1 . Christmastime is generally thought of as joyful. But 40 years ago, it was a ______ time for my wife, Geri, and me. Both of us were about to lose our ______. I was an educator and Geri was a psychologist. To make matters ______, we had loans (贷款) on two houses-at a time when interest rates hovered (徘徊) at 16%. We wanted to ______ one of our houses, but the sale ______ at the last minute.

A place to call ______ looked extremely hopeless for us. Yet we ______ to celebrate Christmas in our new house before we faced the terrible ______ of becoming homeless. So we did something crazy: We ______ a Christmas tree.

It was an artificial tree—the ______ we could find at the local store. I ______ we spent just $11 or $12 on it. It looked ______ with nothing on it, which is only what you would expect from such an inexpensive ______. But it didn’t look half bad when it was fully ______.

Perhaps it gave us good ______. Our job situation turned around, making it ______ for us to keep our new house after all. We ______ put up the tree every year. Friends have advised us to ______ it. But our daughters, who know its ______, insist that we keep it.

Today, the tree is a reminder of our ______ beginnings in our present home-the same one where it first stood up 40 years ago.

2 . Many years ago, I bought a house in the Garfagnana, where we still go every summer. The first time we ______ there, we heard the chug chug-chug of a motorbike ______ its way down the hill toward us. It was ______ called Mario, coming to ______ us a box containing some tomatoes and a bottle of wine. It was a very nice ______ for him to make. But when we looked at the tomatoes, we were ______ because they were so misshapen: not at all like the nice, round, ______ things you get in a supermarket. And the wine was cloudy, in a funny old bottle with no label (标签) on it. These can’t be any ______, we thought. But we were ______ his kindness, so we ______ them.

What we discovered is that it’s ______ to judge what you eat only by its ______. Those tomatoes had ______ that reminded me of the ones my uncle used to grow when I was a child. Nowadays supermarket tomatoes ______ perfect but taste of water. Nobody’s going to have a ______ memory of those. It’s a surprise they haven’t managed to grow square ones so that they can ______ them easily. Mario’s wine may have been cloudy and come out of an old bottle, but it was ______.

It’s good to eat things at the correct time, when they’re ______, and as close as possible to where they were ______. What Mario had ______ us was the taste of the Garfagnana.

3 . To become the Olympic champion in the individual (个人) all-around event, Gabby Douglas had to leave everything she _________ best. She had to _______   her bedroom in Virginia. She had to say _________ to her two dogs and to the beach, where she loved to _________ waves on her board. But it was _________ to take the leap (飞跃), however _________ it would be. Even at 14, Douglas knew that. So she _________ about 1,200 miles away from home, to _________ with a coach from China. She lived with a family she had never _________ and everything was new to her.

As it turned out, Douglas did __________ what she needed to do to become Olympic champion when she __________two Russians. The Chinese coach __________ Douglas into one of the best gymnasts in the __________, helping her skyrocket from an __________ member of the national team to the top of the sport. By __________ the Olympic all-around title, she became the first black woman to do so. She __________ the competition from beginning to end. She said she had felt __________ all along that she would win.

Not so long ago, Martha Karolyl the coordinator (联络人) of the women’s national team, did not think Douglas had what it __________ to be an Olympian. As time went by, she thought __________ that she could make the London Games — and win.

“I’m going to inspire so many people,” she said. “I’m ready to __________.” And shine she did.

4 . It was a cold, sunny December day when I set out for a run in Moab, Utah, with my dog, Taz.

About an hour into my ________ along a remote canyon (峡谷) trail, I hit a patch of black ice (透明薄冰) and then ________ 60 feet into the canyon. I wasn’t paralyzed, but I was in great ________. Taz had managed to ________ his way back to me, so there must be a way out of the canyon, but I couldn’t ________ or even crawl.

I shouted for help and was intent on ________ myself to the bottom of the canyon. Every inch was an effort. It ________ me five hours to go a quarter of a mile. ________, it got so dark that I had to stay where I was for the night, next to a puddle (水坑) of water. At night the temperature dropped below ________. Taz stayed with me, ________ some warmth.The next morning, I couldn’t move at all. I tried to stay ________. The second night in the canyon seemed even ________ and colder. The puddle turned to ice, and I had to ________ it to get water.

