1 . It was a hot, sticky Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of us set together, side by side, in rows of wooden folding chairs on the main _________ lawn. We wore blue nylon robes (礼袍). We listened _________ to long speeches and some students almost stood up. When the _________ was over, we threw our caps in the air, and we were _________ graduated from college. For many of us, the curtain had just come down on _________.

Afterward, I found Morrie Schwartz, my _________ professor, and introduced him to my parents. He was a small man who took small steps, _________ a strong wind could, at any time, blow him up into the clouds. In his graduation day robe, he looked like a Christmas elf (精灵).

He told my parents how I took every class he taught, “You have a special boy here.” _________, I looked at my feet. Before we left, I _________ my professor a present, a brown __________ with his initials (首字母) on the front. I bought this the day before at the shopping mall. I didn’t want to forget him. Maybe I didn’t want him to forget __________.

“Mlitch, you are one of the good ones,” he said, __________ the briefcase. Then he __________ me. I felt his thin arms around my back. I was taller, and when he held me, I felt awkward, older, as if he were the __________.

He asked if I would __________, and without hesitation I replied “Of course.”

2 . I once had a real show of what love is about from my son, Branton, who was then eight and totally unkind to his little sister, Susan.

One Autumn evening, I discovered Susan was ________. I thought she was in the house at first. By the time I ________ she was gone, Branton was comfortably on the sofa watching his favorite television program with a friend. After I’d searched every room for Susan, I began to be ________. It was dark by then, and she was only 5. Our house in the country had many ________ surrounding it.

Careful not to betray my ________, I announced, “Susan is gone.” There was a pause, then Branton ________ and looked at me. “I can’t find Susan,” I ________. “She isn’t in the house, and I don’t know where she is.” He was up as if a bomb had blown him off the sofa. “I’ll find her,” he said running to the door. Then he stopped and turned to his friend. “Get up, Jeff,” he ________, “We’ve got to find Susan. Hurry up.” Within two minutes he’d rung two doorbells to ask if the ________ knew where his sister was. Branton, still running at top ________, came up and passed me by, calling, “Susan, Susan.”

As we headed up the big path into the woods, I heard the sound of a child ________ out. It was Susan. I tried to comfort her we were coming — while attempting to ________ falling in the mud. Meanwhile, Branton ran on ahead, apparently ________ nothing. In another minute he had her in his arms. As I ________, I heard him saying repeatedly, “Susan, are you all right?” as tears streamed down his cheeks.

That night I told Susan, who frequently ________ Branton’s trick, that we all should know what Branton really felt about us.

3 . “I’m not a patient person at all,” says Tesni Ward, a wildlife photographer. As Ward continues, it becomes clear she’s talking about her life ______ photography.

It once took her about two hours to ______ the destination, two hours to find the mountain hares (野兔), about half an hour to get into the right ______, and then she just sat there and waited for another two hours. And then, she ______ got the desired images with a hare stretching and running.

What Ward can’t ______ is unethical wildlife photographers. These people are often ______ to wait for a long time and tend to ______ the photographing process. Having been sitting there for hours in vain can ______ photographers. In such a case, they ______ use some ways to attract animals out, which can ______ their natural behavior. According to Ward, a non-intrusive (非入侵的) way is to use a camera that shoots automatically when an animal is ______.

In the eyes of Ward, the ______ of wildlife photography is the unpredictability. “Every single encounter is going to be completely ______, which excites me most,” says Ward. But of course, there are also a set of ______.” Sometimes you take a lot of bad photos, because so many factors such as animals’ behavior and the light are out of your ______,” she says.

Ward’s overall goal in photography is to help people have a better understanding of wild creatures and inspire them to protect the wildlife.

4 . How do you pass your time during your subway commute (通勤)? Spending your time on your phone? Listening to music? Or just _________ the floor? Sabrina Bahsoon, a 22-year-old girl who lives in London, turns the subway into her _________.

Her self-shot videos of _________ dance routines (例行) filmed on London’s subways have been quickly spreading on TikTok, making her an overnight sensation (成名). Her influence has sparked a trend, _________ others to be confident and do what they want to _________ what other people think of them.

_________ in Malaysia, “a hot country and a relaxed place,” as she told BBC News, Bahsoon developed a confident character there. After moving to London for her college education, she has since then lived far from her friends in the city. Every time she wants to meet her friends, she has to spend a lot of time on the trip.

While listening to some music, she felt like filming a short TikTok video on the subway on one typical commuting night. But with no _________ willing to help her, she finished the short film dancing to a joyful song, _________ and confidently.

Inspired and encouraged by Bahsoon, many viewers soon left _________ comments to praise her for her __________ and confidence. Some also shared their own “Tube Girl” films on social media. This concept has __________ become a “movement” about embracing (拥抱) confidence.

__________, there has also been criticism as well. Some described her behavior as “__________”. But these “haters” do not bother Bahsoon at all. Rather, she thinks it is quite normal for girls to enjoy themselves and __________ their values. “Sometimes people will try to humble (使感到自惭) you so you can never __________,” Bahsoon told BBC News.

5 . On July 4, 2016, Kelly Burch was celebrating on a friend’s boat. At that time she wasn’t paying attention to the tide. When she ________ into what has been deep water, she hit the sand bottom, broke her neck and started to drown. Three weeks later, she ________ in the intensive care unit (重症监护室).

________, her parents, grandparents, sister and friends all step in to help her. After she left the ________, she went to six weeks of inpatient rehabilitation (康复), where she was getting three hours of therapy a day.

When the inpatient rehabilitation was over, she wanted to join a gym to ________ quality of life. Luckily, she found a gym that was open to ________ people in California. The first day that she rolled in, she saw a bunch of _________ wheelchairs and people like her pushing their ________.She felt hope for the first time.

