1 . Everyone deserves healthy meals. However, unfortunately, not everyone has ________ to fresh foods, ________ those in poor communities.

A teenager named Lauren Schroeder ________ this when she volunteered at a community food nonprofit. All vegetables for families in need came in cans and boxes, rather than straight from the fields. ________ to make a change, Lauren set out to grow produce so she could donate it to ________ families.

“I wanted people to get the nutrition they needed from fresh vegetables,” Lauren said. This ________ her to start a garden on her parents’ farm. While her mom was supportive, she made her ________ of how much work it would take-still, the teenager ________ the challenge.

To kick-start her project, Lauren got economic ________ from the National FFA Organization, which ________ agricultural education, to pay for seeds and gardening supplies. Then, the ________ work began. Since the summers in Iowa are very hot and dry, she had to water them daily. Lauren added, “I did a lot of research online and every day, it took about two or three hours.”

But all her efforts ________. Her first harvest resulted in 40 pounds of produce. “It was really good to know that anyone who wanted fresh vegetables would be able to get the ________,” Lauren said, “I knew that I wanted to keep going.”

So far, she has spent over 1,000 hours working in the garden, producing 7,000 pounds of vegetables. “I want to ________ community members. It makes a(n) ________ when you help other people out. That’s what makes me happiest,” Lauren said.

2 . I was watching over Dad that afternoon. He was unable to walk due to his stroke (中风) and had to rely _________ on others for most of his needs. At the moment he was _________ in another world in his wheelchair, with his head hanging down, seeming content and yet somehow _________.

Sometimes he’d get so frustrated because all he saw were his _________. To encourage him to do all that he could still do, including exercising his legs, I had to _________ him of all that he had done. He’d even get angry when I kept requiring him to do that, but I didn’t _________. It was a battle of the _________.

So _________ to motivate him, this time, I quietly said to him, “Hey, Dad, do you remember the day you taught me to cross the big street on my bike?” His _________ suddenly broke, and slurred (含混不清地说话), “Certainly,” raising his head. “You got to the middle of the street and ____________.” His eyes and mouth smiled and his face ____________.

Ahh, there’s my ____________, I thought. “So scared was I that I couldn’t move, I remembered. You walked with me from one side of the street to the other. With your tender voice and ____________ smile, you repeated, ‘It’s okay, you’re doing fine.’ I made it. Dad, you helped me to be all I could be.” Dad nodded and smiled.

And as we ____________ the day, he held his head up higher, and soon he was ____________ to exercise his legs. Wearing a gentle voice and a peaceful smile, I said, “It’s okay, Dad, you’re doing fine.”

3 . Yang He, a 64-year-old man from Yichang, Hubei, has observed the changes in finless porpoises (江豚) population with his camera for six years. As a(n) _________ of the finless porpoise, he has taken more than 100,000 photos of them so far.

Every day, Yang wakes up early and drives to the _________ of the Yangtze River. He waits _________ there for hours for finless porpoises to capture (捕捉) their _________ with his camera. Yang _________ finless porpoises very well. They are just like his children. As soon as one of them comes out from the water, he can tell which family it _________ .

The Yangtze finless porpoise is so _________ to the Yangtze River that any change in the health of its living environment can support or _________ its survival. “When I was a teenager, I could see many finless porpoises. I would often observe them _________ boats in the river,” Yang says. “But __________ human activities, finless porpoises became fewer.”

However, the situation has changed as __________ measures have been taken to protect the species. In 2017, Yang was __________ enough to take a photo of a finless porpoise after a long waiting. In 2019, he was able to take more photos, including images of the porpoises __________ fish near the riverbank.

Thanks to his camera, he once discovered and __________ a porpoise whose tail became entangled (缠住) with a rope. “I will make it my life’s work to __________ this amazing creature.” Yang says.

4 . On July 15, a small community in Colorado witnessed an extraordinary act of bravery during a fierce wildfire. Firefighter John Smith should have_______his shift hours earlier, but his_______to stay saved a family’s home from destruction. His_______came from a commitment to protect his community.

As reported by local news, Smith was nearing the end of his_______when he noticed a house in the path of the advancing flames. Without hesitation, he_______to the scene, aware that every second counted. He quickly assessed the situation and realized that with_______assistance, he might save the house.

He_______and grabbed a hose, battling the flames with intense focus. After hours of relentless effort, he managed to contain the fire, preventing it from spreading to the nearby_______area.

Once the danger had passed, the homeowners were_______and couldn’t express enough gratitude to Smith. They knew that their home would have been reduced to ashes without his_______efforts.

As for Smith, he remained_______about his heroic actions. “I was just doing my job,” he said modestly. In his view, it was not a_______, but rather a duty. “Anyone in my_______would have done the same,” he added.

Though Smith and the family were_______before the incident, they have since formed a strong bond. Smith may not have won any official_______, but his act of selflessness and courage won the hearts of the entire community.

5 . When I was a child, there was nothing I loved more than painting. It was my. ________ of joy. I could spend hours being lost in my ________ , bringing to life the images in my mind.

However, after graduating from college, the ________ of work took hold. The hobby that filled my childhood with happiness ________ faded away (逐渐消失).

One sunny day I found myself ________ in a nearby park. I. ________ a group of children sitting together, their eyes. ________ wonder and their hands covered in paint. They were laughing describing their dreams on ________ , and at that moment, I was transported back to my own childhood.

________ those kids, I realized that I had lost something precious (宝贵的) along the way. It was time to reconnect with the ________ within, to rediscover the world of colours and imagination. Despite the ________ life, I decided to pick up my brushes and ________ to the world of art.

