1 . A few weeks earlier, my pastor (牧师) had called upon me to be one of ten team leaders to help with the church’s upcoming fundraiser for building improvements. Though I said yes, this was definitely outside my _________.

Each team leader needed to find five to seven people to _________. I already had three team members. I only needed a couple more. _________ the crowd, I noticed Beth. I thought she might have time for the project. I explained everything to her. She listened _________ and agreed that the church needed some _________, and then she said, “I’ll happily donate towards the improvements, but I had the _________ to say no.”

I stood there shocked by her _________. I wasn’t upset about her refusal. _________, I was completely awed (充满敬畏的) by the way in which she _________ it. “I’m giving myself the right to say no.” It had never __________ me that I could say no when asked to help out or volunteer for a project. I was afraid that by saying no, they would __________ me.

Beth had just opened up an entirely new world to me, and I __________ it was time that I gave myself right to say no as well. The next time I was asked to __________ in a project that I didn’t feel was a good fit, I __________, just like Beth had taught me. I discovered that there were no hard __________ when I said no, and it gave me the necessary free time to do a better job with other projects.

2 . An inspirational woman breaks cycle of poverty (贫困) in mountain areas. About 20 years ago, while on the way to visit a student’s house, Zhang Guimei ________ a girl sitting on the hillside and staring into sky in ________ The girl, 13, told Zhang she was about to get married, which was arranged by her parents.

“But I want to go to school,” the girl said. Zhang went to her house and tried to ________ her parents to let the girl return to school and promised to pay for her tuition fees herself. ________, they still didn’t agree.

Feeling sorry about that, Zhang decided to build a free high school for ________, aiming to help ________ the cycle that women drop out of education, marry early and spend their whole life in the remote mountain. After years of trying to ________ funds, in 2008, Huaping High School for Girls, a free public high school, was ________. Now, more than 1,800 graduates have been ________ to college, which is regarded as a “miracle” in the remote area, as most students didn’t perform well in academic study before the school was founded.

________ suffering from serious illness, she insists on a daily routine—get up at around 5 am and sleep after senior students’ study ends at midnight. She ________ has collapsed (倒下) several times from tiredness on the campus.

Donating all her savings to ________ rural education and poor people, she believed that an ________, responsible mother will not let her children drop out of school and her goal is to prevent poverty from ________ from generation to generation.

She was given the honor of the country’s “role model for teachers” and “outstanding woman”. Her ________ stories inspire thousands of people.

3 . At 19, Vancouverite Karina Zhou launched her first book, Kai’s Tea Eggs, earlier this week.

Zhou first _________ the story as an entry for a picture book illustration contest. She _________ the gold award. Getting it out there for the world to see was the natural next _________: “Because it did so well in that contest, I really want to publish this,” she says. Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree _________ her style, and inspiration often struck as she _________ the pages of other books. “I went to every _________ I could find and sat in the kid’s sections (区域) for a long time.” she says.

Much of Kai’s Tea Eggs was drawn from Zhou’s _________. “The story is inspired by a day when I _________ tea eggs for a multicultural event at my primary school — it was a really _________ experience and everyone liked the food,” she remarks. Her book recreates that __________ through the main character Kai: a sweet child, who, with the __________ of a friendly dragon named Ming, finds the courage to embrace (接纳) and explores the foods of her Chinese heritage.

Zhou-noticed a pattern when sharing the story with people from different __________. Many said that they could __________ the experience of the main character Kai, who feels __________ about sharing the food of her Chinese culture. “Everyone has gone through the anxiety in their own unique way,” Zhou notes.

The book is Zhou’s first, but she has plans for more: “I do want to __________ finding stories that are meaningful and that I think need to be in this world right now,” she says.

4 . “Allie, did you write this signature (签名)?” my third-grade teacher asked me. I looked down at the paper on his desk. My mom’s handwriting was terrible.

“No, I didn’t,” I said. “My mom is ________.”

I have a complicated (复杂的) relationship with my mom because of her blindness. Sometimes I become annoyed about the need to ________ her with daily tasks. Helping her too often adds to my daily burden. Therefore, just as a parent teaches their child to be ________, I always try to guide my mom towards self-reliance (自立).

Even though our roles often feel reversed (颠倒的), my mom and I have a quite traditional mother-daughter ________. I admit I have secretly tried to use my mom’s ________ to my advantage in the past, like pretending to eat a salad I didn’t like. But I haven’t gotten away with everything. My mom is not able to see, but she can sure ________ well! I’ve been caught ________ my pears into the trash can due to the loud noise it made.

