1 . With her paddle slicing through the water swiftly, 37-year-old Chinese canoeist (皮筏艇运动员) Xie Maosan enjoyed a significant lead in the women’s KLI canoe final and won the first gold medal of the 4th Asian Para Games on Monday.

Born to a rural family in Anhui Province in 1986 and afflicted by Poliomyelitis (小儿麻痹症), Xie couldn’t _______ before the age of 10. Throughout her childhood, as she recalled, the _______ stares of relatives and mockery from classmates made her more determined to _______ herself.

In her teens, with the _______ and understanding of her mother, Xie decided to master a craft to _______. She packed up her belongings, went to the county to learn tailoring for three years, and then became a tailor. Later, she went to Shanghai to learn CAD pattern-making.

“Regardless of the career path I choose, I always push myself _______. I want to prove to everyone that we are _______ capable,” she shared at the post-race press conference, tears in her eyes.

In 2015, things _______ when news reached her of the national team’s _______ for canoeing talents. Without hesitation, she ________, and at 29, she joined the national canoeing team.

Recalling her initial days, Xie said, “Lacking a foundation in sports, it was truly ________ for me at the beginning. I ________ into the water multiple times during training. Not knowing how to swim, I almost passed out from choking on water.”

Despite all the hardships, ________ to win glory for her country kept Xie going. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Xie finished fifth in the women’s KL1 canoeing final. “________ me, canoeing is a ________, as it gave me confidence and a new life,” said Xie.

2 . For Jennifer Reinhart, it was the nurses’ small act of kindness that helped her through that night, One night, Jennifer Reinhart was ______ in a loft (阁楼) above her living room. At some point, she started to sleepwalk, and ______ falling 10 feet, landing on a table below. In the weeks that followed, she ______ three major operations.

One particular night in the hospital still stands out in her ______. She was on a large amount of ______ to help herself sleep through the pain, but the medicine gave her horrible dreams. When she ______ up, she was wet with sweat and shaking.

She ______ to reach the call button and ask for the nurses to change the ______ used on the bed, The nurse who ______ in was kind. She gently scooped (温柔地抱起) Reinhart out of the ______. Reinhart said, “She held me like I was a little baby. So ______.”

While other nurses changed Reinhart’s sheets (床单), the nurse ______ to hold Reinhart, Then she began to quietly sing a tune. “There was something about the power of her voice, and how gently she was holding me, which seemed to ______ the pain.” Reinhart said. After the nurse set Reinhart back down on the bed, the other nurses ______ her warm blankets.

“I felt sure that I was going to live through this,” Reinhart said. “I ______ she could have known just how much she helped me.”

3 . One boy’s police officer dad died recently, so other police officers took it upon themselves to show up for the boy on his first day of school. How _________ they were!

During the summer months, Officer Jason Swanger of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department _________ on duty. And his 9-year-old son, Noah, has been _________ his sadness about his dad’s death since then.

On his first day of fourth grade, Noah wore a white shirt with a _________ to show that he is now the man of the _________. He also wore a police badge (徽章) on his backpack as a way to _________ his dad.

Jason had been a police officer for seven years, and the officers in his department knew him to be a wonderful family man as well as _________ his job.

“He was known as a considerate father and husband who often went the extra mile for people _________ and tried his best to make a(n) _________ in other people’s lives,” said the Las Vegas Metropolitan Department.

The police officers from Jason’s department wanted to be there for Noah as he started his first school year __________ his father. As Noah was __________ his school, a group of __________ met up with him and drove him over to his elementary school. A police escort (护卫队) in honor of his __________ father — how wonderful that was!

“This is due to his __________ the police department concerning his dad, so it __________ a lot to him that they are all here for him,” said Christa Swanger, Noah’s mother.

4 . What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “Hollywood?” Fame or maybe money. Each actor or actress has their own way of becoming famous. But some ______ in their own way. One hero in Hollywood, and the only one that ______ millions of lives, by joining United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), was Audrey Hepburn.

