2 . In 2017, Barbara and Jean decided to spread the holiday spirit with Christmas gifts. Little did they know that this simple act of kindness would develop into a heartwarming tradition and, _______, the creation of their nonprofit organization, Resident’s Hope.

In their first year, they spent around $120 to provide Christmas gifts for 13 individuals at Nurses Helping Hands. The joy and _______ they witnessed inspired them to _______ a more ambitious mission—to bring the _______ of Christmas to as many nursing home residents as possible.

Fast forward to Christmas Day in 2022, and the dynamic two _______ an incredible milestone. Through their nonprofit Resident’s Hope, they had the privilege of serving over 400 individuals across five different nursing home facilities. The _______ growth of their initiative (行动) was a _______ to their consistent commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of those often _______ during the holiday season.

This heartwarming success pushed Barbara and Jean to take their mission to the next level. In July 2023, they _______ founded Resident’s Hope as a nonprofit organization. Their ________ initiative, the Christmas Giving event, became the driving force behind their cause. “Our organization ________ to nursing home facilities, shops for personalized gifts, elegantly wraps them with their signature bow, and ensures ________ delivery so that residents can enjoy Christmas presents,” the founders ________.

Resident’s Hope has become a ________ for seniors in nursing homes, offering not just gifts, but a sense of community and connection during the holiday season. The organization’s impact continues to grow, and the founders are determined to make each Christmas brighter for those who may otherwise be ________.

4 . I’m a university professor at an art school. Last year, I decided to _______ online classes to gain some knowledge of Arabic (阿拉伯语).

My teacher and I would meet a few times a month to practice _______ and go over grammar. During our communication, he also _______ details of his life. Gradually, the _______ of the first few lessons gave way to more familiarity and comfort. I stopped feeling embarrassed and began to open up about my own _______ and my battle with Arabic. “Don’t worry; I’m here to _______ you. You’re hardworking and I’m sure you’ll do well in it,” said my teacher. I had _______ my students with similar words in my own teaching. It was _______ to hear them directed at me. The tables turned.

“You are _______ today,” my teacher would say when I used varied vocabulary or expressions. When I heard these four words, I got a feeling of __________. It also surprised me that my confidence could be encouraged by such __________ praise. That was when I became aware how __________ I had praised my students. I thought much praise made them self-satisfied. But now, I had a change of heart and __________ that these plain words can mean a lot. Words __________. And now I become more __________ when I use them.

5 . It was dinnertime at Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. It was a feast (盛宴) but without _________ occasion. We had chicken, potatoes, green salad, corn and fruit salad. We sat at the table. Grandma _________ the food to Grandpa and their girls. Grandpa said, “Looks delicious. I’m as _________ as a bear.”

As soon as Grandpa picked up his _________, they heard a car drive up. Grandma opened the door, and in came Aunt Maud. “Come in! You’re just in time,” Grandpa said. Then in came Aunt Dessie, Aunt Clara, friends, and their families. Grandma was a little _________, “I never expected so many guests to come, but I can _________ it.”

Grandpa sat in the doorway. There was little _________ in the kitchen behind his chair. So he got up and pulled his chair in so people could _________. But when he sat down again a strange thing happened: His plate had _______ before his eyes! He put his fork down, thinking to himself, “Well, there seems no __________ for my plate anymore.”

Grandma tried to serve the kids some water, but Aunt Dessie __________ her, “We’ll take care of ourselves.” Then everyone started __________ around the sink (水池) and cupboard to drink water. Kids were thirsty! There were lots of kids. Grandma had enough food for four, not twenty-four! __________, Aunt Dessie helped Grandma make more dishes. The girls __________ to help, but Aunt Dessie said they were too __________ and had better stay at the table so that they wouldn’t do more harm than good. Grandma added some more foods to everyone’s __________. There was lots of laughter. No one __________ they had a good time.

The visitors announced their thanks and said, “Hate to __________ and run!” They hugged and took pictures outside. Leaving was __________. People waved all the way to the fence. Grandma was proud! They never found out who used Grandpa’s plate, but did know that he __________ the reunion and that was enough!

6 . In 2008, Calvin Lowe’s four-year-old son Tyler needed to have a serious operation.

On the appointed day of the _______, he and his wife brought Tyler to Children’s hospital Colorado in Denver. “As we sat in the waiting room, waiting for someone to _________ us back to the surgery area, there was a lot of _________ in our hearts,” Lowe remembered.

When a nurse called the family back, Lowe’s fears _________. A young doctor walked into the room and told the couple that he would be _________ the surgery. As the doctor began to _________ how the surgery would proceed, Lowe’s mind went to the worst possible _________. But then the doctor did something _________. He looked both Lowe and his wife in the eye, put a _________ hand on each of their shoulders, and said, “Today, your son is my son.”

After the surgery was over, the __________ came back to the family with a big smile and said, “Our son is just fine, and you can __________ him here in a few minutes.

Tyler is now 19 years old and hopes to become a professional photographer. All these years after the surgery, Lowe still __________ the young doctor’s kindness. “I will never forget that,” Lowe said. “Because that was indeed a __________ of stress then. I can’t tell you how __________ we both were for what he said to us that day. It was very __________ and meaningful.”

