1 . After more than 40 years of service to the Sunset Hills Community, Ricky Woods, a beloved bus driver, said goodbye to his role.

Two days before his ________, Woods was greeted with a ________ as he arrived at his usual working spot. The streets were lined with signs bearing warm messages and a celebratory cake ________ him. Deeply touched, Woods expressed, “It was unexpected and very emotional. My heart is ________.”

Woods’ impact on the community was ________. His acts of kindness and willingness to go the extra mile made him an ________ part of Sunset Hills.

One neighbor ________ recalled an instance where Woods ________ in an emergency. “One day, my grandfather had a heart attack. It was Ricky who took immediate action and ________ to take my grandfather to hospital. My grandfather received timely ________ and recovered,” the neighbor shared.

Woods’ ________ nature extended beyond just people. Besides kindly interacting with kids, Woods always had a treat on hand for their ________.

To show their ________, the community came together to create lasting memories for Woods. Neighbors ________ their resources to make a plaque (牌匾) gifted to Woods, which reads, “In appreciation of your many years of ________.”

2 . Firefighters were called to the scene when fire broke out inside Crystal Lamirande’s apartment. While they worked to ______ the flame, Crystal tearfully told firefighter Andrew Klein that her 10-year-old dog, Nalu, was ______ inside the home.

Firefighters are devoted to saving lives, and Nalu’s life was no less ______ to him than Crystal’s. He _____shouldered his pack and headed inside the building, moving on his hands and knees through the ______ home quickly to search for the ______ Eventually he saw the dog, but she was ______.

Andrew said Nalu, was “totally lifeless” when he ______ her. He carried her outside to fresh air, then began life-saving ______ he acquired during his training.

For the next 20 minutes, kneeling down, Andrew performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation (复苏) on Nalu. Crystal sat near Andrew, ______ and afraid, as he tried to bring her four-legged companion back to life. Soon other firefighters ______ them, silently hoping for a positive_____.

After seemingly endless minutes, Nalu ______! Andrew comforted the dog as she ______ came back to life. The animal was ______, but otherwise unharmed. Nalu was taken to a vet (兽医) and placed inside an oxygen tent for about 24 hours. When she left ______, she was back to her normal. If Andrew hadn’t ______ so quickly and used his ______ so perfectly, what would have happened?

Nalu made a complete ______ , all thanks to this extremely kind firefighter! No matter whether Andrew ______ people or animals, he clearly puts life in the highest place.

3 . By the age of 27, Vincent had made the most important decision of his life, to become an artist. He spent the years between 1880 and 1885 developing his _______. He had little money and lived in _______ rooms all over the Netherlands, including the flat agricultural landscape of the Drenthe. There he _______ country people. He was often ill and miserable, but determined to _______ this new career.

After the failure of his studies for the priesthood, Vincent didn’t want to _______ art formally at an academy. But he knew nothing of anatomy (解剖学), the study of the human figure, or of perspective, by which artists show a sense of _______ in work done on flat paper or canvas. Theo, his brother, knew a rich young _______, Anthon van Rappard, who taught Vincent perspective, and _______ him prints to copy. Vincent made hundreds of drawings of people, _______ charcoal, crayon, ink, and watercolor. Theo provided ________ for oil paint, and he began to paint in oils. Vincent often traveled to the ________ or the coast to draw working people. He was beginning to believe in himself as an ________.“Diggers, sowers, planters, male and female, they are what I draw ________. I have to ________ and draw everything that belongs to country life.” The compassion that Vincent ________ for poor people as a preacher was now channeled into his art.

4 . I vividly remember the day when my husband and I set off on a new journey to Tanzania. He had been ______ a position there as a Civil Engineer. Accompanying him, my aim was to find a job shortly after. As you can imagine, I was very excited, even rather ______, as I’d never been abroad before. So, my first ______ was to get settled in this small town called Dodoma in the middle of Tanzania.

As we got off the train, however, at six in the morning, a lady came rushing along the ______ towards us. Completely out of breath, she said, “We’ve heard you’re from England and our school ______ needs an English teacher — please say you’ll help us.” I felt tired and ______ a shower after the journey. Though shocked by her ______, for some reason or other, I agreed to ______ it!

I washed, changed, had a quick bite to eat and was ______ to the two local teachers and my ______ at 8 o’clock. It felt like being thrown into the deep end, as my teaching timetable began ______ at 8:30! Although I’d hardly had time to get my breath, I never ______ my sudden decision.

Though my entry into this ______ was unexpected, I found joy in teaching those youngsters and gradually became part of the local community in the following years. I’ve been fortunate to ______ lifelong friendships, which has left a lasting ______ on both my students and myself.

5 . Dad often says that hope is everywhere. In his fifties, he lost his job. But he managed to get the chance of a newspaper delivery. It became a family _________. Dad drove around delivering the papers most weekday mornings. We all helped.

Delivering papers is one of the most _________ jobs you can imagine. I was young, but I always worked. When I was   _______ enough to drive, Dad bought a car that I was _________ to drive to high school. My brothers and sister were all _________ and living away by this time. So I became the No.2 _________ on Sunday mornings. Not only would I _________ the papers, but I would jump into the car and drive a section of the _________. Mike was a hired worker, a year younger than me. We worked with _________ and my parents really trusted us.

The paper delivery, though very hard work, gave me many things. First, it __________ me with my father in a way that I __________ needed. He trusted my driving __________, and gave me directions on how to drive down icy steep streets in winter. I felt I was a __________ member of my family. Besides, I learned to love the early morning sounds of the city, the awesome quiet of __________ neighborhoods, and the relationship that only two teenagers working together could ever __________.

6 . When realizing the Internet was robbing me of too much time, I decided to have a(n) _______: doing Tech-Free Sundays.

