1 . 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.

2 . It began in November 2016,when Hinton, then 17, got a text message from an ________number inviting him to Thanks giving. When he asked who it was, the person responded:“Your grandma.”

“Grandma? Can I have your________?” the teenager replied. He received a photo of a woman he had never seen before. It was Dench, now 64.

Hinton wrote back,“You’re not my grandma,”________a laughing face. Still playing along, he jokingly asked:“Can I still get a________though?”

Dench replied:“Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do. Feed everyone.”Hinton soon realized her________invitation had turned ________, and he decided to take Dench up on her   ________. He went to her home in Mesa, Ariz., about a 25-minute drive from his house south of Phoenix, for a Thanks giving meal with her family,including her actual grandson, whom she________intended to text instead of Hinton.

Every year since then, the two friends and their families have gathered together for an annual Thanksgiving meal, and this year will be no________,despite the virus. Hinton, who shares regular________on social media about his Internet-famous friendship with Dench,________that the Thanksgiving tradition will ________this year, as well.

Although Dench was________about the misdirected text in 2016 at first, she said, both she and Hinton feel very________that it happened.“Family is more than________ ,” Dench said.“It’s the people you want to be with.”

3 . I discovered my teaching passion when I was in secondary school. At that time,I _________ that helping others with their homework was very enjoyable and _________ . I was always around when someone needed my help.

My decision to teach English in China was completely _________. I did my Bachelor degree in Education at the university, _________ a teaching assistant in a primary school for two years during my study and I was _________ of working with kids.

I _________ came to China in August 2019 and worked in a high school in Huayuan. At first, I was a little bit_________ , but I quickly adapted to a new teaching environment. I _________ my teaching job more and more each day.

After my 10-month contract expired (到期), I left China. I thought I would _________ come back because I needed new adventures and fresh start. It was no longer a ____________ for me. As it turned out, I should have never said never. After spending some time in Vietnam and Cambodia, I started ____________ China. I booked my tickets, flew to Hong Kong and took a train to my ____________ workplace -Huayuan. I got a job and started right away. It was a little bit ____________ experience to me. I worked with high school students and primary students before, but never with kindergarten kids. The real ____________ was just about to begin. . .

It is, above all, a lot of ____________ . These little Chinese “monsters” are extremely active and amusing. There is no way you can enter the classroom without being noticed by them. That always makes my day.

4 . I went for a walk up to a local park and Chester was running about. Suddenly, two dogs appeared, attacking him. He got _________ and ran off in an unfamiliar direction. I can only _________ myself-it’s like losing a family member. My daughter didn’t sleep for three days. She just thought her pet was _________.

My family had almost lost _________ until Erica decided to offer her services. She uses a drone(无人机)to help find lost dogs. Equipped with a hi-tech thermal imaging(热成像)camera, the drone can detect heat _________ from 250 feet in the air. _________, when asked to help out in a search for a _________, Erica simply turns up to the dog’s last known _________ and sets up the drone. Having found more than 160 dogs, it’s proved pretty _________.

And it’s easy to see why. Can you __________ Chester running around these woods? To the naked eye(肉眼), it’s virtually impossible, but pop the thermal image up and he jumps out, __________ his owner to bring him safely back home.

Having saved hundreds of dogs, the method is clearly __________. Erica doesn’t __________ for her services and instead does it for the pleasure of seeing the owners __________.

Erica’s drone has helped create countless happy __________ and is sure to make many more in the future.

5 . My mother suffered from a serious cancer one year ago. She’s always been my _________ . She taught me how to be a mom, and she’s been the best grandmother to my 4-year-old laughter Ishaanvi. When I heard the news for the first time, I felt _________ -my mother physically and mentally _________ . It’s the first time I have seen any sign of _________ from an otherwise strong woman.

But the stars were watching us，and my daughter _________ us. Not only was she my own source of _________ , but she made her grandmother bloom through the darkest of days. She would even go far enough to try to feed her and give endless hugs.

But when mom started to _________ her hair heavily, the cancer became more real for me. Whenever the doorbell rang, she would run to go get her wig（假发）. However, Ishaanvi kept on trying to _________ us that having no hair could be a trendy choice. To _________ it to us, she made the decision to shave off her hair ____________ her own！

Ishaanvi and my mom are partners in “hairless crime”. Every day they discuss the ____________ of a new hair, and what color it is. Neither one is ever ____________ by onlookers.

My daughter made me ____________ all the stigmas（耻辱）-Why are the courageous ones, those who are fighting for their lives, so embarrassed by the loss of their hair? Stand ____________ and show it off. It’s a battle scar and a symbol of honor that was ____________ ！

6 . Over the years, when a book has spoken to me with particular charm, I have written to the or, communicating what their work meant to me. Contrary to common held ________ that writer are too busy to ________ to their readers I have often found uncommon ________ of time and spirit among those I’ve written.

It all started in my 18th year，when I was entertaining my own visions of success as a writer. I was full of ________believing that becoming an author was ________ a matter of pouring my ________ onto paper and waiting for fame to erupt.

Then came the great disillusionment (幻灭). After a year of unsuccess, I wrote to ________ author Lloyd Alexander, begging him for ________ . To my delight, he answered ________ for fear of hurting my confidence: "Advice is always very easy to give but very hard to make it ________ and meaningful, since we all have to work in our own ways. When you mention that you’ve been writing for a year without being ________, I want to tell you that I wrote seven times that long without being published So, perhaps one piece of advice is: ________.”

I was ________ by the idea that a well-regarded writer would take the time to offer advice to a presumptuous (冒昧的) teen. But Mr. Alexander was not a single case. I continued to ________ to writers and, truth to tell, I didn't ________ receive a reply. But when I did get one, the content was often loaded with consideration.