1 . “Students with a good mastery of foreign languages need to accumulate (积累) knowledge in other aspects so that they can better ___________ national development, the Belt and Road Initiative, and other major initiatives to help build a community with a shared future for humanity,” said Chen Lin when he was 96 years old. With a “life is to give, not to take”   ___________, Chen devoted his whole life to the ___________ of foreign language education in China.

Born in 1922, Chen worked in foreign education for more than 70 years. In 1949, he ___________ teaching at Beijing Foreign Studies University. At the university, Chen was known for his nickname of “Three UP Professor”, since he always ___________ “standing up” and “speaking up” when teaching. Also, when class was over, he would instantly “shut up”.

Since China’s reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, Chen broke new ground (打破常规) by ___________ one of the country’s ___________ English-language TV programs, which introduced a brand-new way of language learning to China. To help students learn English more effectively, Chen advised providing ___________ English-learning material for students at different levels. In the 1980s, in most English classes, teachers did most of the ___________, while students mostly only listened. But Chen ____________ students to speak and practise more.

In 1999, Chen ____________ experts to develop English curriculum (课程) standards. ____________ that, English teaching ____________ from primary to university had not been connected. But the standards ____________ the situation, making English education work like “one package”.

In 2023, Chen Lin ____________ in Beijing at the age of 101. Chen once said that his lifelong dream was to he 100 years old and still teaching. It was a dream that came true for the senior educator.

2 . My dad worked in construction. His day started early and ended late. When he got home, all he ________ to do was lie on the couch and relax.

One hot summer, when my parents’ wedding anniversary (周年纪念日) was ________, they made plans to eat out. When the big day ________ arrived, Dad got home at seven. He was obviously tired. “Honey, I just need a thirty-minute sleep and then we’ll eat out for ________ ,” he said as he lay on the couch.

I knew how important that evening was to Mom, but before long Dad was ________. Then Mom did the strangest thing. She ________ the refrigerator and took out eggs and bacon. Soon she had some biscuits baking in the oven.

Mom ________ a plate with a lot of his favorite foods. Then she bent over and kissed him while whispering in his ear, “Time to ________ , honey.”

As Dad looked up, he found Mom standing in front of him with his dinner. I’ll never ________ the love that passed between them. “Honey, I promised you I’d take you out to dinner and I ________ it,” he said sincerely.

She kissed him on the cheek, “I know you would, but I’m also ________ that you’ve had a hard day and you’re tired. What’s important is that we’re together.”

That ________ on love is still with me today five decades later. Whenever I imagine how ________ they’re to be together in heaven, a sweet peace and comfort falls over me, the same way I felt when I   ________ their great love for each other on that night when Mom made Dad a ________ anniversary dinner.

3 . My daughter Rachel had severe ADHD (多动症) as a child. The most _________ moments often came when we were out _________. All parents have been there trying to remain calm while their child is having an tantrum (耍性子) and shoppers are _________ their heads.

Rachel is now twenty-four and has grown into an amazing young woman. _________, those old terrible memories feel not-so-distant when I _________ a child’s similar behavior. The screams caused flashbacks that I would rather _________.

Last week, Rachel and I were shopping in the supermarket when we heard a child’s _________ that lasted more than fifteen minutes. My daughter asked, “Mom! Is that what I used to sound like?” “Yes, you sounded just like that,” I _________.

As we approached, I could see people whispering to each other and shaking their heads. Then I saw the embarrassment and _________ in the young mother’s face. I then did something I’d never done before. I walked over to the mom and put my arms around her shoulders. “I know exactly what you are ____________ right now, and I know how you feel. It does get better. Believe me.” I said. I then introduced Rachel to the mother. I ____________ that my daughter had been just like her son when she was little.

She hugged me back, so tightly that I knew she was ____________ to me. Her son stopped screaming for a minute and looked at us with a(n) ____________ expression. At that moment, I could see ____________ wash over her.

Sometimes, a stranger’s kind words during a ____________ moment can mean the world to someone.

4 . It was a heartwarming turn of events on the special night. The Inner Finland Police Department successfully _______ a missing child with the help of their police dog, Kuha. According to Finland’s Police Dog Association, the _______ went missing at around 7:00 pm on December 23. The snow covered the tracks, so the family had to seek _______ from the authorities. A rescue team was quickly _______ , including a dog, which played a(n) _______ role in the rescue.

The search initially focused on the city center, but the _______ came near the child’s home. Kuha carefully _______ a snow pile (堆) where children had built snow caves. Despite the challenging conditions, Kuha’s keen (敏锐的) sense of smell and its devotion _______ .

At around 12:30 am that night, Kuha discovered a shoe _______ under three feet of snow. The child, who had been trapped in a collapsed snow cave, was ________ firstly but gradually recovered after receiving medical attention. The community breathed a collective sigh of ________ as the child was able to speak in the ambulance.

The success of this rescue mission was ________ to the extensive training of police dog Kuha. The dog handler’s knowledge that human ________ rises in the snow led to a second search of the pile, ________ leading to the child’s discovery. The Finnish Police Dog Association also ________ Kuha’s role in the successful rescue.

6 . Earlier this week, a mother called Meems posted a video online asking users to help her with a task. ________ four lines of a handwritten melody (旋律), Meems said in the video, “My 10-year-old daughter ________ this. Could somebody ________ this? I want to know if it makes sense.”

