1 . In Oak Ridge, Texas, there lived a man named Samuel who was known for his _________ to embrace change. However, one day a serious of events happened that _________ him to face his fears and embark on a journey to turn over a new leaf.

Samuel worked in the town’s bookstore. His life had been _________ and dull. But one sunny morning, the bookstore owner _________ that the shop would be closing for good. Samuel’s heart sank, and he found himself _________ an uncertain future. Yet a glimmer of hope emerged—an opportunity to start anew.

With a newfound determination, Samuel decided to _________ his dream of becoming a novelist. With pen _________ and a blank page before him, Samuel poured his soul out onto the paper. He _________ tales of adventure, love and self-discovery. As he wrote, he gave life to the _________ that danced across the page.

__________, an unexpected opportunity presented itself. A local publishing house, __________ by Samuel’s stories, offered him a chance to share his work. He __________ took a leap of faith and said yes! The once-shy clerk __________ into a confident author. His books found their way into the hands of readers near and far, touching hearts and igniting passions.

And so, in the little town of Oak Ridge, Samuel became a beacon of light, whose life was __________ the lives of others by proving that starting anew was not just surrendering to the unknown, it was an invitation to create a life filled with __________ and fulfillment.

2 . Nick was troubled and aimless. Then one night, everything changed.

At first, it was just faint light as Nick drove past a two-story house. Then he realized the house was on fire. He immediately pulled up to investigate. _________ was climbing up the front porch. Hurrying out of the _________, he yelled, “Help, fire!” A car drove past and Nick tried to _________ it to stop, but in vain.

He ran to the back door, sure it would be _________. To his amazement, it swung open. Without _________, Nick ran inside, peering into rooms to see if anyone was home. He had just started climbing when he _________ and saw four faces emerge at the top of the stairs. After Nick’s warning, they came pouring down and rushed out.

“Anybody else in there?” Nick asked. When told a 6-year-old was still in, he ran back. By now, thewhole house was in flames. The smell was _________. The smoke was thick. He lifted his T-shirt to cover his mouth and nose. As he hesitated, he heard the kid crying _________. Nick stumbled into the blackness, _________ on smoke. His __________ stayed alert as he moved toward the sound. Then suddenly the kid was in front of him and Nick quickly grabbed her into his arms. The flames were __________ even closer. Nick took a few steps __________ and threw himself out of the window. Outside, the firefighters had arrived. He handed over the girl — crying, but miraculously uninjured __________ a cut on her arm — before collapsing on the sidewalk.

Nick’s burns have mostly healed, but other changes have been far greater. As news about his __________ spread, a GoFundMe account for his hospital bills exploded, reaching $600, 000. “It somehow feels like both a near-death experience and a __________.” Nick said.

3 . Although Lahongsang is only in her early 20s, she is a video blogger with eight years of experience, who is acquainted with video recording and social media sharing. Still in high school, she started her journey as a _________ on the Chinese platform Bilibili. “I felt bored during that summer vacation after finishing my homework, _________ I decided to try recording my life through videos and _________ a student’s ambition for the upcoming semester,” she recalled. She consistently updated her content with _________ topics such as study, anime, snacks, weight loss, and makeup. She _________ shared her life, creating a youth full atmosphere for her audience.

“Whenever I encounter something worth recording. I _________ it.” she said. “I’m not exactly sure what draws people to my videos, but many _________ say watching my videos makes them happy, so maybe that’s it.” Despite her _________ behavior in videos, she _________ that she is actually an introvert (adj.内向的). However, she has __________ spreading positive and __________ energy to her audience. Her unique, sincere, and easygoing video style, along with her attention to life’s details, has __________ increased her viewership (n.收视率) from 100,000 to 10 million views. By the end of high school, she had amassed (v.积聚) over 200,000 followers.

__________ her videos attract her audience greatly, she has to struggle with creative inspiration and face negative feedback at times. “Some scenes may appear to be everyday shots, but the storytelling and main idea are particularly __________ and planned,” she said. “What viewers see is only the final product. __________ witnessing the production process, they can’t judge or undermine others’ efforts.”