But that gym cost $100 an hour. She knew that’s completely unattainable to the many people with the disabilities who are on fixed _________. She decided to take action.

Last year, she _________ a gym called Split Second fitness. The goal of it is to provide affordable fitness ________ to disabled people.

Kelly can now transfer herself from her _________ to the floor or her bed. That makes life _________ for her and her caregivers. She has seen _________ results in the clients going to her gym.

Her life isn’t about who she was yesterday. It’s about who she has to be tomorrow. She wants to help her clients ________ that, too.

6 . Years ago, I lived in the English midlands and would walk the same route along the local canal each evening. On winter mornings, I would see the _________ sight of bird flocks dancing across the landscape, a distant cacophony (刺耳的嘈杂声) _________ above the fields. They were jackdaws (寒鸦), the smallest member of the crow family.

Research led by Masters student Alex Dibnah asked: Why are jackdaws so loud when they _________? Then he began to work with a team. The team’s _________ was that the morning calls might be a jackdaw version of “_________”. Each individual’s call might _________ as an “I’m in!” helping them coordinate (协调) their _________.

To test this, the researchers artificially _________ call levels during the jackdaws’ morning cacophony using speakers at their sleeping sites. When extra calls were played, the jackdaws _________ earlier, showing they use calls as a check-in system.

Individual jackdaws __________ from leaving with the flock because they get more social information like where to find food, they can maximize their time spent finding food, and they’re less __________ being attacked. This sort of decision-making isn’t __________ to jackdaws — it’s been reported in other species as well.

So, the cacophony of jackdaws in the morning is a clever solution to __________ a large group. If you’re __________ by the noise, find comfort in the fact that the louder they get, the sooner they’ll leave you in __________.

7 . For 35 years, Floyd Martin has delivered the mail to residents in Marietta, Georgia. On the day of his ______ , the entire community ______ to honor this ______ mailman.

Martin became a postal worker with the United States Postal Service shortly after he graduated from high school and made many friends over the years. A little girl named Mae ______ the story of how she dressed like Martin for Career Day at school. “I was so honored,” the mailman said. “It ______ my heart.” Mae is one of the many kids in the ______ that love to see the mailman. That’s because Martin often gives kids candies. And it’s not just the children who get ______ . He also gives snacks to cats and dogs he comes across, too.

______ the packages he delivers and the treats he gives, Martin provides the neighborhood with something more ______ : kindness. Some neighbor s ______ their mailboxes with flowers, balloons and signs, and the celebration continued when his final day of work ended.

More than 300 neighbors attended the neighborhood party honoring Martin. Several stood up and said kind words to honor him. Then, Martin rose to thank the neighborhood. “Thank you for ______ me. We’ve gone through good times and bad times together.” He said ______ he had lost his parents and many of his friends, he knows he still has friends in the Mariett a neighborhood. “You are all here,” he said. “You were there when I ______ you, although you didn’t know it.”

Martin doesn’t have any children of his own. ______ , he knows that even in retirement, he can return to this neighborhood and see the hundreds of kids and friends who love him. “I love you guys. I say that. I mean it,” he said. “And that’s what the world needs more of now love, caring and ______ and taking care of one another.”

8 . Last Sunday, our school held an ice hockey (冰球) game. I was so proud when my team ________ the game. It made me feel like I could do ________. Only three years ago, I was________ of walking or skating on the ice. To deal with this problem, I decided to ________a skating club. I really envied (嫉妒) the other club members, who were so ________and confident on the ice. But my teacher was good at teaching and before I knew it, I was able to ________. He then advised me to try ice hockey. I ________ it and was soon practising ________ my local team almost every evening. We are now training for national games________  hope to be winners one day, but my final________is to be an ice hockey teacher and help people learn to play this game.

9 . In the past, I didn’t get on with my parents. I________talked to them, because they liked to________me with my sister. And that made me________and sad. I sometimes argued with them________this.

However, I wanted to show them that I could do things________my sister. Then I began to spend most of my free time________in my bedroom. Luckily, my art teacher, Miss Green,________me a lot of help. She taught me some drawing________to help improve my paintings. At that time, she was the only person I would like to talk to.

One day, I told Miss Green about my problem. She________me into taking part in a painting competition. In her________the best way to communicate with my parents was to prove________to them.

After a few weeks’ waiting, the result finally________. I was very happy and excited ________I got first prize! When I took the prize home, my parents were very________. They never thought I could do a good job. I could see that they were very happy. And they began to care more about me. Now,________between my parents and me are very good. So I think it’s very important to have someone to talk to.

10 . It’s just one little valve (阀门). I’m just guessing that it takes about 42 seconds to walk from the couch to where the valve is in our front yard, _________ it and return to the couch. And yet I didn’t.

Not that I wasn’t _________ to do so. The city already warned unpleasant results could follow our _________ to turn off that valve. My wife, Anita, also talked about it several times. Each of those _________ went something like this: “Joe, have you turned off the valve to the watering system?” she would ask sweetly. “Oh, that’s right,” I would say. “I _________ to do that.” “It would be great if you could do it before the ground freezes,” she would add, _________. Then I would _________ sincerely that I would do it tomorrow. But I didn’t. In my mind, there was no great rush to complete the task because we were having such a _________ fall followed by a usually warm winter. I kept telling myself that if it got really cold, I would do it. _________, it would only take about 42 seconds to do it. And it was such a(n) __________ thing.

And now we’re __________ it, with a couple of broken valves, a flooded basement floor and probably some __________ to the wall through which the water travelled on its way to the basement floor. The repairs to our watering system and the room have cost us several hundred dollars, not to mention the great __________.

So delaying is not simply putting off an action or a decision. It will have its own __________. Doing __________ is, in fact, doing something.