1 . Lydia was a smart girl, very smart. She loved being with her friends, going shopping and doing what every other girl likes to do. There was only one _________ that made Lydia self-conscious (敏感): She was _________. One autumn day Lydia and her best friend Judy were taking the train to do one of their favorite hobbies: shopping. As a normal child, Judy, both caring and patient, spoke to Lydia in _________ language all the time. The train continued to make its occasional (临时) stops when a boy, no older than fifteen years old, sat in the _________ across from Lydia. Lydia couldn’t help but notice how often the boy would _________ over at her to watch her move her hands rapidly. This was one of the things that made Lydia unhappy.

“Why must everyone stare at me?” Lydia asked her best friend, trying to _________ the boy’s stare. “Doesn’t he realize that I am deaf? There is no need to stare at me. He is probably thinking that I am very _________ or disabled. I _________ people who prejudge others!” Lydia had become quite upset...

_________, the train came to a pause, waking up the boy in deep thought then. He got up, ready to get off at his __________. Instead of hurrying off the train, however, he __________ to Lydia casually and started to __________ his hands as she had just moments before. “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t like it when people stare at you. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. To be honest, just because of that, I __________ to get to “talk” to other __________ in here. I feel self-conscious and different, so I was __________ when I saw you. I thought maybe we could be friends.” With that, the boy walked off the train.

2 . I was in fifth grade and about to take a science test. Since first grade I had always been good at school. Simple math was ________ for me and I always did well on tests. When it came to fifth grade science, ________, I was struggling. I couldn't seem to ________ it however hard I tried. I was ________. Mom and Dad had always been so ________ of my good grades and I didn't want to let them down. Just before the test I had written several of the ________ on my desk top. I sat ________ as the teacher started to hand out the tests. I didn't want to get caught, but I didn't want to ________ either.

As the teacher was starting down my row suddenly the fire alarm ________. It was unscheduled. We all ran out and stood together ________ for the all clear signal. As I stood outside in the warm sunshine I realized what a fool I had been. I knew Mom and Dad would be proud of me and love me whatever my ________ were. As soon as we were ________ back in I wiped the answers away. I had been given a second ________ and I wasn't going to waste it. I took the test, did my best, and felt at peace.

I don't ________ what my grade was but what happened that day has ________ in my heart and mind ever since.

4 . He man Bekele was not atypical high school student. _________ spending his free time playing videogames, this 14-year-old was conducting experiments. His goal was to create a _________ that could treat skin cancer, and make it affordable for everyone who _________ it.

Growing up in Ethiopia, Africa, He man _________ saw people getting sunburned by the hot sun working outside. He didn’t _________ much of it when he was really little, but a she _________ he realized how serious skin cancer really was.

Skin cancer does have cures and it is _______ in most cases. However, the average _______ of skin cancer treatment is almost $40, 000. When hearing the shocking _________, He man planned to create a more __________ and accessible solution. He started doing experiments and working on different things, which turned into his bar of soap as a project.

His __________ won him the prize in this year’s 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge, a competition that __________ kids to think of unique ways to solve everyday problems. He man was so surprised and __________ when he first heard the news of his award. “It’s __________ to see that my ideas can be __________ and seen by the science community,” he said.

5 . I was in the back seat of a yellow taxi grabbing my mother’s hand like a 5-year-old. But in fact, I was 28 years old, still ________, and hoping my mom would make it all right.

We were coming home from the ________, and I was in a full-body brace, having survived spinal (脊柱的) surgery exactly a week earlier and headed to my tiny apartment in San Francisco. Each time the taxi ________ over the steep hills, I felt as if my bones were ________. I doubted that I would get hurt again during the journey.

I was about to open my mouth to shout at the driver or at least ________, when my mom leaned forward and said cheerfully, “Thank you!” The driver glanced at us ________ from his mirror. “You’re just the best driver I’ve ever seen,” my mom continued. “These hills must be so ________ to drive on. And I am so ________. My daughter had surgery on her back and is so ________. Because of you, she’s going to get home safe. Thank you. You’re wonderful.”

In the mirror, I could see the driver ________ proudly. I felt a flash of ________, but before I had a chance to ________ my mother’s words, a miracle happened. The driver slowed down. He stretched his neck left and right to ________ a smooth ride before making each turn. Indeed, he drove us home like the best driver I’d ever seen.

In that moment of ________, what my wise mom had instinctively done was only obvious to me: ________ is powerful.

8 . Our church has a way of assisting those who have financial difficulties without making the receiver feel shame or guilt by dropping money into an offering box with only the name of the receiver on the envelope. The envelopes are then distributed to those members without them knowing the ________ of the giver.

There came a time when my husband and I were among those ________. We did not talk about our financial difficulty with anyone. The only reason our ________ knew was because we had to cut back on many things. ________, we hoped they were not aware of the extent of our need. We did not want to burden (使负担) them with a problem they were too young to do anything to ________.

Our ________ wasn’t improving, and just as we reached the point of despair (绝望), our church gave us a gift envelope left in the offering box. We were ________ to receive a big sum of money, enough to help us ________ that desperate time. We couldn’t help but wonder who had given such a generous gift.

A year later, our seventeen-year-old son was applying for a student loan so he could ________ university. It was then that we discovered that his savings account was almost ________. His father and I were very disturbed by this. From the time he was nine years old, he had worked very hard for his small ________. I asked him repeatedly to tell me where the money had gone. At first he would not tell me, but I would not let the matter ________.

Finally, in tears, and with much ________ my son admitted that the year before he had put his savings in the offering box for his father and me. I stood there ________, tears filling my eyes. It had taken my son years to save that money. He had given it to us ________—without telling us what he had done.

10 . In her 102 years, Sally Lepis has been known for helping her family, friends and neighbors. So when the old lady couldn’t _______ to replace her decades-old hearing aids (助听器) and it became increasingly difficult to _______, a local non-profit was happy to give a _______. Last month, Lepis was presented (赠予) with hearing aids, worth about $7,500, through Senior Dreams Come True, a non-profit program _______ by a law firm.

“Mrs. Lepis has _______ so much of herself over the years to friends, family and those _______ in her community,” said Jennifer Cona, a managing partner at the law firm. Lepis has long been the _______ that’s kept her family together, her niece, Olivia Schmidt, 73, said. When Schmidt was a teenager, her mother, Lepis’ twin sister, died at age 42. Lepis _______ jumped in and raised Schmidt in her Westbury home.

“It’s _______ that she has done so much for so many people and thinks ________ of it,” said Schmidt, who ________ to recommend her aunt for Senior Dreams Come True over the summer.

In July, Schmidt and her cousins wrote letters to the non-profit, ________ Lepis for her lifetime of ________ deeds. Later that month, Lepis learned she would ________ new hearing aids, replacing the ones she had used for the past 25 years, and it is ________ that Lepis will again be a lively presence at her family’s Thanksgiving dinner.