1 . Jim owned a store. A customer once asked him how he managed to stay ________ all the time. His answer was, “When I wake up in the morning, I know that the day will have good and bad ________ for me, but whatever happens, I’m going to choose to be in a good ________.”

Then one day, something ________ happened. Jim was about to leave the store when an armed robber came in, held him up at gunpoint, and made him open the ________. As he was trying to open it, Jim’s hand ________. The robber saw this and probably thought, “He’s about to attack me!” The robber ________ and fired his gun.

Jim was rushed to the hospital. In the ambulance, he felt ________ because the paramedic (医务辅助人员) kept telling him, “I’m sure you’ll be OK.”

But when Jim was in the operating room and he saw the faces of the doctors and nurses, he got the feeling that they thought he was ________ dead. He knew he needed to do something to change their ________.

There was a ________ who was asking him lots of questions, very fast. One question was, “Are you ________ to anything?” “Yes!” Jim said loudly and everybody stopped what they were doing. There was total ________. “Bullets!” Jim said, and all the doctors and nurses burst out ________. And then Jim added, “Please operate on me thinking that I’ll live, and not that I’ll die.”

Jim survived, thanks to the skill of the doctors and nurses. But what also helped was that he managed to remain an optimist even in the most ________ moment of his life.

2 . It was December 2022. I was finishing up my Ph. D. in the United Kingdom, and a professor I admired invited me to interview for a position in his lab in Japan. The interview went well. I was sure everything would go _________ in 2023.

Then, in April, my mother told me about some strange symptoms she was _________. “Have you submitted your thesis (毕业论文) yet?” she asked me. “Almost, Mom,” I said. She seemed to be _________. But I was buried in finishing my experiments, so I brushed away my _________. A week later, the doctors had an update: It was lung cancer. During the next 2 months, I was _________ between my research and my family as I prepared for my defense, _________ for mid-July. My Ph. D. supervisor (导师) encouraged me to take all the time I needed to be with my mom, but my _________ always pulled me back to the lab. In the meantime, cancer had spread throughout my mother’s body.

Yet my scientific _________ still occupied me. I was set to attend a conference in New Zealand in early July. But on my way to the _________, I got the news that my mother had 1 or 2 years left. So I flew back to Madrid instead. I __________ my Ph. D. defense. Meanwhile—in just 3 weeks—the rest of my mother’s life was changed to 1 year, then months, weeks, days. Cancer __________ my mother at the end of July. I am always __________ for losing precious time with my mother. I had never slowed down before, knowing what it takes to secure an academic __________. Losing my mother put things into perspective for me. I saw the humane side of science in the __________ and flexibility offered by my Ph. D. supervisor. And the work I missed felt __________. I defended my thesis in September and moved to Tokyo later.

Please, take my advice: If your loved ones need you now, be there for them.

3 . Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on paper? Words — beautiful and fascinating. But you know what is better than putting your imagination somewhere? In my case, to win the competition for the best novelist.

That was a small tournament organized by my school annually to _________ our creative writing and vivid imagination. Since I had a burning passion for _________, I decided to show my power. I thought no one could _________ me.

I finished a long story and e-mailed it. As I _________ the email every day, my eyes were wandering to _________ the line “Congratulations! It is a great pleasure to inform you that…” _________, no such thing came.

I was not accepted. I _________ my abilities. The next day at school, I tried my best to be _________, avoiding the usual contact. But in the corridor, I _________ Stacy Williams, my school rival. Could she be the __________? I started walking sneakily. In class, I was just looking out of the window at the __________ clouds which were a reflection of my soul.

Thankfully, a film that night — Forrest Gump lifted my __________. I wouldn’t let a stupid competition __________ my future. I could win on the next one or even at a better tournament. The important thing was to __________ my head and face my challenges without losing hope when everything seemed __________.

4 . “It’s nice having a friend,” said Mole (鼹鼠) to Rabbit as they sat talking in the sun one day.

“Oh, it is!” said Rabbit. “Very useful, too, ________ if you need help. ________, I think I’d like Bull (公牛) to be my friend.”

“But I’m your friend!” said Mole, feeling ________

“Oh, yes,” said Rabbit. “You are good for talking to and laughing with, ________ you are too small. When I need help, I ________ someone big and strong like Bull. He would be a very good friend to have. It would be ________ shouting for him when I need help.”

Mole went off in anger.

“Oh, well, I need to ________ something,” Rabbit thought.

He moved along ________ he found a tiny garden. He had just started on his first leaf when there was a big noise. People were shouting and dogs were barking (吠叫). Rabbit was so afraid and in such a ________ to get away that he ran into the wrong hole. The hole was too small and Rabbit got stuck. He could not ________ at all.

“Help!” cried Rabbit.

Mole ________ him. He ran up to see what was the matter.