My mom has never allowed her blindness to ________ her from being a good mother. When I was in a car crash last year, the first thing I did was to ________ my mom. Putting down the phone, she was ________ on her way. The ________ happened only a few minutes ’walk away from my house, but reaching me required her to walk across a busy street on her own. Watching my mom find my car, stepping ________ through the grass to get to me, gave me a feeling of relief. I have taken on the responsibilities of an adult from such a young age that I have forgotten I still need my mom’s protection and ________ .

Throughout my childhood of living with a blind parent, I have rarely thought about how my family is different from others ’. Although my mom will never really know what I ________ , she will always know who I am and how I’m feeling by the tones (语气) of my ________. Her being blind doesn’t make her any less of a parent — or her signature any less valid (有效的).

5 . My four-year-old son, Will, suffered from autism spectrum disorder (自闭症). And he went through many hours in _________ , helping him to overcome many challenges he faced.

One summer afternoon, with a bucket (桶), Will and I were walking along the _________ to search for shells. After a while, I _________ the bucket and discovered nearly all the shells were broken in it. “Will, these shells are broken and _________. You need to find shells like this.” I said gently as I held up a _________ shaped shell. Will gave me a(n) _________ look, as if he failed to understand me. He continued to   _________ imperfect shells he liked and drop them into the bucket.

“Will, why do you keep on _________ our bucket with broken shells?” This time I asked in a serious voice. He looked up at me and said, “Mom, though these shells are broken, they are still beautiful.” Then he _________ his little hand into the bucket and pulled out different shells, commenting on their __________.

“Mom, this one looks like a smile when you hold it this way. ” He showed a broken shell and explained. “It __________ me of a clown. That one is round like the sun, and these are stuck together like butterflies.” He took great pride in his __________.

My eyes were full of tears as I __________ my son was teaching me a valuable lesson. Silently, I __________ the few perfect shells I had collected and returned them to the beach. We are all broken in some way, but we can find __________ in our imperfection.

6 . Julia found some of her grandmother Georgie’s old design sketches (草图) from the 1940s. Georgie told her granddaughter she was proud of the sketches and wanted them to be _________ by more people, for _________ was a big part of her life. “Being alone all day was difficult for Grandma. I think doing something would _________ lift her spirits,” Julia said.

Julia took some pictures of those sketches and made a post. It became _________ overnight. A lot of replies under the post _________ Julia to physically make her grandmother’s designs. Though her sewing (缝纫) skills were _________, Julia decided to figure it out. And she learned the basics soon.

With the help of her grandmother, Julia spent countless hours _________ the sketches and turning them into complete designs. Despite the great interest her followers had in_________ her grandma’s designs, the dresses Julia recreated were not for sale. “We have _________ when we do these projects and we don’t like to take this too seriously. Maybe one day that’ll become a career, but right now we’re just focusing on our __________. I’m glad to put on the dresses and __________ them to Grandma. I __________ that I will re-wear the dresses. So I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible,” Julia said.

“You can have your own __________ and it’s never too late to go after it. You can still follow something __________ in your life at any age. Maybe it won’t __________, but it’s worth taking that risk,” Julia said.

7 . The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone's daily life. While our experiences were ________, there's one thing many of us had in common: quarantine (隔离期) hair.

Salons (美发厅) were closed for months, but our ________ didn't stop growing. So my 12-year-old daughter, who needed a haircut even before the quarantine, ________ to do something good with her hair. She planned to donate (捐赠) it.

We had ________ donating her hair before, so she ________ that it needed to be a certain length. “Maybe someday,” she said.

And I wasn't surprised when she said she was ________ with her hair having grown ________ enough to both meet the donation requirement and leave her with a shoulder-length haircut during the quarantine.

When the salon finally ________ again, my daughter sat ________ in the chair and talked to the hairdresser. She mentioned how great it was that she could ________ someone else just by cutting her hair. Listening to their conversation, I wondered when my daughter had become so mature (成熟的).

Any ________ I had that she would regret her decision disappeared as I watched the hairdresser hand her the first ponytail (马尾辫). She was ________ and looked at it in excitement.

She wanted a ________, and she got it. I went into that salon with my little girl. I ________ with a young lady and a bag filled with the hair.

Days later, as we stood in line at the post office to mail her hair, I looked at my daughter and felt ________ of the kind and thoughtful young lady she'd become.

