1 . Lying in my hospital bed, I was flicking through (快速转换) the channels when I suddenly paused. Muscular women were competing in a body sculpting competition on the _______ . “Wow, they are _______ ,” I thought in amazement.

It was 2004, and I’d been hospitalized with asthma, which gave me the desire to _______ a more healthy lifestyle. I didn’t know how to exercise correctly and found it hard to _______ healthy diets. But now at 49, it was time for a _______ . Therefore, the day after I left the hospital, I joined the gym with one _______ : to look like the women I’d seen on TV.

The first sessions were so _______ that I could barely walk back down the stairs afterwards. But I kept _______ for several hours, four days a week, slowly building my strength. After six months of training, I _______ my first competition—Masters Over Forty. Standing on the stage, my heart nearly leapt from my chest when they ________ I was the winner.

Over the next 14 years, I ________ 35 titles in body sculpting competitions worldwide. During this time, I decided to use my experience to help other women over 40 achieve their ________ goals. I became a personal trainer and wrote a book to help people eat ________ food during their training. With the right diet, everyone can stay healthy and strong longer.

I know many older women have never been in the ________ or picked up a weight. But it’s never too ________ to make changes.

2 . Juleus Ghunta and his three sisters lived in a rural part of Western Jamaica. They were _______ by a single mother, and his mother often had to make _______ choices about how to use their limited resources-including a decision to send his oldest sister to school, but to _______ Ghunta at home.

When Ghunta finally went to school, he couldn’t catch up on his reading skills. “I _______ in school with a deep sense of loss and _______,” he said. Not only had he been kept home from school as a child, but he had not been exposed (使接触) to _______.

When Ghunta was about 12, a young teacher decided to start a special _______ program for struggling students. Ghunta was the first student to _______. “The teacher was _______ kind to me.” he said. “She was patient. She did not require anything of me, except that I ________ in myself and work hard.” Under her ________, Ghunta’s reading skills finally started to improve. And his sense of inadequacy (能力不足) ________ to lift.

After Ghunta’s experience with the teacher, his life ________ a new direction. He went on to college, and later, graduate school. Today, he is the author of two children’s books.

He would like to thank his teacher for seeing his ________. “I would love for her to see the significant ________ that she has made on my life, and how it continues to be a source of joy.”

3 . “All my children show concern for people,” says Mary Killough, director of the Illinois Department on Aging. Once when they _______ someone with a serious disability in the shopping mall, they asked me, “Mommy, is that person OK? What happened? ”They even told me they were _______to help him if necessary.

Knowing that children constantly (不断地) learn everything from their parents, Killough always _______ positivity and kindness at home. She tries to make lessons in compassion (同情) heartfelt and _______.She often tells her boys, “we all need _______at some point in our lives, and there are times when you need to lend a hand. The _______ have become part of their life.”

One evening at the gas station, Killough and the boys saw an older woman who was _______ as she tried to find out where she was and drive home. It was starting to get dark, and they tried to give her _______, but she couldn’t understand. The Killoughs led her all the way to her _______. “Although it took an hour or more, no one ________. There’s nothing we’re doing that’ s more ________ than helping each other,” she told them.

DiAnne Crown, now an author on Illinois Times, also ________ compassion at home as a young child. Her parents would take her to ________ events at KumlerFood Pantry where local hungry families can receive food. There was ________ money on the counter for a family in need. “My son and I have ________ the same kindness toward families in need many times since,” DiAnne says.

4 . For me, one of the most fascinating aspects of exploring diverse cultures is observing how ordinary and sometimes even insignificant things can ________ from place to place. The coffee culture is a great example. I love sharing with people how Shanghai is a perfect ________ for me for many reasons, and coffee is one of them.

After I returned to China in September 2022 to study at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I soon developed a(n) ________ with two other international students. During the lunch break, we would have a cup of coffee at the campus cafe every day. What we ________ was that people did not work during that coffee break; instead, they ________ savored (享受) their conversations over coffee. So, for us too, it felt wrong to continue our studies at the coffee shop and thereby disrupt the ________.

Perhaps drawn by this ________ energy, more students joined us day by day, and our group of three became a big party. Coffee ________ us as we greeted newcomers and got familiar with other local students. I feel this is how the coffee culture ________ here — to make people a little bit happier, and to ________ you up when you feel cold.

That’s why I always prefer to get my coffee ________ instead of ordering online — for the sake of ________ the general mood of the place. It is not something ________; it’s a feeling in the air that makes you want to come, ________ it in, and be nourished by the good energy. It’s like an upbeat song from your childhood — once you ________ it, you start smiling.

5 . My dad loved everything about Northern Soul music. He _________ in England in the 1960s when the music was popular. He had a _________ childhood there. I believe this music _________ him through hard times in his life.

At the age of 57, he was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. When he was _________ from the cancer, he also turned to his music. The music made him _________ and he wanted to dance. One of the songs I knew he _________ was “Because Of You” by Jackie Wilson. He _________ told me why he liked it, but after listening to the _________ of the song, I believed it was for my mother, who _________ him. But my mom insisted they saved each other.

The song ________   me of the time when my dad and I were sitting in his living room after he was diagnosed with cancer and he told me this was his favorite song. I __________ it down in my note section of my phone because I knew it was __________ to remember it. We ended up __________ it at his memorial service. It also reminds me of how my mom and dad __________. My dad was only 23 and was trying to find his way in __________. My mom was 22 and was also trying to find her way. They helped each other over 40 years.

6 . I stood at the departure gate in Boston, preparing to cross the Atlantic. Although I had made the journey countless times before, it never really got much _________ to leave my home and family. I looked at my mother, our eyes full of _________ and as we wondered when we would see each other again she handed me a _________, saying it might help me feel better. Little did I know that it would not only help me feel better, but would also teach me one of life’s greatest lessons.

