1 . The number of times I’ve been asked how I became a food and travel writer is too many to count. Frankly, I’m not exactly sure how to ______. Eating is a necessary part of life, and I appreciate good ______, whether it’s chicken and rice served from a hawker stand or a perfect dish in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

I’m not a ______ writer of food, since I ______ review restaurants in the traditional sense. Instead, I’m more interested in food’s ______ and what it reveals about cultures. For instance, how did Mexican cacao get to Europe, and how did the Czech kolache find its way to Central Texas? Knowing the ______ behind such things is a ______ in history that goes far beyond a pretty dish presented on a plate.

There’s not a more ______ way to get a taste of a place than by taking food-themed tours. Many tours include market visits, which are the best way to experience life as a(n) ______. Markets are the hearts of communities and reveal not only the way a culture eats, but also how they ______ and interact.

Traditions and culture are deeply ______ food and through cooking lessons. The number of cooking classes that I’ve ______ around the world can’t be counted. Now, I’m no Alain Ducasse in the kitchen, and rarely do I ______ at home. However, including these types of classes into my journey is something that I ______. And even though the acquired cooking skills don’t translate back to my home kitchen, the cultural ______ still resonates (产生共鸣).

2 . I remember vividly the moment the doctor told me my daughter Annabelle was severely disabled. A thousand ________ raced through my mind. Will she walk? Will she talk? Will she be able to read?

“I couldn’t possibly ________,” said the doctor “But you should prepare yourself for the fact that she might never walk or talk.”

As well as ________ health, I wondered if she would have friends.

Now I know some of the answers. Although she has problems with the spine (脊柱), she can walk huge distances. She can’t hold a ________, but she can make her wants and needs known. And she has no friends.

Annabelle doesn’t get invited to birthday parties. To me, it’s this lack of inclusion (被接纳) that really ________me. Therefore, I was ________ when I saw a post on social media from a little girl with Down’s syndrome (唐氏综合症) at her friend’s birthday party. She was ________ having the greatest time of her life. There were photos of her wearing a wide smile, ________ for the camera, her friend’s arms around her.

“This is amazing!” I wrote, “I am so glad she gets________ in everything. My little girl was born with a spine problem. She hasn’t been invited to a single party in the last four years. ________ my heart.”

Later that day, a woman called Caroline, who I’d never met, sent me a message. Her son Luca was having a fifth birthday party and he wanted to ________ Annabelle.

As Annabelle set off for the party, she felt ________ and became hesitant. But once inside, she was relaxed and felt included in every element by two ________ — a five-year-old boy and his mum. It was highly ________.

My daughter now has memories that will last her a lifetime ________ that, she has her first ever friend.

3 . Christian Bowers, now 24, has Down Syndrome (唐氏综合征) and it’s been hard for him to find good friends. His mom, Donna Herter, said his lack of friends was making him feel ________.

Herter didn’t know who to turn to. So, she posted it on Facebook. “I just basically said that I was looking for a young ________,” she said. “I told them that I’d pay them $80 for two hours to just ________ and play video games with him. All he ________ wants is just a guy friend to do guy stuff with.”

Herter said Christian attends events for people with special ________, but he “desires a friendship with somebody who is ________”.

Herter sent the post at I am and when she woke up, it had about 5,000 comments. She saw parents ________ suggestions, others volunteering to help. “My hands were ________. I was sweating,” she said.

After ________ a few local guys in Wentzville, Minnesota, Donna ________ it down to seven who now visit Christian once a week.

James Hasting was one of the men she ________. Hasting said he works with people with disabilities and it’s something he has a(n) ________ for. He said he had visited Christian three times so far and they had a wonderful time together.

“Though on the ________ we may look different, deep down we have ________ and getting along should be easy,” Hasting said. He hopes to ________ others to form friendships-because you never know how much it means to someone.

4 . A little library was built in our neighborhood to encourage people to “take a book, leave a book”. While taking a walk, Ayla, my eight-year-old daughter, was _________ and asked many questions about it.