4 . I was struggling 11 months after I left China to pursue a Ph.D. in England. In the daytime, I kept myself _________ in my research. But at night I had to fight increasing _________. I turned to social media and even tried “talking” to Chat GPT, which _________ me for a few days. But when the novelty _________ I was back where I started.

When colleagues invited me for a coffee chat or lunch, I _________ to feel the urgency to get back to my long list of research _________, not taking time to build relationships. Eventually, my loneliness hit a breaking   _________. When I talked to my tutor about my feeling, she helped me see that _________ with the people around me would improve my state of mind. I began to chat with friends more and realized we were all dealing with _________, professionally and personally. Life isn’t about convincing colleagues that I can do everything   ____________, but about teaming up with friends on common goals and challenges.

These days, I’m working not only on my research, but also try to book ____________ with my friends for research discussion, and share ____________ into social issues through coffee chats. I feel much more ____________ when I come home with concrete memories and measurable milestones. And cooperating with my colleagues has helped me overcome some ____________ research challenges.

The nights are sill as ____________ as before, but I have seen the bright light in the day. I feel content to lie down and rest so I’m prepared for tomorrow’s new adventure.

5 . As a child, I loved exploring the attic (阁楼) — a _________ wonderland filled with relics of the past. One day, I stumbled upon a wooden chest, _________ behind an old bookshelf. With _________ hands, I opened it and found my great-grandfather’s journal.

I read about his _________: fighting in wars, discovering new lands, and meeting extraordinary people. His words jumped off the pages, lighting my _________. I felt like I was _________ through time, living his stories.

Years passed, and I grew up, but the _________ remained a cherished memory. It wasn’t until I faced my own challenges that I understood its _________ value. My great-grandfather’s perseverance and courage inspired me to _________ fears and pursue my dreams.

Today, when I hold the worn journal, I realize it’s not just a forgotten treasure, but a __________ legacy (遗产) — a source of strength and __________ passed down through generations. And I vow to __________ it for future generations, so they too can find __________ in its pages.

In this __________ age, where memories are stored on the internet and words are fleeting, the journal serves as a physical sign of our history. __________ I prepare to pass it on to the next generation, I do so with the hope that they will find the same unwavering spirit that has guided me.

6 . In a heartwarming incident that highlights the power of human connection, a woman’s act of kindness saved the life of a struggling homeless man.

During a _________ between classes, Casey Fischer made a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. It was there that she _________ a homeless man collecting change by the roadside. _________, she watched him walk into Dunkin, counting his change to see what he could _________.

Casey went over to engage him in _________ and learned that he had only about $1 in change. _________ by his difficult situation, she bought him a _________ and bagel, inviting him to sit with her. He told her that he lost his family in an accident and how people are usually _________ to him because he’s homeless. They _________ for about an hour, drinking their coffees.

After __________ that Casey needed to return to class, the man, named Chris, asked her to __________ so he could write something down for her. Handing Casey a crumpled-up receipt with a(an)__________ for his shaky handwriting, he smiled and left.

Upon opening the __________, Casey read his heartfelt message: “I wanted to end my life today, but because of you, I now have __________. Thank you, beautiful person.”

Casey posted on social media later that day that “this lovely man’s name was Chris, and Chris was one of the most __________ people I’ve ever met”.

7 . While in middle school, students seem to have one goal: to be popular. Like most thirteen-year-olds, I gave in to this need to ________.

One afternoon, I told my father that I wanted to be popular. He looked at me and asked me why I felt that way. I ________ my shoulders and looked back into my drink. I had never stopped to think about why I felt the need to settle in.... I ________ did.

My father ________ to tell me a story from his college days. His mother had made him several sweater vests to wear at school. These sweater vests were ________, but hardly “in style.” Nevertheless, they became a ________ in my father’s closet. He didn’t care that he wasn’t_________ the latest fashion. In fact, he didn’t care what everyone thought of him, either. I was ________. What was even more surprising was that by breaking with convention, my father started a ________. What he wore became fashionable because the other students saw the ________ with which he dressed.

