1 . Brian Everett from. Darlington, UK, has been traveling every day to raise money for different charities along the way. He started it for cancer research in _______ of his wife, who died of cancer in 2004. Now, Brian has been able to raise money by climbing mountains, _______ and long distance running.

His wife’s death left a huge gap in his life. He said, “There’s a big gap in your life. It never _______ . It’s been 18 years but the gap is still there. _______ , when you’re doing things you used to do together, you _______ your partner. ”

He _______ the challenge of walking an average of. 9. 3 miles a day to reach 24, 901 miles to raise money for Alzheimer’s society. He started in 2017 and rarely _______ a day off. He has traveled over 18, 000 miles and plans to finish the _______ in 2024.

His family’s _______ to the challenge have changed from admiration to believing he’s __________ . But he explained, “I walk wherever I am. Situation may __________ but I can spend five or six hours a day walking.” He has been able to raise around $9, 500 till now and __________ to reach the goal of about $20, 000.

He plans on looking for a new __________ after his present goal is achieved. He said, “I just want to keep my mind and body __________ , but there’s also the added __________ that the challenges help collect money for charities.”

2 . For former teacher Billy Keenan, life had always been about action. He mastered musical _______ including the erhu, guitar and piano. As a _______ player, he won numerous 5K, 10K and half-marathon runs. “I was at the _______ of my powers,” he said.

But on Sept. 14, 2013, his life changed _______ while surfing at the Jersey Shore. “I rode that wave, _______ my board, and hit my _______ on the ocean floor,” Keenan told CBS News, “Everything went black.”

Keenan _______ in a hospital room two weeks later. He had been paralyzed (瘫痪) from the shoulders down and the medical team didn’t _______ him to regain independent breathing. When a parent of a former student visited him at the hospital, they handed him the _______.

It was NYPD Detective Steven McDonald. McDonald had __________ a shooting and was too paralyzed in 1986. He __________ forgave (原谅) his attacker. Later, he became a public speaker. That day, he had advice for Keenan. “The only reason you survive is that when you’ re better, when you’ re __________, you’ re going to come back and contribute in a significant way.”

Depending on that __________ from McDonald and his own faith, Keenan __________ the difficulties. Four months later, he was able to __________ on his own again.

3 . Granny Basketball is more competitive than you’d think! Just ask the women over 50 who _________ in the 18th annual Granny National Basketball Championships last weekend. Hosted in Decorah, Iowa, the event _________ teams from across the country. Players might _________ different walks of life, but they all have one thing _________: They’re members of the Granny Basketball League (联盟).

Founded by Barb McPherson Trammell, this organization offers _________ women an unbelievable opportunity to stay _________ , make friends and relieve stress. Grannies play by a (n) _________ set of rules to make up for any _________ mobility. According to their website, it’s “a game for _________ of a certain age.” Regulations include a strict “no running” policy, instead __________ players to speed walk. Jumping is not __________ , either.

__________, there are 42 Granny Basketball teams in the United States. National Championships have been held for the __________ every year since 2008. Grannies have also been __________ to compete against teams outside their league for charity, including men’s and women’s teams of all ages. Of course, the changed __________ apply to their competitors as well.

“I think we’re redefining (重新定义) what old is,” said one player.

4 . Many parents dream of their children growing up and seeing the world. But Edith ________ that her three children were running out of time to do that. They were found to have a genetic (基因的) disease, which means the patients lose ________ gradually.

After the first ________, Edith decided that the kids needed to ________ visual (视力的) memories for the future. However, instead of just remembering pictures in books, the family started a journey to see the ________ world.

Now they have crossed Africa, visited Turkey and Mongolia and plan to ________ their way through Asia and visit more countries. The kids are excited about everything and their dreams ________. Mia, 11, tried her long ________ horseback riding. Colin, 7, successfully slept on the train bunkbed (上下铺). Laurent, 5, drank juice on a camel. “They don’t have to remember things in ________ and take it as a last chance to see that thing. They are really in the moment and they ________ it.” Edith said.

