1 . Monique Marshall knew she had to do something for her mother after her stepfather passed away. Monique’s mother, Karin, who is 84 years old, was living in her apartment in New York City ________, about 2,500 miles away from Monique in Los Angeles.

Monique ________ she had to do something for her mother. ________, Monique’s husband, Demille, was all on board, willing to do anything to ________ Karin in her advanced age. That’s when Monique and Demille brainstormed with their friends and neighbors, Pierre and Carmen, who happened to be ________.

After much thought and planning, they ________ a solution of a “glam garage (豪华车库)”. Monique and Demille decided to turn their old and drafty ________ into an apartment space for Karin. But as is always the case with any construction project, they encountered ________. However, it was nothing too big that kept them from completing the ________. And the results are ________!

Karin is in love with her new living space and new city. When Karin first ________ into her glam garage apartment in Los Angeles, she couldn’t ________ her eyes.

“It was overwhelming,” said Karin. “I was so ________. Monique had done all the furniture. I didn’t have to do anything.”

What a wonderful and ________ solution that came about because of love, care and ________.

2 . On the final day of my second year of high school, I was hit in the face with a baseball bat. Shocked and _______ I was unaware of how _______ I had been injured (受伤).

When I finally woke up, I discovered that I had lost my ability to_______ like a player. And I became painfully aware of how far I had to go when I returned to the baseball field one year _______ . Baseball had always been a _______ part of my life and I had a dream of playing professionally. After months of recovery, what I wanted more than anything was to get back on the _______.

But my _______ to baseball was not smooth. When the season rolled around, I was the only junior to be cut from the university baseball team. I had been _______ since age four, and for someone who had spent so much time and _______ on the sport, getting cut made me feel ________ .

The turning point came two years after my injury when I began ________ at Denisoa University. I knew that if things were going to ________ I was the one responsible for making it happen. Therefore, while my classmates ________ out with friends or played video games, Ｉconcentrated on ________ training day in and day out. The everyday improvements were small, but they gave me a sense of control over my life.

Finally, I managed to become a college athlete. Now, despite my hard high school years, I have started to rebuild my ________ again.

3 . With more free time after completing her examinations, Rachel, a 16-year-old student of the School of Science and Technology, Singapore, decided to bake for friends and family. She was surprised when they came back with a lot of positive ________.

Then she read some ________ stories of people who stepped forward to help others with whatever talents they had. And that ________ her to use her baking skill to help the less fortunate.

Last year, she started making and selling the Bear Cookie and gave most of the ________ to Global Village for Hope, which is a local non-profit organization that has set up more than 100 community ________ in villages in Thailand. These projects help to ________ the less fortunate with money for food, better education and drinkable water.

So far, Rachel has ________ almost $6,000 from her bake sales.

“It can be really ________ at times but I find it all really worth it when my ________ tell me that they really enjoy my cookies. To my surprise, many customers ________ extra money on top of what they paid for the ________. This was really heart-warming as I never knew that I could use my cookies to ________ someone’s heart and inspire them to donate too,” Rachel said. “Growing up here, many young Singaporeans can ________ a good education, something—that not every person can get. I ________ believe that every child deserves a proper education. I feel that at 16, I should also do my best to give back to ________. If I have the ability to help others, why not?”

4 . China’s 17-year-old Liu Qingyi did so excellently that she won the champion in the Huangzhou 19^th Asian Games, 2023 and made it to the next summer Olympics. Now the young Liu Qingyi is one step closer to her ________ at Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games as the street dancer won a ________ medal in the Breaking for Gold World Series in 2023, the first Olympic points event in break dancing (霹雳舞) this year.

Liu won the gold medal by ________ Japan’s home favorite and world champion Ami Yuasa in a tense final.

“During the past winter season, I have ________ some Chinese elements in my performance,” Liu told reporters after the win, noting she had spent nearly three months for the ________.

Speaking of her ________ of defeating the defending world champion, Liu ________ being proud. “It’s either win or lose when you enter a ________ . Nobody could win ________ ”, Liu said. “I am happy to win and I am also here to ________ and communicate.”

With break dancing becoming an ________ sport at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it is becoming more widely known and giving more dancers the chance to turn their hobby into a career.

It is through dancing that she overcame her ________ nature. “Before breaking, if I didn’t know someone, I couldn’t even talk to them.”

Now she believes that dancing will be her ________ career. “Dancing represents the ________ of art. I will never stop ________,” Liu said.

5 . To some, fishing is a hobby. But to William “Big Will” Dunn, it’s a(n) _________ that has led him to change the lives of thousands of children.

It all _________ with one child: Cameron Delong. When the two of them met, the then 8-year-old was _________ with his home life. William didn’t know why until he found out Cameron’s _________ was not in his life.

Growing up, William had a hard time in Miami, _________ peace and solace (安慰) in fishing. Hoping that it could have the same _________ on Cameron, he asked Cameron’s mom if he could take her son out fishing every once in a while. They _________ doing so several times a week.

“He started doing _________ in school, showing more respect to his mom, and just becoming more of a man of the household because his dad was still not in his life,” William said.

Inspired by the _________ impact their fishing trips made on Cameron, he founded Take a Kid Fishing, a(n) ________ that utilizes (利用) fishing as a way to teach children life skills and to be __________ inside and outside of the classroom. “We take them out, show them a __________ day, and spend time with them and everything,” he said. “Just to get out of the boat, you see the __________ in them.”

Today, William ________ tries to help those children in his own way, making the others realize that the __________ kindness can make a great impact.