On the third day, I felt myself growing weaker. I was coming to terms with the fact that I might ________. In a last ________ , I called Taz over and told him to go and get help. Taz took off through the canyon and I lay there thinking about my family and friends. There was more that I wanted from life.

Taz returned, ________ . Then I heard an engine in the distance. I cried with joy. It ________ that Taz had found a search and ________ team. I was airlifted to the hospital, where doctors found I had lost almost half the ________ in my body. If the rescue team had arrived later, I wouldn’t have ________ it. I was grateful to my faithful friend -Taz.

5 . The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest wonders of the world. With a ________of more than 2, 000 years, some parts of the Great Wall have disappeared. ________, it is still a very popular place of interest.

It is the ________wall ever built. It is about 8 meters high. The top is 8 meters wide and it ________even wider at the bottom. It is made ________stone and brick. People built it by ________and it took a long time to finish.

No one knows ________when the building of the Great Wall was started. It is believed that the wall was built to ________parts of the country in the old days. It also made people live a (n) ________life.

Today, many of the visitors go to see the Great Wall. ________they stand on top of a tower and look down on this wall, they can’t help saying, “Wow, that’s fantastic!”

6 . Like many military wives, I had to stand the long separations until my husband retired. Though I supported his chosen career, I _________ every moment away from him.

To _________ our separations, I wrote letters every day. I made up dozens of small _________ for him which I secretly put into his bag, so that he could_________ them when he was out to sea. To this day those notes are still _________ to us.

_________ in 1996 my husband retired from the Navy. But the only job _________for my husband was six-and-a-half hours away in Norfolk, Virginia.

We spent eight months_________. That was our hardest separation, perhaps because we had _________ planned to be apart again. He__________ to apply for jobs in the area where we hoped to live. We expected we would soon be able to be __________ again.

One day Louie called me with the good __________. He found a job in southwest Virginia. We were excited ! There was only one small__________. Louie would have to live in a camper(露营车),__________ our daughters and I lived in a little house an-hour-and-a-half away. My daughters were __________enough to take care of themselves, so I left them and stayed with Louie.

Louie and I spent a __________ three-and-a-half weeks together. One morning after he left for work, I sat __________ in the camper trying to remember any possession that was as priceless as the __________we stayed together. I couldn’t __________a single thing. Then all of us moved into that camper and lived there for a year. It was pure joy! I’ve learned in that year that the greatest __________ I have is the time I ’ve spent with the ones I love.

7 . A year after high school, I didn't know what to do. I was still one of those_______teenagers with no real timetable for the day. Then I _______to find Brief History of Time from a street vendor (小贩；摊贩). When I finished _______, for the first time I had a _______to spend my life on.

Years later, I was doing_______ in the Institute of Theoretical Physics where Stephen Hawking _______as the Research Director. One day at lunchtime, Prof. Hawking_______ and joined in on my table. I had imagined_______ him! Now he was sitting _______before me! I couldn’t help but________— reading his book, getting laughed at by friends, convincing my family that I wanted to “study black holes”... I gathered some________and told him that I joined physics because of his ________ and he was such an inspiration. At first, I wasn’t sure if he understood my thick accent. So I quietly continued my ________. But minutes later________a voice from his computer: “Thank You! I am very glad to see you here.”

It was only then that I________that during the pause he was writing, one letter at a time, while being spoon-fed. It’s how he had been doing unimaginable research almost his entire________. His ability to use his brain in such an incredible way despite a ________body has always inspired me not to be________by difficulties and to concentrate energy on things other than pains of life.

My work keeps me going: it’s my passion, it’s my life and it’s a great pleasure and motivation, which________me to contribute to society. My lifespan (寿命) might be________, but my achievements could be endless. I owe all this to him.

8 . On July 20, Yu Yifei, a 26-year-old medical intern (实习生) at People's Hospital of Zhengzhou, made his way home in a subway train on Line 5 after his first day's training. When downpours struck the city, he ________ about a dozen people trapped in a flooded subway train as the rainfall in Zhengzhou reached a ________ of 201.9 millimeters between 4 pm and 5 pm.