The kids have gained more than visual memories. During the travel, sometimes there are frustrations, ________ and difficulties. But the kids have learned that when meeting a hard situation, all they need is ________. So when their eyesight begins to ________, they can face it the same way they did in the journey. “We will ________ to the challenge.” Mia said that in ________.

Many parents want to give their kids the world — and this mom did.

5 . Trends come and go. Many goods that people buy to _______ fashion end up in the rubbish bin. Now young American people are giving these things a second _______.

Called “Stoopers (旧物猎人)”, they pick up idle (闲置的) goods and _______ them. They are mainly in big cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Anne Brown, 27, is one of them. Anne first stooped in June 2022 when many residents in a community left their _______ on the street after they moved house. After that, she often “_______ treasures” in her free time. Now her small apartment holds things redesigned from the idle goods she collected, including tables, chairs and clothing.

“Though many people say stooping is like collecting _______, for me, it’s making the best of things,” the 27-year-old digital marketer said. That’s why she wanted to _______ the trend to others. Whenever she spots goods that are _______ used and she doesn’t need them, Anne puts a pair of eyeball-shaped stickers on them and then posts pictures of them on her social media accounts to _______ others to pick them up.

Influenced by stoopers like Anne, 16-year-old Carmen Smith from a high school in Houston fell in love with stooping. The ________ of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is what attracts her most. She said since her childhood, her family, who came from India, has often told stories about how past generations ________ the period during which goods were in ________ shortage. “Frugality (节俭) has always been a traditional virtue in India,” Carmen said. Despite this, Carmen admitted that many teenagers, including herself, are sometimes ________ consumption, leading to significant waste. This realization urged her to start stooping this year.

Carmen added that the first time she used paper from books ________ by students on campus to make paper roses, she felt excited. “During the process of stooping, I start to observe my surroundings, which I had ________ taken for granted (想当然),” she said.

6 . Looking at some of Vivian Xue Rahey’s tiny masterpieces, you’d think she has been practicing nail (指甲) painting for most of her life, but you would be ________. She only started doing nail art to relieve stress while _____ to start her own tech company. However, she ended up becoming so absorbed that she decided to abandon her ________ in the tech world and become a ________ nail artist instead.

________, Vivian had to close her physical nail salon after the COVID-19 pandemic. “The first month after we _____, I was really confused,” the artist said. “We already had pretty little ________ at the salon. I didn’t think we were going to be ________ to afford rent.”

Then she started ________ some of her best works online and they were rapidly spread, getting ________ from Snoop Dogg, an American rapper and actor, who shared one of Vivian’s works with his tens of millions of   _____.

Vivian’s ________ works include a variety of artistic masterpieces, from hand-painted recreations of actual paintings to numerous Disney cartoon characters. Whatever you ________ on your fingernails, she can probably _____ it. Regarded as one of the world’s most ________ nail artists, Vivian is reimagining what is possible in the world of nails.

7 . Here I am in 2024 writing to 18-year-old me, hoping this will contain some words of wisdom that I’ve learned in the past 55 years.

First, I want to say that _________ has continued to be a constant thread throughout my life. Now I shall take you on a brief _________ of my life, demonstrating the important part writing plays in my life.

I am still _________ friends from school days, but nowadays we communicate more in writing. It is _________ to be able to stay connected with so many wonderful people across the thousands of miles that_________ us. In the summer of 1967, I was introduced to Neil Young’s songwriting. Since then, his _________ has had a lifelong impact on me and his unique talent for writing lyrics (歌词)has _________ me to write—not _________ or even poetry but stories. From that day on, the written word has accompanied me throughout my life. In 2014, I retired. With my love of writing and history, I decided to _________ both even more actively. I am also writing a stand-up comedy routine I have never tackled before. I like a literary __________!

