1 . On a fresh May morning, with my guitar in tow, I ventured down the road to a busy restaurant. I was about to _______ the fear that had held me hostage for 35 years.

As I reflect upon my childhood, I’m _______ of a kind, sensitive kid with long-term struggles. But there was one bright spot in my life: I loved singing and playing the guitar. It was my grandmother, Peg, who _______ a flame within me, kindling an unyielding love for _______ in me. But then, in the blink of an eye that joy was _______.

I was 10 years old and our entire fourth grade was in _______ for our annual choir concert. The substitute choir teacher had _______ me with a solo in the concert’s finale (终曲): “76 Trombones” from The Music Man. But each time my solo _______ , terror kept a firm hold of my voice. The teacher rushed to me, “You’re wasting all of our time. Let someone else sing.” Since then I hadn’t sung in _______ again for 35 years.

The broad road in front of the busy restaurant was filled with people. I pulled out my guitar. As I ________ the first chord, I heard a voice in my head: “You are going to ________ yourself like never before.” But I gathered the courage, and ________ a cascade (瀑布) of songs that had built up inside of me for 35 years. ________ my voice wasn’t beautiful, my passion and excitement won over the crowd. Afterward, I felt a wave of pride, ________, and happiness coursing through my veins (静脉). Eventually, I ________ myself from the clutches of fear and reclaimed the stolen joy.

2 . “A new student is waiting in your room.” My principal announced. “Name’s Mary. I’ll talk to you about her.” I nodded, some materials in my hands. “Fine,” I said. “We’re making valentine envelopes, a good way for her to get ________.”

She sat in the back of the room, her hands ________ in her lap. “Welcome, Mary. I’m glad you are in our room.” No ________. “Mary.” I said again. She raised her head and looked into my eyes. A chill went through me. The eyes in that face were unexpectedly ________ as if the owner of a house had drawn the blinds (百叶窗).

The bell rang, little time to worry about Mary. After ________ Mary into her desk, I distributed materials and then hurried to the office. There I learned weeks ago, someone had broken into her home, killing her mother in Mary’s ________. She survived but had been ________ since. “Give her ________,” the principal suggested.

I returned and grabbed a chance to explain this to my students. “It may be a long time ________ she joins us, but you can do your bit.” How loving they could be once they understood. On Valentine’s Day, Mary’s envelopes overflowed. Although studying each card without ________, she replaced it in her container.

Later on a March day, my children noticed the flowers ________ and advised making flower baskets! It was something to lift our ________. Remembering the valentine incident, I expected nothing from Mary; ________, I encouraged her to try. Soon, a boy exclaimed: “Look at Mary’s basket. So pretty!” I was dumbfounded at its beauty, asking how she managed it. She looked at me with the shining eyes of any ________ girl and replied “Mother loved flowers.”

“God, you’ve given us a ________.” I put my arms around Mary. I’ve kept the followers in my desk just to remind me of the lasting power of love.

3 . Bill Sumiel was having a tough Friday. It was October 2020, and the 71-year-old, who was dealing with kidney (肾) failure, found himself at a medical center 30 miles from home.

Sumiel was no stranger to the ________ of kidney disease. He’d suffered from diabetes (糖尿病) more than 20 years before, which ________ his kidney problems. He was on the transplant ________, but no matches had yet appeared. So he continued with his treatments and took a taxi to and from his ________.

Timothy Letts, 31, was driving north to visit a friend when his phone rang with the ________ for Sumiel’s ride home. The trip was out of Letts’s way. ________, he took the order.

When Sumiel got into the car, the pair got to ________. Sumiel ________ that he was searching for a kidney donor. Letts joked that he’d be a good donor (捐赠者), ________ that he didn’t drink or smoke. Sumiel ________, though he didn’t think much of it as they kept driving. Letts, however, couldn’t stop thinking about it. About a quarter-mile away from Sumiel’s house, Letts said, “I’d like to see if I could be a ________ to give you a kidney.”

Sumiel was touched by Letts’s ________, though he wondered if it had just been a(n) ________ moment. But Letts was ________ to his word. He got in touch with Sumiel just a few hours later, and by the next week, Letts had ________ the kidney transplant program. After a long screening process, the results were in: Letts was an ideal donor, and he and Sumiel were a perfect match.

4 . On March 18, 2018, I was alone at home in Costa Rica, unaware that my life was about to change. I received an e-mail with the subject “___________ selection result”.

