1 . It was a long drive to the nursing home (敬老院,养老院) where my grandmother was living. _________, at least twice a month I drove to see her. I’d already _________ my mom to cancer and I wanted to always remember my grandmother, especially because she was beginning to _________ me. Nanna had Alzheimer disease (老年痴呆症), which was slowly starting to eat away at her _________. Sometimes she recognized me when I visited her and sometimes she didn’t.

On one visit, I _________ my grandmother good-bye and started to walk towards my car. Suddenly a tiny hand seized mine. “James!” a _________ voice said. I turned and saw a smiling, wrinkled face. Like my Nanna, she had Alzheimer disease but was still able to walk and get around. She _________ me for her son (A nurse told me he’d died years ago). I held her hands and let her joyfully _________.Though her eyes didn’t know who I was, I saw the excitement in them when she spoke to her son through me.

On the following visits, I always took _________ to visit my Nanna as well as her. I always got a smile and sometimes even a __________ from her. The nurses told me she was always __________ and calmer after seeing her “son”.

Then one day I noticed she was __________. I spoke to the nurses and they sadly told me that she’d been dead for some days. I put my head __________ and went quietly into my Nanna’s room.

Her loss didn’t really hit me __________ I went for a walk at night. I looked at the sky, realizing something—for a while I really had been her son. Actually, in this world we’re all __________ by invisible strings of love.

2 . I grew up both a little frightened and excited by storms and tornadoes. Nearly 9 years ago, when the news reported that there would be _________ coming that night, I was well aware of the _________ of it.

While I was preparing for the storm, I heard the rumble (隆隆声), saw power flashes and knew it was coming. After _________ the power for safety, I jumped into a bath that was right inside the door and closed the door and laid down and _________ my head and prayed for _________ and for my family.

My _________ was racing with a million thoughts, regrets, prayers, etc, but I still heard the storm _________ my house, and then the sheetrock (石膏板) overhead _________ and it sounded like my roof lifted and came back down. I heard the _________ of nails being pulled out of wall, glass breaking, and then the most __________ sound I had ever heard.

I suddenly felt something __________ my head and everything went __________. When I opened my eyes again, I __________ blood on my wet head coming from a small __________. I went out to check my car. I got blinded by a light as I exited the carport (车棚). It was my neighborhood, coming to check on me. I stood there and tears poured down my face. Fortunately, we were __________ that day.

3 . Chloe Smith is a girl aged 6 from Atlanta, Georgia. One day, while taking a walk with her father near their home, she________something shiny under a pile of rubbish. She picked up the ________ to take home, as she often did on her treasure-hunting walks. Chloe was later ________ to discover she had found a stolen Olympic gold medal.

The medal belongs to former canoeist (划艇运动员) Joe Jacobi, who won gold while ________ for Team USA in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games. The medal, along with other personal belongings, was ________ in May of 2016 when someone broke into Jacobi’s can. Though police managed to ________ some of his stolen items, they hadn’t been able to find his ________ Olympic medal. It may have been lost forever, if not for a 6-year-old girl’s treasure-hunting ________ .

Chloe’s dad had seen Jacobi’s story on the news, and ________ realized it was his stolen property. He found Jacobi’s email and sent him pictures of the treasure. After________ the medal, Jacobi was astonished, just speechless.

Chloe was ________ to give it back after speaking with Jacobi on the phone. ________, Jacobi promised to speak to her class when school begins again this fall. The ________ of this little girl reuniting an Olympian with his beloved possession is ________ . When we talk about character and doing the ________ thing, Chloe represents the Olympic values in every sense of the word.

4 . Taylor Hash desired to become a career pilot and she was under training. One day, she had just started building up hours of flight time when a(n)________ struck. As she guided the Diamond Star plane off the runway at airport, on her third-ever independent ________, the front tyre (轮胎) of her plane fell off.

Taylor was ________ at that point that she had just lost important landing equipment. “I didn’t feel anything wrong in the take-off ________,” she said. However, a(n)________ pilot Chris Yates, saw something and immediately took action. He knew that Taylor would have to make a difficult emergency landing. He ________ the control tower and said, “The Diamond Star that just took off lost its nose wheel tyre on the runway.” Yates asked people there to put him through to Taylor so he could help her. When Taylor learned what had happened, she was in ________.

Therefore, Yates ________ that the most important thing would be to keep Taylor calm so she could follow him attentively. Then Yates ________ Tavlor and told her that she could ________ above the field until she was ready to land. “When you touch down, I just want that joystick (操纵杆) all the way back. You’re gonna hold it back like you don’t want that nose to touch,” he ________ her.

Despite feeling unsure, Taylor trusted Yates. With palms sweaty and lips ________, Taylor successfully create a best landing chance. Finally, she managed to land ________.

No sooner had Yates extended his arms than Taylor hugged him tightly with tears of ________ rolling down cheeks. Yates smiled, patted on her shoulder and encouraged, “it was your excellent skill that help yourself ________ the emergency successfully. I am so proud of you.”

5 . One day, I had a serious quarrel with my father. I felt he was always trying to _________ me and I wanted to break free. After we exploded in _________, I stormed out of the house and went back to school.

All that day, my mind was racing with _________ thoughts. After all, he hadn’t even finished high school, but here I was a college student! How dare he try to _________ me on my life and plans?

Suddenly, I realized that I didn’t do the assignment that was _________: a thought card. Dr. Simon always _________ us to think deeply by raising all kinds of questions about social issues, political issues, personal issues etc. _________ for something to write, I could only think of the _________ I’d just had with my dad.

“I am the son of an idiot!” I wrote and then _________. The next day, Dr. Simon gave back our cards. He put mine on the desk face down. I picked it up, almost unable to turn it __________. On the card, he wrote, “What does ‘the son of an idiot’ __________ with the rest of his life?”

I felt like someone had __________ me in the face. Again and again, my parents didn’t please me and I __________ them for this or that, but how long could I get away with blaming them for my life?

Slowly, my attitude __________ and my relationship with my father improved. Instead of controlling, now I saw him as concerned and caring. And it all started with a (an) __________ raised by Dr. Simon.