2 . Most airplanes are constructed with seats in rows of two or three Mathematically, someone in my family of five has to sit by a ________. I always ask to be that person and consider it the greatest ________ to meet someone remarkable.

From the time I could speak, I realized that overcoming communication ________ was an essential key to ________ the enormous potential in constructing meaningful relationships with others. My father is a successful scientist, but he has been ________ since birth. My childhood was spent understanding his intelligence while sometimes ________ to convey ideas because the words I chose were too ________ to lipread. But I learned how to employ my own approach to face the challenge. Gradually, I developed a ________ for communication skills.

Since kindergarten, I have loved Chinese culture. In my Junior year of high school, I ________ a competitive scholarship to study in China for the summer, learning Mandarin and the eastern culture. Dropped into Chengdu and ________ to speak the language fluently, I found myself a toddler (学步儿童). However, I didn’t quit. At the end of the program, I was voted to ________ the 500 scholarship recipients (被授予者) to deliver a speech in Chinese. My speech did win cheers. Finally, I returned home with a cultural awareness beyond expectation, possessing lifelong ________ with former strangers whom I now communicate with in Chinese.

Thanks to the strangers in my life, I learn that one must embrace (拥抱) certain new experience. I’m so ________ to confirm that stepping out of my comfort zone can, actually, ________ experiencing something from slightly interesting to life-changing. On the flight home from China I ________ chose to sit next to a stranger and it didn’t disappoint.

3 . It all began innocently—I rushed to the local market for a few items, deciding not to use a cart (推车). As I approached the checkout area with my hands full, it was clear that the _________ service management had momentarily checked out. Three cashiers faced long lines, and chaos _________ with shoppers and carts full of groceries.

Like most, I surveyed the checkout lines, _________ choosing what seemed the fastest. However, my choice turned out to be the slowest, and _________ spread through the line. A middle-aged man murmured, setting off a chain reaction of complaints about the slow pace. The negativity _________, with one person declaring they would never shop there again.

_________ by the negativity, I turned my attention to the stressed cashier. The crowd’s displeasure didn’t _________ her work; instead, her stress increased, leading to mistakes and the need for a supervisor (主管). As my turn approached, I _________ the cashier’s discomfort, trembling and sweating despite the cold store.

In a(an) _________ tone, I said, “Some days are quite the adventure, aren’t they?” The cashier, relieved to see a_ __________ face, met my eyes and smiled. I encouraged her, saying impatience affects everyone, and I was in no rush.

Then came a(an) __________ lesson, a gift I never imagined. By sharing it, I hope to ________ others. The cashier thanked me for my patience, revealing she was a new employee still in training. We shared a laugh, and in that moment, strangers became friends.

Leaving the store, I felt __________ for the experience, unlike the dissatisfied shoppers. This incident taught that in the journey of love and understanding, mistakes happen, and patience is a __________ learning process. We are all, and always will be, in training when it comes to __________.

4 . My mom loved to pass her wisdom to me: ”Nothing beats a good bite that bites back.” She was referring to her bitter-taste foods like dill pickles and rhubarb (大黄叶). But I was not a big fan.

Three years ago, I finally decided to ask if I could ________ out her rhubarb while weeding the garden. “________ not!” Mom gasped, throwing me a(n) ________ look. Clearly, I had underestimated her________ for it. However, as I continued ________, I thought about how rhubarb is one of the first to appear in spring. It ________ the snowy ground before the arrival of other plants. How can anyone fail to ________ it? When those first sprouts (嫩芽) appeared, Mom would count them like a ________ counting a newborn’s fingers and toes.

When I was a kid and my mom gave me that pie, it made me ________ to try. In my teens, it made me complain about the bitterness. Even ice cream or candies did not ________ the deal for my young taste buds (味蕾). Rhubarb was something to be ________ at all costs.

Then, last summer, I came across the ________ for her rhubarb pie in an old drawer. So I decided to give it a ________. A few attempts later, I served rhubarb pie to family and guests. All agreed, including me, that it tasted incredible.

Since then I’ve come to a ________ about rhubarb. Rhubarb’s taste may be lost on children, but adults can________ it. Like my wise mother, I now understand that “Nothing beats a good bite that bites back.”

5 . Nuclear pollution is a serious global   ___________, brought to the forefront by major accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. These events have demonstrated the significant health and environmental risks _________by nuclear disasters. Not only have they caused immediate health problems, such as radiation sickness and increased cancer rates, but they have also _________lasting environmental damage and genetic changes in affected communities. As a result, nuclear pollution remains a pressing concern for governments, scholars, and individuals worldwide.

When nuclear accidents occur in coastal areas, the _________environment becomes a critical concern due to the crucial role that oceans play in _________the climate, ensuring food security, and supporting the livelihoods of billions of people globally. In recent years, the increasing threats to marine ecosystems from ocean pollution have _________public awareness of the need to protect the marine environment. Studies have shown that human activities pose a _________threat to marine environments, emphasizing the importance of improving environmental management and taking measures to mitigate environmental risks.

Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, efforts to cool the reactors by pumping in seawater resulted in the _________of a significant amount of nuclear waste in the water storage tank at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. _________attempts to manage this waste, the Japanese government’s decision to release nearly 1.26 million tons of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean over the next 40 years has faced opposition __________neighboring countries, local ____________, and international environmental organizations.

This __________poses serious risks to marine life, fisheries, and human health. Radioactive isotopes present in the wastewater, such as tritium, carbon-14, cobalt-60, and strontium-90, can accumulate in marine organisms and ultimately affect human populations through the food ____________. Therefore, there is an/a ____________need for further research and mitigation measures to __________the widespread impacts of nuclear pollution on the environment and human health.

6 . I had not visited Eton for many years. When one day passing from the Fellows’ Library into the Gallery, I caught sight of the _________ of my school friend Digby Dolben hanging just without the door among our most _________ contemporaries. I was _________ arrested and as I stood gazing on it, my _________ asked me if I knew who it was. I was thinking that I must be almost the only person who would know him. Far _________ of my boyhood were crowding _________ upon me: he was standing again beside me in the eager promise of his youth.

This portrait-gallery of old Etonians is very _________: outstanding distinction of birth or excellent qualities may win you a place there. _________, how came Dolben there? It was _________ he was a poet; and yet his poems were not known. They were carefully __________ by his family and a few friends. Indeed, such of his poems as could have come to the eyes of the authorities who approved of this memorial would not __________ it. There was another __________— the portrait bears its own certification. Though you might not perhaps understand the poet in it, you can see the soul immersed in deep thought, the habit of stainless (无瑕的) life, of __________, of enthusiasm for high ideals. Such a being must have __________ remarkably among his fellows. When his early death endeared (使价值更高) his memory, loving grief would generously __________ him the glory which he had never worn.

7 . Even when you have confidence in yourself, your goals will sometimes seem out of reach. When that happens, get hold of the people who _________ you and your goals and don’t let go!

When I was younger, I _________ because life felt so hard. I had _________to become a teacher or a business administrator. I knew I needed a college degree, but I had _________ believing in myself. Then a teacher in my high school _________ me. He told me three things: First, if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be _________ to get anyone else to believe in you. Second, never let other people’s _________ to see your brilliance prevent you from being brilliant. And third, despite life’s _________, stick to creating the future you want.

Early in my _________, I was teaching a workshop when a person in the audience yelled out to me. He told me I had __________ made a job choice and had a bright future. This __________ feedback (反馈)came at just the right time, because while the audience didn’t know it, I was __________ self-doubt.

Even now, I __________ myself that I have a bright future. That’s what I tell myself when I __________ success and failure. You have a bright future ahead. Think about this every single day. Remember your talents, skills, and interests. Explore the jobs that interest you, and have courage—and most __________, believe in yourself.

8 . I’ve reached the turn-around point of the day’s kayaking (皮划艇) trip. Sweat runs down my cheek as I ______ my fingers through the cool water. I look around. It’s just me, a couple of seagulls, and shining freshwater to the horizon. This, I whisper to myself, is ______.

Solo outings had never ______ my mind before because I always had loyal friends willing to tag along. But three years ago, I moved to Cleveland. Meeting close friends in a new city is ______. And a world wide health crisis made ______ impossible.

In October 2022, I decided to ______ a whole day on a solo hiking trip. I went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) to ______ the autumn leaves. Five miles in, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so alive. I was more ______ of my surroundings than I’d ever been while hiking that day. I studied the markings of trees, focused my ears on each forest sound and did something I had almost never spared ______ for: I listened to my own thoughts. Every word in my mind pointed to a newfound ______—solo hiking is my happy place. From then on, I have adjusted myself to any solo activity.

Pride ______ through my body when I first launched my kayak. My chest, ______ tightened by nerves, was bursting with happiness as I finally reached the middle of the river that I’d long ______ standing on shore before.

Adventuring alone has become like medicine for me! It’s also pushed me to go ______ my comfort zone and to meet new people. Through meetups and social media, my adventure friend circle has ______. But at least once per month, I schedule time to hit nature with my favorite trail buddy: me.

9 . At the age of 12, I withdrew into my bedroom with my guitar. I had neither musical talent — many_______music lessons had proved that — nor musical training. My fingers ached as I tried to press down on the strings without making them buzz (发出嗡嗡声). _______, I worked my way through 2-, 3- and even 5-chord (和旋) songs and discovered the _______ thrills of these musical notes. No one _______ me to do this. I did this myself and of my own free will for a week, and the sense of happiness－ true happiness _______ in absorption in something － has _______ me. Fifty years later, that week’s self-directed practice became a model and _______ for almost every meaningful thing I have done since. It makes me understand the _______ between achievement and accomplishment.

The world favors achievement while _______ accomplishment. The former is the completion of the task imposed (强加) from the outside — the ________ being a path to the next task. The latter is the end point of an activity we have chosen, whose bonus is the sudden ________ of happiness.

The seeking of accomplishment always ________ people. I learned so long ago in that ________ week that simply lifting one finger from the guitar’s C chord, you should get the most moving ________ in tune. I didn’t know then it was a major 7th chord, a favorite of some masters’. I just ________ accomplishment. That’s real human “achievement”.