My heartbeat___________   as I read through it: I had been chosen to receive a full scholarship at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Finally, I would be able to___________ the old legends of China, which had always ___________ me.

In Costa Rica, I learned music well. However, it was my professor in Shanghai who guided me in improving my skills. His teachings emphasized the art of letting the music flow as___________ as tai chi.

In my opinion, that’s the___________   of life in China. You can see it on every corner when you notice how the traffic ___________ or on the way people walk throughout China. Similarly, music can go___________ paper, flowing from the musician to the audience and enriching the world one note ___________ .

When I went back to Costa Rica, I held a(n)___________ piece of Chinese music in my heart. One day, I introduced Molihua to my students and___________ their great interest instantly, which made me pleasantly ___________. Music is indeed one of the best ways to show people about the___________ of another country.

This year, I return to Shanghai and continue my___________of China through its music. Words fall short in expressing the delight and gratitude I experience. I hope to spread the joy of music___________and I believe my ambitions will be fulfilled here in China.

5 . My husband and I had an argument last week. And we ______ our children to stay in the room while it all went on.

There were no hand gestures ______ between my husband and me ______ the children sharing the same space with us. We just stood there, had our argument, without shouting or saying anything regretful and the evening ______ . We did that so that they could see us finally come to a(n) ______ .

We showed them what a ______ disagreement looks like.

We showed them what finding a ______ looks like.

Friends, we are living in a generation where we want to ______ our children from everything. We do not want them to feel any ______ pain; we do not want them to experience any struggle; we perfect a most perfect childhood for their most perfect little hearts. But here’s the problem with that: Our children ______ need to become adults.

Someday soon your children are going to be grown adults, perhaps enter into a happy marriage. But what have we taught our children about marriage? Have we given them a ______ viewpoint of what one looks like? Have we ______ some aspects of marriage? If so, what happens when they themselves experience those hard emotions?

They are going to feel like they are ______.

They are going to think: “This is not what it looked like for my parents.”

Parents, let your children see the ______ times when mom and dad may not have agreed on something. For they will quickly learn that no matter how many times their father continues to put the wrong item in the wrong recycling bin, ______ continues.

6 . On June 18, 2018, Tim, who lost his hearing and sight, was aboard (在飞机上) a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. He needed ______ with a cup of drinking water, but couldn’t ______ his needs through sign language for a long time.

Even worse, nobody could ______ his hand gestures (手势), and even if they tried to relay something by sign language, Tim’s ______ impairment (障碍) made it challenging.

Several flight attendants gathered around Tim, ______ to help. After none of their efforts succeeded, one of them ______ aboard if anybody knew American Sign Language.

Clara Daly, 15, and her mother, were on the ______ flight. Clara heard it loud and clear and ______ the call button. She’d learned American Sign Language a year ago to deal with her reading disability and ______ took action.

Everyone around watched the girl in ______ as she approached Tim and knelt (跪) in front of his seat. She held both his hands and used fingerspelling to ______ him by signing each letter of every word.

In no time, the two became friends instantly. They chatted just like ______ people and shared their backgrounds and interests.

Tim and Clara’s chance ______ made the headline (成为重要新闻). Tim shared his ______ on the experience through an interpreter. He said, “I was in a bad ______ before Clara helped and she was very sweet. She had very clear communication, and we had a nice conversation. Best trip I’ve ever had.”

7 . Jodi and Chase’s family liked to kayak (划皮艇) out to a small cabin down the river. Each summer, the parents always ___________them of the dangerous brown bears nearby.

Today, Jodi and Chase were allowed to___________ahead alone. They put on life vests and started their adventure. After a while, Jodi took a break and laid her paddle ___________her kayak, taking out their sandwiches: smoked salmon with pickled onions.

Chase raised his eyebrows. “We’ll have to___________the fish smell on our hands when we’re done,” he said “We don’t want to smell like a bear’s favorite snack.”

Jodi squinted at him as she ate. “Not funny.”

“I never ___________ about bears.” Chase shrugged.

Shortly, they arrived at the usual stop: a cove (小海湾). Stepping out of their kayaks, they dragged it above the waterline,___________the rope around a tree stump (树桩), and washed their hands in the water.

“You go ahead,” Jodi said. “I need to grab some berries.” Then she got off the road

Walking alone,___________, Jodi sensed movement. She stopped and listened. There was rustling on the far side of the stream. She wanted to ___________down the trail immediately. Would that be a ___________? Just as what Dad had told her?

