1 . Spanish class scared me in the freshman year. I knew little Spanish before starting the class, and I thought it would be ________ for me. However, Mary, our honored Spanish teacher, who was full of creativity, made her class fun from the beginning. I knew what to expect with a schedule for each week, but there was always some slight ________.

Before the exam, Mary often asked us to ________ our lessons by ourselves. But I could remember one day she said, “This time, let’s play a game before going over what you’ve learned.” The game was so interesting that we all ________ ourselves. After the exam, Mary gave us opportunities to make up for our ________. After each error correction, she would check again. She took things so ________ that she wouldn’t overlook any detail. No wonder she was ________ by us.

Mary was ________ and willing to help, within reason, on everything. We could ask her questions at any time. She encouraged everyone to speak Spanish in class. Because of that, I was ________ enough, and then I could communicate with Spanish speakers outside of class. When she knew our problems, she would give advice. When someone was struggling, she would ________.

Mary’s ________ teaching eventually transformed my ________ into fascination. She infused (灌输) foreign culture into lessons, using music and dance to ________ our language skills. Her personalized attention to each student’s needs fostered a(n) ________ environment. At the end of the term, my Spanish improved, and my confidence soared. Mary left a lasting impact on my ________ for new challenges.

2 . Successfully receiving a US visa (签证) is full of ups and downs. In early 2023, I received an offer to join in the Sports Industry Management Summer Program at Georgetown University in the US. Never having been to the US before, I was thrilled about the upcoming _________.

However, my excitement turned into shock when I _________ a scheduled interview appointment at the US embassy (大使馆) in New Delhi in early May. The waiting list was so long that it _________ all the way to September, well _________ the start of the summer program in July.

Still, that wasn't the only _________ we faced with the US embassy. A friend planning to visit France mentioned that the visa application process now took two months longer than before. It seemed that an increasing number of people were applying to travel abroad. I waited until mid-July before _________ giving up on the summer program for 2023.

At last, I secured an appointment for Sept 18, 2023. After all these difficulties, I thought I could finally get my US visa. During the interview, the visa officer, a pleasant woman, began asking me a few questions. Then there was _________ as she typed on her keyboard for five minutes. I though that the exciting moment was coming. _________, after smiling at my mom and _________ a green form to her, she said, "Sorry, but due to your job, we require __________ documents."

As a journalist, my mother was required by the green form to email a list of her published stories. Fortunately, she specializes in __________ and art, with hundreds of articles on cultural exchanges and interpersonal communications between India and the US. I don't know whether or not her touching stories __________ the visa officer. After all, the embassy gave us 10-year visas after about a week.

With the visa, I am applying for the summer program for 2024 now. If you're planning to travel abroad, I __________ starting the visa process early, __________ many others likely have the same plans. Your parents' jobs can also affect your visa application, so make sure you do some __________ and are ready to provide extra documents.

3 . It was 8:30 am. Traffic was at ______ flow. For ten minutes I watched an elderly lady looking ______ at the traffic, waiting to cross a four-lane road. Her wide blue eyes scanned for a ______; there was fear in them.

An untidy boy of ten ______ her and said a few words. She smiled with surprise and ______ her head. They were strangers to each other, but the ______ in each was obvious.

The boy turned to the traffic, holding the old lady’s hand, and I ______ his little smile-he was helping. The traffic ______, and a gap appeared. Both said “now!” and stepped out, leading each other.

The old lady glanced around, determined to ______ her young charge. The boy held her hand, ______ the old lady gently and safely. As they ______ mounted the sidewalk on the other side, their ______ was evident.

The old lady safely ______ the boy to the other side, pretending to let him help. The young boy safely got the woman across, pretending to let her help.

I watched with a lump in my throat and a(n) ______ in my eye, and I didn’t know why this was so. . for I was smiling. I was unable to describe this beautiful ______. The two turned to each other and shook hands before parting.

4 . 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.

5 . Ahmed was a middle-class businessman and used to go to his office in a car that he had bought seven years ago. Despite being _________ stronger than most of his co-workers, he was _________. Ahmed always wanted more than he had. Whenever he got into his car, he would start finding _________ with it, and drown in self-pity for being so poor.

One weekday, Ahmed left his home to go to his office. It was raining heavily. Ahmed drove _________, for he had to be careful with his _________ car. Then, a man on a motorbike grabbed his _________. The man was _________to keep the bike steady in the thunderstorm. Ahmed was _________ the fact that he was travelling safe and dry in his car. He said to himself, “I’m travelling _________ without getting affected by the rain, while this person is in serious difficulty. I am more __________ than him.”

The day passed quickly. When Ahmed drove back home, the rain had stopped. He saw a homeless man sleeping on the wet sidewalk.

Ahmed remained __________ that night, lost in deep thought. Happiness was around him, yet he always ________ about his life. Neither his car, his house nor status was depressing; what was saddening him was his __________. He knew he had to __________ his thoughts. That day, he __________ an important lesson — happiness comes from optimism!