On the night before my no-tech _______ starts, I told everyone who might get in touch with me that I wouldn’t be _______ until 9 pm on Sunday. Did this feel unpleasant? Yes. But it also felt _______: Everyone uses WeChat or the telephone to _______ others. If I am off the network, it seems my _______ to inform those who might need me.

The next day, I turned off my phone. I read. I thought. I used a _______ to make a grocery list on paper. I _______ my dog in the neighborhood, and then, because I had nothing else to do, I took her to the pet shop. “See how _______ I am! I can leave the Internet and live in the real world.” I thought.

But by 8 pm, I was ________ the minutes until the experiment ended. For better or worse, my ________ is online, and most of our work can’t leave the Internet. And I was anxious to order a hat online. Then the clock ________ struck 9.

Through this ________, I’ve realized there is so much time when you are disconnected from the Internet. I’ll ________ taking tech-free baby steps: turning off the phone; ________ intentional periods away from my computer; being present in real life.

7 . May is a beautiful month full of sunshine and flowers. It is also the __________ when we show thanks to our mothers on Mother’s Day.

In my family, the celebration of Mother’s Day is __________ every year. Two years ago, I made a big __________ for my mom and she still remembers all the dishes I cooked that morning. Last year, I __________ some of my old books and I bought her a scarf with the money. She uses it all the time.

I wanted to do __________ special on Mother’s Day this year. In late April, I started to look for different gift __________ on the Internet. It took me about two weeks to get a final idea. __________ , I decided to make several (几个) cards by hand. And then I put the cards and a bag of colorful __________ in a box. Of course, I wrote some____________ on the cards. The words were all about __________ jobs I could help my mom do at home, like doing the dishes and cleaning the floor.

On the night before Mother’s Day, I went into my mom’s room __________ and put the gift on her bed when she was sleeping. When she __________ in the morning, she found the cards. She was very excited about my gift and __________ a lot of time looking at the cards and enjoyed the candies.

Mother’s Day is a happy moment (时光) for me to __________ my mom. I will try to show my love __________ she cares about me so much every day. Mother’s love is the best in my heart.

8 . Blissdom, a blogging conference, was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. I went to the hotel three years in a row. On my first visit, I remember entering my hotel room and being _________ by a lovely piece of music playing. The sounds were so _________ that I nearly fell asleep while relaxing on my bed.

Before I _________ , I asked the hotel if I could buy such a clock radio. They told me they didn’t sell them and that they might be _________ in any store. To my _________ , I couldn’t find one anywhere.

The next year, the clock radio in my _________ was a newer model, but it still played the gentle music. I again asked where I could find one, but got no answer. I tried to search for one in stores, in _________ once again.

So this year, I was _________ to find the machine in my room at Gaylord Opryland. I asked the _________ on Twitter, “Where can I buy this Shaper Image clock radio?”

They replied, “Sorry. It isn’t available to customers.”

“I’ve been __________ one for three years,” I said.

I received no __________ after that, and I attended the Blissdom closing night party. When I came back, I found a second clock radio on the dresser (梳妆台), and a __________ beside it with my name on it, which __________: “Christina, the clock radio is for you. We hope you enjoy these nice sounds at home. Sincerely, Opryland.”

That would be the point where my excited screaming __________. Thank you, Gaylord Opryland, for giving me such a(n) __________ gift!

9 . A crow (乌鸦) became rabbits’ friend. It all began when Andrew Silverwood heard of a helpless ______ crow lying injured on a busy road. Without ______, Andrew decided to begin a crow rescue mission, knowing that the bird’s chance of survival was ______ in such a busy street.

Upon ______ the location, Andrew found the baby bird had fallen from his nest. In most situations, the best ______ for the baby bird would be to return the animal to his nest. However, as the nest sat high upon a tree, Andrew had no means of ______ the bird with his family. Besides, the crow had a broken leg, which would require ______ for the animal to survive. Then he took the crow home.

The Silverwoods ______ intended to provide care for the crow until he could be released back into the wild. However, fate had ______ plans in store for the crow, as Andrew soon found there was an unexpected ______ between the crow and his rabbits. The pet rabbits welcomed the crow into their cage, leading to a heartwarming and unconventional ______.

As days turned into weeks, the crow ______ the rabbit family. Surprisingly, the crow took on the characteristics of his rabbit companions.

Despite their differences, this little crow, his human parents, and his rabbit friends ______ happily. Their heartwarming tales serve as a gentle ______ that every living being deserves love and care, regardless of their ______.

10 . Daniel Hove spent years serving his community in Wisconsin as the Assistant Fire Chief for the Burnsville Fire Department. In 2012, he _________ from the job he loved after doctors diagnosed him with pancreatic (胰腺的) cancer.

Daniel spent years fighting the _________ disease. And he had tons of _________ from friends and family. But his beloved 11-year-old Labrador (拉布拉多猎犬), Gunner, _________ by his side every step of the way.

As Daniel’s _________ grew more difficult, Gunner became ill, too. And he _________ highs and lows right along with his favorite human.

“When my dad would get restless, the dog would be _________,” Daniel’s daughter Heather explained. “So once we   _______ how the dog was doing—he wasn’t moving much anymore and not doing well—we knew, it was coming.”

As Gunner’s suffering hit its peak, Heather _________ knew the dog’s time on Earth was done. Gunner was __________ an animal hospital where the veterinarian put him to __________ forever. And soon after Gunner passed away, Daniel found his __________ was close. About an hour and a half later, Daniel was gone too. __________ in life, the dog and his beloved owner also remained that way in death.

Special friends are placed in our lives. And the story of this dog and his owner is a beautiful __________ that sometimes those furry friends offer lifelong __________ without words.