Then, a giant creature came out from the shadows. Jodi was frozen to the spot, going through a ____________in her mind: round ears, dark fur and a straight body...It’s a black bear! She exhaled slightly, for this kind was less____________But still, she could smell its stinky breath from across the stream,____________it had eaten something rotten (腐烂的).

Yet, as quickly as it had appeared, the bear escaped. Jodi breathed a sigh of____________

When she arrived at cabin, Mom, Dad, and Chase were already there.

“How did it go?” Dad looked __________

Jodi grinned. She did have a____________for them!

8 . Today was another enlightening day at my new American school. Back in China, lunchtime is a ________ hour. We eat, talk, and most importantly, take a short nap (小睡) to ________ for the afternoon. This relaxing routine of our midday break allowed for a ________ escape from the day’s demands. But here? It’s like a ________ against the clock.

The bell rang, and everyone ________ to the cafeteria. I followed, naively (天真地) thinking I’d have ________ time to eat and perhaps even close my eyes for a moment. However, I barely had time to finish my sandwich before the next bell hit. Where did the time go?

And the nap? Forget about it. There’s no ________ for that comfort here. In China, we have these cozy mats in the classroom for our post-lunch rest. But in America, the ________ of napping in school seems as ________ to them as the absence of a nap is to me.

At first, I felt quite sleepy in the afternoon classes. I ________ that brief break we get in China. But then I noticed something. Even without the nap, my classmates were hardly tired. Perhaps they’re used to this fast schedule, or maybe they ________ on pure youthful energy. Who knows?

I’m beginning to ________ that life here is simply faster. People eat ________, converse rapidly, and shift swiftly. It’s a(n) ________ with the life style back in China, but perhaps it’s not harmful, just another ________ of life.

9 . The four people have persuaded companies to give them ￡250,000 worth of toys and food for nothing. And next Monday, they are going to ____ them to every house across north London. David Goodfellow and his three friends, Benny Crane, James Hunter and Callum Teach, call themselves “The Kindness Offensive”. They specialise in ____ random acts of kindness for total ___.

According to them, it is remarkably easy to get hold of items to give away, if you ____. “You simply phone ____ manufacturers to see if they are willing to donate something.” Mr Goodfellow explains. “Our phone bills are enormous, but ____ you reach someone sympathetic.”

The four friends ____ their work together a year ago. “At first, most people were deeply suspicious,” said Mr Crane, a musician. “They didn’t think we’d ____ our promises.” But the group soon learned how to do it properly and convince people of their good ____.

Their first successful “kindness act” was to help ____ a boy’s dream of watching a football match and, last October, they gave free food to ____ seekers. “We’ve met people struggling just to live,” said Mr Hunter, “they ____ want to contribute to society but they can’t work and they don’t find it easy even to buy food.”

The Kindness Offensive goes to great lengths to ____ media exposure but they would like to see more people performing kind deeds for one another. “What I’ve learnt is that kindness is ____,” David’s father said, “____ you do good deeds, you’ll get a lot out of it and others will follow.”

10 . When I was eight years old, my father left us. Mom tried her best to _________ the three of us. Our electricity often got shut off and I’d take myself to a grocery store, staring at all the stuff we couldn’t _________.

At age 15 I got a job at McDonald’s. To keep myself _________, I’d turn each customer moment into an 11-second mini performance. I had a gift for mimicry (模仿). I would _________ the actors I watched on TV and the customers would laugh, which made me feel _________.

Two years later, I left and made my way to Hollywood. I _________ as an assistant for a talent manager. Then I became an agent. But a voice said, “Don’t you think you should be an _________ too?” I’d say it was difficult to _________ a good job for the uncertain rewards of being a performer. _________, after recalling my mom’s toughness, I decided to fulfill my ____________.

But it wasn’t an easy road. Sometimes I got parts but eventually found my scenes were cut. Once, I had only 81 cents when driving to the final screen test for a new show This Is Us. ____________, my phone rang. It was the producer of the show. “You’re our Kate,” he said. It was completely beyond ____________.

This Is Us turns out to be ____________. People recognize me in the street. Some people call me an overnight star. But I don’t think so. Success doesn’t happen by chance. It takes ____________ in the right direction. There are more ____________ during the journey than most people can imagine.