6 . Tobias, a 35-year-old Belgian musician, has become popular on social media for his excellent grasp of the Shanghai dialect. He has been sharing his everyday experiences, which he _______ in Shanghai dialect, on video-sharing and lifestyle _______ Douyin and Xiaohongshu, winning thousands of followers and millions of _______

In the videos, he speaks_______ Shanghai dialect, which many non-locals believe is as difficult to learn and _______ as a foreign language. He talks about walking on the city’s streets, enjoying the food and music, and _______ his daily life in the city. Tobias started shooting and _______ these short videos for his own practice purposes. He didn’t expect so many people would be watching them, following him and sending him _______ and encouragement.

Tobias did not bury his nose in textbooks or _______ intensive study to learn Shanghainese. He said his learning __________ involved getting immersed (沉浸) in a language environment, having a positive attitude, and speaking __________ “without being afraid to make mistakes” . He was not thinking too much when he started learning the Shanghai dialect — it was just for __________.

Tobias said he did not expect he would __________ the promotion of the Shanghai dialect, but it would be an __________ and pleasure if his posts encouraged his followers to learn and pass on the dialect. “I believe a dialect is the heart of a local __________” said the musician.

7 . Most people as they get older start to take life a little slower and enjoy a leisurely pace. But it is not for Kerry, who ________ pole dancing in her 50s, has no ________ of slowing down any time soon. She’s even ________ her life “began at 50”.

The super fit gran ________ an eating disorder from a young age. Now in the best ________ of her life, she looked back on her youth and claimed she was once told she was “too fat to be a dancer”, sparking an eating disorder and being ________ conscious of her weight. After taking up dancing she felt ________ in her new lease of life.

“At the age of 47 I made a list of things I wanted to ________ and I’ve always wanted to do dancing, but I was worried I was too ________. It was so late in life,” said Kerry. ________ planning on doing one class to ________ it off her list, she found a passion and love for the sport and made a living from it, even participating in ________ too. “I feel like fate really put this in my ________, not only to recover my body but to get rid of the ________ that comes with it,” she explained. Now, she’s on a mission to ________ women that their age doesn’t have to hold them back.

8 . In the small town of Hinsdale, Geoffery Holt lived a quiet life working contentedly as the groundskeeper of a mobile home park.

Relying on either a bicycle or a lawnmower as his _______ of transport, his friends remembered him as a thrifty (节俭的) and warm-hearted fellow who loves kids very much, but with no _______ of his own.

The surprise that 4,200 residents of Hinsdale _______ along with the news of his death — is that he _______ a $4.2 million fortune through investing in various funds. According to his will, he left it all to kids’ education of the town.

The story, revealed first by the Associated Press, records the _______ of several residents of the town at the news of his death who would often see him _______ his sit-down lawnmower to the convenience store, or sitting on it in the park reading a newspaper in old-fashioned or even _______ clothes or watching the cars go by.

The money was _______ to the town’s Charitable Foundation, which believes it could greatly _______ the town’s education, but the town administrator stressed on the other hand that the money would be used just as Mr. Holt used it — ________ and wisely.

Kristen Oliveri, a spokesperson of the Foundation, said, “Holt’s ________ is rare and respectable.”

“The Charitable Foundations is ________ to help put such generosity into action, and we look forward-to helping distribute these funds wisely in the years to come,” she said.

An online obituary (讣告) page is attracting heartfelt well wishes from those who’ve heard of the story, with a woman from the Midwest named Dee saying “show ________ to him, and hope to invest funds as well as Mr. Holt did!”

“Thank Geoffrey for making us feel ________ about society in the future and giving us a reason to smile,”________ another.

9 . Growing up, Grandma’s house was a place of warmth and affection. The house wasn’t _______, but that never mattered. It was the love we felt inside that _______ the most. I’ll never forget the softness of my grandma’s hands, _______ in the flavor of cherry blossoms. It’s a flavor that, to this day, takes me back to my childhood. Now, as I look down at my own _______ weathered with time and echoing (重复) her familiar _______, I feel an unspoken connection, a silent _______ of love that continues today.

As a child, I was attracted by the _______ my grandma told — stories of wars, one-room schoolhouses, and life before television. There are so many of those stories I can still remember _______, as all of those stories _______ so much personality and humor. Today, I share my own stories, and while I feel I don’t tell them as ________ as Grandma did, I pray they bring the same ________ and wonder to my grandkids as my grandma’s did.

When I hold my grandchildren, their hands tiny and ________ in mine, I feel a rush of emotion. My hands, ________ my grandma’s, now pass on the same love and comfort they once gave me. In these moments, I recognize that their love ________ beyond the boundaries of time, ________ through my touch, my care, and my love for the next generation.

10 . 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.