7 . “Look Mom, he paints like me!” Eight-year-old Alexandra Nechita had just discovered Pablo Picasso’s artwork for the first time. The art world _______ and began to call Alexandra the “Petite (小号的) Picasso”. This _______ artist has been turning heads in the art world ever since. 

Even at age two, Alexandra _______ nearly all her time on her coloring books. _______ their daughter spent too much time alone, Alexandra’s parents took her coloring books away. They hoped she’d start to jump rope or play with dolls. But taking away her _______ was like taking the air out of her life. Alexandra began to color on papers her mother _______ home from office. 

When Alexandra was four, her parents began to notice the portraits she drew. They were abstract and _______ Picasso’s work, with four eyes and two faces. She _______ painting with water colors and then with other paints. 

Alexandra’s classmates would sometimes _______ her paintings. But her ________ school teacher saw talent in her drawings. She helped eight-year-old Alexandra organize her first ________ at a local library. 

Within a year, Alexandra had several other exhibitions. Her exhibition at the famous Mary Paxon Gallery brought her to the ________ of national art critics (评论家). She began to ________ on television, in news and talk shows around America. 

Admirers have spent a large amount of money buying her paintings. But the ________ doesn’t seem to have affected her negatively (消极地). Through various charities, Alexandra shares her wealth with those ________ around the world.

8 . I have grown up with pictures and shapes. Ever since I was a little girl, still ________ able to read, my mom would set me up on her lap and read children’s picture ________ for me. She would point to each picture, trace each line and tell me which ________ made the pictures up. Attracted by the tracing of her finger, I would stare and concentrate my eyes to catch every movement that her finger made and would listen for the name of the shape. If I ________ anything, I would beg her to repeat the page over and over again, until I had the name and figure of the shape in my ________.

As I entered the second grade, my memorization of the shapes ________ with me. I learned newer, complex shapes and my knowledge of shapes ________ to the point where my old picture books I had at home could no longer satisfy my need for shapes. Instead, I ________ the world as my new, ________ picture book and read each building, house and truck as rectangles (长方形), squares with triangles and rectangles with circles on the bottom. If I could, I would go up to each ________ and follow the tracing ________ that my mom did when I was younger. I’d take my finger and trace along the outlines of the object and ________ what kind of shapes made it up.

At school, during the ________ , other kids would say playing dodge ball, but I would say playing spheres (圆球). ________ other kids saw a red wagon (马车), I would break the wagon down in my mind into a rectangle and two ________. I was the only one that saw these “pictures” broken down into shapes, where as everyone else saw it as a whole. Now that I am a senior in high school, I still see things in the same way.

9 . In 2010, Justin Horner was driving down a busy freeway in Portland, US, when his tire blew out. He _________ to the side of the road and made a _________ indicating his need for help.

Three hours later, a van finally pulled up and out came a Latino family of four. Despite the _________ barrier, they worked together to _________ Horner’s car, relying on the daughter’s broken English. One hour later, the car was fixed and the mom pulled out a big jug of water for them to drink and wash their hands.

Horner _________ them sincerely and attempted to give what he had in his wallet—a $20 bill—but they _________ to accept it. Despite their resistance, Horner _________ and eventually placed the money in the mother’s hand before walking away. A few moments later, their small daughter called out and offered Horner a _________ — a tamale (玉米粉蒸肉) —which he gratefully _________.

As they slowly drove off, Horner unwrapped the tamale and discovered his __________ wrapped inside. He rushed over to the van to give it back, but the father simply shook his head and smiled, saying, “Today you, tomorrow me.” With a __________, he drove off and Horner never saw the family again.

Months later, Horner shared his experience online, which __________ thousands of likes and comments. His story evolved into an essay in The New York Times and even inspired a handful of short films.

Horner knows that the phrase, “today you, tomorrow me” wasn’t __________ by that stranger in the van. He said it’s a common expression in Mexico, where he believes the family was from. However, the idea behind it is __________ .

“At the end of the day,” Horner reflects, “it shows that everyone can be __________ at some point and that everyone requires assistance.”

10 . There are moments when strangers’ lives collide (碰撞) by accident, when true character is__________ , often through acts of kindness and generosity of unlikely heroes.  

Not long ago, I was a(n)_______to that kind of moment. On a summer midnight, my parents and I were walking through the empty airport when I saw a passenger ____________ fall to the ground. We immediately ran toward him. My parents, who are doctors, dropped everything and began trying to________what had happened.Finally,they________that the man was hypoglycaemic (低血糖的) and in major need of sugar. However, the only thing we could find was a protein bar.We were___________it wasn’t enough to save him.

Just then, a young boy, Mecca, arrived at the __________. He quietly announced, “I have a Snickers (士力架巧克力)!” Nobody responded to him as they were in the________ of trying to save a stranger’s life. Mecca dug deep into his backpack, and________a Snickers. He then handed it to my father, who was trying to manage with the protein bar.

Within seconds of the Snickers replacing the protein bar, the man regained________. Mecca, a fourth grader, saved this stranger’s life!

However, Mecca had just been through a ________time. His father’s flight was unexpectedly canceled, __________him to fly alone. His grandmother filled his backpack with candy to make him a little less anxious.

When we told Mecca’s parents of his________actions, they smiled. They were surprised that he had saved some candy and was able to think about the candy during the_________ .