1 . After a two-hour flight from Shanghai and an hour’s drive, I reached my destination: Jielingkou Village in Qinhuangdao City of Hebei Province, China. The tiny and ________ village is home to Shanhai Pass, where the Great Wall finally dives into the sea. During the Ming Dynasty (1368~1644), Jielingkou Village was considered an extremely important part of the Great Wall. But it slowly fell out of ________ and into disrepair—in modern China.

In 2018, an anti-poverty project began in the village, with the ________ of not only fixing the place up, but also ________ the living standards of the 200 people still living there. One of the ________ was to change all of the old homes into modern guesthouses. “This will allow city folks to enjoy the Great Wall in comfort,” said Ge, who was ________ the project.

But gaining the locals’ ________ took a lot of effort at the beginning. “Just two years ago, they weren’t ________ about the project at all,” Ge told me. “Seeing that they had to ________ water from a faraway well every day, we decided to build a water system that would send water to their homes. It’s one of the first, ________ we have made. It really ________ . Now some of those who were strongly against our project are now our greatest ________ .”

Ge said he hopes that as conditions are ________ becoming better in Jielingkou, some of the younger members of the village who left to seek opportunity in the cities will come back. “Already two university graduates who grew up in the village have returned to ________ the guesthouses. I hope more will be ________ by the potentials here soon.”

2 . Wu Ming, a young German born after 1995, is a big fan of Chinese culture. As he thought some diseases can’t be treated _______ with Western medicine, he decided to _______traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In 2015, Wu came to Henan province, where a strong TCM culture can be _______. After a year of learning, he _______ the language barrier and started to learn Chinese medicine. Wu always _______ some Chinese herbal medicine by himself to know their flavours and effects, just like Shen Nong, a character in Chinese legend. In Wu’s opinion, TCM is one of the best-preserved _______ of Chinese culture.

Studying TCM also _______ Wu’s mind and lifestyle. He used to be _______ to electronic devices, playing video games every night. Instead of being trapped in the fast-paced but unhealthy daily _______, he now lives a(n) ________ and peaceful life, practicing good habits like drinking tea and reading.

Wu ________ what he has learned to help his family. He always provides his family members with some advice about staying fit after ________ their skin or tongues online. Over time, his family gradually began to understand his ________ for TCM.

Wu thinks there’s no big difference between China and Western countries. “________ comes from being out of touch”, said Wu. He plans to run a traditional Chinese clinic in Germany, which could serve as a(n) ________ between the two countries and publicize TCM and its culture.

5 . Alvin, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane last December when something like litter on the ground caught his eye. It was a _______ balloon with a note attached.

“Dear Santa,” the note _______. “My name is Luna. Four years old. This year I have been _______. I would like candy, Spider-Man ball, My Little Pony. With love, Luna.”

Alvin’s heart hammered in his chest. It reminded him of his childhood wish. He smiled and set out to _______ Luna’s wish. He posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas wish list on his Facebook page, asking for help _______ the sender.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez, the mother of four-year old Luna, had no idea that such a(n) _______ was underway. It had been a hard year for her family as COVID-19 spread. On a _______ tough day last December, she _______ the idea of having Luna send a letter to Santa by releasing a balloon. They enjoyed a _______ Christmas together, and then the calendar turned to a new year.

One day, Gonzalez received a call saying that someone had found Luna’s balloon. Her jaw ________. She logged on to Facebook and saw Alvin’s ________. She called Alvin and finally agreed to let Alvin fulfill her daughter’s wish list.

“Santa dropped your balloon ________,” Gonzalez told Luna, “but one of his elves (精灵) found it.” Not long after that, Luna received three boxes’ worth of ________with a note signed “Alvin the Elf.”

Now, having received so much ________, Gonzalez and her girl intend to pay it forward this year. After all, when Alvin could have just ________ that balloon in the trash, he went more than the extra mile.

6 . Most young people are always on their phones, which may upset many people. ___________, a group called Girl Scouts are receiving _________ for setting up their first walk-in clinic for elderly people, who have difficulty understanding how to ___________ the secrets of their smart phones.

Each teen spent at least an hour of one-on-one time with their oldsters. Based on their _________ knowledge, each Girl Scout was assigned to ___________ different aspects of Android and Apple phones.

Some of the oldsters actually wanted to take part in e-commerce (电子商务), and needed help to _________ a payment account on their smart phones while others simply had _________ when learning how to send messages to their family members. "I was teaching this older woman how to _________, and the first thing she did was to send a message to her daughter,” one of the Scouts said. “How ___________ it was! It just made me feel really, really happy.”

In addition to arranging group lessons for all of the seniors to ____________ together at the end of the clinic, the youngsters even printed out brochures and guides for the seniors to take home in case ____________ seniors would encounter problems with their smart phones in the future.

The eighth graders earned their “Silver Award,, for their job. After experiencing the ____________ of their project, the girls hope to organize more ____________ in the near future. “Those girls were just great,” said Nancy, a great-grandmother who once ____________ the clinic. “They were ready for us and had a very mature attitude about answering our questions, and they ______________ the praise.

7 . At a speed of roughly 20 miles a day, the Ardines experienced practically all the extremes the United States has to offer. The brothers kept a detailed record of their ________ on the blog. With the support of friends and family back at home, the brothers’ journey started to gain more ________ . By day 60, they were already 1/3 into their initial goal. News media started to ________ their story. In July, their news caught the attention of Verizon Wireless, who ________ the brothers new cell phones and donated to the cause.

Along their heroes’________, Aiden and Louis met their own everyday heroes. A driver in Nebraska ________ them on the road in the extremely hot weather and doubled back to give them ________ drinks. In Iowa, a couple invited them over for a hearty meal of steak and cheese. In Nevada, a woman who ran a campground let them stay ________. These actions made their hearts ________ with warmth.

Walking by 11 states, Aiden and Louis ________ the sandy beaches of San Francisco after 162 days.________ by their parents and other supporters, the brothers were not only delighted that they achieved their goal, but that they doubled it. Thanks to the Ardines, $70, 000 was ________ between the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and the COCO Fund, nonprofits created specifically to ________ food workers hit hard by the pandemic（疫情）.

Without the help of a huge community of people, they wouldn’t have been________. It was confirmed that people are kind in their ________ and ready to help others at all times.

8 . The future has arrived at a dairy farm(乳牛场). It is _______ time at Woodbourne Creamery in Mt. Airy, Maryland. The cows are standing in line for a _______ at the robot.

The farm _______ John Fendrick. He watches the _______ of the animals by looking at a computer screen. That is all he has to do. The robot does all the work. It uses a laser(激光) to find each teat —— the place on the cow where the milk comes out. The robot then cleans the teat and _______ a milking tube to it.

When the velocity of milk coming out of the cow slows, the machine knows to _______, and sends the cow on its way.

Milking robots are becoming _______ among dairy farmers in the United States, Europe and Australia. John Fendrick says the robots have _______ life on a dairy farm. “You are given your _______back.”

Most dairy farmers must milk their cows two times a day, early in the morning and late at night. But Mr. Fendrick’s cows do not follow such a ________. They stay in the field ________ they want to be milked by the robot.

The cow milking robot is not low-cost technology. Mr Fendrick paid more than $150,000 for it.________ he notes, paying someone to milk the cows is also ________. “However, above all, I don’t have to be the person who’s always ________ to milk. Our cows are able to ________ without us ——to us, it’s well worth the money.”