This was the first time that her daughter had ________ writing music. And it was clear that Meems was ________ as to what her child’s composition sounded like. After she posted the ________, Meems and her daughter ________ a large number of responses from various musicians from around the world. But perhaps the ________ came when an entire string orchestra (弦乐团) responded to Meems’ callout with a multi-part arrangement of her daughter’s ________.

Last week, Dr Hanson, a conductor and assistant professor of music at Seattle Pacific University, invited Meems and her daughter to attend the National Association for Music Education’s Northwest Division Conference where he ________ a roomful of string educators in a performance of Meems’ daughter’s composition.

Feeling ________ and moved, Meems ________ every musician who helped bring her daughter’s composition to ________. “When I posted the video, I never imagined this ________. This is what ________ does. It connects us. Thank you for creating with us.”

7 . From the moment I met Madison, we both had a feeling that we’d met before. “Maybe I’ve _________ you at my favorite Chinese restaurant, Hunan Garden,” I said. “Never heard of it. But my favorite restaurant is _________, too.” she said. The more we _________, the more we realized how much we had in common.

A few days later, my best friend Mareya _________ me, who’d been out of town for a while. “You wouldn’t _________ how amazing Florida is! I brought you a _________. It’s a little creature’s _________. Can we meet in my place tomorrow?” she said. Any _________ friend would have _________ that she was glad to meet immediately! __________, I said, “Sorry, but I’m __________ with my new friend Madison.”

“Then give me a call on Saturday!” Mareya said. I responded, “Um, all right.” But it wasn’t until Monday that I remembered Mareya. I went to her __________, and she gave me the most beautiful seashell. Holding the __________ gift, I gave her a huge hug, but she burst into tears. “I thought you were __________ me with Madison!” she said.

I apologized sincerely. She finally gave me a smile. Through this, I realize that sometimes your friend doesn’t know how you’re feeling right now, and a __________ talk may help her understand.

8 . I was sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for my annual check-up. The doctor threw in a(n) ________ that took me off guard.

“So Robin, what are you going to do after high school? Why don’t you go to college to become a(n) ________ like me?” he asked while writing on the file.

Go to college to become a doctor? Who was this man kidding? I thought he was ________ for even suggesting it. My grades were ________ and I wasn’t college material. Embarrassed by his question, I ________ to the doctor, “I’m not ________ enough to be a doctor.”

The doctor immediately looked at me straight in the eyes when he said very ________, “You don’t have to be clever to be a doctor. You just have to be persistent (坚持不懈的).”

Even though I wasn’t college material, what the doctor said ________ me. Three years later, I ________ to a college close to my home and soon found myself walking the campus as a new student.

I began ________ anything that seemed frightening. I put all my energy toward passing the assignments one by one. I ________ that when I was persistent, I could ________ things I never believed possible.

I graduated with a master’s degree in September 2023, two decades after that ________ with my doctor. I ________ I could shake his hand and tell him “thank you”. Sometimes even the smallest moments in time can have a life-changing ________.

9 . I grew up in such a family: My father was Italian, and my mother was Greek. This family _______ allowed me to learn to speak both languages with _______ . Besides speaking their native tongues, my parents often _______ in French at our dinner table; therefore, I also learned a third language. In order to further explore my gift for languages, I started to _______ French at university.

There’re many benefits of _______ different languages: It raises my cultural awareness, and broadens my horizons. Being a multicultural _______ also helps me understand and _______ with people from different parts of the world.

One day, a Middle Eastern man served me when I visited a shop. To be frank, he was _______ ignorant about responding to my questions and solving my problem. I walked away from the shop feeling _______ because he kept avoiding eye contact for 20 minutes. Later, when I recounted the ________ to my friend, he reminded me of a(n) ________ cultural truth of some Middle Eastern countries that I had ________. The cultural insight is that males and females in the Middle East are taught to ________ their eyes or avoid long eye contact with each other. This practice is a sign of propriety (得体), which can be ________ as rudeness by anyone unfamiliar with the culture.

My multiculturalism ________ me to realize that something as simple as the lack of eye contact can be a potential source of misunderstanding.

10 . Temperatures remained near zero, and frost (霜) covered the ground on the morning of Saturday, October 29, but none of this _________ the group of volunteers and students who_________ from different schools planting a new microforest. Emma Fox, the community engagement _________, got the group warmed up before their shovels (铲) hit the _______. In just under three hours, the volunteers had all of the trees planted, and Fox   _________ on what they had achieved. The group planted around 100 trees in what is called a microforest.

Microforests, with trees planted together _________ , are more powerful than having the same number of trees planted across a larger area, Fox _________. This is particularly beneficial in environments for ecological, climate, and human benefits.

In support of this, these microforests are allowed to grow free, with as little human _________ as possible. This includes not mowing (割草) around the forest to _________the grasses to grow, increasing even more biodiversity. __________ the environmental benefits, microforests offer many advantages for the students. They offer additional __________ in the schoolyard, and additional __________ educational opportunities.

Fox shared that it’s the __________ of many different organizations coming together to achieve the shared aim of __________ the environment. To make a microforest a __________, they need land, trees and volunteers.