4 . Years ago, when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children. We thought we’d find a hotel on the way without _________ ahead of time. As it was getting late, we started looking for a hotel, only to find that all the hotels were full.

_________, around 9 pm, we stopped at a gas station to fill up on gas. My husband told the woman at the counter that we were _________ to find a hotel. She told us it would be _________ at such a late time in a busy season. Noticing that we were worried, she said we could spend the night at her home nearby.

Though surprised at her _________, we gladly accepted it. She then called her son to come and lead the way, since she had to work until midnight. Soon a pickup truck arrived and we _________ it. When we reached their home, her husband _________ us. He invited us to have coffee and we chatted when _________ his wife. She came past 12. We asked if we could leave _________ in the morning so as not to disturb them. They said we were now guests and we’d have to have breakfast with them.

Next morning, around the table were many people and we were __________ that they would welcome total __________ from a different country. After breakfast, when we were __________, my husband asked if he could offer some __________. But they said no. Then we left. We kept in __________ for many years. Later we lost contact, but over the years we have never forgotten their __________.

5 . Vinod Menon, head of the physics department at the City College of New York, was going through his office mail. He opened a package, only to find it contained $180.000. Piles of $50 and $100 notes _________ in paper bands, a letter, and a return address that in the package _________   to “Head of the Physics Department”.

“I’ve never seen so much cash in my dreams. _________in real life,” Menon said. “That really _________ me, so I just did not know how to react.”

The sender obviously had unshakable _________ in the U.S. postal system, and desired to send the cash to _________ students looking to pursue physics and other _________. “ Supposing that you are a bit curious as to why I am doing this, the reason is very _________, ” the letter read. It continued to explain that many years before, its generous writer had _________ the excellent educational opportunity, available at City College to study physics and pursue a rewarding scientific __________.

The return address was to Kyle Paisley, a name __________ from the college’s graduation registers, at a house in Pensacola, Florida, whose owner __________ had no idea of the donation. The money was first__________, but after the two-month-long research which had found nothing linked to illegal activities, the college decided to keep the __________ . Menon stated that the gift would provide fully-funded scholarships for students who couldn’t __________ the expenses of schooling for a decade.

6 . Nixon, 59 years old, was born and grew up in St. Petersburg. Each morning, he sits on a bench, watches the sunrise, and connects with _________ from all walks of life.

Eight years ago, he decided to begin each day from a bench (a kind of chair) with an impressive view of the St. Petersburg waterfront (圣彼得堡海滨), because it made him feel calm and _________ before starting his day.

About a year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that _________ Nixon’s view on his daily visit. She said, “Every morning when I see you sitting here, I know everything is going to be OK.” That’s when Nixon _________ he needed to pay attention to the people walking past.

Instead of staring straight ahead at the waterfront, Nixon started _________ at people and talking to them. And pretty soon, some early risers began _________ him on the bench, sometimes sharing their pressure and asking him for advice about personal problems.

No matter what problem a person wants to _________, Nixon lends an ear. One day, a couple came by to talk about their problems. The husband was always working. It was destroying their _________. Nixon told him, “You have to know what’s really important.” The man admitted he’d put everything he had into his _________ for many years instead of focusing on his family. “He started to cry and agreed that he needed to __________,” Nixon says. “We hugged each other and became friends after that.”

Nixon was always happy to listen, and he listens without __________ and without any kind of return expected. “You have to listen with an open heart, because you never know who’s going to walk up,” Nixon says. He is a loving and loyal __________ to many. For those who walked past the bench, they were always __________ with a smile and asked how they were doing. No topic is off limits, but some people don’t want to talk. They simply want to sit next to someone and share the __________. Once a woman stopped and just sat with Nixon for an hour; then she said thanks and walked away. She just wanted a moment of peace and to know she wasn’t __________.

And at that moment, she truly wasn’t.

7 . When she was 16, Joanne learned that she was adopted and that her birth mother was a woman named Lillian and that she had died days after giving birth to her. Feeling betrayed (被背叛的) and confused, Joanne spent many nights crying, _________ what her birth mother had been like. And yet, some part of her believed her mother was still _________.

The doubts _________ Joanne for years. In 2017, when Joanne was already 79 years old, her daughter-in-law, Shelley, suggested her taking a DNA _________. Shelley thought learning something about her _________ family might give Joanne some _________.

So Joanne took the test, and about a year later, Shelley received a message on ancestry.com from a man named Sam, whose genetic report had _________ him with Joanne.

Shelley immediately wrote back to Sam, asking _________ he knew a Lillian. Yes, Sam said, that was his mother’s name. Almost _________, an even bigger shock came that Lillian was alive, at age 100.

The families quickly planned a(n) __________ where Lillian lived. A month later, Joanne found herself sitting across from the mother she had __________ in her whole life, looking at Lillian, who suffered from dementia (痴呆症) and used a wheelchair.

“I don’t know if she recognizes me,” Joanne said.

She told Lillian that she had been __________ in 1940 and that she’d been told her birth mother had __________. No response. Joanne started to cry. At that point, her mother __________, as if she had started to understand. Joanne excitedly continued telling Lillian all about her children and grandchildren. Lillian smiled. Then she said the words Joanne had waited more than 60 years to hear: “This is my __________.”

10 . A father and his son were travelling in a car. The son was ________ and the father sat on the seat next to him. Just then, a terrible storm broke.

The son said to the father, “Dad, the storm is very________. What should we do now?” The father answered, “You don’t________ driving the car.” A while later, the son noticed that many people were stopped by the storm and waiting for the storm to ________. The son asked his father what to________. The father said, “________ driving the car.” The son said, “Dad, I can hardly________ things. Many people have stopped their________.” The father said, “Don’t ________ these people. Just keep driving.” After some time, the son started seeing everything________. He found the________ had stopped and that the sun had come out. The father said, “Stop the car.” They found those people who stopped were________ stuck in the storm.

“If you had done the same as those people, you would be stuck in the storm too,” the father said. The________ time often comes in people’s life. If you lose your ________ during the hard time, then you will be stuck in it. If you keep going with courage, you will get through the difficult time and achieve ________ at last.