Now, back in Switzerland, I opened my mother’s package. It was a book of recipes; I laughed out loud as I _________ through it. All the sections were _________ but the one section on _________ was full. Here were handwritten cards _________ things like “Double Chocolate Fudge,” many of which were created by my mother. Then my heart _________ as I noticed what she had written:

Make some desserts. Remember all the wonderful times we have had together, and have them now with your family.

She was telling me: we must grow up and _________ our own lives, even when it sometimes __________. But there was more to be enjoyed. Recipes in hand, I remembered Christmases of joy and __________ homemade treats. Now, years later, Mom was telling me about what really __________ in life: the only real gifts we can __________ for our children are the beautiful memories of our time together. It is never too late or too early to create beautiful memories and it is now my __________ to give them to my children.

I hope that my girls will marry the boy next door. But wherever they may be, I hope that they will one day open my mother’s recipes. And like me, they will find a recipe for __________.

7 . As I walked to the market this morning, I saw an old man in dirty clothes sitting in front of a shop. He seemed to be a beggar ______ alms (救济品). I decided that on my way back I should give him whatever ______ I had. Meanwhile, a few feet away, I saw a young man ______ on the sidewalk and no one who passed by took any notice. I thought it was some ______ drunkard who had wasted all his money on alcohol (酒精).

When I finished ______ and reached the beggar, I put out some change asking him to take it. To my ______, he shook his head. But I didn’t give up. Finally, he ______ it. As I stood there gloating (洋洋得意) over my great act of ______, the man got up, walking to the tea shop, to ______ a loaf of bread and a cup of hot tea for which he paid with the money I gave. He then walked up to the young man, shook him gently till he was ______. He helped him to sit and ______ have the bread and the tea. When he ______ that I was still there, he said that the young man has not ______ for two days and collapsed (晕倒) on the sidewalk. Suddenly I felt so ______. That moment I admired and learned the real ______ of a man who has so little compared to me.

8 . The young woman who was stabbed (刺伤) eight times while protecting her classmate in 2019 has now taken two new identities that continue to prove her selflessness.

On March 10, 2019, Cui Yiwen and a female ________ were walking to their dormitory, and then a male attacker suddenly ________ with a knife and come up to her friend. ________ thinking twice, Cui pushed her friend away but she was stabbed twice in the process.

The attacker still chased and ________stabbed Cui’s classmate. Once again, Cui ________ stood up and protected her classmate even though she herself was injured._______on the frightening incident, she said, “I only knew that if I didn’t step in, she might not ________!”

In ________, Cui suffered eight stab wounds and severe injuries inside the body. However, she kept ________, saying, “My father is an upright serviceman. I just live up to his ________.” Seeing Cui lying in the ICU, her father was worried and near   ________. However, in order to make her father less worried, Cui told him, “It really doesn’t hurt, not at all...”

With the dream of protecting more people, Cui became a devoted police officer. She said, “I want to ________ people just like my father.”

Cui proudly earned the role of the third torchbearer (火炬手) for the Hangzhou Asian Games in Ningbo, Zhejiang on Sept 12, representing the ________ of bravery, responsibility, and selflessness. In addition, she also ________ as a volunteer for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Both ________further show her willingness to serving others.

9 . My first job was at a fast-food restaurant called Carroll’s in my hometown. One spring day my next-door neighbor _________ me to apply for work with her there, and I agreed to have a try.

One little _________ was that I wasn’t 16 yet, so I just changed my birth date on the application from July to _________. Luckily, they didn’t ask for any ID to prove my _________, because there were few applicants for the job. Both of us were _________.

The pay was _________, only $1.60/hour with no tips. I worked at the _________ and only boys were allowed to work in the kitchen. I got a chance to make milkshakes, though, which I considered kind of fun. I also _________ the relationships with all the other workers, who were mostly easy-going teenagers.

It was great to _________ different diners. The restaurant was located on a __________ entryway into town, so all kinds of people came in. One day a man in plain clothes __________ but ordered many signature dishes. When he came to my counter to check out, I was __________ to find he was my idol.

Besides __________ about my age, I also failed to inform the manager that I was leaving in June to attend summer camp, so my first job only lasted a few __________. It has been long gone, but the __________ in the restaurant remains a sweet memory of my life.

10 . “Chinese civilization is the most fascinating and ________ (more than 5,000 years) in the world,” Frances Wood, a well-known British Sinologist, has said.

Wood studied Chinese at Cambridge University in the 1970s, before traveling ________ in China while studying at Peking University in the Chinese capital, Beijing. After ________ from University of London with a doctor’s degree in Chinese Architecture, she joined the British Library in 1977 and ________ the curator (馆长) of the Chinese collections for more than 30 years, until retired in 2013.

One of her main ________ in the role of curator was to purchase books in Chinese about China, ________ various subjects including humanities and literature.

“It was a wonderful and ________ job,” she says. “It was fascinating to watch China’s expanding number of ________ from the 1970s onward.”

Wood wrote several books related to China, including on Qin Shi Huang, the first ________ of the Qin Dynasty, Marco Polo and the Silk Road. Last month, Wood received a gold ________ from the 16th Special Book Award of China in Beijing for her contributions to ________ Chinese culture.

Wood’s ________ for Chinese culture is reflected in her daily life. The front yard of her house is full of bamboo, and her bookshelf is ________ with Chinese and English books related to China. She keeps numerous gifts given to her by Chinese friends, such as small Peking Opera masks, inkstones, Chinese calligraphy works and paintings.

Referring to her recent role as a ________ in the “Chinese Bridge” language contest held in London for British university students, she says she was ________ by their great enthusiasm in learning Mandarin.