2 . In 2020, Nancy Ballard, a 60-year-old retired entrepreneur, went for a routine checkup at her doctor’s office that turned into something extraordinary. In fact, she was carrying a painting of a plant she’d done when she arrived there. “It would be great if we had _________ like that for our chemotherapy rooms (化疗室),” the nurse said. Ballard asked to see one.

She was shocked by _________ she found. The walls were grey and bare, and the paint was chipping. “_________, the patients here have nothing to look at while taking chemo drips,” she said, “I couldn’t imagine how anyone could even get healthy in such _________rooms like that.” She made it her mission to _________ the place.

She started by e-mailing 20 local interior _________. She wrote, “You don’t know me. But my heart _________ after seeing these rooms.” She then asked whether they would _________ their time and money to transform just one of chemotherapy rooms each.

Six of them leapt into _________ action and each designer chose a theme: The dragonfly room, for example, __________ bright artworks and dragonfly wall ornaments. Most rooms got new __________, lights, artworks, and furniture. When the transformation was done __________, Dr. Hufford was delighted. “All the patients feel __________ by it,” he said. He even noted that his own tone of voice was __________ in the rooms and that he was better able to connect with his patients. Ballard was so encouraged by the patients’ reactions, but when praised, she said, “What I did paled __________ the patients’ courage to fight cancer”.

3 . Even though I’ve lived in Walnut Creek for four years, I don’t know many of my neighbours. Now, during the mask-wearing, stay-inside weeks of the pandemic (大流行病), it would be great to have a socially-distanced _______with a neighbour, but how would I _______ meet any of them? Anyway, at least I had my cat Junior for _______.

Last week, Junior ______ through the open window while I was cleaning the windowsill (窗台) but I didn’t think too much of it, ______ he is sometimes gone for an hour or two before he ______ the window to let him back in. But this time, it had been almost a whole day and Junior hadn’t come back. That never ______. I kept worrying he might ______ to death. I cooked and ______ a chicken breast and put it on the windowsill. Junior would never be able to ______ a special treat like that.

But when he returned with more than 25 hours gone, he ______ over the plate of chicken, ______ it completely. The next morning the chicken still sat on the plate, ______. Oh no, was he sick? I was ______ when there was a knock at my door. I opened it to see a familiar-looking woman, ______ and standing six feet back. “I’m from Apartment 4334,” she said. “Your cat was outside meowing and I thought you might be too ______ to feed him, so I chopped up some fish sticks and he ______ them down. I just came by to see if you need anything.” I thanked her for her ______.

How wonderful it was to meet such a neighbour, because she was kind enough to think about us. Nevertheless, I’m going to keep Junior on lockdown. I can’t have him getting ______ because of my generous and ______ neighbour!

5 . “I couldn’t move. I’ll have to wait here until you return.” I said to my friends. Both my feet ached so much and my______gave out under me. But at the last moment I______ with great strength and walked on with my friends till we climbed over the peak. This was what I had experienced 12 years before ________ I was climbing the Kirraki Mountain，and this______cheered me up. Compared to the journey to the Kirraki Mountain, climbing up the Wongsung Mountain seemed much easier. The only_____ was the snow.

On the 27th of January 2008, I went out alone, with the purpose of_____ the Wong sung Mountain. On my way I saw children playing merrily on the road, making snowmen and driving toy wooden trucks on the snow. Soon I ________ myself at the foot of the mountain. Looking up at the snow­covered giant mountain and seeing the steep slippery (滑) road with thick ice and snow, I suddenly felt a little_____, but the_____ of the footprints in the snow made me feel_____ that the top of the mountain was accessible. “You are not alone!” I tried to encourage myself._____ by a stick, I began moving forward slowly. In several places the road was so steep and slippery that I was on all fours and I almost____halfway. It was about 50 minutes before I got to the edge of of the mountain. But for the icy road, it would have been _______easy reach.

