1 . During the lockdown, my husband, Bob, and I were offered a pingpong table. I am a non-athlete but Bob does well in pingpong.

“What are we going to do with that pingpong table?” Bob asked me.

“The two of us will_______,” I replied.

Bob looked ______ .

I lost every game and I told myself that it didn’t _______that I always lost. I was playing for   ______   and to provide a positive experience in a difficult time. But there were days when I   ______   losing. Once I threw my paddle (球拍) across the yard angrily. Then Bob ______ I play with a handicap (让分) of 12 points. That   ______a lot--I sometimes won! I’d never been interested in any kind of sport. But pingpong became the ______of my day.

We generally played five games. I   ______   won two of them. Knowing that I could win sometimes made the ______   more painful, but I watched a video of high-level players and learned from them. I began to get _____   and won more games. My handicap   ______ to 8.

My husband and I ______the worst of the lockdowns through pingpong. It   ______ me that even a self- described bookworm can learn a new sport. The ______ was my husband’s suggestion that I play with a handicap so I’d have an equal ______ to win. He doesn’t like to lose either, but it’s more fun for him if I actually want to participate and   ______ it. It takes two willing partners to play table tennis, ______and two people with an equal chance in each other’s ______to make a marriage. Simply put, when it comes to table tennis — or any other ______   — there is no ping without a pong.

3 . My 88-year-old grandfather and I are both starting 2022 as new college graduates. He was _______ to continue school because he got married and started a _______ in the 1950s. Over the next few decades, he managed to _______his roles as a husband, a father of five, working at a local bank and taking a college class here and there.

Our higher _______ journey together at Palo Alto College began in 2016. I had just _______ from high school then and my grandfather, 82, was _______ to take classes to make his lifelong dream of earning his bachelor’s degree become a _______. In 2017, we were both _______ into the University of Texas at San Antonio.

We would have lunch together and work _______ side-by-side in the library. There were also many times when I __________ him to school in my car. That was really special because I could always __________ him and shout out my grandpa was here.

When COVID-19 broke out __________, my grandfather asked for leave from school. I often __________ him with his schoolwork online.

Over the past year, his health has continued to __________ and he now has difficulty speaking. As graduation day __________ in December, my family and I __________ university officials to approve of my grandfather having a degree of recognition. We had the __________ that he could have that memory before his death.

My grandfather was worried he would steal the show from my graduation moment when I told him we were graduating together. I told him this is our moment and that I want to __________ it with him. I’m so __________ and proud that I was able to have this moment with him.

I __________ my grandfather’s lifelong passion of learning and his strong wills.

4 . Two mayors made a bet on the outcome of the Vegetable Bowl, the annual football game between their high school teams. If Arvada's team _________, the mayor of Arvada would send the mayor of Boulder ten pounds of sliced potatoes, _________ for frying. If Boulder's team didn’t win, the mayor would _________ ten pounds of sliced _________, prepared for sandwiches or salads.

_________, before the game started, the mayor of Boulder _________ the Arvada mayor tell someone else something rude about their tomatoes. Arvada mayor said, ''They _________ the worst tomatoes. If they lose and send us their tomatoes, I'm going to give them all to my _________.'' The mayor of Boulder was _________ to hear this, because he thought Boulder's tomatoes were the __________ in the state. So he gave the __________ some thought. The following week, the big game was __________. Boulder lost its star player in the first half when he tripped over a cheerleader (拉拉队长) and __________ his big toe. The __________ star player watched the rest of the game from the bench. His team ended up __________, 38 to 12. The two mayors shook hands after the game, and the Arvada mayor said, ''I'm really looking forward to those tomatoes. '' As the Boulder team left the stadium, some __________ fans threw ripe tomatoes at them.

A week later, the mayor of Arvada received a package of __________ sliced tomatoes. He took them__________ to his pig, which gobbled (狼吞虎咽) them right up. That night the mayor of Boulder __________ his wife if Arvada's mayor had called. ''No, '' she said. ''Why? '' ''Because I __________ a pint of hot sauce (辣椒酱) into the tomatoes and I want to know how his pig's doing. ''