1 . Successfully receiving a US visa (签证) is full of ups and downs. In early 2023, I received an offer to join in the Sports Industry Management Summer Program at Georgetown University in the US. Never having been to the US before, I was thrilled about the upcoming _________.

However, my excitement turned into shock when I _________ a scheduled interview appointment at the US embassy (大使馆) in New Delhi in early May. The waiting list was so long that it _________ all the way to September, well _________ the start of the summer program in July.

Still, that wasn't the only _________ we faced with the US embassy. A friend planning to visit France mentioned that the visa application process now took two months longer than before. It seemed that an increasing number of people were applying to travel abroad. I waited until mid-July before _________ giving up on the summer program for 2023.

At last, I secured an appointment for Sept 18, 2023. After all these difficulties, I thought I could finally get my US visa. During the interview, the visa officer, a pleasant woman, began asking me a few questions. Then there was _________ as she typed on her keyboard for five minutes. I though that the exciting moment was coming. _________, after smiling at my mom and _________ a green form to her, she said, "Sorry, but due to your job, we require __________ documents."

As a journalist, my mother was required by the green form to email a list of her published stories. Fortunately, she specializes in __________ and art, with hundreds of articles on cultural exchanges and interpersonal communications between India and the US. I don't know whether or not her touching stories __________ the visa officer. After all, the embassy gave us 10-year visas after about a week.

With the visa, I am applying for the summer program for 2024 now. If you're planning to travel abroad, I __________ starting the visa process early, __________ many others likely have the same plans. Your parents' jobs can also affect your visa application, so make sure you do some __________ and are ready to provide extra documents.

2 . The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone's daily life. While our experiences were ________, there's one thing many of us had in common: quarantine (隔离期) hair.

Salons (美发厅) were closed for months, but our ________ didn't stop growing. So my 12-year-old daughter, who needed a haircut even before the quarantine, ________ to do something good with her hair. She planned to donate (捐赠) it.

We had ________ donating her hair before, so she ________ that it needed to be a certain length. “Maybe someday,” she said.

And I wasn't surprised when she said she was ________ with her hair having grown ________ enough to both meet the donation requirement and leave her with a shoulder-length haircut during the quarantine.

When the salon finally ________ again, my daughter sat ________ in the chair and talked to the hairdresser. She mentioned how great it was that she could ________ someone else just by cutting her hair. Listening to their conversation, I wondered when my daughter had become so mature (成熟的).

Any ________ I had that she would regret her decision disappeared as I watched the hairdresser hand her the first ponytail (马尾辫). She was ________ and looked at it in excitement.

She wanted a ________, and she got it. I went into that salon with my little girl. I ________ with a young lady and a bag filled with the hair.

Days later, as we stood in line at the post office to mail her hair, I looked at my daughter and felt ________ of the kind and thoughtful young lady she'd become.

3 . Growing up, Grandma’s house was a place of warmth and affection. The house wasn’t _______, but that never mattered. It was the love we felt inside that _______ the most. I’ll never forget the softness of my grandma’s hands, _______ in the flavor of cherry blossoms. It’s a flavor that, to this day, takes me back to my childhood. Now, as I look down at my own _______ weathered with time and echoing (重复) her familiar _______, I feel an unspoken connection, a silent _______ of love that continues today.

As a child, I was attracted by the _______ my grandma told — stories of wars, one-room schoolhouses, and life before television. There are so many of those stories I can still remember _______, as all of those stories _______ so much personality and humor. Today, I share my own stories, and while I feel I don’t tell them as ________ as Grandma did, I pray they bring the same ________ and wonder to my grandkids as my grandma’s did.

When I hold my grandchildren, their hands tiny and ________ in mine, I feel a rush of emotion. My hands, ________ my grandma’s, now pass on the same love and comfort they once gave me. In these moments, I recognize that their love ________ beyond the boundaries of time, ________ through my touch, my care, and my love for the next generation.

4 . A family of six is happy to be back home in Quebec after spending a year traveling the globe. Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier organized this ________ to give their kids as many visual memories as possible — memories they can ________ long after losing their eyesight.

