1 . Cats bring bad luck. Cats cannot be trusted. This is what I was taught when I was growing up. I ______ cats.

And then I married a woman who was brought up with cats. So it was unavoidable that she would want us to ______ one. My parents-in-law lived with Maggie, a big cat that made me quite ______. When we used to take our baby daughter to their home, I watched Maggie ______. Whenever she went near my daughter, I ran to ensure that Maggie did not ______ her. My wife always laughed and told me Maggie wouldn’t hurt our daughter.

______ from my wife to get a cat became greater after we had two more children. Under pressure, I finally gave in and ______. And then Masala came to our home. Our children loved the new “ ______”. They played with Masala and slept with her. At first, I was a bit ______. I was not sure what would happen next. But slowly I started liking that small animal.

We were happy with life. But then, something ______ happened, and my wife got lung cancer. This terrible time was also when I came to really ______ the cat. Masala provided my wife with good ______ . She stayed by my wife’s bedside around the clock. My wife fought the disease bravely but didn’t ______ at last. After my wife died, Masala also ______ me during my darkest days. Her warm welcome after I came home meant a lot to me. Masala helped me ______my prejudices (偏见) against cats. She really taught me a lesson.

2 . Sitting in front of the computer, she efficiently logs in to her email and social media accounts using her chin (下巴).“I used to be very ________. Back then I would never have imagined myself with so many friends,” said Wang Yajing, a 24-year-old woman who is paralyzed (瘫痪) from the neck down.

Wang was born in 1992 in Fuyang. Different from other little girls,   she was born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), ________ to move from the neck down. But Wang did not ________ living the life she wanted. In 2008, she ________ herself to operate a computer mouse and keyboard with her chin, and began to ________ poetry on the computer. For the next eight years, Wang ________ unimaginable difficulties and published over 4, 000 poems and stories.

________ her writing, Wang also devotes herself to people ________. She holds lectures and ________ people she meets online. She has a lot of friends on all her social media accounts. Whenever they have trouble and need to ________, Wang always listens to them ________ and encourages them to stay ________.

“I know I can’t solve their problems, but I am willing to ________ their sadness. When they are ________ and lose hope, I can be there to stop them. Because I know everything will be okay in the end and life is too ________ to give up.” said Wang, smiling.

3 . A Happy Birthday for All

For her ninth birthday, Mary asked for some unusual birthday gifts such as soap, schoolbags and Towels. But Mary didn’t want these _________ for herself. She wanted to give them to other people.

At school, Mary’s teacher _________ her students, “You can’t always be self-centered. You have to _________ others.” Mary’s classmates had helped to _________ supplies for a school in Africa. But Mary wanted to do more. With help from _________ parents, Mary researched local charities(慈善机构)and _________ a shelter(庇护所)that helps women and children in need.

After finding out what supplies the shelter _________ , Mary included a list with each party invitation. Mary’s friends brought shelter supplies to her _________ party. Those who couldn’t come to her birthday party _________ gave gifts. She had so many gifts that they __________ her family’s truck! “It was like we were going on vacation.” Mary said with a __________ . She said it was fun to watch the pile of donations(捐赠物) __________ . Mary collected $650 in cash donations and more than $1,000 worth of __________ for the shelter in the end. __________ Mary went with her parents to send the supplies to the shelter, people there __________ her with another birthday party. They had __________ a cake for her and gave her a __________ signed(签名)by everyone there.

Mary hopes other children will hear about her __________ birthday and choose their own charity to support. “I felt really __________ when I did it,” she said. “You’re not just giving them something; you’re __________ them with their whole life.”

4 . From feeding people to fixing up old cars, Eliot Middleton is driven to help those in need.

Middleton, who owns a restaurant in a small town, ________ a barbecue cook-off in 2020 and came in first place. But rather than happily ________ his prize money and heading home, he chose to donate half of his winnings back to the town to ________ a Thanksgiving food drive for those in need. Middleton and volunteers ________ 250 meals to families, but when they finished, Middleton noticed that many people didn’t make it in the line early enough for lack of ________.

That’s when Middelton ________ an idea. He could fix up old cars and donate them to people who didn’t have the ________ to buy one. Middleton posted on social media, asking anyone for ________ cars. If they could bring one in, he could ________ some barbecue meat for it.

The first repaired car went to a mom who ________ needed a vehicle to get her disabled child to and from the hospital for ________. It grew from there. After Middleton formed a(n) ________, Middleton’s Village to Village Foundation, he started to receive more ________, totaling 800 broken down cars.

“We want to ________ those struggling people with transportation. Just knowing the organization is ________ for that, that’s the fuel to get up every morning.” Middleton says.