1 . At 111, Dr Edith Kaufmann was the second oldest person in the UK. I met her when I _________ a care home for the elderly in London six years ago. I didn’t realize it would be the start of a close _________, where the age gap was eight decades.

At first sight, I was _________ by her self-confidence. Her doctorate (博士学位) told me she was intelligent and _________. From the beginning, I never felt as if Edith and I _________ conversation. Edith could have a full conversation with me about anything, and that her memory stretched back so easily, _________ even small things which took place 100 years ago.

She was also _________ . She loved dancing as a child and I recall, only a few weeks before her death, she laughed _________ when I played the waltz (华尔兹) and we _________ hands and danced along to the music. Although towards her later years she was __________ to a wheelchair, she still participated in the exercise classes.

As I __________ Edith each week, I realized that I was going as much for me as I was for her. I learnt to take the words of __________ when I could get them. When I have __________ over the years, and small decisions have weighed on my mind, I have __________ nothing more than the opportunity to regain my perspective on life and what actually __________.

3 . I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left ________. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other ________?

I was ________ in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, when children from different races and religions played and studied together in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone’s ________ from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu — we just ________ our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well meant or otherwise. We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d ________ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to ________ the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his ________. When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I lost touch with him.

One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. When I ________ my destination, the driver acknowledged (告知收到) my ________ but did not move off. Instead, he looked fixedly at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname. I was astonished at being so ________ addressed (称呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two ________ we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true ________ something hard to describe.

If we can allow our children to be themselves without ________, they’ll build friendships with people ________ race or religion, who will be by their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies built and then we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “We happy few. We band of brothers.”

4 . Yesterday two unexpected visitors came to our balcony during the brief time we were out. Two brave ______ had came into a district to ______ the freshness of our washbasin and some other bread pieces on our balcony.

When you came across such sudden visitors, are you ______ to sense it as an invasion (入侵) into your comfort zone, or you might ______ it as a lovely moment of Life? We chose the second option, with no ______. After all, we’ve been feeling encouraged to ______ the relationship with our sparrows more and more each day. We can’t stop _______and celebrating their dance from our window. We fed them with the leftovers (剩菜) on our tablecloth after every meal. And we have ______ them with our balcony. ______, they feel at ease in our courtyard. And that has led them to ______ up courage and determine to enter our house. Perhaps they have the feeling that we no longer consider them as unexpected guests, but friendly ______, who only leave some waste from time to time.

The ______ of our dear sparrows draws us out of our boring daily ______ and shows us the potential beauty. They often take different human forms. We’ve met sparrows like those, of all shapes and ______. And they’re everywhere. Perhaps all of them are willing to surprise us. Perhaps all of them are willing to catch our ______. They only ask us not to be afraid of them or feel reluctant (勉强的) to their presence.

6 . When I imagine my future, I see myself as an adult who is confident in my abilities, doing a job I love and living my life _______. When I grow up, I will be enjoying more _________ brought by the advances in technology, with more time to pursue my _________ and enjoy the company of my family and friends. For these reasons, I look forward to the future as the happiest time of my life.

I will feel happy in the future because I will learn more about life and _________ into the best person I can be. I will become more knowledgeable about the world and myself. I will also handle more responsibilities and _________ problems in a more thoughtful manner.

_________ new technology, my future life is sure to improve in various ways. Homes will become _________ to the extent that they might be programmed to learn about our needs and _________ our health and activity. I can imagine hearing an AI voice _________ me to buy groceries or do more exercise! There will also be enormous advancements in __________ options. I will be riding in a self-driving car, and other new means of transport may be developed in the future. These __________ in technology are certain to make my future life more comfortable and convenient. The working day will be only four __________ long thanks to robots. Working less time means I can do __________ I enjoy most, such as spending time with family and friends, __________ in fun activities and learning new skills.

Thinking this way gives me the __________ to work hard now so that I can have a successful, fulfilling(令人满足的) and enjoyable future life.

7 . It was a long drive to the nursing home (敬老院,养老院) where my grandmother was living. _________, at least twice a month I drove to see her. I’d already _________ my mom to cancer and I wanted to always remember my grandmother, especially because she was beginning to _________ me. Nanna had Alzheimer disease (老年痴呆症), which was slowly starting to eat away at her _________. Sometimes she recognized me when I visited her and sometimes she didn’t.

On one visit, I _________ my grandmother good-bye and started to walk towards my car. Suddenly a tiny hand seized mine. “James!” a _________ voice said. I turned and saw a smiling, wrinkled face. Like my Nanna, she had Alzheimer disease but was still able to walk and get around. She _________ me for her son (A nurse told me he’d died years ago). I held her hands and let her joyfully _________.Though her eyes didn’t know who I was, I saw the excitement in them when she spoke to her son through me.

On the following visits, I always took _________ to visit my Nanna as well as her. I always got a smile and sometimes even a __________ from her. The nurses told me she was always __________ and calmer after seeing her “son”.

Then one day I noticed she was __________. I spoke to the nurses and they sadly told me that she’d been dead for some days. I put my head __________ and went quietly into my Nanna’s room.

Her loss didn’t really hit me __________ I went for a walk at night. I looked at the sky, realizing something—for a while I really had been her son. Actually, in this world we’re all __________ by invisible strings of love.

8 . Larry was performing with his acting troupe (剧团) on the streets in England. As the crowd _________ around the professional actors, the stage was _________ for an exciting story completed by costumed actors and an energetic narrator telling the story on a loudspeaker.

When the story took a turn, Larry's character was thrown from an imaginary _________ . The actor fell to the ground and began _________ heavily to show the seriousness of his false _________ . Though the audience understood that this was all an act, there was one member who couldn't _________ to watch Larry lying on the ground in great _________ . Larry accepted an interview and recalled his reaction to the _________ .

“The character I played was hurt and painful,” he said. “He'd fallen off a horse, and was breathing hard. I felt _________ on my face. First, I thought my scene partner was approaching me.” Instead of feeling disappointed that some __________ the scene, Larry quickly broke into a smile as he felt the kisses from a __________ worried dog. “I was very happy when I felt the dog’s kisses,” Larry recalled. “I was very __________ . He was like an angel who wanted to help me. It was a very emotional moment for me. I hadn't __________ it.”

Some people might think that the acting troupe would be __________ about this accident, but everyone seemed to enjoy the dog's reaction to the scene. The dog showed its __________ for humans in a strong way.

9 . I’ve had many opportunities to experience living in a foreign culture. But my first experience came in an _______ place—my own country. When I was 20, I got an internship (实习职位) in New York City. It was my first time to _______ outside of my home state of Texas.

With my move north came culture _______ . I grew up in a big city in Texas. But it was no comparison to the tightly _______ New York with their 8 million citizens. I was used to life at a _______ pace; New York moved fast. The saying is true—this city never _______ . I had to adjust.

My first reaction was fear. Fear I would _______ at my new internship in the 54-store y office building. Fear of getting lost on the subway. Fear that the locals wouldn’t have _______ for my frequent moments of confusion. My fear ranged from reasonable to silly. But I _______ my fears and kept trying.

I learned quickly never to ________ a New Yorker always speaks English. New York is home to people of all walks of life, from all corners of the world. At weekends, I would spend hours ________ along Canal Street in Chinatown—the closest I’d ever been to an Asian country.

By the end of my internship, I was a little older, a little wiser and ________ of big city life. I hated the skyscrapers, tourists and the high price I had to pay for a cheeseburger and fries. But I had ________, too. I was quicker, smarter and more independent. I knew I would ________ that feeling of having the world right at my doorstep. It was good ________ for the life of travel I’d soon begin.