As the days passed and I thought about it, I realized there might be some ________ to what my father said after all. I tried to make a change from just ________ the audience to focusing on the behavior that I really enjoyed. From then on, I found myself ________ less and less about what other people thought of me. It was a wonderful ________! I learned a valuable lesson in the process: ________ against the current can only make me stronger.

8 . When my mom passed away only a few years after we’d lost Dad, the wound of my grief was ________ and deep. To save myself from ________, I play a game I call “It’s 1980”. Best done during a walk in the woods, always done alone, the rules are simple: Think of every single ________ of the year 1980, which was a very happy year for my family.

As I walk along the path through the park, I ________ each family member and picture what they might have been doing. Dad is in the garage, working on a car ________. I can smell fresh paint. Mom is in the kitchen, with another delicious supper in the slow cooker. On and on I go, letting this daydream become my ________ reality, feeling myself ________ the scent of what Mom’s cooking, the ________ of the breeze blowing in the open kitchen window.

________, on my walk, I come to the end and need to ________ the present. Having had my ________ vacation in the past, this is easy because I’ve realized that the girl who knew such happiness and love is still here, in the woman I am today. And I long to share the game with those struggling over the ________. It’s true that ________ have changed for me. ________, with “It’s 1980”, my loving memories can serve as a ________ that all is not lost, has never been lost.

9 . Biar Kon grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, after his parents were forced to flee the war in neighboring Sudan. When he was 17, he moved to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to ________ school.

Once he arrived, he needed to get some ________ from the Sudanese embassy. But when he went looking for the embassy, he couldn’t find it. Then an older woman ________ him on the back, “Hey, my son, how are you doing?” The woman told Kon that she had seen him asking questions of ________ people as they passed, and she wondered if he needed some help. The woman’s ________ left a deep impression on Kon. And it inspired him to pay it ________, five years later, when he moved to Boston, Massachusetts.

One day, outside a coffee shop, he ________ an interaction between a young woman and a(n) ________ man that troubled her. Kon went up to the man, to see what he could do. “He told me why he was on the street — because he made a mistake when he was in high school, and he couldn’t get a ________ now,” Kon recalled.

Kon bought the man some breakfast, and gave him a little bit of money. Today, it’s an encounter he ________ on often. For him, it was a reminder that you never know what people are ________ unless you make a point to talk to them.

“She kind of sowed a seed of ________ in me. And every time I see somebody who’s in trouble, I always try to ________,” Kon said.

Kon is now a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He hopes to provide housing and social support for people ________ on the streets — an idea partly inspired by his unsung ________.

10 . Ralph Street loves maps. Appropriately (相称) for someone with his surname, he studied geography and town planning. And well before that, his parents _________ took him out orienteering (定向运动).

“I don’t really remember a time before orienteering,” Street _________. “My parents took me orienteering the first week I was born.” He now _________ internationally as an orienteer. In 2023, he won the first place in Orienteering World Cup. Street remembers a childhood trip with friends who trusted him as they realized his excellent _________ for getting around the new city.

Street _________ the sport of orienteering at the age of nine. As his experiences suggest, childhood exposure shapes people’s comfort and _________ with navigation (导航).

People who grew up outside cities, or in more spatially (空间的) complex cities, also appear to be better able to navigate. “Even as adults, we have good _________ that people who navigate more widely around their environment have better spatial skills,” says Nora Newcombe, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Misconceptions _________ about human navigation. “One of them is that you think you cannot improve,” Newcombe says. Navigational _________ like maps and compasses can lead to a dependence. People can train themselves to better notice environmental __________ like the wind, the sun and slopes.

For people who can’t imagine wayfinding without a phone app, there are still ways to __________ spatial skills. The system on many apps is that “wherever you’re going is straight ahead, which is a terrible way to learn. I advocate keeping north on the top all the time,” Newcombe __________ . Getting a(an) __________ amount of sleep may help too. One global study found that for participants __________ fifty and older, sleeping seven hours a night __________ the best performance in a navigation game.