8 . My name is Maria Helena Corrcia, and I studied biology at college. After ________, I first worked as a laboratory researcher. Since February, however, I’ve been a volunteer of WWF Greece(World Wide Fund for Nature). I made the ________ because I’m interested in animal ________ and nature.

Working on the Egyptian Vulture New LIFE project, I ________ to protect vultures (秃鹫) from danger. Livestock (牲畜) keepers sometimes use poison (毒药) to keep their livestock from being ________ by wild animals. But the poison and the poisoned animals are often eaten by the vultures, who end up ________.

To save the vultures, we have to show the livestock keepers that there are other ways of ________ wild animals. For example, I’ve been helping ________ electric fences (栅栏) which can put wildlife off. Now they have ________ their ideas of using poison to deal with wildlife attacks and accepted that fences can be a better ________.

Until now, I have had nothing but _______   memories of working here. For example, the livestock keepers and their families were especially ________ when we gave them new electric fences and dogs. They appreciated our help so much that they ________ us the best food from their farms.

As I mentioned before, I used to work as a researcher in a laboratory. But my experience here in Greece has changed my life ________. Now I want to ________ this work in the future and help more people and animals in need.

9 . On a Sunny Saturday, Alyson Machigua, three, screamed with laughter as she and her mother, Marlen, played a game in the front yard of their home. Suddenly, tiny Alyson _______ the backyard of a neighbor. About half way across the yard, Alyson disappeared, seeming swallowed (吞没) by a hardly _______ opening in the ground, which meant the opening was not easy to find. Marlen cried loudly for help.

The neighbour Luz Jimenez, 26, was preparing dinner in her kitchen and _______ the cries were the sounds of children playing. However, when she ran outside anyway, she found Marlen _______ and dialing 911.

“Alyson fell into the hole!” Marlen cried to Luz. Then Luz heard Alyson’s cries from deep underground. Luz ran inside her own _______ and down to the basement for a gray rope to drop into the hole. Back in the yard, she used her hands to dig the hole, _______ the opening. When the policeman Aaron Perkins arrived a few minutes later, Luz was in the hole up to her _______.

“Get out of there,” Perkins told Luz, raising her up by the _______. “It’s dangerous for you.” “It’s more dangerous for the baby,” Luz said. “She’s going to _______.” After Perkins tied one end of the rope to a tree, Luz lowered ________, little by little, down the 15-foot-deep hole. Below, she saw water covering the floor of the hole. Alyson’s neck was covered. Luz dropped the remaining few feet into the water beside the baby. “Everything is going to be fine,” she told the little girl. “Don’t worry.”

As they waited for help in the two feet of dark water, Luz prayed that there were no snakes swimming at her feet. She ________ nothing more than snakes. Aboveground (在地面上), Perkins talked to Luz, keeping her ________.

Just minutes later, the Hacketts-town Fire Department and Hacketts-town Rescue Team arrived and lowered a ________ into the hole. Luz climbed up with Alyson in her arms, and then handed her over to her mother. Emergency workers rushed the baby to an ambulance, ________ her clothes to survey the injury. Alyson was scared and covered in dirt but ________, she was uninjured. Luz saved the baby’s life.

10 . Neerja wakes up at 7 o’clock. She finds that she has a birthday cap over her head. She’s both ________ and confused. “Is it my birthday today? But it is in August …” She ________ her phone. It shows August 27, her birthday.

Things are getting more and more ________ for her. In a few seconds, her family ________ the room with a huge cake box. She is almost ________ about it.

She comes forward to ________ the cake, and as she opens the box, everything becomes ________ at once. The box has a joker mask with “April Fool!” written on it. With loud laughter, they make her ________ that she’s been tricked (欺骗). Now Neerja owns the title of “FOOL OF THE YEAR”. And if she doesn’t want the ________, she has to pass it to someone else.

On her way to school, she continuously ________ about how to add a member to the “fool’s chain (链)” till she sees Hari. A(n)________ comes to her mind. She says, “Hello, Hari! The class teacher called you to her office. She wants you to be the new class monitor (班长).” After some time, she sees him coming back ________. She realizes that she has made a huge mistake.

She goes to him and says, “I’m really sorry. I just ________ to pass the title ‘FOOL OF THE YEAR’ to someone else”. “‘FOOL OF THE YEAR’... what’s that?” he asks curiously. Neerja can’t help ________ his innocent (天真的) question. Hari laughs too. Though they are both now members of the “chain of fools”, they are happy that this chain is the beginning of their ________ too.