1 . I was cleaning out a cupboard the other day when I made an amazing discovery. Inside I _________ the manuscript (手稿) of a novel. It included an outline of the _________ and a pile of typed pages telling a story. It was written, to my _________, by my father who has been dead for more than 50 years. It isn’t _________, as novels go, perhaps fifty or sixty typed pages, but without my _________ it has somehow accompanied me through my years of _________, several jobs, a marriage, the birth of my children and grandchildren, retirement and even the relocation across the country where I live.

Yet there it was, resting under a lot of paper to be recycled. I might have _________ my father’s legacy (遗产). I was truly _________ by my discovery.

I’m in the middle of reading another book _________ my dad’s novel has a place on my bedside table. I intend to __________ enough time for it, but I haven’t __________ examined it yet. I’m going to spend a whole afternoon giving it the __________ it deserves. As yet I don’t know what the storyline is about and I don’t even know if it is complete but I __________ a highly emotional process of finding out.

I find it fascinating to think that this could happen: After more than fifty years my father could __________ his only son through the mists of time. It’s those things that we don’t see coming that make life so __________.

2 . As we all know, swimming is great fun. But it often comes with ________. Drowning is a real possibility even for the most ________ swimmers. However, this dangerous situation can be changed with watchful eyes. This summer in Florida, two young men helped to ________ one drowning death.

Griffin Emerson, a 6-year-old child, swam in an apartment block’s pool. He enjoyed the pool’s ________ area. But he began to ________ toward the deeper part slowly, struggling to keep his head above water. All that came about as no one else, including his mother, seemed to ________ him. Griffin’s frightening ________ in the water happened over the course of a full minute, ending up with the child going down to the ________ of the pool.

However, one young man, Noah, did find Griffin in the pool. He told his friend Weston to call 911 at once. And Noah ________ to jump into the pool to ________ the 6-year-old. Noah made it to Griffin, caught him and ________ him to the surface and then to the side of the pool. Before the emergency services’ arrival, Noah and Weston tried their best to ________ life-saving steps.

________, a few minutes later, Griffin recovered his breath. Griffin’s mother was ________ to Noah and Weston for their heroic actions. But the two young men thought it was no big deal and hoped that this act of kindness would be ________.

3 . When she was 86, Mom moved to our city. My husband, Kevin, and I found a lovely apartment for her. I was happy to help take care of her _______ she arrived.

The day after she moved in, she called me to _______ about the food at the facility. “The pizza was like rubber. I couldn’t _______ it.” “Mom, you’re complaining to me. Wouldn’t it make more sense to tell someone who can _______ the problem?” We hung up. This was only her second day here! And week after week, Mom found more to complain about.

When with my friend Beth, I spent 20 minutes sharing how Mom’s attitude _______ me. “She seems _______. After everything Kevin and I do for her, all we hear is what she doesn’t like.” As the words spilled from my lips, I realized that I’d developed the same _______ of complaining that annoyed me so much in Mom.

I decided to keep a better watch on my _______. Things went fine for a few weeks. But soon I felt powerless to _______ by myself and couldn’t help complaining to Beth about Mom’s ________ again.

A few days later, I received a journal from my friend Torry. On the first page he had written, “Jeanette, I use such a journal every day to ________ things I’m thankful for.” I wrote three things I was ________ for. Contentment filled my heart. Maybe this was it. It was a joyous ________ that helped me overcome the complaining — gratitude.

Over the next few months, as I continued, I noticed little things I’d ________. Life was handing out gifts continuously, including Mom, complaints and all. I couldn’t change her; I could only ________ her.

4 . I often read about incidents of misunderstanding or disagreement. I’m left _________. Why do these people create _________, especially with those from other races?

I was _________ up in Kuala Lumpur in 1960s, when children from different races living in _________. My family lived a stone’s _________ from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was an immigrant — we just _________ our differences. Perhaps, our elders hadn’t filled our heads with differences.

Ismail and I soon became friends. During the school holidays, we would _________ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to _________ the unexpected. We almost traveled everywhere and met many interesting things accidentally. Because Ismail and I lived near each other, he would go shopping in town with my family. We were really glad of his _________. When I was at middle school, my family moved to Johor. Later, I lost touch with Ismail.

One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. When I stated my destination, the driver didn’t move off. __________, he stopped the car in place for a moment and then called me, “Raddar!” I was astonished at being so familiarly __________. It was my childhood name. __________, it was Ismail! Even after two decades, we still __________ each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a sense of true affection, something hard to describe.

If we can allow our children to be themselves without __________, they’ll build friendships with people __________ race, who will be by their side through thick and thin. The society is built on such friendship, where we can truly experience warmth, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

6 . My friend and I had just set off from Vancouver to do a five- day cano (独木舟) trip in Bowron Lake Provincial park. We’d been _______  the trip for quite a while-reservations at the park need to be _______  months in advance. I’d taken some time off work and my friend managed to spare some time for the adventure..