“I can prove what UNICEF means to children, ______ I was among those who received food and medical ______ right after World War Ⅱ,” said actress Audrey at the time of her ______ a Goodwill Ambassador (大使) in 1989. “I have long-lasting gratitude for UNICEF.”

Audrey was born in Belgium on May 4th, 1929. When she was young, she ______ wars and saw her family ______ right in front of her eyes and suffered a lot. After the war, she went to London, where she continued to practice ballet. She had great talent, but ______, her height and malnutrition (营养不良) during the war meant that she was ______ to become a great ballerina (芭蕾舞女演员). All the ______ times she experienced made her think of helping others in need, and that led her to join UNICEF.

Audrey helped children throughout the world by supplying them with love and courage. Most of Hollywood’s stars only think about what will make them ______ and what will make people like them more. Audrey, however, thought about what made people around her happy. “Charity work is like a ______ for me,” said Audrey, “but it is never too hard to do the work you love.”

Audrey is ______ not only because of her hard times during the wars, but also her ______ helping those who have the same childhood as she did. Audrey fought against the negatives (负面) of the world, and turned them into good sides. Even though Audrey has ______, as an angel of beauty and love, people still remember her. Audrey, who opened her heart and mind to people around the world, is sure to last forever.

5 . My parents went shopping at the supermarket and a complete stranger came up and did something that really touched them. He_________ my mum and dad’s entire grocery, which came to $273!

You can _________ the shock and gratitude my parents felt in that _________. It’s not every day that such a selfless act of kindness comes your way, and it _________ recovers your faith in humanity. They were so touched by this stranger’s generosity.

This excellent gesture has _________ my parents to pay it forward in the most amazing way possible. They’ve decided to _________ the love and kindness they received by doing something _________ for someone else. It’s like a positive chain reaction that will keep on _________!

It’s a beautiful reminder that even the smallest acts of kindness can have a _________ effect on others. Together, we can create a __________ filled with sympathy, love, and generosity.

So, let’s take a moment to __________ the incredible stranger who brightened my parents’ day and inspired them to pay it forward. Let’s also remember that we all have the __________ to make someone’s day a little __________, whether it is through a smile, a kind word, or a small act of __________. Together, we can make this world a __________ place.

6 . Years ago, just as I do every winter, I was bagging up the clothing my sons had outgrown. It is always my _________ to re-purpose those things that do nothing more than _________ space.

I found an ugly pair of hand-knitted socks. I had to _________ — garbage or donation? Not being unusable, they were simply _________ to look at. I put them in the garbage, but minutes later, I took them back.

Later that afternoon, _________ up the car with clothes, I drove to a local shelter. As I distributed them, I _________ into the bag and pulled out the last of the donations — the ugly socks. _________, I held them in my hand as the crowd of the homeless went away, each with a _________ smile. Just as I was about to drop the socks back into the empty bag, _________myself for even bringing them along for the __________, a teenage boy walked up to me. “Can I have these socks?” he asked. A little __________ that I hadn’t anything left to give him except for these socks, I replied, “Of course.” “Thank you!” he said__________. “These socks remind me of my grandmother. She used to knit stuff like this for me!”

Not only were his feet __________ that day but so was his heart — and mine. To this day, the socks continue to bring me __________. It’s a proof that there is happiness in life’s simplest things, and we’ll never know how much we get until we’ve __________ those things with others.

7 . I found a wonderful picture of Maolan karst cones online and presented it to the innkeeper. “You can’t go there,” the innkeeper ______ me. “The viewing platform has been closed due to ______ that too many visitors could cause geological damage.”

Despite our disappointment, we ______ an alternative: a seven-hour hike through the “funnel forest”. Initially, we were ______ to run the risk. However, I had ______ the tourism motto in the nature reserve: “If you don’t do it now, you won’t do it in your lifetime.” Three of our group ______ decided to venture into the forest. The innkeeper responded with a knowing ______ : “Great. Bear Grylls went there.”

The next morning, we set off with a local ______ . Rain came and went three times, and before I actually ______ to climb over the first mountain, I had already got wet to the skin. I was a walking ______ of mud and water.