Painting has become a way to ________ the beautiful moments of my life, whether it is a golden sunset, a beautiful flower, or a lazy afternoon. I paint not to become a famous artist, but to ________ the joy of my childhood, to ________ the simple pleasures of life, and to hold onto the magical world of imagination.

6 . A taxi driver specially gave a free ride to a mother and her little boy Tyler who had a sudden attack of an illness on the road.18 years later, a touching ________ followed.

66-year-old Carl booked a taxi to the hospital. He had ________ from work and had developed health ________ due to old age. He was waiting outside his house when a taxi approached him ________ . Carl waved at the young driver. He got in and ________ the driver to drop him off at the hospital.

They didn’t ________ much during the half-hour drive. When Carl ________ his wallet, he found he had no cash. “Hey, do you accept cards?” he broke the silence, only to be ________ to tears by the young driver’s reply. “Sir, you don’t have to pay me. All the trips I make to the hospital are free!” Carl was greatly ________ and asked, “Free? But why?”

The driver smiled, “When I was little, I suffered from an attack in need of ________ treatment on the road, and a kind taxi driver drove me to the hospital for free and ________ my life. My mother told me the driver never ________ for trips to the hospital. His ________ inspired me, so I do the same!”

Carl’s heart felt lighter and happier. “What’s your name, young man?” he inquired the driver. And tears of joy ________ his eyes when the driver said, “My name is Tyler.”

Be the light that helps others ________ the darkest of times.

7 . When Megan Becker was five years old, she created something special for her dad Glenn Becker on Father’s Day. It was a paper craft tie! After several hours of ________ using construction paper and crayons, Megan couldn’t ________ to present it to her dad.

Glenn told his baby girl it was a(n) ________ gift, and he would not only keep it forever but also wear it on her wedding day. Her father then ________ the tie over his bedroom mirror to display his favorite gift. Even though as a teenager Megan thought it was ________, it touched her heart that her father cared so much.

But ________, the tie Megan made for her dad as an art craft ________ around the time she was getting married. At that time her parents had ________ and Glenn said it had gotten lost somewhere in the packing.

With no more ________ of the tie, Megan walked down the aisle (通道) to get married with her father proudly ________ her away. But when it was time for the father-daughter dance, Glenn ________ on the dance floor wearing the crayon-colored, paper tie!

Megan was surprised and burst into ________. It turned out Glenn, who was a big jokester, ________ the tie in his toolbox until the wedding. He was using it to ________ her daughter on her wedding day! Glenn’s act of love is an incredible ________ of how father loves his children.

8 . Cessna planes flew me and my climbing team onto the Kahiltna Glacier, the base camp of Mt. McKinley. When we worked to __ a camp out of the thick snow and ice of the glacier, we heard one of Spanish climbers had died while climbing.

Sam, one of my partners, __ , and worried that this disaster might be a bad __.

He asked whether we were putting our __ at unnecessary risk by attempting this. I thought back to my training more than a year ago in the __ , by running with my guide dog because I am blind. One day I had __ a cactus(仙人掌), landing on my hand. One of my friends asked me, “If you fell down in the desert, how do you __ to climb that big mountain?”

I didn’t yet have an __ , but I knew within a year, I would have to!

For the next year, we trained hard. Now I said __ , “Sam, we’ve come a long way in a year. We’ve made mistakes, we’ve learned from them. We’ve solved problems __ prepared for all the things that could go __ on the mountain. ”

Now, I had enough __ . We began to take each step slowly and carefully, knowing that the mountain would not allow any __ movement. Risk is like the next __on a rock face: you reach for it expecting that it’s __ , but ready to find the next hold if it’s not!

It took 15 days for us to get to the top of North America.

9 . Justin Gavin, 18, was on a walk to a local shop. Then he saw something that made his heart _________. A small SUV _________ in flames (火焰) drove past him.

“I’m yelling (叫喊) to stop the car! Your car is on fire! Your car is on fire!” Gavin said. But the driver — a mother of three kids, couldn’t stop. That’s when, Gavin says, he didn’t have _________ to think and fell into action. He ran after the burning car to help the family _________. “I just felt like if I were in that _________, I would want somebody to help me out,” Gavin said. “I guess my instincts (本能) _________.”

When Gavin finally reached the _________, it had come to a stop. He _________ the car door and helped the mother out of the driver’s seat first. As the flames grew larger, he pulled the three children in the back seat to _________. Moments later the car was swallowed by flames.

“It kind of got __________ because I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to get everyone out in time. And __________, I did,” Gavin said.

The mother __________ the teen with saving her family’s life. The police department honored Gavin as a __________ and awarded the teenager with a “challenge coin” to acknowledge his __________ act.

Gavin said the experience was inspiring and changed his __________ of life. “It made me realize life is short and valuable,” Gavin said.

10 . I was born in a poor village in Uganda. I spent the ________ days of my childhood there. My mother died when I was born. My father never cared about me, which ________ me to leave when I was ten. For the next three years, I helped people do something and they provided me with shelter and food ________. Luckily, a ________ family paid for me to go to school. For the first time after leaving home, I felt ________. Then, I attended school and got a job. I always ________ to help children in need. Yet I ________ felt I could do something more.

In 2016, I got passed to be a foster (收养) parent. By the end of 2019, ten kids had filled my house. In 2020, I got a call from a center for ________ children. When asked if I could take Anthony, I ________ it because ten kids were all I could do with. ________, I was talked into taking Anthony just for the weekend. I didn’t ask about his situation ________.

Anthony arrived that night, “Can I call you Dad?” he asked.

“No.” I needed to keep my ________.

Monday morning a worker in the center came to ________ Anthony. From their talk, I learned he had been ________ three times, but nobody would take him in.

Looking at Anthony, I saw something that made me think of the ________ boy I had once been. “I’ll take him in,” I said.