1 . David lost his beloved dog Baya before Christmas two years ago. Baya was active and cute. David’s family spent many days _________ for their furry (毛茸茸的) family member. The kids said they wouldn’t want any _________ from Santa Claus. They just wanted to get their dog back. All attempts to find her turned out to be _________. Baya was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the family wouldn’t have any more _________.

Two years later, a homeless dog _________ alone on a busy road. Someone _________ it to the Animal Protection Association (协会). Thanks to the microchip (芯片) planted in the dog, the association was able to _________ the owner. They _________ David. When David got a phone call that they were going to get Baya back, the family were pretty _________.

Obviously, Baya is __________ to living in this home. She is quite __________ of where her feeding bowl is. Even though Baya isn’t the dog she used to be, David is confident she’ll become her old __________ again. He said, “She was a very healthy and __________ dog. She’s not like that anymore, but we’re going to get her back. Our whole family are taking __________ of her. Kids play with her happily. She’s __________ her joyful nature. We will love her even more.”

2 . Vel Scott is known for creating a bustling (热闹的) nightlife for Black Clevelanders in the 1960s. But now this grandmother has changed her life’s work into helping others change their eating habits and creating a(n) _______ lifestyle.

In 1963, Vel and her husband Don Scott _______ a nightclub. They brought in all kinds of performances from around the country to _______ people and served food and drinks. While the _______ husband-and-wife team continued to thrive (兴旺) _______, some alarming news was revealed about Don’s health. He was diagnosed during the 80s with heart problems and they knew they had to make some _______.

Vel took it upon herself to _______ new dishes. The things she learned helped her husband reverse (逆转) some of his health _______ in just a few short months. In 1998, she started Vel’s Purple Oasis — a community-based urban _______. It’s the place where people of all ages learned how to grow and eat healthier ________.

Dionne Thomas-Carmichael, a friend of Vel who suffered from cancer, said, “Vel has really helped to ________ me to eat really more fruits and vegetables.”

Vel brings the farm to the ________. And she brings residents to her community kitchen and gives them cooking lessons.

“The Black community has the highest rates of cancer and the highest rates of diabetes (糖尿病). It’s up to us to change our ________ and our eating habits,” Vel said.

Like Carmichael, many people have ________ Vel with helping them to take back their health, ________ at the kitchen table.

3 . Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, France, into a poor family. The French chemist and microbiologist made remarkable scientific _________ regarding the principles of vaccination (疫苗接种), microbial fermentation, and pasteurization (巴氏灭菌法) .

The family was on a very tight _________. However, his parents _________ education and found support to send him to the best schools they could afford. Pasteur had a _________ for painting and drawing. When he realized that art was _________ to earn a living, he changed to _________

He was not a (n) _________ student, but he worked very hard once he put his mind to it. It took him three tries to pass the exam to get into his _________ school. Later, he owed his success to his _________. He impressed senior scientists with his hard work and willpower in __________ some of the most difficult scientific problems.

Pasteur’s__________research was completely self-funded. His wife, Marie, __________ supported his work and acted as his assistant in the lab.

As he became famous gradually, he was able to __________ research positions at more great institutions. Eventually, he was able to establish the Pasteur Institute to __________ and prevent the causes of disease, particularly rabies.

He was highly respected and won just about every award __________ in his field. As a consequence, Pasteur greatly advanced the science of his day.

4 . Dressed in a kachhad, a traditional Nepalese clothes, Umesh Balal walked into his meetings at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on climate change in Dubai with a sense of determination.

Balal, who has physical disability, was there to publicly _________ inclusion of disability rights in the climate change conference, an aspect that he said has long been _________ by organizers of the world’s largest annual meeting on climate issues.

As a student, Balal was _________ about science and involved himself in research on environmental science. Those were his first few interactions that _________ the climate related issues to him. Being from a mountainous region, Balal _________ more about how climate change had _________ people there, which led him to develop climate anxiety.

The more Balan _________ himself to climate science, the more he learned about the impact of climate change. People with more resources have better chances of _________ the climate crisis. But the less developed countries, for the _________ communities, usually don’t have the same opportunities, which will push them further into the __________

And it is even harder for people with __________. Many people with disabilities in Nepal don’t have __________ to proper education or opportunities for growth. As a result, they aren’t able to advocate for their rights.   

In an interview, Balan said, “__________, I am honored that I come from a supportive family, where I had a chance of good education which __________ me to grow in life. This is what I __________for others, to change the way they live their lives.”

5 . Christian Bowers, now 24, has Down Syndrome (唐氏综合征) and it’s been hard for him to find good friends. His mom, Donna Herter, said his lack of friends was making him feel ________.

Herter didn’t know who to turn to. So, she posted it on Facebook. “I just basically said that I was looking for a young ________,” she said. “I told them that I’d pay them $80 for two hours to just ________ and play video games with him. All he ________ wants is just a guy friend to do guy stuff with.”

Herter said Christian attends events for people with special ________, but he “desires a friendship with somebody who is ________”.

Herter sent the post at I am and when she woke up, it had about 5,000 comments. She saw parents ________ suggestions, others volunteering to help. “My hands were ________. I was sweating,” she said.

After ________ a few local guys in Wentzville, Minnesota, Donna ________ it down to seven who now visit Christian once a week.

James Hasting was one of the men she ________. Hasting said he works with people with disabilities and it’s something he has a(n) ________ for. He said he had visited Christian three times so far and they had a wonderful time together.

“Though on the ________ we may look different, deep down we have ________ and getting along should be easy,” Hasting said. He hopes to ________ others to form friendships-because you never know how much it means to someone.

