3 . When I was fifteen, I wrote an essay about how excited all my friends were to be getting driver’s licenses. I was full of _______. I knew I’d always be walking everywhere I went or else relying on others to _______ me.

I have a condition called dry-eye syndrome (综合症). _______ I do have some sight, I never know when I _______ in the morning exactly how much vision I will have that day. The _______ for this is that my eyes do not produce enough tears.

There are many things I cannot do. I can’t drive or read a book. But there are far more things I can _______ do. In high school, I played basketball. My teammates gave me oral (口头的) _______ and I learned to judge where the ball was by their voices. I learned to focus extremely well and _______ the sportsmanship award.

Do I wish I could _______ like other people? Of course. But being blind hasn’t ________ me in any of the important ways. If I’ve had to depend on my friends, ________ I’ve learned who my friends really are. I don’t know why God chose to give me only a little ________. Maybe he did it so that I would ________ what I do have. Maybe he did it so that I would have to ________ my other talents to compensate (弥补). It ________.

There are many different ways to look at life. This is how I see it.

5 . A winner of the highest honor in the field of translation, Xu Yuanchong was best known for his translations of ancient Chinese poems into English and French. Xu _________ himself to translation for more than 60 years. For him, translated literature is “a beautiful _________ for the whole world.”

His academic _________ began during his college years in Kunming. In the late 1940s, he spent a few years in France studying French literature. Then he _________ China after graduation and devoted himself to translation ever since. Xu was the first Chinese to _________ Chinese poetry into English and French in rhyme. He was _________ the “Lifetime achievements in translation” in 2010. He was also the first Asian translator to _________ the Aurora Borealis Prize (北极光奖) — one of the highest _________ among international translators — and gained _________ recognition.

Throughout his academic research, Xu __________ the beauty of language and was __________ in creating literary ties between Chinese, English and French speakers. His works have served __________ a cultural bridge linking the East to the West, which __________ English and French-speaking people to better understand the beauty of Chinese literature and the Chinese __________ within. Chinese readers, __________, can appreciate foreign works in the same way they would read novels and poems written in their mother tongue.

7 . I knocked lightly on Mrs. B’s door. “I’m Barbara, a hospice (临终安养院) volunteer.” I said nervously. It was my first week on the job, and my biggest ________ was figuring out how to begin with a patient.

“Please, sit down,” Mrs. B said, indicating the chair beside her bed. We chatted ________ about the ________ on her windowsill — her two daughters, many grandchildren, even great-grandchildren. Then she grew ________.

“What were you thinking about when I walked in?” I asked, sensing she might be waiting to see if I would ________ her to the truest place where this conversation could go.

“I know I’m not going to be around much ________. I’m at peace with that. But my grandson called yesterday. He’s ________ that he can’t make it to see me before I pass.”

“Have you thought about writing him a(n)________?”

Mrs. B seemed to ________ a little. “I can dictate (口述) if you’d write for me,” she said.

I walked down the hall and ________ pens and paper materials. Mrs. B ________ her grandson’s letter and decided to dictate others — for her daughters, the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Then she ________ her church community and her bridge club too.

She asked me to put away the letters before I left. “I asked God to send me a(n)________ this morning,” she said. “Now I know it was you.”

At the very moment I came to realize that we all ________ a loving spark. Kissing Mrs. B on her forehead, I knew simply showing up might be a precious ________.

8 . “I’ve met an old lady,” I eagerly told my parents on one of our daily phone. I volunteered to start a knitting club at a care home for the ________ in north London. I didn’t realize it would be the start of a close ________, where our ages ________ sharply.

From the beginning, I never felt that Edith and I lacked ________. I was amazed that Edith, at 110, could talk with me about anything, and that her ________ stretched back so easily, ________ even small things that took place 100 years ago.

When I first met Edith, I was ________ by her intelligence and vitality. Her doctor’s degree from the University of Vienna told me about this. As a child, she loved to skate on the lake in winters, but in her later years she adored the summer, ________ her physical conditions. Although from her nineties, she was ________ to a wheelchair, she participated in the exercise classes.

Over the years of visiting Edith, I understood how Edith valued the ________ of people above everything else and material possessions, which was a reminder of how we should ________ our lives.

Death at 111 is not unexpected, but I still feel that something is ________ from my life. I feel very fortunate to have formed such a ________ bond with a remarkable lady, from whom I learn to take the words of ________. I appreciate nothing more than the opportunity to regain new ________ into life.

9 . I stared out the window,_______ the snow. Damn holidays. . . I thought as I saw the people outside caroling(唱颂歌)outside. Can’t I just be left alone!I got up from my bed and, in _______, made for the kitchen.

I made myself dinner, which wasn’t anything_______. I wasn’t the best cook so I just made myself a stir fry and_______ it a day... That was until I heard the noise. Did someone throw ice at my window? Maybe a thief? I _______ the katana(武士刀)and walked down stairs. I searched the entire house until I found a puppy, so cute and_______. I couldn’t help but _______ at this creature. I decided to keep it and named it Arthur. His eyes were blue like a husky dog. Maybe a mixed breed? I thought as I washed Arthur up and dried him with a_______. Then I spent all night_________with my new friend. It was the first ________of joy I felt during the holidays in years. For the next week, Arthur and I spent the holidays watching romance movies on Netflix, sleeping, or ________ our mouths with the food in the house. It was probably the happiest I’ve been in months. Arthur really made an impact on my life that I never thought was ________.

Arthur stayed by my side a majority of the time. My friend called him ‘mama’s boy’ or something silly like that. I didn’t________ it, though. Every year on Christmas day, I thanked God for giving me the ________. And I ________ felt blessed with My Arthur. My little boy.

10 . On New Year’s Day, my 13-year-old son Mike broke his leg while skiing. Honestly speaking, it was no more than another ________ in the past five years. My family had suffered a lot and we had ________ that spending time outside together in winter would bring great fun and lead us through the pandemic. Thus, I wouldn’t let this accident leave my kids in low ________ — I wanted to ________ the very best of better plans.

At dinner on a Tuesday, it came to me. In the coming springtime, I announced, we would have a family roller disco party in the house. My children looked up, their ________ hanging open like caught fish — they were ________. I knew I was supposed to provide more ________. I said, “When Mike recovers, we will order roller skates and rainbow strobe lights to decorate our doorways, push the furniture to the side and have a roller disco party.”

Later that day, my youngest son wore his roller skates and ________ the news when he joined a Zoom call with his third-grade class. Unfortunately, ________ he could finish announcing the news, he slipped and fell, breaking our computer. He was all right but we ________ bought a new computer.

________, the accident didn’t affect us much, for the party gave us something to look forward to and kept us entertained. It may not have happened yet, but the ________ and joy that we experienced while ________ for it have been worth it. That was the _________. Over the course of all the planning and excitement, the broken leg and computer, I knew that even in the ________ of times, there is always something to look forward to.