2 . A hero sheep dog became the guiding light of hope for three trapped sheep as it swam across dangerous flooded fields to _________ them to safety.

Llyr Derwydd, a 44-year-old farmer coming from the area of Ruthin, _________ himself in a dangerous situation on a Friday afternoon. While _________ his sheep in Flints hire as usual, he realized a sad fact — three sheep were helplessly trapped on a small piece of land within the field, cut off by the _________ .

Considering the dangerous conditions that the flood caused, the _________ required a special hero. In this serious moment, _________ that hero was none other than the quick-thinking sheep dog, Patsy.

Mr. Derwydd talked about the sad experience, stating, “We realized we needed to act _________to ensure the safety of the trapped sheep. The piece of land they were on was _________ very fast, and the great danger was increasing.”

In order to rescue the sheep, he made a _________. With a sense of urgency (紧急) in the air, he wondered whether Patsy, his clever sheep dog, would deal with the problem. A silent __________was made, and Patsy, with strong determination, took a brave try.

It was a moment filled with __________ , as the true depth of the water remained unknown. Yet, Patsy’s born swimming __________ and strong determination pushed her forward. Without hesitation (犹豫), she braved the dangerous waters to __________ the trapped sheep.

Mr. Derwydd shared his __________ , saying, “I knew she was a good swimmer, or I wouldn’t take the __________. However, I was quite surprised by her courage and skill.”

3 . At 20 years old, I was a confident and handsome student at the University of California at Berkey.

But that year, I ________ a bump (肿块) in my right nostril (鼻孔), and when it didn’t go away, I made an ________ with a doctor. It turned out to be a tumor (肿瘤). Then I underwent surgery. Fortunately, the procedure was ________, and I returned to classes soon.

But six months later, a new bump appeared. Numerous ________ confirmed it had reproduced a horrible, life—threatening tumor. I was advised to have another operation and ________ that I might lose part of my nose. I was too young to think about death then, but the thought of disfigurement (毁容) made me feel ________.

I awoke from the surgery with a scarred, disfigured face. As I re-entered the real world, I noticed adults ________ and children pointing—and sometimes laughing—at me. The occasional and ________ negative reactions from my friends also hurt me. My self-respect sank increasingly lower, and I constantly asked others, “Do my looks ________ you?”

Five years and 20 reconstructive surgeries later, I ________ a man receiving treatment. After hearing my question, he criticized me. My problem, he ________ me, was not my physical appearance, but my emotional insecurity. His ________ helped me realize my mental scars were far more disfiguring than my physical ones.

I began examining myself from the inside out. Later, I volunteered at a cancer support organization to offer inspiration and hope to those ________ cancer

Now, I am ________ for who I am—a much stronger person than before. To you, I offer this message: Avoid making judgements about people at ________.

4 . As the saying goes, life is sweet. But while we may wish for consistently sweet moments, life often serves us other _________.

Recently, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. In her nineties now, as she _________ the closing stages of a long and remarkable life, she struggles with dementia (痴呆), leading to her mind and body not _________ the way she would want.

The day before the celebration, we _________ to bake cookies with her great grand kids. Not just any cookies, but 60 _________ sugar cookies cut in different shapes, covered with lots of sprinkles (糖屑). Though the kids worked as carefully as they could, they made the kitchen a total mess, _________almost as many sprinkles on the floor as on the cookies. They went on for hours, rolling dough, baking, cutting shapes, and _________ with four kinds of sprinkles.

The next day, the birthday _________ was a success. We took many pictures, and the beautiful cookies were shared. In an _________ way, those sweet sprinkles have not only stuck in my mind but remained almost everywhere in our home for the past few days. In every __________, I continue to find them, in all the colors of the rainbow, four shapes and sizes, sweet, and after I __________ step on them, not so sweet.

Truly, these are bittersweet moments, filled with __________ emotions. From such moments, we unwillingly learn that much in life is __________ our control: the separations and losses, the __________ of life, the passage of time. Life serves up many flavors. __________, we can choose our attitudes on the journey.

5 . In 1963, at age 65, my grandfather decided to build a new house on his farm. In order to save money, he hired a bulldozer (推土机) to________the old house far out to the________and it sits there to this very day.

We moved in the farm two years after my father passed away. When my wife took one look at the ________house, she________tearing it down. I agreed, but thought it________to check it out first, in case something of value had been________.

I walked into the woods where the old house sat. Most of the windows were________, and the siding was falling off. I entered through an open window. Suddenly, a(n)________on the floor caught my eye. I opened it. It was dated September 1944, when my father was serving in the navy abroad, at the age of 18. It wasn’t hard to read between the________. Here was a(n)________ young man, a kid really, who left his home and fought battles somewhere in the South Pacific. At the________of the page, in underlined print, my father had passed on one last message. Tears________my eyes as I read those words he had so________stressed：“All is well here. Please don’t worry. I am doing fine.”