The Canadian couple ________ their first born daughter Mia, now 11, had vision problems when she was just three years old. After years of ________with specialists, the parents were told Mia suffered from retinitis pigmentosa (视网膜色素变性), a ________ condition that causes vision loss over time. ________, two of their sons were soon diagnosed (诊断)with the same incurable disorder. One specialist recommended Lemay help her kids create unforgettable ________ memories. That was when the couple had the ________ to show their kids the world.

The family set out in March 2022, ________ Africa from Namibia to Tanzania and touring some Asian countries. Aside from ________ beautiful sights, the parents also patiently taught their kids how to ________ to new situations, wishing them to be strong despite the ________ that may come later in their lives.

When things don't go as ________, many people tell themselves they are born unlucky enough to ________ taking responsibility to make changes in life. Yet this couple and their children have been facing life ahead ________. With such a positive state of mind, you can overcome anything.

5 . As I waited for my university lecture to start, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking up, I found a young woman smiling at me, ________ a notebook. I knew immediately who she was. The week before we had ________ emails, and I’d told her I would be sitting in the front ________. I always sat at the front and the reason was that I’m deaf and needed to lip-read the ________. “I’m Rosie,” the young woman said. She was the first person I’d ever met who was my ________ and wore hearing aids. At my school, I was the only person who wore hearing aids. So I was ________ and fascinated to see Rosie wearing them. She tied her hair back, and didn’t try to ________ them like I did.

After the lecture, Rosie and I carried on talking. She always remembered to look at me when we talked. I didn’t have to worry that she’d ________, and I’d miss a joke or remark. There was an instinctive awareness between us about making communication clear and ________. I’d grown up thinking that deafness was some kind of ________, but here was Rosie, who was clever, wise, full of fun and deaf. What was the big deal?

I felt like a window had opened on my own experience as a deaf person. Partly it was the joy of being able to talk ________. We discussed noisy social events, or group conversations, where we felt on the fringes. The ________ that I wasn’t the only deaf student at the university made the experience feel less lonely.

We continued to share notes on being deaf. Learning to advocate for myself as a deaf person in the professional world was ________. But Rosie was more enlightened, and she was a fierce advocate. She held up a ________ to my own experience, but also set an example for me, offering an alternative ________. Our friendship has become an essential part of who I am as well.

6 . Neerja wakes up at 7 o’clock. She finds that she has a birthday cap over her head. She’s both ________ and confused. “Is it my birthday today? But it is in August …” She ________ her phone. It shows August 27, her birthday.

Things are getting more and more ________ for her. In a few seconds, her family ________ the room with a huge cake box. She is almost ________ about it.

She comes forward to ________ the cake, and as she opens the box, everything becomes ________ at once. The box has a joker mask with “April Fool!” written on it. With loud laughter, they make her ________ that she’s been tricked (欺骗). Now Neerja owns the title of “FOOL OF THE YEAR”. And if she doesn’t want the ________, she has to pass it to someone else.

On her way to school, she continuously ________ about how to add a member to the “fool’s chain (链)” till she sees Hari. A(n)________ comes to her mind. She says, “Hello, Hari! The class teacher called you to her office. She wants you to be the new class monitor (班长).” After some time, she sees him coming back ________. She realizes that she has made a huge mistake.

She goes to him and says, “I’m really sorry. I just ________ to pass the title ‘FOOL OF THE YEAR’ to someone else”. “‘FOOL OF THE YEAR’... what’s that?” he asks curiously. Neerja can’t help ________ his innocent (天真的) question. Hari laughs too. Though they are both now members of the “chain of fools”, they are happy that this chain is the beginning of their ________ too.

7 . With spring approaching, a foot of snow that had fallen rapidly melt. The runoff from the hills had filled the rivers and formed little _________ in the road. Broken tree branches were everywhere. I was _________ home and suddenly saw one of these branches _________ across the road. It was big enough to damage my car if I didn’t _________ in time so I stepped on the brakes and _________ my emergency flashers. _________ there were no other cars there yet. But I knew that it would only be a matter of _________ before one crashed into that branch, causing a(n) _________ and even death.