Floodwaters ________ a barrier and entered the underground area. The train came to a sudden stop before the water began ________ in the carriages, trapping passengers inside. Thus Yu, ________ to leave and fearing for his life, made a ________ call to his father.

As water continued to flow into the carriages, passengers’ ________ rose. When subway workers arrived to withdraw them, Yu ________ to get out. As he made his way to safety, he heard a cry for help from someone needing a doctor. He quickly ________ the white medical coat given to him at the hospital ________ and returned to the platform to save him. On seeing him, a number of frightened people were greatly encouraged and their spirits ________. Some even applauded him.

As more passengers were pulled from the ________, Yu instructed others in the key steps to save a victim from drowning. He ________ CPR, or first aid, to those in low-temperature shock from the cold water and near death from drowning. One of the passengers, a female doctor, nearly died. After ________ consciousness and strength, she joined Yu in treating others. Yu was ________ and needed all his concentration to perform another CPR procedure.

That night on a subway station platform, he ________ an exhausting six hours giving CPR to passengers who ________ survived drowning. He also treated the injured. He ________ the subway station at about midnight, with the white coat spotted with blood and ________. Three hours later, he met his father. With tears in eyes, his father and people ________ smiled and gave him the thumbs-up.

9 . We live in a fast-paced and anxiety-filled world that often times seems to shift beneath our feet. Thus, we are sometimes affected by_______or anxiety impacting our life. For as long as I could remember I had_______with anxiety.

After graduating from university, I made friends with the Moroccan woman at work. One day, she invited me to visit her and her family back home. I wanted to; _______ , for a girl who had never been out of the UK alone in the past 23 years, it meant that I would have to travel in a very _______area by myself for the first time in my life. Could I really make it?

Then one day it _______ to me that I had a life to live. Indeed, I could choose to give in to these awful concerns. There was always a sense of fear overwhelming from the bottom of my heart and still to that moment _______I made up my mind to go to Morocco and feel something totally _______.

I remember how good it felt the minute I set foot in Morocco.

_______ arrival, my friend’s family arranged a(n) _______ welcome party and everyone was so loving toward me. Such a moment of love felt in a distant rural village ________ me that I was “good enough” or I deserved to be treated like a star, which ________ helped to relieve my anxiety.

It was after I woke up the next day, in the morning light, that I was ________by how underdeveloped the area was—and the realization that these people had very few ________. Electronic items like smart phones, computer games are nearly ________to be found.

In the days afterwards, under the guidance of my friend, I traveled around Morocco, ________ the rivers, mountains and the amazing food(most of them were new to me). It seemed that I had never felt so ________ to nature as well as the people around me before.

At the end of my stay, something ________ me changed. From dawn to dusk, I was immersed in a sense of delight ________ depression for nearly two weeks.

That trip helped me to find out what really ________ in life. And with that, all my worries disappeared. When I returned home I was much more active in challenging my anxiety. More importantly, helping others ________ their anxiety is how I can share the love I found in Morocco.

10 . Lucy and Matts mum is a doctor. The children and their dad were ______ last Monday evening.

Mum ______ and said, “I ______ do some more work here at the hospital. Ask Dad ______ your dinner.”

“Oh no!” said Matt, “Dad ______ cook!”

The family ______ some food in the kitchen cupboards. They found some onion, potatoes and ______.

“What can we make with these?” asked Matt. “I’m very ______! I think I could eat a horse!” Then Lucy said, “I know! We can make ______.” Matt was not happy. He said “I don’t like soup. I want pasta and meatballs!” “Sorry, Matt,” Dad said. “We haven’t got any pasta or meatballs. We ______ have these vegetables to eat for dinner.”

Lucy and Dad made the soup. Then the ______ of them sat down and started eating. Lucy asked Matt, “So, ______ do you think?” “It’s fantastic! I ______ it!” Matt answered.

“Can I have ______ bowl of soup, please?” ______they all laughed. What an able cook Dad is!