Long after we got home, I found her in her bedroom, seated on the floor, surrounded by her _________, all of them. She _________ expressed that she was trying to find a（n）_________ book for the tiny library. Not much later, I saw Ayla standing at the front door, holding a book in one hand and a little _________ in the other, which she _________ in the bathroom when she brushed her teeth. She needed it to look into the _________.

I was _________ to know what book Ayla had picked. When we reached the library, she carefully set down the chair and _________ up. She opened the glass door slowly, with too much __________. Then she paused（暂停）, looked down at the book in her hand, and slid it inside. It was her __________ book. The “take it” part took Ayla a long time to look through the children’s books one by one and carefully examined them, like a jeweler（宝石匠）__________ the perfect stone. At last, she found what she __________.

Once we got home, I asked Ayla why she put that book in the little library. She __________ if every kid left their favorite book, there would be plenty of favorite books to __________.

5 . It was a sunny afternoon. My husband Dave and I had just arrived home from hospital. I parked the car in front of the house. Dave was so tired that he leaned against the door and waited for me to open it for him. When I opened it, he _________ out of the car onto the ground. He was too _________ to raise himself. I tried to lift him, but my _________ ended fruitlessly. I looked around in all directions for someone to help us but nobody was _________.

I turned to run into the house to make a _________. Just then, a man dressed in white walked toward us. I couldn’t _________ how he appeared suddenly as I’d seen no one seconds before. He looked at Dave on the ground and asked if we needed _________. I nodded, adding that my husband was very heavy and _________ to move.

“Let me _________,” he said. He put one hand under Dave’s arm. As if Dave __________ no more than a feather, the man lifted him. He put Dave’s arm over his shoulder and put his own arm around Dave’s waist to keep him __________.

As I __________ the way into the house, the two men walked up our front stairs and into our home together. The man lowered Dave onto a little sofa. He smiled as Dave tried to thank him and said he was __________ to help. As he turned to go, I thanked him __________. He just smiled, said goodbye, and walked away.

I’ve never seen that man again, but I’ll always __________ him as our angel of light.

6 . Even when you have confidence in yourself, your goals will sometimes seem out of reach. When that happens, get hold of the people who _________ you and your goals and don’t let go!

When I was younger, I _________ because life felt so hard. I had _________to become a teacher or a business administrator. I knew I needed a college degree, but I had _________ believing in myself. Then a teacher in my high school _________ me. He told me three things: First, if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be _________ to get anyone else to believe in you. Second, never let other people’s _________ to see your brilliance prevent you from being brilliant. And third, despite life’s _________, stick to creating the future you want.

Early in my _________, I was teaching a workshop when a person in the audience yelled out to me. He told me I had __________ made a job choice and had a bright future. This __________ feedback (反馈)came at just the right time, because while the audience didn’t know it, I was __________ self-doubt.

Even now, I __________ myself that I have a bright future. That’s what I tell myself when I __________ success and failure. You have a bright future ahead. Think about this every single day. Remember your talents, skills, and interests. Explore the jobs that interest you, and have courage—and most __________, believe in yourself.

7 . Elmer Whitaker sighed as he looked over his muddy crops. A terrible ________ had swept through his farm the night before, and his crops were now covered in ________ and destroyed. His neighbor, a kind young man named Thomas, ________ to offer his help.

"What a disaster, “Whitaker said.” My whole family has always survived on the harvests of this field. I feel ________ and don't know what to do now.

Thomas calmed him down and thought for a moment. “I see this not as a disaster but as an ________ ,” he said. Whitaker looked at him ________. “How can it be?” he asked. Thomas smiled ________, “Now you have a chance to try something new. You’ve always grown beans and cabbages. Why not try planting ________ crops that will also fit in this soil? You can diversify and therefore ________ your farm once again.”

Elmer Whitaker considered this. Thomas was right-he had become set in his ways. This disaster could push him to make his farm ________ and sustainable in a new way. “You have ________ me,” Whitaker said. He clapped Thomas on the back. “Thank you for showing me the opportunity in this difficulty. ”

And so Whitaker ________ new crops and soon, the farm was full of life again. Farmers from neighboring towns were ________ with the wonder of Whitaker’s fields, and they began to ________ their crops as well. Elmer Whitaker’s farm has become a ________ of adaptability and hope, telling everyone that in every storm, there is a chance for new growth.

