage or just watch a movie? I had chosen the “movie route” too many times and this time I was________ to grasp the opportunity. After a long and careful________ , I played my violin with Leroy.________ I didn’t lose all my nervousness, it was enough for me to overcome my fear. Finally, I________ a full performance in front of the audience.

A short time later, my friend Leroy passed away,   but his ________ stayed. It helped   me not only in music, but in all aspects of life. When I focused on what I wanted to do, fear will be replaced with joy.

10 . A gentleman lost his family when young. He was homeless and went to the local_______every day. Although the church never let him in, they left one of the windows _______ so he could hear mass （弥撒曲）.It gave him _______and comfort. Many times we would bring him into our home for a hot shower, or a hot meal. Those were the times when his eyes lit up, almost like he_______ everything he was going through.

Every winter I would get nervous for him and other_______people. I would take blankets and gloves to hand out. It never felt like _______ . This winter was the _______ . One night, concerned about our friend, I headed out with warm food and extra blankets. I found our friend's _______ but didn't hear a sound. Worried, I opened the tent and was _______ by what I saw. Another elder gentleman that was new to town was sleeping________ under a pile of blankets. Our friend had ________ him with all of the blankets to keep him ________ .Our friend sacrificed himself so another fellow human could ________ a cold night.

Our friend was buried in our local cemetery （墓地）.The only people that ________ were our town's few homeless people, my husband, my dogs and me. No matter how many blankets I buy, it will never be enough, but it's ________ . The whole society should make efforts.