1 . Novels. Why do I read them? I was most ____ to read when I was a kid. I suspect this was because my only purpose was ____ and escapism. From all 21 Famous Five stories — in order, naturally — to Anna Karenina, ____ into a basket on a cycling holiday, I was ____ to another world. Then, for A-levels and a degree, I read to pass ____. Slowly, tellingly, the joy ____. And I was no good at the exams either. When those last exams were done, more than 30 years ago, I was done with novels. I had ____ love.

Gradually, it has come back, but it’s all ____ now. I find I’m reading whole novels mainly to ____ intelligence to help understand what I’ve been feeling; feelings that I’ve been ____ to express myself. For some reason I ____ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. The _____soon starts to fade, and all you are left with is how it made you feel. This is nice, but what makes it all worthwhile is those specific ____ that I make sure to harvest and go back to. ____, Helen says of her new life in the big city: “At first, I was ____ with the novelty and excitement of our London life, but soon I began to be tired of its ____.”

A few months later, I ____ Anne Bronte’s resting place in Scarborough. Standing there, I____ this little passage and appreciated anew how ____ it resonated (产生共鸣) with my own feelings about London. And there the poor young woman lay, gone 173 years and still making ____ friends. That’s quite something.

2 . I had been swimming for years but was ready to quit. My _________ reason was that I kept receiving “Honorable Mentions”, just because I showed up.

One day before a big swim meet, I decided to _________ the news to my grandma that I was _________ the swim team. When I told her, she said, “Baby, remember: Quitters never win and winners never quit.” I was _______   to say anything but “Yes, ma’am.”

The next day we arrived at the swim meet late, _________ my group. My coach _________ I swim with the older group. I knew she was _________ me in the race so our journey to the meet would not be wasted, and she had no expectations that I would _________ anything but eighth place as there weren’t nine _________.

As I was __________ the board, my grandmas words rang in my head. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

SPLASH! I swam harder than ever. After a little while, I was __________ to find that I had a half-body length ________ over others. However, they soon __________ the gap. Halfway through the race, the girl to my left almost ________ me. Right then, the powerful words __________ again in my ears. I __________ my arms and legs and used every last bit of __________ to swim the last 50 meters.

I made it! Narrow victory as it was, I did win my first real __________ that day. Everything felt like a dream as I stood on the winner’s __________. Back at home, I __________ replaced all the “Honorable Mentions” on my shelf.

3 . A car store in my hometown sold six to eight new cars a day. And 72 percent of this store’s first-time visitors returned for a second ________ . I was curious about how it ________.

On one particular June morning, my wife Jane said to me, “Today’s my fifth anniversary of being ________.” She suffered from it five years ago and had undergone surgery. I was ________ because I had forgotten it. To mark this special occasion, I did the most impetuous thing in my life: I ________ a new car in the car store I mentioned. I didn’t pick the ________ or the model, but I paid cash and told the staff I’d bring Jane to make those two ________. I also told them that it was my ________and hoped they didn’t reveal anything to her. Then one morning, it occurred to me that Jane always wanted a white car. So I called our sales consultant and asked him if he had anything ________ in the store. He said he had one ________ but he couldn’t promise it’d still be ________because they were selling so fast.

After I told Jane the biggest ________ to get her out of the house, we finally made our way to the car store. Jane quickly ________ the little white car. But I told her we could buy the car after our son graduated from college. Hearing what I said, she ________ walked to the front of the car. Then she ________a scream. There was a large sign, which said, “Congratulations, Jane. This car is yours. Five years cancer-free. Let’s treasure life!” I looked around and ________that there was no one in the store. Customers that came to the store were not ________ to enter; instead, the staff took them aside and ________ what was happening. Actually, our sales consultant had arranged it; ________, we could share the special moment alone.

Over the years, I’ve told this story as an example of the legendary ________.

4 . In the late afternoon, Brandon finished his farm work and went home. As they often did, his two sons, Louie, 6, and Everett, 3, _________ him.

As they headed for the house, the two boys ran ahead of him, who stopped to close the gate. Louie _________ at an old well. The _________ covering the well was brittle (脆弱的) over time. When Louie stepped on it, it was _________ and the boy fell in the well. Brandon quickly _________ what had happened.

He ran to the well and heard Louie _________ the water and screaming. Without _________ , he jumped in. As he _________ the well, he grabbed a thin pipe, which slowed his _________ and kept him from hurting his son.

Brandon hit the __________ water at the bottom of the well. He grabbed Louie, who was __________. Knowing they could not __________ in the freezing water too long, Brandon carried his son onto his chest as he __________ his own legs and back against the narrow walls for __________. Then he asked Everett to go back out to the road and get help.

About 15 minutes later, Christi and Mark, nearby farmer, noticed Everett stood __________ by the side of the road, waving. They asked if he was OK. He told them the __________ accident. The couple put Everett into their car and drove onto the farm, and the boy __________ to the well. Mark called the police while Christi called another __________, Dan, who sped to Brandon’s farm with his son and a __________ rope.

With the neighbors’ help, Brandon and Louie were rescued __________ at last.

5 . Elizabeth lived with her six children in a small house. One winter, there was a big ______, and quite a few houses were washed away, but Elizabeth’s house was high enough to ______ it.

Elizabeth ______ one of the families which had lost everything. She shared her home ______ the family could build a ______ house. Elizabeth’s friends could not understand her since she already had so many children to ______.

“Well,” Elizabeth ______ to her friends, “At the end of World War II, there was a poor ______ in a town in France. Her husband had been ______ in the war and she had a lot of children, just like me now. The day before ______, this woman said to her children, ‘We won’t be ______ to have much for Christmas. I’m going to get just one ______ for us all. Now I’ll go and get it.’ She came back with a little ______ who had no parents.‘Here’s our present.’ She said to her own children. The children were more than ______ to get such a present. They welcomed the little girl ______ and she grew up as their sister. I was that Christmas present.”

6 . 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 ______ .

7 . 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.

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.