“Help!” cried Rabbit. “I’m stuck in this hole.”

“If you want help,” said Mole, “I’d better ________ Bull.”

“No!” cried Rabbit. “He’s no good! He’s too big to get into this hole. You’re just the right ________! Please help me, Mole!”

So Mole began digging around Rabbit. He worked so fast that Rabbit was ________ in no time.

“I’m sorry, Mole. I was wrong, ” Rabbit said. “I’m ________ I have you as a friend.”

And the two good friends set off for home together.

6 . I think we should try to find a happy memory, something to lift us on those unpleasant days. I’m saying this because I think I have just found mine.

I had some work in Glasgow then. I was on a really _________ schedule, which meant I would have no time for myself all day. I was having one of those days, when the train was completely _________ and the conversation around me seemed to be particularly meaningless. Besides, I had a bit of headache. Walking quickly across the station hall, I fished some _________ from my pocket. There was usually someone at the exit selling The Big Issue (a magazine that helps homeless folk earn a living).

As the crowd parted ways at the bottom of the hall, I saw someone selling The Big Issue. She really looked like she had been sleeping _________ . Her clothes were _________ and she obviously hadn’t had a scrub (擦洗) for quite a while.

As I _________ the exit, I saw that she was also _________ from side to side. At first I thought she was trying to keep _________ against the biting wind. But she wasn’t. She was moving in time to a _________. I couldn’t hear her, but I could see her lips moving.

When I got closer, I saw a white __________ hanging from her elbow and noticed that she had sunken eyes. She was __________ , dirty and living on the streets. I came closer and through the noise of the traffic I could hear her __________ the immortal (不朽的) line, “... And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!”

I bought her last magazine for twice what I had originally __________. She thanked me and __________ her belongings and went tapping off along the pavement-still singing. So, I have my happy __________ for that day, and I think it will stay with me for a long, long time.

9 . On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, I lost my job. When my daughter, Kristil, then 12, and I planned to get our Christmas tree, I listened to my voicemail: “We’re sorry but your work ________ has ended today.” My heart sank. As a single parent, my anxiety ________.

The next day as we searched for the tree, I ________ to be cheerful as I eyed each price tag (标签).

“Is everything OK?” Kristil asked. “You seem worried.”

“I got some bad news yesterday,” I told her. “I lost my job.”

I eagerly wanted to ________ a job as my bank account became smaller. I felt as if the world was closing in on me.

One afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a wealthy community for a birthday party. I watched as she went in, ________ with all the nice things we couldn’t afford. I drove home ________. Back at home, I glanced out the window. It had been snowing ________ all morning. I noticed a slim woman trying to open her car door ________ the wind. As she got out, I realized it was my old professor, Sister Esther Heffernan. I’d first met her 10 years earlier when I was her student at Edgewood College. Kristil was 3 at that time, and I sometimes took her to class. Such was Sister Esther, a(n)_______ professor. When I was busy with lessons, she would ________ coloring books to occupy Kristil.

“Well, I called last week but couldn’t get through. ________. I thought I would come by.” Sister Esther said. “I have gifts for you and Kristil.”

I made her a cup of tea, and we talked. Being in Sister Esther’s ________ gave me hope that things would be all right. I opened her card as she ________. Hundred-dollar bills fell onto the table. I took a deep breath ________, tears of gratitude streaming down my face. Sister Esther had given me $1,000.

On Christmas Eve, I ________ watched as Kristil opened her gifts. In 2020, at age 91, Sister Esther died, but the love she gave during her life lives on in the hearts of many. I am lucky to be one of them.

10 . I’ve been a college professor teaching people how to think more creatively and use more of their brainpower. _________, this lifetime passion was awakened by a casual contest in my childhood.

At a picnic of my father’s company, they held contests for kids — who threw a cloth handkerchief the farthest this time. I, 13 years old, was full of the spirit of _________, so I threw myself into the contest, which, I realize now, was not meant to _________ real skills, but simply for laughs. But it stirred my _________ of thinking outside the box.

It disturbed me to see the kids throwing _________ when the handkerchief always opened and stopped. The _________ was not to throw harder but to prevent the cloth from _________. Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would drive the cloth at least _________ than the others, and when they separated, people might not notice a small rock _________ nearby. I had a good chance of __________ it, but I didn’t want to win by cheating. So I had to make the handkerchief fly like a rock. Like a rock! That was it! I __________ tied knot (结) after knot until it was the size of a large walnut (核桃), like a strong __________. I threw hard, and the balled handkerchief rocketed off 60 feet away. All stared at me in __________ and the judge ran to check. “It’s just the __________,” he declared, holding it up and untying the knots.

What I learned from this contest was __________ thinking. To live creatively, you have to tap into the less-used parts of your brain.