1 . A stand-up comedian is, supposed to be, a fluent communicator who is also good at using body language to _________ jokes.

However, for 27-year-old comedian Zhang Jiaxin, it takes a great effort to _________ pronounce the sounds of each character and sentence and be _________ on the stage. At birth, the oxygen _________ to his brain was curtailed (限制，削减), which _________ later problems with speaking and walking. The other long-term impairment is the loss of full use of his right hand.

It was two years ago when Zhang first performed stand-up comed yon the stage. At the time, he worked for the new media operation department of a company _________ in Xiamen, Fujian province, and had to prepare for a performance at the company’s year-end party.

He didn’t know much about stand-up performance. _________, as someone who likes to watch and be amused by entertainment shows from a very young age, he decided to give a humorous monologue at the party to amuse and _________ his colleagues.

It opened Zhang’s door to a colorful world of stand-up comedy.

He started to pay attention to the stand-up comedy live shows in Xiamen and got the _________ of a woman who worked at a local stand-up club.

“She sent me some videos of Drew Lynch (an American stand-up comic who developed a(an)__________ stutter (结巴) due to a sports injury earlier in his life) and told me that my defects are what make my appeal special,” he says. “That __________ me to have a go.”

After he read through a manual for writing and performing stand-up comedy, he started to __________his daily life to identify humorous __________ that could be used as jumping-off points to launch into stories.

Once he walked onto the stage, the audience __________ noticed his differences.

“__________, they were kind of walking on eggshells to spare my feelings. As I gradually opened myself to them, the atmosphere turned to be relaxing,” he says.

Wows and claps resounded. His jokes went down well as he worked the room with his humor.

2 . I was in the ninth grade, when I began to suffer from depression. I didn’t have many friends. I could never _________ my problems. Soon I _________ to attend classes for days. I became _________ and angry. I would even _________ myself in my room for hours. The exams were approaching, but I simply didn’t care. My parents and teachers were astonished at my bad _________. Constant quarrels made life at home a living hell—all because of me.

One morning, after a hard _________ from Dad, I stood blankly at the school gate. As the other students _________ to their classrooms, our English teacher found me. _________ what I’d done, she led me to her office.

The next 45 minutes was the most _________ moment of my life. She said she had noticed a big __________ in me. She wanted to know why I was so often absent and unhappy. She took my hand in hers and listened __________ as I spilled out my worries. She then __________ me as I sobbed my closed emotions out. I could feel my months of frustration and __________ melting away.

No one had tried to understand what the real problem was, but my teacher had done it with her simple act of just listening to me with such __________ and caring.

She __________ to be my best friend. From then on, I often went to her office and we discussed my problems, hobbies and __________ on my mind. I __________ school every day. 

As the exams __________ again, I studied hard. When the __________ were declared, everybody was pleased. But the happiest of all was my English teacher. With tears of __________, she presented me with a pen. Today I have become a happy writer, thanks to her.

3 . It was the last day before Christmas, and the salesgirls in the large______had their hands full serving eager Christmas shoppers. At one counter(柜台) an old lady was ______red gloves for her daughter, light blue ones for her niece, pink ones for her granddaughter, green ones for her sister and by the time she had______what she wanted, the counter was covered with pairs of different ______ and sizes.

______the old lady had______ the bill, the salesgirl was about to turn to the next customer with a______but kind voice. “Thank you very much, madam.”

Suddenly the old lady ______, “Oh, I almost forgot...”.

“______else, madam?”said the girl.

“Yes,” began the old lady, “I’d like to buy______pair, but I’ m not quite sure about what exactly I should choose. I wonder ______you could help me.”

“Certainly, madam”, was the girl’s reply. The old lady then went on to ______that what she was looking for was a pair of ______for a girl of her age. She was not sure______color to choose, and the design was a problem too. The tired girl did her ______to help the old lady ______her mind, showing her all kinds of gloves.

At ______the chosen pair of gloves was wrapped up and paid for as well, and as the girl was about to turn to the next ______, the old lady ______ her a little parcel and said, “These now, dear, these are for you and thank you for being so______. I do hope you have a merry Christmas !”