1 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

2 . My memories of those nights I spent with my great-grandmother are still vivid. I_________ them all, because I have_________ else to remind me of her. While my friends_________ display treasures left to them by their grandmothers — precious china, antique silver, jewelry — all that I have of her is a scarf I’d made her.

My great-grandmother didn’t have a china-and-jewelry kind of _________. While we were under the _________, she told me many _________ stories. I felt the pain a mother feels when her only son is _________ missing after a battle. I felt the _________ a wife feels as throat cancer robs her beloved _________ of speech and ultimately of life. I felt the__________ of the Depression (大萧条), what it was like to lose your home and to __________ produce that had gone bad. My great-grandmother never cried when she __________ her past, and afterward, she always said, ” Oh, kid, it’s a great life if you don’t __________.”

A few years ago, my life took a __________ turn, and curiously, I found my great-grandmother and her stories frequently occupying my __________. I realized then that __________ she had not left me any precious objects, she had left me a treasury of stories and a wealth of__________. By turning her soul inside out to me during those nights in bed, she’d given me the greatest gift — her __________, her courage to face life head-on. Her legacy (遗赠) gave me the __________ I’d lacked. If she could survive the __________ of her life, then I knew I could, too.

3 . With smiling eyes, quick minds and good humor, Jia Ling seems like a natural crosstalk performer (相声演员).

Jia Ling was born _______ April 29th, 1982 in the city of Xiangyang, Hubei Province. Having studied acting _______ she was 11, Jia Ling entered the nation’s top drama college — The Central Academy of Drama at the age of 19, but she _______ to learn crosstalk there.

Jia Ling is not an overnight success. After graduation in 2003, she was living in a basement (地下室) that was just eight square _______ and without a bathroom. However, Feng Gong, who is one of the top crosstalk performers in China, opened the _______ to her success. He provided her with chances to perform. Jia Ling seized (抓住) the chances and worked hard to improve her skills.

As an excellent performer, the young lady first _______ the Spring Festival Gala in 2010. With her unique style and great sense of humor, Jia Ling _______ by many people. Since her crosstalk is unique, fashionable and attractive, she becomes _______. Besides _________ as a crosstalk performer, Jia Ling is also a talented actress. She has ______________ acted in several TV series. “My acting experience has given my crosstalk more ideas and creativity,” Jia Ling ______________.

Now, Jia Ling has become one of the top crosstalk performers in China. She is trying hard so that crosstalk can ____________ to more people. She has set up her own club called New Laughter Inn. There people can enjoy traditional or ____________ crosstalk performances. She hopes it can influence her generation and even the next generation and ____________ more and more people love crosstalk.

Jia Ling ____________ being a crosstalk performer and she says she is confident about the future of crosstalk because people will always want to laugh.

4 . Back in 2007, Uruguay had a serious problem with no obvious answer: The economy was growing very fast, but there wasn’t enough energy to power the rapid _________.

Then Ramón Méndez Galain, a physicist, started _________ different potential paths for Uruguay’s energy future. Finally, he wrote a plan that Uruguay could almost entirely _________ renewable energy. There would be less _________ and it would be the most economical choice Uruguay could make in the long run.

Méndez Galain’s plan was built around two simple _________ about his country. First, while there wasn’t a domestic (国内的) supply of coal or oil, there was a great deal of _________. Second, that wind blew over a country that was known for _________ grassland. His plan for Uruguay’s energy future was to _________ the empty grassland into hundreds of wind farms.

To solve the problem of how to pay for all those wind farms, Méndez Galain came up with a variation on a(n) _________ used by some electric plants in neighboring Brazil, in which state owned power plants handled energy generation, while __________ companies were in charge of power distribution and customer service. Méndez Galain’s plan changed the relationship to the __________, so that private companies would be in charge of setting up and __________ the wind farms, while the state-owned power companies would distribute that energy to its customers.

The strategy worked __________ well. Just within a few years, Méndez Galain had __________ what he had set out to do: 98% of Uruguay’s __________ comes from renewable sources.

5 . People often feel upset because airline companies always lose their suitcases when they fly. It has never happened to me. But something even worse happened to my family recently.

About ten years ago my mum got a job _________ at a university in Thailand. At first she only went for six months. Later because she really liked it, she agreed to stay _________, so my father and I went to live with her in Thailand. We had a great time, but last year my _________ decided that they wanted to return to the UK. We had been there so long. So we wanted _________ a lot of things back with us-all the furniture from our house, in fact. So Mum and Dad went to a shipping company. Workers in the company took everything back in one of those big containers that you see on ships. The container looks like a big green metal box. The _________ put everything into it: the armchairs and sofas, the TV, wardrobes, desks, even all the rugs and curtains. Our whole house was inside that big green metal box.

We flew back to the UK and _________ for the container to arrive. About ten weeks later, we were having _________ one morning when a big lorry arrived outside our house. On the back was a big green metal box. We were so _________. The men _________ the box and started to take out our things. But they weren’t our things. The container was full of gym equipment. It was the __________ one. We were so sad. But the story has a happy ending. The men took the container and gym equipment away, and about two months ago our things finally arrived

6 . Candace Nicoleau is no stranger to overcoming struggle. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she saw it as a barrier to _________.

In 2017, Nicoleau was six months pregnant (怀孕) when she felt _________. So she went for a(n) _________, where doctors discovered a tumor(肿瘤). “She needed surgery immediately because the cancer _________ too far. After the surgery, her follow-up treatment was complicated, for she had the second child _________. “During that time, she was still working toward a master’s degree in _________,” her husband, Marc said.