We were _______ to Bowron Lake when our car broke down.  _______ , we were just outside a small town which had a little motel (汽车旅馆), where we met a kind _______. He gave us the number of a mechanic in town. We were going to call him, but as it was quite late, we _______ to leave repairing the car until the next morning and so booked  into the motel.

It turned out our car problem wasn’t a big deal to fix, but the mechanic needed to order a part that would take a few days to show up. At that point, we _______  our trip would have to be cancelled. If we were going to finish it in time, we had to leave immediately.

The _______ stranger insisted that we finish our trip when we mentioned the change of plans. He offered to drive the two-hour round trip to drop us off at the lake, coordinate with (与…协调) the mechanic to _______ the car while we were gone, and then ________  my friend and me after we finished canoeing.

I remember as he dropped us off at the lake, he ________ us a bag of fresh, homemade cookies to take along. Everything he did to help us was ________.

It was a trip that never would have happened ________  he hadn’t done all he did, which helped us so much.

I’m very  ________  for the stranger’s kindness; it’s people like him that make me want to go out of my way for others who are travelling and ________ help.

7 . Earlier this summer, my Ph.D. graduation finally came. I was ________ to return to campus to attend it, which had been ________ because of a flu outbreak. There I ________ a poster board saying “Develop your potential”, and a ________ on it arrested my attention: “Keep trying until you get it right.” It made me stop to ________ my experiences.

I grew up with the dream of becoming a scientist. When I finished my master’s degree, I wanted to try something even more ________: a doctoral degree.My dream met with a(n) ________ when I failed the entrance exam. Nearly all my friends and professors ________ me to put it aside and accept the ________ I had been offered. But I was ________ the routine work would hold back my ________ for exploring. So I decided to apply abroad for doctoral programs.

I worked as a research assistant to earn a ________ while studying for the programs. I never ________ despite the difficulties. I passed the tests _______ and was accepted into a doctoral program in China. There, I met even more ________: language problems, cultural differences etc. Yet I held the same ________ as the note writer: Keep trying. Over time, everything was ________ gradually.

I realized that by trying again and again, I have ________ my potential. Trying does not always lead to ideal results. However, by focusing more on what I ________ and less on what I missed, I learned to enjoy the ________ of trying and the unexpected opportunities it brought.

9 . I am a guide at the California Academy of Sciences. Weeks ago, I was ________ with a lovely family at the Academy’s Swamp exhibit. Their young son was ________ by the swallow and asked many questions about it. As the family was leaving, I asked the boy if he would like a sticker to put on his shirt. He ________ chose a swallow sticker (贴纸), while the boy’s younger brother spent lots of time ________ all the sticker choices before choosing a butterfly. The boy who had chosen first said softly to his father, “I didn’t see the frog sticker.” His father immediately ________ the boy to ask me for a second sticker. The boy said, “No, I’m happy with what I have.”

I was so ________. Such grace, gratitude and ________, are all from an eight-year-old boy. Too often, we ________ to be happy with what we have and in our forgetfulness, we spread the infection of ________.

I recently purchased my first laptop computer. In discussions with the ________, he said, “Within two years, you’ll probably want a new one anyway.” Why would I want a new one, if my ________ one was working? Perhaps, “________” is the key word. I won’t ________ need a new laptop in two years but I will probably want one. I may want _________ things, but I don’t need them. What I do desperately need is the peace of mind. I need to ________ each of my sudden urges to purchase or possess as either “want” or “need”.

10 . Hundreds of medical students crowded into a lecture hall in the Bronx, New York on Feb.26, 2024. Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a 94-year-old honorary professor at their college, _________ that she would donate $1,000,000,000 to the college — the _________ donation ever made to any medical school. She said, “Starting from August this year, Einstein Medical School will be tuition (学费) _________.”

Then enthusiastic cheers _________ in the hall, and the students jumped up and _________ wildly. The tuition fee of this college is $63,000 per year, and many graduates _________ over $200,000 in debt at the beginning of their _________.

The college stated that _________ Gottesman’s donation, all students in the school will no longer need to _________ any fees starting from this term.

David Gottesman is the ____________ of First Manhattan, a Wall Street investment firm, and a close friend of Warren Buffett, the stock god. The ____________ between the two began in 1963 and lasted for decades. Under Buffett’s guidance, Gottesman ____________ a significant amount of valuable shares.

In 2022, David Gottesman passed away at the age of 96. Ruth was ____________ shocked to learn the exact size of money ____________ her husband died. “I was surprised to find that he left me a large fortune,” she recalled. The will left by her husband is very ____________: “Use it to do anything you think is right.” ____________ with this huge money, she hardly hesitated and decided to donate it all to Einstein Medical School. She said that all her children supported her ____________.

She also expressed her hope to ____________ outstanding students who were ____________ hesitant to apply to Einstein Medical School due to financial reasons by ____________ tuition pressure.