Seeing the white­covered pine trees, I couldn’t help entering the_______ In spite of the heavy_____, many trees were still standing straight, but some were bent down with snow and ice, some even fell and broke. Walking on the path in the forest, I could see no more footprints. Suddenly I sensed that it was_____ to walk in the woods in such dirty weather. In my childhood, I had witnessed thousands of trees, big or small, falling down one after another in a flash. ____that the falling of dominoes(多米诺骨牌) might happen, I hurried ____.

Now I’m sitting beside a warm stove, writing about my trip while my memory is still ____. This experience, though tiring and scary, is recognized as one of the most exciting moments in my life,_____ that I’ll value forever. It has again told me that nothing is impossible for a willing heart.

6 . We are surrounded   by stories of sadness, cruelty and violence. Evil arrests our   __ . But there are also many____stories of selfless goodness. They could___ go unnoticed, but such acts can also change lives forever.

My brothers and I __ with a story of something that happened to my father,   who___ seven years ago. It is a story of family tragedy and astonishing, quiet   kindness. My father’s father died when my father was 11. His mother was a widow at 34, and as an only child, he___ much of his grief alone. In   accordance   with   traditional___ , he began to walk very early to church each morning to say prayers in his father’s___ .

At the end of his first week, he___ that the ritual director of the synagogue, Mr. Einstein, walked past his home just as he left to walk to church . Mr. Einstein, ___ advanced in years explained, “Your home is on the way to the church. I thought it might be fun to have some___ . That way, I don’t have to walk alone.”For a year my father and Mr. Einstein walked through the New England __ , the   humidity of summer and the snow of winter. They talked about life and loss and, for a while, my father was not so___ .

After my parents married and my oldest brother was born, my father___ Mr. Einstein, now well into his 90s, and asked if Mr. Einstein could meet his new wife and child. Mr. Einstein___ , but said that in view of his age my father would have to come to him.

My father once wrote about what happened: “The journey was long and___ . His home, by car, was ______   twenty minutes away. I drove in tears as I   ______   what he     had done. He had walked for an hour to my home so that I would not have to be alone each morning. … By the simplest of gestures, the___ of caring, he took a frightened child and he___ him with confidence and with faith back into life.”

7 . Scott loved his basketball team and always played hard for it. Last year, they had won the state finals. This year, they were finding things much ___________. Three _________ were left before the finals and Scott's team needed to _______ them all to go to the finals. They made two but near the _______ of the third game, they were behind by six points. Scott had also hurt his_______ when he fell on the court.

''Are you okay to _______?'' asked his coach. Scott looked at the injury on his knee.

''I'll be _______,'' he said.

Scott knew the _________ of his decision. He could hurt his knee even more. Or he could ___________ not to play.   He knew that not playing might cause his team to________. As he rested before the final quarter, he decided to play through the pain. He________ that he was going to win this game for the team he________.

As the quarter began, he caught the ball after the other __________ made a mistake. He bounced the ball down the court and threw the ball into the basket. Scott ________ towards his coach. They were only four points behind now. Scott kept playing __________ during the final quarter. He __________ scored a three-point shot from the center of the court. With just two________ left, Scott's team was still one point behind. Scott was passed the ball by his teammate. He ____________ the pain in his knee and ran forward. He ____________ towards the end of the court. His feet left the ground. He sent his shot into the basket and earned his side two points. The final whistle (哨音) blew seconds after. Scott's________ decision had helped his team reach the finals.

8 . When I was eight, I wanted a toy and needed $10 to buy it. But, as usual, I was broken. I decided to ask my 11-year-old sister, Kathleen, for a loan. I went to her room, _______ her for the cash. Laughing, she agreed to lend me the money, but _______, “I will charge you 10 percent compound interest every _______ until you pay me back.”

“Compound interest-what’s that?” I asked.