As I left the old house that day, I took one last________back at it over my shoulder. I don’t care what anyone thinks. I________∶That old house gets to stay there until it rots (腐烂) into the earth.

6 . Chicago winters are famous for their bitter cold. It is a ________ time to earn a living for the city’s street vendors (商贩). They have been hit hard by the pandemic (疫情) as the population of street shoppers has ________ by as much as half in the city. One Chicago based restaurant owner,Robert Magret,came up with a brilliant and quite ________ idea to help these vendors. He purchases their entire day’s food ________ as a clever way to get them out of the ________. Robert then distributes the food to the ________ for free,turning one good deed into a chain of ________.

Robert has been purchasing truckloads of ________ from Chicago vendors for weeks as the temperature began to fall into the single digits. After he ________ the vendors from the cold weather,he then ________ the delicious bread to the homeless. Robert also uses his purchases to ________ Love Fridges,which are fridges around his city where people can either donate or ________ fresh vegetables and cooked meals.

Robert’s creative idea won great ________ on social media and he immediately began receiving donations from the community. Robert plans to ________ buying out street vendors all winter with the help of donations from kind ________ who have joined him on his merciful mission.

7 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

8 . I cleared the dishes from the kitchen table, with Mama following close behind to carry our tableware to the kitchen. There was no stopping her. Despite everything, she still wants to _______ , I thought.

My mama had _______ in moving around and had lost much of her speech to Parkinson’s disease. After a recent fall that left her with a broken arm, the _______ suggested she use a wheelchair. It was _______ to see her like this. From the time I was a kid, Mama had always been an active person with a positive _______ . I could still see her in my mind, cooking and cleaning in the house I grew up in, sometimes humming (哼唱) while _______ .

Now I did my best to _______ her like she’d done for me. I made the long drive as often as possible to _______ her and help around the house. Independent as ever, she never _______ working. “You’ve done ________ , Mama,” I said when she took the towel to clean the table. Where does she get the ________ ？

I turned on the tap to wash our dishes and noticed a ________ coming from Mama’s direction. I turned off the running water. Mama was humming! I ________ as she moved around the table, her happy song filling the room. “What’s it that you’re humming, Mama?” “Count Your Blessings (常怀感恩),” she ________ with a smile on her face.

________ , it was where Mama’s strength came from. There was no stopping her from being thankful, always.

9 . Of all the men who ever liked fresh air, no one liked it more than Wilson. He often climbed mountains to ________ the fresh air at the top. He drove an open car without a roof. He’d always keep one window ________ in his room.

One ________, Wilson went to Finland on business. The hotel he stayed in was ________. It was warm and quiet. But Wilson got ________ when he found all the windows were closed to keep warm. He tried his best to open one, but ________. The manager had wisely ________ that. No fresh air in the room!

Night came, but Wilson couldn’t fall asleep. Having ________ in bed, Wilson became hot with anger. His hands waved madly in the dark air. Suddenly, he ________ something on the floor. It was his heavy boot! Without thinking, he threw it with all the force. A terrible sound ________ the bedroom. Wilsom calmed down immediately. “Now I should go to ________.” he thought in great ________ and soon fell peacefully asleep.

The next morning, Wilson woke up. He ________ the terrible sound, and opened his eyes to look. The ________ were all in one piece, just as good as the night before. No fresh air was ________ entering the room, since what he broke was his own cup on the table. He felt guilty (内疚的) about his behavior.

10 . Driving is a dangerous activity. Every single day people, for a variety of reasons, are hurt or killed in accidents. One woman, an emergency nurse in the Phoenix, ________ to let a man in an accident become just another motor vehicle death ________.

On the morning of July 26, Leigh Ann just ________ her fourth straight night shift. After a stress-filled day at work, Leigh Ann was ________. She was heading home along the way when she noticed a horrible ________ in the distance. As she got closer, she ________ it was a cement truck turn on its side.

Obviously, it was a(n) ________ accident, and emergency first responders had not yet ________. Leigh Ann knew that she had to act. She hurried over to the truck, ________ crossing the usually busy highway, which was empty at the time.

She then quickly ________ the situation. She discovered the driver was trapped, still ________, but injured and losing blood at an alarming rate. The nurse ________ the man, and then used the man’s belt to stop any further blood loss. Leigh Ann ________ him until the rescue team took him away.

As for what put her in that ________ to help that man, Leigh Ann said. “My professional spirit does direct my ________. I’m far from perfect, but at that particular moment, my previous work encouraged me to give a helping hand.”