1 . As a teen, Ketie Steller suffered from a severe disease, her hair thinned sharply. Seeing this, her mother arranged for Steller’s first professional ________.

“To sit down and have somebody talk to me like a person and not just an illness, it helped me feel cared about and less ________,” she says.

After that, Steller knew she wanted her own ________ so she could help people feel the way she’d felt that day. Not long after finishing cosmetology school (美容学校) in 2009, she began what she now calls her Red Chair Project, ________ to people on the streets. “Part of what ________ my heart was just how lonely people looked,” she says. “I thought maybe I’d go around and ask if people want free haircuts. I can’t ________ their problems, but maybe I can help them feel less lonely for a moment.”

Steller listens to people’s stories of loss, addiction, and ________ to get back on their feet. The attention ________ works. She was cutting a woman’s hair one day ________ someone drove by and yelled, “You look ________!” “I thought I was ________. Look, now people see me!” The woman in the chair said with a large smile.

An offshoot (分支) of the Red Chair Project is the Steller Kindness Project, in which people who commit acts of ________ are invited for a free facial at Steller’s salon. ________, they tell their stories, which Steller shares on her website. Her hope is that by reading about kind acts, others will be ________ to spread their own.

A free haircut may be a ________ thing, but it can be a gateway to show value and respect.

2 . As a student researcher at UC Irvine, I need to use various software to collect and analyze data.

When l first started doing research, I found the QuPath software very _________ to use. There were a lot of different tools and a _________ amount of new vocabulary to learn. Luckily, another student who also used the QuPath software walked me _________ a lot of it and although she had her own _________ to work on, she was always ready to _________ any questions.

However, I continued to _________ with the software when she was _________ from the lab and there was no one to ask for help. It took me quite some time and _________ to become all too familiar with the software.

The student who helped me was about to _________, leaving me as the person to whom new student researchers would __________. I would be more than ready for them!

I decided to write a detailed step-by-step guide about how to use QuPath and its different tools so that new students could __________ if they needed advice. A week later, I was asked to help a new student who was learning to use QuPath. He was __________ surprised when I showed him the written instructions. I shared the __________ and also helped him __________ when we were in the lab together.

Once I graduate, I hope that the guide I wrote will __________ to help students for years to come.

3 . My mother has always been one of those rare people that sees the good in everyone and does good things. She’s had her ups and downs but has always_______a positive, sunny outlook on life and been very_______to people.

One day, my little sister fell and hurt her ankle, desperately needing a_______to the hospital emergency room. My mother immediately_______into crisis mode, packed my sister into the car, and drove to our local hospital. In such a_______, my mother didn’t call to tell my father. When she got to the hospital, she realized she needed to_______with my father immediately.

While waiting for my sister to be examined, my mother_______her way to the pay phone to place her call. She put her coin in, called my father and told him everything. After she hung up, the phone_______several additional coins that Mom wasn’t owed.

Realizing that the phone was_______, my mother decided to leave the________coins by the phone. She told us that in a crisis, people might not remember to bring________with them to make that emergency call.

I’ve often thought about her________from an adult’s perspective. I realize that someone seeing the money by he phone may have________taken it because not everyone was as________as my mother. But I like to believe that my mother’s faith was ________and that someone who needed them found the coins waiting there.

5 . I finally climbed into bed at 1:20 in the morning after my 31th birthday celebration. I was about to fall asleep when I was awakened by the sound of ______ water, as if I were lying beside a waterfall instead of in my bedroom. When I got off the bed, I was ______ by the cold water rising to my knees and rising fast.

It has to be from a burst pipe in the ______, I thought. Shaking and in darkness, I grabbed my cellphone and ______ the flashlight. When I stepped from the bedroom to the bathroom, I saw it wasn’t a burst pipe at all. ______, water was shooting through the gaps of the door from outside. All around me, things were ______ -the lamps were shattering (破碎), the cupboards were being torn apart.

I ______ that I began to panic. Any effects of the celebratory drinks I’d had earlier were now gone; ______ cleared my head. And the water was now ______ my waist. I struggled to wade (趟过水) to the door. Finally, I made it to the door, through which I squeezed into the street. I stood there in the ______, wet and panting (喘气的). What was once a lovely, cozy street was now a waterscape, with ______ furniture and trees. The flood had drowned the neighborhood. Many of the houses around us were ______. Luckily, I was ______ by rescuers.

I came close to drowning that day. But rather than dwell on (沉湎于) that in my head, I prefer to ______ what my mother told me afterward: “Christian, don’t remember the day when you ______ everything. Remember the day you survived.”

6 . When I was fifteen, I wrote an essay about how excited all my friends were to be getting driver’s licenses. I was full of _______. I knew I’d always be walking everywhere I went or else relying on others to _______ me.

I have a condition called dry-eye syndrome (综合症). _______ I do have some sight, I never know when I _______ in the morning exactly how much vision I will have that day. The _______ for this is that my eyes do not produce enough tears.

There are many things I cannot do. I can’t drive or read a book. But there are far more things I can _______ do. In high school, I played basketball. My teammates gave me oral (口头的) _______ and I learned to judge where the ball was by their voices. I learned to focus extremely well and _______ the sportsmanship award.

Do I wish I could _______ like other people? Of course. But being blind hasn’t ________ me in any of the important ways. If I’ve had to depend on my friends, ________ I’ve learned who my friends really are. I don’t know why God chose to give me only a little ________. Maybe he did it so that I would ________ what I do have. Maybe he did it so that I would have to ________ my other talents to compensate (弥补). It ________.

There are many different ways to look at life. This is how I see it.

9 . Jamil Jan Kochai moved to America from Afghanistan at age one. At home, his family only spoke Pashto (普什图语), so when he reached first grade in an English-speaking school, he was _______ at a loss.

Then came Ms. Lung, Kochai’s second-grade teacher, who quickly realized that Kochai was _______ hard at school. Nearly every day after school, Lung would give Kochai _______ lessons on reading and writing. By the end of the year, Kochai had learned to read and write, and even _______ the first prize in the school reading competition.

Sadly, Kochai _______ the teacher after his family moved several times. “I tried everything to find Ms. Lung, but all proved _______,” he explained. “The problem was that I didn’t know her first name. She’d always just been Ms. Lung to me.”

In the meantime, Kochai was starting to go after a successful career in writing. He has received many writing _______. But he never gave up _______ Ms. Lung.

Two years ago, Lung’s husband, Allen Lung, happened to read an article Kochai wrote for a literary magazine that _______ Ms. Lung. He then ________ Kochai through Facebook. Allen Lung asked Kochai if he wanted to speak with his ________ that same night. Because of the pandemic (疫情) they were only able to ________ each other, but Kochai was excited. This was the moment he had been waiting for years.

Kochai cried when he heard his teacher’s voice. He told Ms. Lung everything he had achieved was all thanks to her. They planned to meet ________ at some point in the future.

However, that moment didn’t come until August 13, 2023, when Kochai was doing a book signing event for his new novel. Allen approached Kochai, introduced himself, and brought him over to reunite with Ms. Lung. “I didn’t know why I didn’t see her ________ , since Ms. lung is sitting in the front row. It has been 22 years since I saw her last time,” Kochai said.

“My father used to say that every child is a rocket filled with ________ and all they need is a single spark (火花) to lift off into the sky,” Kochai said. “Ms. Lung was my spark.”

10 . “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.