1 . “Nothing will ever be the same again,” Ally said to herself.

Ally’s father _______ last summer. It wasn’t fair, Ally thought. Dad was young and had never been sick. Why had his heart _______ stopped? Ally sank slowly into her father’s favorite chair and looked at his picture on the bookcase. “I miss you, Dad,” she said _______.

She felt a hand smoothing her hair and _______. “Why don’t you come outside with me , Ally?” her mother asked. “By this time last year you’d already taken dozens of pictures of birds.”

But her mother must know bird watching wouldn’t be the _______ this year. How could it be? Ally wondered. Ever since she could remember, she and Dad had been a team, _______ the woods for the special wood warbler (林莺). “I’ll be out in a while, I promise,” she answered.

After her mother left, Ally _______ the photo album. On the cover was a photo of a tiny yellow bird with blue-gray wings and black eyes. Dad _______ it from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the _______ look on Dad’s face when he showed her the pretty bird.

“I can’t ________ someone spotted this little guy way up here in New Jersey,” he said. “Wood warblers are usually ________ in the south not this far north. I bet ________ we search real hard, Ally, we’ll see this little guy together someday.”

Ally closed her eyes. She loved ________ about the times she and Dad had spent searching the woods for the little bird. They’d never spotted the warbler ________ her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem ________. If only I could get that good feeling back, she thought, sighing.

3 . There are purple clothes, purple handbags, purple bicycles, purple furniture, even purple computers! So purple is one of the most ______ colors today. But in the past, purple was a very expensive and unusual color. Let’s take a look at the rich ______ of the color purple.

Some scientists believe that the first plants to appear on Earth over 500 million years ago _____ looked purple, not green. Plants today are green because ______ use green chlorophyll (叶绿素) to produce energy. ______ these early plants probably used something called retinal, which is a dark purple color.

During the time of the Roman Empire (37 BC-476 AD), it was very ______ to make purple dye (染料). The dye came from sea snails (海螺). But 10,000 dead sea snails ______ you just one gram of purple dye... as well as a very bad smell! This ______ purple dye was called Tyrian purple, and it was the preferred ______ of emperors.

In 16th century England, purple was ______ for the kings family members. Queen Elizabeth I’s clothes were purple, but ordinary people were not allowed to ______ the color.

In 1856, William Perkin, an 18-year-old ______ student, noticed something strange while doing an experiment. The chemicals he used to clean his instruments ______ with the chemicals he used in his experiment and produced a bright purple color. This ______ led Perkin to start a company using this chemical mixture to make purple dye. The dye was much ______ than sea snail dye. Thanks to Perkin, now anyone can afford to wear purple clothes.

5 . When I was a little boy, I lived in my grandma’s old house. It was _________ by four huge vegetable gardens, and around the house were planted so many _________. On the back porch, Grandma had dozens of potted (盆栽的) plants hanging on hooks (挂钩). She _________ them, and talked to them. With a little water and a lot of _________ she kept them alive, green, and growing even during the coldest, darkest months.

As a little boy, I was confused by all the effort she _________ them. I understood the vegetable gardens for they helped to _________ the family all winter long. I _________ understood the flowers around the house as they were pretty and smelled so sweet in the summer months. The reason why she _________ to those potted plants with so much effort, however, made me feel _________ a lot. They didn’t give us any food and they __________ had any flowers on them. They remained an unknown to my mind as a(n) __________.

Now as I’ve grown older, I am beginning to __________ why my grandma had those potted plants. It is the same reason why I have so many pictures of sunrises and forests __________ in my home. They remind me of the dark cold winter months __________ of bare trees and yellow grass when light, love and growth still exist. But my greatest __________ of light and love was Grandma herself, who was light to my soul even in my darkest times.

8 . When I was 14, I invited some friends for a party at my home out in the country.

I planned it well, but something _________ happened.

When it was time for us to ride the bus, Nora, one of my friends didn’t _________. I felt _________. Why would she tell me she’d come to the party and then _________ without letting me know? So, I decided to call Nora and get some _________. I needed no apologies but I demanded to know why.

Nora explained she had to stay away from school because she was sick. Anger still _________ me and I _________ to listen, “What kind of friend are you?” Nora began crying on the phone, hurt and surprised. For the rest of the school year, we _________ hung around (溜达, 闲逛) again, and I forgot about my _________ call with Nora. __________ had happened between us at some point, but I shrugged it off (对……满不在乎).

Years later, I began to reflect on that ugly phone conversation. Now, I __________ it. I recognized how selfish, and __________ I’d been, caring only about myself. I wanted to make things __________. I wrote an apology letter to Nora and soon got her __________. So finally, we did bring a sad moment from the past to a __________ conclusion, healing both of us.

9 . In October, I said to my students, “Why not do some _________ to make some money? Then we’ll buy food for someone in need.”

Then early in that week, they came with their hard-earned money at their homes, _________ to go shopping. We soon picked what we needed. As we headed toward the checkout, someone shouted, “Flowers!” The group rushed to the flowers. However, considering practicality, I said, “You can’t send flowers.” “But please, Mrs. Sherlock,” someone begged, “we want flowers.” Defeated (被打败了), I _________ them to buy some carnations (康乃馨).

An organization had given us the information of a _________ grandmother living alone for many years. After a long drive, we _________ arrived at a small, shabby (破旧的) house. An old lady came out to _________ us. Each box was _________ quickly. But when the woman noticed the carnations, she seemed _________. “She’s wishing it were a bag of rice,” I thought. “Do you like living here?” Michael asked. Hearing this, the woman _________,“ Of course. I’m quite fond of living here.” She told the children about the birds flying to the bread she __________. “Maybe that’s why I could get the food from you,” she said.

10 . Exercise can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, so there are a lot of great reasons to exercise.

Sometimes exercise can feel like a bit of a ________, something you have to do for health ________. But regular exercise can ________ your life, whether it helps you overcome stress, learn something about yourself, or help you ________ your body. Here are 2 stories from people who moved their bodies in new and sometimes ________ ways, and found out that it changed their life for the better.

I have had depression (沮丧, 抑郁) a couple of times and I also have general anxiety disorder. I found that longboarding around the city really ________ my mood the last time I was going through a ________ of depression. I don’t skate much anymore, but I have picked up ________ the past three years. All I can think about when I am climbing is climbing. It has been a ________ for my anxiety to be able to completely throw away the worries in my head and just think about getting to the top.

When I was 23, my grandpa sadly passed away. Hearing my mom’s message, I was ________. The tears couldn’t stop swimming in my eyes and I ________ control, I was just starting my track season and I decided that I should get a head start and start running. When I felt like crying or screaming or anything, I would get up and go for a ________. That year I ________ my personal best by over a minute and I ran my first half marathon. Since then I ran another half marathon, full marathon, and am ________ training for a second marathon. Running just ________ emotion for me.