A few months later, her baby was born. But doctors gave a(n) _________ of 9 months for her to live. “I’ve always been _________, ‘If I’m going to die, I’m going to do everything I want to do,” Nicoleau said. The realization of her death gave her a sense of _________ and purpose, and Nicoleau __________ to finish school and open her own practice as soon as possible. “Her __________ are so high, and it’s almost a blessing that we can __________ forget that she has cancer,” Marc said.

In 2019, Nicoleau earned her master’s degree in nursing and she also developed the idea for a(n) __________. Through her efforts, Nicoleau became the owner of Be Totally Well, a health center in East Meadow.

Her faith and her family’s support have helped her make it to __________ the tough times. “I wanted to set a(n) __________ for my kids, so one day they can say, ‘Mommy did everything __________,’ and __________ them to do better for themselves,” Nicoleau said.

Nicoleau, a woman who realizes her dreams despite __________ diagnosis, is an inspiring reminder of the __________everyday women make as mothers, business __________ and much more.

7 . One summer evening, after a shopping trip back home with my six kids, I suddenly realized 6-year-old Lesley was not around. When the desperate search ended____, I rushed into the driveway. Through the glass of our green car, I saw my ____girl. The moment I ______ open the door, she plunged (猛冲) into me, her arms wrapped so tightly around my ______ that I was hard to breathe, her little heart beating ______ against my chest.

“I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know you were in there. I love you.” I ______, “I’m sorry.”

I ____ her inside. Seating her on my lap, I kissed her face and whispering my______ again and again. She sighed and finally ______, but I couldn’t that night, filled with shame and horror.

Every summer brings headlines of 38 horrible ______ of kids left in the locked____ cars. Although I narrowly ______ it by luck, I didn’t talk to my daughter about the ______ for seven long years. It seemed too much to bear. I ______ decided to bring it up one day.   “Yeah, actually, I do ______,” the middle school girl said quietly. “I stayed longer playing, but when I was ready to get out, I couldn’t ______ the door. I was scared you weren’t coming back.”

I asked her what she remembered the most. “You apologized,” she said. “I felt____, a lot. You’re a ______ mother.” she said calmly, grabbing my hands. Her words ______ me from the lasting burden.

Good parents make terrible mistakes sometimes. I’m _______ to live in a universe where love and forgiveness live stronger.

8 . As my dad got a new job in southern Florida, we moved here from our old home, school, friends and everything. There were so many_______for me. In a new school full of strangers, could I make friends? Would I _________? My mind was filled with_______.

Being shy and quiet, I read a lot. Loving books and reading helped me get excellent results. Teachers _______me for that. But other kids disliked me getting top_______and answering questions in class. I felt like a ( n ) _______.

Then one day, a tall strong boy in English class walked right over to me. He_______himself. He said he was on the school basketball team. I _______that - he was the star player!

“ Hey,” he said.“ Do you think you could _______ me? You do really well in English class.” I could, and________I would. From that moment on, life at school________. Basketball players walked me to classes and ________ me in hallways. As the team tutor (导师), I fit in. Nobody ________me anymore. I was thankful to be________enough to help the team.

I taught the guys about grammar. They taught me how to dribble (运球) a basketball. More importantly, they gave me the________to be myself - and to be a short girl who really knew how to dribble a basketball!

9 . Last year in early summer, I was walking to my house when I saw two large birds standing in my yard. They didn’t seem to _______ me until I was right in front of them and then they _______ disappeared into the nearby bushes. I was quite excited by the _______ of two special birds making a nest (巢) in my yard．

A few weeks later, the birds _______. I found them crouching (蹲伏) beside a tree. As I approached them, they _______ their heads and made a croaking (嘶哑地叫) sound. I didn’t know why they were croaking at me until a short time later I made an amazing _______: there were two small birds _______ around happily.

As I inched towards the birds, _______ not to make sudden movements, they started their croaking again, putting their necks forward so they seemed _______ and more threatening.

The mother put the baby birds under her wings and carefully crouched down over them so her babies were well ________.

I was watching them with respect when I suddenly ________ and fell to the ground. The mother took this as a/an ________ and the father raced towards me, ________ his wings to protect the mother and the baby birds.

I felt sorry to have disturbed them and left quickly. I am amazed by their ________ actions. Their parental love made them so courageous. It is hard not to show ________ for nature.

10 . I’m not a climate scientist. I don’t know much about ________. I just really like them. Whenever I’m outside or near a window, my eyes are drawn to their ever-changing shapes. I love the ________ forms they take. There were times I sat on a beach and found myself unable to ________whether I was looking at the water, sand or clouds.

I’ve been ________ to clouds since I was a child. I loved to ________ them as animals in the sky. I loved getting lost in ________, starring at them out the windows during a(n) ________ class at school or on a long road trip.

There were moments when I realized how much clouds ________ my experience of the world. A sky of bright white clouds would make me feel joyful and ________ while a sky covered with ________ clouds can make the same things appear ________.

Watching clouds is a solitary (独处的) activity for me, even when I’m ________ by people. If you have a drink or a meal with me in an outdoor café, my eyes will ________ turn to the sky. I might frequently point out an interesting shape. Mostly, I just ________ enjoy them. Like a piece of art, a vase of flowers, or a passer-by in an amazing dress, clouds are one of those ________ things to be noticed and ________ when I’m alone.

Clouds can also ________ me away from the dull parts of life, and away from day-to-day stresses and ________. They get me out of my head and into a(n) ________ land where I can imagine the constraints (束缚) will not be ________ to everyday life.