1 . It was July 15, 2021, and my friends had helped me celebrate my 31st birthday.

Earlier in the day I had prepared for the _________ event of a flood. We are about a third of a mile from the banks of the Ahr River. It had been raining heavily that week, and the government had issued a flood _________, though not for where I was. _________, I’d placed sandbags on the floor outside my garden door just in case _________ got through. Before my friends left, they _________ me for doing that, but I thought, why take a chance?

As I drifted off to sleep, I was awakened by the _________ of rushing water, as if I were lying beside a waterfall instead of in my bedroom. When I moved my legs off the bed, I was _________ by the touch of cold water lapping against my knees and rising fast. Trembling and in darkness, I _________ my cellphone and turned on the flashlight. I saw water was shooting through the gaps of the garden door.

I admit it, I began to _________. The Ahr, usually such a __________, slow-moving river, had violently burst its banks. And now I had to get out—fast!

Any effects of the celebratory drinks I’d had earlier were now gone. I heard the garden door starting to crack under the __________ of the flood. In bare feet, I started to move to my only __________: the door that leads to the hallway. All around me things were breaking, and the cupboards were being __________.

I tried to pull the door open, but the force of the water wouldn’t __________ me. Finally, I __________ to make a gap of about a foot, just wide enough to squeeze through and make it into the __________.

If I had __________ just a few minutes later, I would have drowned. Many of the houses around us were destroyed, including, __________, a home for the disabled. Not everyone got out.

I came close to drowning that day. But rather than keep thinking about that, I prefer to __________ what my mother told me afterward: “Christian, don’t remember the day when you lost everything. Remember the day you __________.”

2 . Send Your Best Wishes

Last summer, a big flood hit Henan Province hard. Some people_______or went missing in this terrible disaster. People from all_______China came to help Henan, including some people I know.

My mother told me that her hairdresser, Mr. Zhang was_______to close his shop for one month. He was going to Zhengzhou to help _______the rescue (救援)work. Mr. Li has a restaurant in my neighborhood. He was also going to Henan _______out. What they did really moved me.

But unlike them, some people did_______but complain online. They said bad things about the local government, the rescue work and many other things.

I don’t think they did the right thing during disasters, pointing fingers (指责)won’t help_______. It’ll just cause fear and worry. Saving lives is _______

I think we _______learn from Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li for the positive energy they brought. I wrote some positive things________and sent my best wishes to Henan. Helping others is the best way to help ourselves.

3 . My first job was at a fast-food restaurant called Carroll’s in my hometown. One spring day my next-door neighbor _________ me to apply for work with her there, and I agreed to have a try.

One little _________ was that I wasn’t 16 yet, so I just changed my birth date on the application from July to _________. Luckily, they didn’t ask for any ID to prove my _________, because there were few applicants for the job. Both of us were _________.

The pay was _________, only $1.60/hour with no tips. I worked at the _________ and only boys were allowed to work in the kitchen. I got a chance to make milkshakes, though, which I considered kind of fun. I also _________ the relationships with all the other workers, who were mostly easy-going teenagers.

It was great to _________ different diners. The restaurant was located on a __________ entryway into town, so all kinds of people came in. One day a man in plain clothes __________ but ordered many signature dishes. When he came to my counter to check out, I was __________ to find he was my idol.

Besides __________ about my age, I also failed to inform the manager that I was leaving in June to attend summer camp, so my first job only lasted a few __________. It has been long gone, but the __________ in the restaurant remains a sweet memory of my life.

4 . Last Sunday, our school held an ice hockey (冰球) game. I was so proud when my team ________ the game. It made me feel like I could do ________. Only three years ago, I was________ of walking or skating on the ice. To deal with this problem, I decided to ________a skating club. I really envied (嫉妒) the other club members, who were so ________and confident on the ice. But my teacher was good at teaching and before I knew it, I was able to ________. He then advised me to try ice hockey. I ________ it and was soon practising ________ my local team almost every evening. We are now training for national games________  hope to be winners one day, but my final________is to be an ice hockey teacher and help people learn to play this game.

7 . Two years ago, I lost my wallet. I made the poor decision of keeping my identity card, my credit card, a large amount of money and other various things inside my_________. I worried about anyone who got my wallet would take_________from my bank account, and I was also _________that my identity card would be used to do something___________

About a week ___________, a police officer knocked on my door and_________my wallet. Someone handed it into_________! Much to my _________, they didn’t touch the money inside or anything. I felt so lucky that such a kind person___________my wallet and took time out of their day to try and give__________back to me.

After that, I decided that I wanted to do __________things for other people, hoping that they also could feel that way. I started to do small things to __________ people. They were small simple things, like holding the door open for others. When you make others feel __________, you will have a great day.

That’s why I__________everyone to do small nice things for others. Helping others is to help____________

9 . This is the story of Moyo, a rescued elephant in Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery, a local non-governmental organization called Wild Is Life. She is probably one of the ________ elephant cubs ever to be rescued. She came to the nursery when she was about three to four ________ old. Sheweighed 56 kilos, and ________ a just-born African elephant cub weighs about 90 kilos. So she was a special iconic little elephant. Under good care of the staff there, she managed to ________.

Every year, hundreds of young elephants are orphaned across the African continent and rarely have a chance of ________ in the wild and are more often than not, left to die. “We rescue babies, and we provide ________ for them. We make sure they are in good ________ here, and help them regain their ________ needed in the wild. We are trying to create a culture where people ________,” said Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of Wild Is Life.

Moyo is about four and a half years old now. She is healthy, playful, and has become some kind of ambassador to the nursery. Therefore, she’s having to take on a lot of ________ for such a young animal, almost becoming a leader at the very young age. She is gentle, calm, very very ________ to the other elephants that come into the nursery. She is also very good with people.

But unfortunately, they’re not much more than objects of money in the eyes of ivory(象牙) dealers. Zimbabwe has a ________ elephant-hunting problem. Some regions are ________ as much as 75 percent of the elephant population over the past 10 years. That is why Danckwerts feels excited at China’s decision to ________ illegal ivory sales, which he believes has become a major turning point and a signal to the world that China has made a ________.