6 . Dolphins. That’s how I got into trouble. My family were eating dinner when I _________ it up. I mentioned a friend posting overly inspirational quotes accompanied by photos of rainbows, sunsets, heart-shaped clouds, you _________ it. “Now she’s moved on to dolphins, I wonder if killer whales are _________ .” Everyone in my family _________ , except my 17-year-old daughter, Maggie. “You’re snarky (爱挖苦的), Mom. You make fun of everything.” I wanted to argue, but Maggie gave me the teenage _________ shoulder.

All night I thought about what Maggie had said. Was she _________ ? Was I too snarky? Actually, I wasn’t a _________ person. But around people I was comfortable with, I did tend to _________ things.

So for this New Year’s Resolution, I _________ I’d stop being snarky. The first few days, I wasn’t expressing the snark, but the __________ kept running in my head. I, however, controlled them. Gradually, I managed not only to stop being snarky, but to be __________ to others.

Several days later, I was in the regular supermarket. The check-out clerk was a sour woman who rarely said anything apart from the __________ “welcome”. Noticing she seemed sad, I didn’t give the __________ in my usual way. Instead, I just __________ for her. I did something I’d never done before. I smiled at her. She smiled back. I left the store feeling __________ somehow.

7 . Your kindness to others can save them and make them spread the kindness to help more people. Thea Rhiannon was driving her old car down a road. When she rolled down the ________ to let in some fresh air, the sun visor(遮阳板) was blown off onto the floor.

She was about to pull off and ________ down to grab it when she found the oncoming ________ accidentally pulled the steering wheel(方向盘) and was driving to her. In panic, she pulled the wheel ________ in the other direction. The car ________ over three times, and Rhiannon was thrown out. When she ________, she found herself lying in the middle of the ________, and bleeding from injuries. Rhiannon remembered a young man ________ her. “The young man stayed with me until the ________ got there,” she recalled. “He covered me with a blanket and ________ me first aid, including putting a tourniquet(止血带) on my left arm, where I was ________ badly.”

An emergency room doctor spent hours removing all the ________ glass of windshield from her arm, and gave her three dozen stitches(缝线). The next day, one of the doctors told Rhiannon that without the ________, she would have probably bled to death before the doctors arrived.

Over years, the hero may not realize his ________ on others, but Rhiannon has spared no effort to ________ his kindness.

8 . It was just before Christmas that my brother Jeremy and I were ready to watch a Nationals baseball game. We_________it very early that morning. With his brown beard to his chest, Jeremy was in a bright Nationals-red shirt and pale khaki shorts, in the_________of baseball.

On the subway, Jeremy caught the_________of a five-year-old girl. She stared at him, trying to_________the world’s greatest mystery.

Jeremy is always_________with children, and in his deep, charming voice said, “Hello!” The little girl could not contain her_________. She cried, “Santa!” Jeremy leaned down to her and _________ , “How did you know it was me?”

“Oh, it was the _________. No one has one like that but Father Christmas!” The little girl said. She_________ “Santa” up and down. “But, why isn’t your beard__________?” she asked.

Jeremy was__________. “Before Christmas, Santa goes undercover. I dye my beard brown so that people won’t__________it’s me.” he explained, “Now you know my secret so you can’t tell anyone.”

The little girl nodded with__________ , her eyes never leaving “Santa”.

As the little girl hopped off the subway, Jeremy called out. “I’ll see you at__________! Be good!”

“I will! Your secret is__________ with me, Santa!” she called back.

9 . John and Mary were approaching their home town by car when they noticed some smoke. Mary said. “Oh, well, it isn’t our house on _______ . Let’s go home.”

John, however, _______ up and they were both horror-stricken to _______ the whole house was burning. A woman was _______ , “The children! Get the children!” John grabbed her, “Where are they?” “In the basement,” she cried.

Despite Mary’s _______ , John quickly soaked (浸湿) his clothes and ran to the basement which was full of smoke and extremely _______ . He found the door and _______ two children, holding one under each arm. As he _______ , he could hear some more whimpering (抽泣). He _______ the two badly frightened children into the arms of the people ________ outside, asking how many more children were down there. They told him two more. Mary wanted to stop him again, “John! Don’t go back! That house will ________ in any second!”

But he went back anyway. It took him a very long time to find the two children. They three were all ________ and they bent to get some ________ air. As they stumbled (蹒跚而行) up the endless steps, something strangely ________ went through his mind. The little bodies he had just ________ were his own children.

10 . In 2013, Linda Reddish had to fly alone with her newborn baby from Nebraska to Chicago. However, she could only _________ the cheapest ticket, which meant she couldn’t _________ her seat. She wondered how she would breastfeed without embarrassing the _________ next to her.

But as she felt _________ in her seat on the plane, a woman, who had a really warm smile, sat down and _________ herself. Reddish then learned that her name was Karen Clemson and that she had been a nurse all her life.

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about it, Karen looked at Reddish _________ and said,” I am very happy to have a beautiful mother and baby sitting next to me.

Reddish felt _________ by having Clemson next to her during the journey. At one point, when it was time for Reddish to breastfeed, Clemson offered to _________ the baby’s blanket, to give her some _________.

“I just kept thanking her,” Reddish said. “But she said it’s OK.”

After Clemson said her goodbyes, Reddish thought she’d never __________ her again. But on her __________ flight home, there was Clemson, in the gate waiting area. Once again, Clemson __________ to sit next to Reddish. During the flight, she even helped Reddish hold the baby, so she could have a __________.

Reddish says she still __________ Clemson whenever she flies. “Because of her, every time I get on an airplane. I am __________ to sit next to a family with children if I have a chance to pick my seat.”