I _________ my car and tried to pull the branch to the roadside. It was a lot __________ than I thought but I started to __________ it. Inch by inch I pulled it off the road. When it was finally moved to the side I stood up and felt __________. Just as I did, though, a little red car passed by __________, hit a pool of water in the road and splashed my pants. I wasn’t __________ but laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Sometimes we all do good things in this life only to get dirty water. When this happens just remember that the real reason you do good is because of the __________ inside of you.

8 . 16-year-old Gayowski was determined to seek fun with his friends once the busy school days came to an end. Their ____ was Red Mountain, a ski resort nearby.  

As a(n) ____ visitor since childhood, Gayowski knew all the ski paths well. This time, a path that wasn’t marked on the maps ____ him the most. He headed up for it and explored deeper and deeper into the bushes. It took a while for him to ____ that there was no way for him to ski. Gayowski slid to a stop and pulled out his phone but it was ____.  

The weather started to change. The winds were picking up and clouds ____ overhead. Soon it began snowing. Gayowski went deeper, reaching a ____, which he wished would lead him to a roadway.  

After he had followed the river for a long distance, Gayowski quitted any ____ of finding his way out. ____ and hungry, his legs were beginning to give out on him. He sat down under a tree, and curled up to ____ himself. Worse still, with the temperature below freezing, his phone was totally dead. ____, shouts coming behind him cheered him up. Then three ____ in the distance were approaching fast. He was in tears by the time they ____ him. 

Gayowski was more than ____ for their help, otherwise he couldn’t have returned safe and sound. After the incident, he decided to be a rescuer like them. The next time someone is ____ alone in the bush, he wants to be part of the team to save him or her.

9 . Henry fell in love with music when he was a teenager. He had a _________for it so that he began to write his own compositions when he was in high school. At college, he was given an opportunity to _________ his songs at a studio. These _________ were uploaded onto the Internet and people _________ positively. In addition, inspired by the virtual choir, he aimed to try out as a performer in a(n) _________ band.

Just two days previous to his_________, after setting up the equipment on the stage, he suddenly felt_________and fell down on the floor. He was sent to the_________at once. Unfortunately, it’s proved that he suffered from a rare disease, which his doctor assumed was difficult to _________. From then on, with aching treatment, he was __________ of acting like ordinary people. Only when buried in music could he__________sufferings. As it turned out, creating music was somehow a relief and helped him to have energy to__________against his disease.

Throughout his treatment, he__________50 songs altogether. He felt it was an honor to release these songs, which made a difference to people, giving them hope. Moreover, his music__________ to the deepest part of their being. __________, Henry was given the title of “Soul Singer”, winning many phenomenal awards.

10 . Jonathan Tiong came into the world with a rare disease that gradually damages muscles over time. A doctor _________ a prediction to his parents that he wouldn’t live beyond his second birthday.

Yet, Tiong not only surpassed (超出) the doctor’s _________ but also made great achievements. On the day of his 24th birthday in October, he gave a speech _________ at his graduation ceremony. What’s more, Tiong got a(n) _________ as an editorial writer at a famous wealth fund. However, all these amazing honors were not easily _________, for which Tiong went all out.

Beginning his _________ journey during the rise of remote work has also _________ the effect of his disability. Tiong finds _________ in the virtual field, stating, “Having everyone work online feels really great. Because when everyone is together online, I don’t feel like there’s actually much of a _________.”

Despite the __________ he has earned, Tiong remains a supporter for reshaping society’s opinion of success. “We must admit that living with a disability is a (n) __________ challenge in itself. Every day, countless individuals with disabilities __________ difficulties all over the world without media coverage, fighting their battles __________,” Tiong stresses.

His goal is not to lower expectations for individuals with disabilities but to __________ the traditional idea about success. “If we reconsider what it means to succeed, you’ll find that everyone out there who is doing their jobs quietly is __________.”