“Well, interest is what you call the _______ money borrowers have to pay back on a loan,” she explained. “Compound interest means that the interest payments get bigger and bigger the _______ it takes you to pay back the loan. To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month. If you wait two months to pay me back, your _______ will grow from $10 to $11. So I’ll be charging you interest on $11. Then I will add that interest to the $11 you already owe me, for a _______ of $12.10. That’s what you’ll owe after two months. “

“Sure. I get it,” I said. Though truthfully, I was getting _______.

Kathleen lent me the money, and I bought the toy. My birthday came a month later, and my mom gave me $10. _______, that was just the amount I needed to buy another toy I wanted ________. I ________ paying my sister for a month. After another month, I forgot about the loan.

Several months later, on Christmas morning, my sister and I each found a $20 bill in our stockings. I was just putting it into my pocket ________ Kathleen tapped me on the shoulder.

“Sorry, kiddo. That’s mine. I’m ________ your debt.”

“Huh?” Then I ________ the loan. “Hey! How can it be that much? I only borrowed $10.”

“True,” she said, “but interest has been compounding for eight months. Now you owe me $21.43.” She paused, and then, smiling triumphantly, said, “You can pay me the $1.43.”

I ________ to believe that a $10 loan could more than double so quickly. Much to my ________, my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all ________.

My head ________ as I tried to keep track of Kathleen’s calculations, but this time, I got the basic ________of compound interest. I learned from this ________experience that borrowing money could be “double trouble” in no time.

9 . Three years ago, I was working as a lawyer. For a year or longer, my work was beginning to suffer. I ____ got to the point where I couldn’t concentrate --- one of the early signs that something was _____. I kept forgetting things. Legal work is complicated, and you have to have a good ____ to do that work. So I ____ my job. I talked to my doctor about my family’s ____ of Alzheimer's; my father and grandfather had it. Then I was asked to do some tests. It ____ that I have early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Needless to say, my life has ____. My husband Dan retired soon after my diagnosis (诊断) ____ we spend a lot of time together. ____ going to work, I used to spend my days having lunch with my friends and _____ my mother. I could drive up to see her before I started getting ____. The situation wasn’t _____, but I’d had to turn around enough times that it frightened me. Now I ____ drive out of town. I stay in town.

I am an independent person, but now I have to ____ some of that independence. My husband and I mostly do the shopping together because I ____ the list.

Dan and I are enjoying life while we can. Some people are saving money for trips years down the road. We’re not _____, we take a trip every year.

The one thing I wish I could change is people’s ____ when I tell them I have Alzheimer’s. They shut down. I can still ____; it’s not like suddenly I can’t remember anything. This happened with my father. He was very ____, and he had lots of friends. When his friends learned he got Alzheimer’s, they wouldn’t come to visit him. I think people should learn more about Alzheimer’s and ____ that people with the disease can still socialize.

10 . When my wife, Jane, and I were 16, we were in the same class. About a week before Thanksgiving Day, we found out that our teacher Edward was having some ___challenges. We wanted to do something to help, so as a class we ___to gather food, clothing and gifts to ___his family had a good Thanksgiving Day.

When Jane told her family about our plan, her mother was ___. Together they searched their house for things they could ___. Her mother went to the kitchen, ___ a big turkey and saying, “Thanksgiving Day won’t be ___without a turkey dinner.” To this day, Jane remembers how moved she was by her mother’s ___.

Before making our ____, we said a prayer of appreciation for the wonderful ___ to help others. I will never forget the surprised ___ of our teacher and his wife when they ____ the door; their four children gathered around them as we handed out the gifts. It was a cold night; we all felt warm inside, ___.

Last month while I was in a meeting, my secretary informed me, “Your high school teacher Mr. Edward is wondering if you could ___ him a few minutes. He’s sitting in your office right now!”

I left my meeting and went to my office ___. My teacher and I hugged and began to ___ the last 42 years. He told me he ___ remembered that cold winter night when we brought the ___of Thanksgiving Day to his family. The food and gifts were certainly appreciated, ___what warmed his heart that night was to see a group of teenagers who understood the ___of Thanksgiving Day.