6 . Observing nature can be an effective method for young students to discuss and understand their emotions in a calm learning environment. I’m obsessed with ________. I’m especially interested in growing food from seeds or propagation (繁殖), which saves ________ and is a fun challenge. Many years ago, I learned that we could ________ a pineapple plant from the top of a pineapple, so I had to ________ it. After several times of failure I was ________ successful in growing one and getting it to bloom. I was excited, so I ________ this huge, heavy plant to school. Then my fourth grade students could ________ in the excitement of watching the pineapple grow.

My ________ students welcomed the pineapple plant into our class and named her Patricia. They made name tags for her, and even wrote ________ about her. We also ________ children from other classrooms to come in and meet her. She became quite ________.

More interesting, though, is the fact that she had a way of ________ kids self regulate. She ________ people when they felt sad. Our school counselor often brought students in to visit Patricia, and they always left our classroom feeling happier and more ________.

After some reflection, we now realize that the ________ of the pineapple was not really just about the plant. Patricia helped create an environment filled with passion, positivity, and nature. It’s calming for our nervous system, which leads to self-regulation and enhances learning.

7 . Last September, I entered high school. I was upset since everything seemed to be_______ to me. At home, I was also very _______. My older brother and sister had their friends. They both _______ . Why couldn't I?

Recently, my grades had gone down along with my lack of _______. One day, when I was doing my homework in the bedroom, I kept making mistakes. So I tore (撕) the paper out of my notebook and _______ it. Soon the floor was littered with paper. It gave me a sense of _______ to see the mess as if it _______ all my weakness. When my mom passed by and blamed (责备) me for the mess, I was even more upset. What had happened to Mom who used to love me with complete _______? I didn't try to _______ my pain. Angrily, standing up, I shut the door ________ without a word.

The next day, I came home and found no one. I was happy not to be met with Mom's________.   I opened my bedroom door and was ________ to see the clean floor. Then I noticed the note on my bed. I ________ Mom's perfect handwriting at once, “Dear Karole, I'm truly sorry that I have been very ________ with you lately. I only expect you to be happy   Love, Mom ”At that moment, a weight seemed to be ________ from me. I suddenly realized Mom still loved me the same way, and that I should love myself too.

8 . I stood at the departure gate in Boston, preparing to cross the Atlantic. Although I had made the journey countless times before, it never really got much _________ to leave my home and family. I looked at my mother, our eyes full of _________ and as we wondered when we would see each other again she handed me a _________, saying it might help me feel better. Little did I know that it would not only help me feel better, but would also teach me one of life’s greatest lessons.

Now, back in Switzerland, I opened my mother’s package. It was a book of recipes; I laughed out loud as I _________ through it. All the sections were _________ but the one section on _________ was full. Here were handwritten cards _________ things like “Double Chocolate Fudge,” many of which were created by my mother. Then my heart _________ as I noticed what she had written:

Make some desserts. Remember all the wonderful times we have had together, and have them now with your family.

She was telling me: we must grow up and _________ our own lives, even when it sometimes __________. But there was more to be enjoyed. Recipes in hand, I remembered Christmases of joy and __________ homemade treats. Now, years later, Mom was telling me about what really __________ in life: the only real gifts we can __________ for our children are the beautiful memories of our time together. It is never too late or too early to create beautiful memories and it is now my __________ to give them to my children.

I hope that my girls will marry the boy next door. But wherever they may be, I hope that they will one day open my mother’s recipes. And like me, they will find a recipe for __________.

9 . With ADD (注意缺陷障碍), I could look straight into your eyes and not hear a word you’re saying. I could _________ to be listening to you but my mind was somewhere miles away.

In middle school, I took Language Arts with Mrs. Smith. That first day, she told us her rules. Then I knew I had better “_________” myself. So I told her I might need to take home some reading assignments because my _________ is better in a quiet setting and asked her if I could use my word processor at home to do written assignments because my “fine motor skill (精细动作技能)” problems made my _________ look messy. However, she refused, saying it was _________ for my classmates. The result was that each paper came back with Mrs. Smith’s flaming red X’s.

One day, again I asked her for _________ to complete the written assignment at home. But she still refused my _________. Therefore, to prove to her, or rather to myself, that I could do the work under the right conditions, I took the assignment home __________

That night, the story, which had seemed so _________ in class, became quite clear to me in the __________ of my room. It was about Louis Braille, a __________ boy. During his time, society prevented the blind having much of an education, but Louis Braille “defended” himself. He developed a reading system of raised dots for the blind, __________ him to read like his peers.   I was like Louis in my class. I was made to learn like the other students.

I used my word processor to set down my thoughts and explain myself __________Louis and many other famous people different in their learning styles and abilities, hoping Mrs. Smith would finally understand me.

As Mrs. Smith handed my paper back, I found an A instead of her usual X. Below were her __________ red penned words, “See what you can do when you __________ yourself?”

10 . Mauro Prosperi is a police officer who gained worldwide fame after getting lost in the Sahara Desert in 1994. Mauro ______ the 1994 Marathon of the Sands in Morocco, a six-day-long race in one of the ______ environments on the planet.

During the ______, a sandstorm caused Prosperi, then 39 years old to lose his _____ at last. One day after going off track, he found himself in an abandoned house in Algeria. In order to ______, he killed and at e bats. To make himself not thirsty, he was ______ to drink his own urine (尿), and lick dew (露水) off rocks.

______ he would never be found, he cut his wrists with a pen knife from his supplies. ______, it was such a dry heat that the ______ clotted (凝结) and he would go back into the desert and ______ to find help. For nine days he ______ through the desert and ate insects. Finally, he found a small village. From there he was flown to a ______ , where doctors said his liver (肝脏) had almost completely failed.

Having traveled 180 miles ______, Prosperi lost 35 pounds in body weight during his race in the ______; it took several months before he could eat solid food again. But he has remained a(n) ______ runner and even returned and completed the race in 2012.