8 . I was annoyed that my mom had even scheduled the appointment with a doctor for me. As doctors so often do, when he arrived he went straight into the basic small talk about my _______ history.

But then he _______ a question that took me off guard. “So Robin, what are you going to do after high school?” He wrote something at his notes, with not even a glance in my _______. “I don’t know,” I mumbled(嘟哝). I was seventeen. I had no _______ what I was going to do after high school. My high school guidance counselor told me that I wasn’t “college material” and I believed her. Education wasn’t exactly _______ in my family.

“You don’t know? Well, why don’t you go to college to become a _______ like me?” He smiled as he glanced at his watch. I thought he was _______ for even suggesting it. No one in my family had even graduated from college, let alone become a doctor. “I’m not smart enough to be a doctor.”

He looked me straight in the eyes when he _______ said, “Let me tell you something; you don’t have to be smart to be a doctor. You just have to be persistent(坚持不懈的).” Then the doctor hurriedly gathered his things and _______ to his next appointment.

I ________ to think about it when I was at school. What would I do after high-school? Even though I wasn’t college material, that doctor made a(n) ________ on me. I applied to a college and soon found myself walking in the ________ as a new student. I often questioned what I was doing there. Maybe I wasn’t smart enough for college, but I could be persistent.

I was ________ to find that with each individual achievement came newfound ________ in myself. I graduated with a master’s degree in September 2014, two decades after that ________ with my doctor.

9 . Dmitry was an artist. He lost his sketchbook (速写本) while ________ to meet a friend. Containing a decade of his work and being a visual account of the 40 year old artist’s life, the sketchbook was ________ to him.

Dmitry felt a deep sense of loss when he found his sketchbook missing. ________ the sketchbook must have fallen out of his bicycle’s back basket, he ________ set out to find it but had no luck.

Then he decided to ________ social media. He shared a post to a community group on Facebook, detailing his ________. A few other community-oriented Facebook groups reshared the post.

________, as Dmitry was looking for it, a man named Chris found the sketchbook.   As he looked through the pages, he realized the ________ of the artwork. Because he could find no name or address on it, Chris ________ hanging the sketchbook on the tree near where he found it, but feared rain might ruin it. So he took the sketchbook home, hoping to find a way to ________ the owner. Then he saw Dmitry’s Facebook ________. Chris immediately contacted Dmitry.

“And then I lectured him like his elder,” Chris ________. “I told him, ‘Put your name and number in it!’”

Dmitry tried to present Chris with a finder’s ________ but Chris refused, saying he was simply ________ to complete an act of kindness.

“I am left with a deep sense of ________,” said Dmitry.

10 . Matt and Leah Prior have quit their jobs and set off on a round-the-world overland journey with their two children: Jack, 3, and Charlotte, 1. ________ has always been part of the Prior family’s DNA.

The couple once ran into the Zapp family, who had traveled globally for 22 years, which ________ the seed that one day they could do something ________.

The Priors had been prepared for their journey. Leah worked as a teacher and Matt held many roles. Then something unexpected happened,________ them to press pause. They had to ________ everything. “We were reassessing our plans and ________ a new start. This was a family ________, not just what we might want to do ________,” says Matt.

While weighing their options, they still ________ to do an overland journey like the Zapps. “It’s probably not the most sensible decision from the perspective of career or finance, but it felt right,” they say. When deciding how to ________ their time on the road, they regarded protecting nature as their north star, naturally leading them to ________. They planned to raise conservation awareness through ________ on their social medial accounts, believing that stories can get people to ________ from within.

By including their kids in the journey, the Priors hope to ________ them to as much diversity and natural beauty as possible. “The life skills they will pick up as well as overcoming challenges will be ________.

Now the journey is on. The Priors will travel through 100 countries over the next five years.