Our guide, in his 50s, behaved like a botanist, introducing the locally specific plants to us, but I was hardly in the ______ . Every step sank into the muddy, sucking ground. Every log or rock in front of us was a physical ______ . “One can never reach those places without strong willpower,” I murmured, reciting that millennium-old ______ , over and over again.

Sinkholes and entrances to underground rivers kept popping up along our ______ . Thinking of them leading to an unknown world, I began to ______ the road that I can control even more.

Wandering in a green chaos without any obvious landmarks is also breathtaking.

8 . One November day, two weeks before Thanksgiving, my mom was travelling through Kentucky when her old car had trouble. She pulled over, ________ and helpless. Then, a truck carrying chickens pulled up behind her. After the driver knew the ________, he told my mom to leave her car there, convinced her to get in his truck and ________ her to his home.

Seeing my mom, the driver’s wife didn’t ask any questions, but welcomed her ________ and treated her to a delicious dinner. After dinner, the driver and his friends went back to the road and ________ my mom’s car. She was so surprised by the whole situation that she didn’t get their names. Nor did she ________ why these strangers took the time to help her get to ________, introduce her to the driver’s beautiful family with such kindness, and then get her back on the road for free.

Two weeks later, my mom wanted to ________ the family for what they did for her. She ________ to send the family a check for $ 550 and a letter of thanks. She ________ it to “The Chicken Farmer, Bonnieville, Kentucky”, and to her ________,not only the mail carrier got it to the right place, but she received a letter with an amazing story.

It ________ that the money she sent them was the exact amount they ________ to keep their chicken farm from being sold. They took the money, ________ their debt and bought a Thanksgiving dinner with the rest.

Their actions ________ illustrated the meaning of Thanksgiving.

9 . In late January, returning home from a day in town, my husband and I were greeted by a couple of Willie Wagtails sitting on a hanging basket on our balcony, probably planning to build a nest. Another day away, we came home to find a simple ________ which had started on the hanging basket, right in front of our toilet door. We didn’t have the heart to ________ it, so the “building” ________, with the pair of Willie Wagtails flying in with building materials. Finally after a week, a beautiful nest built with ________ materials was completed.

The next day an egg ________ in their nest, followed by anther two during the week. We were such disturbance to them, having to use the toilet next to their ________.

Two weeks passed and three baby chicks were hatched (孵出). The ________ task began for the parents to find ________ to bring back to their babies. Both Willie Wagtails would fly in and out during the day. It was amazing how ________ the babies were growing.

We were constantly ________ if we came near their nest, and often got our hair pulled just as a ________ to keep our distance. Going to the toilet late one night, I ________ their nest. How lovely it is to see three little ________ and bodies lying neatly side by side, sound asleep, with just their hearts ________ — their little bodies rising and falling with each breath. They were so ________, and I was so lucky to be able to share this special moment.

10 . Julia, a 27-year-old TikTok user from Chicago, has been making dresses that her grandmother designed at fashion school to share on the platform.

According to Julia, her grandma, Georgie, went to fashion school in the 1940s and dreamed of being a fashion designer, but _________ before completing her studies because she needed to _________ some sick family members.

One day in 2021, when Julia was visiting her grandma, _________ old sketches (草图) of dresses that Georgie designed when she was a teenager, she thought they were _________.

“I knew my grandma was _________, but these are really much better than what I was _________ in my head. And she mentioned that when she died, she wanted them to get _________ at her funeral,” she said.

“But,” Julia added. “I just thought, why wait until she’s _________?”

Then Julia posted a video displaying some of her grandma’s _________ on TikTok, which became her first post on the platform to spread quickly and widely, receiving 2.7 million views.

__________ mostly old pieces of material left over from her grandmother’s own collection of cloth, Julia has now made four designs, trying to stick to a __________ of under $300 per gown (长礼服).

Julia thinks viewers have been __________ by her story of intergenerational bonding.

“Lots of old people say they love seeing someone younger __________ something from their generation,” she said, adding, “And then younger people, who maybe don’t have the best __________ with their grandparents, or lost their grandparents, say seeing my videos __________ them of their grandparents.”