Well, that is a __________ of the last 55 years of my life. My advice to you is to __________ your interests and try to improve any skills you may have, and you will harvest the benefits in satisfaction. I can delightedly confirm that you will reach the age of 73, at least. Each December I realize how __________ I am as another year is added to my age, so don’t be __________ to grow older as you have years ahead of you. Take your time and focus on the quality of life rather than just the passage of time. Don’t count the days; make the days __________.

8 . My brother, James, four years old at the time, had always been my best friend, even though we were far apart in age. Then came the day when I was asking my mom about my brother’s doctor’s _______. They had tested him for autism (自闭症). “The test came out _______,” she said with tears in her eyes. I broke down, crying and asking why it had happened to James.

Everything changed. He was no longer that little brother who was just a (n) _______ baby boy.

One day, I was standing in the bus line, waiting when the short bus came. The children in the other line started _______ the “retards (智力迟钝者)” on that bus. As the other kids laughed at James, I said quietly that those _______ were not very nice. No one listened and I went on my way. I _______ it at once, and wished I had said something else.

Another day at our class meeting, our monitor, Tim, told us, “We are playing like the kids on the short bus! _______!” All the classmates were laughing when I _______ my hand. “Yes, Alexis?” Tim asked. The class quietened down because I was to talk for the first time. I could feel my face getting red and was about just to say, “Never mind,” when my _______ opened and this came out, “There are some people on that bus who have great ________ and have the same ________ as we do, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t make fun of them.

Tim ________ for his proposal (提议). At the end of the class, everyone was giving me ________ looks, but I didn’t ________, because I want to teach people about my brother James, who doesn’t know that he is ________. He’s just a four-year-old boy who loves baseball and eating cookies, and I never want to hear anybody make fun of him.

9 . Before our first child was born last year, my wife and I often talked about the kind of parents we wanted to be and the kind we didn't. We watched families at _________ sitting in silence, _________ to their phones, barely taking their eyes off the screens between bites.

We didn't want to live like that. We _________ to be present with one another, at home and in public.

We wanted our child to watch us _________ each other and to him.

The reality, after our son was born, was quite _________. In those sleep-deprived(缺觉) early days, I found myself turning to my phone as an escape from _________ I fell into some embarrassing middle-aged-dad stereotypes(刻板印象). I spent up to four hours a day looking at my phone.

My wife, Cristina, felt alone as a new mother and was _________ that I was always on the phone. “It sounds like we should get rid of the Internet, ”she told me. I knew she was right. “When? ”I asked.

“Now, ”she said _________.

To regain _________, we decided to get rid of Internet __________, creating a home for meaningful family time. Without the __________of phones, the days seemed to expand. We learned to __________ time. We began to __________ that days undisturbed by digital interruptions made time slow down and __________ the quality of our time.

Life was broken down to its most __________ elements: Find a place to sleep; cook simple meals to eat and explore the nature, etc.

10 . You’ve probably seen a bit of garbage on the road, maybe a piece of paper. Perhaps the sight ______ you to pick up the garbage and carry it away with your own. Good for you. But what if you came across something far ______ — say, a mattress (床垫)? No one would ______ you for thinking, “I wish I could do something, but there’s no way.”, because it is a little difficult for most people.

Orme, Twedt, and Dehnert found a large mattress when they took a hike last year. Instead of looking the other way, they ______ to pull it to a dump station (垃圾投放站). The ______ added days to their hike. But they didn’t ______. They made it at last.

Orme got the ______ on a hike near the Appalachian Trail (AT) while visiting his family. He picked up about a pound for every mile that day. “What about a(n) ______ clean-up of the AT?” he wondered.

Soon, his friends Twedt and Dehnert gave Orme their ______ when he asked them to join him, and they ______ their campaign Packing It Out. They each ______ much in the first few days, but now, they meet little. The project was ______, but seeing masses of garbage filling a bin instead of piling up on the trail excited Orme. They were ______ to find hikers were sending emails and texts through their website ______ the garbage they picked up themselves along the way. “We want there to be no need for us ______,” Orme says.