1 . An Urban Farmer’s Garden of Eden

Ivy Lawrence-Walls didn’t set out to choose farming. But it chose her. She grew up on a five-acre farm in Houston and credits many ______ life lessons to her childhood. She remembers observing a bird build a nest as an inquisitive seven-year-old. She learned ______ as the nest gradually grew bigger overtime.

She didn’t know then that many of those childhood lessons would be ______ to her life now as a full-time farmer and enterpreneur. Now at 27, she has ______ the farm into a farm and vegetable garden ______ creating sustainable, healthy food access for neighborhood communities.

The garden grows carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, peppers, and delivers for free to local residents. It also hosts various plant pop-up events at local schools to ______ the next generation of farmers.

“Starting the farm in the early stages of the pandemic was a leap of ______,” said Lawrence-Walls. Now her daily ______ is not working in the hospital but trading in her lab coat like a doctor to produce food full-time. ______, she is still ______ in public health. “Food is public health and we hope to ______ some of the issues that we do face in the neighborhood through food and community wellness, green spaces, and mental health awareness.” she stressed.

Lawrence-Walls said her biggest challenge ______ from her nine-to-five to a full-time business owner was ______ the news to her mom, who thought she was crazy to leave her corporate job to dig holes. Additionally, she had to mentally move past the ______ by which success traditionally gets defined in society. “It took a lot for me to realize that, yes, I am digging holes. Yes, I am dirty 90 percent of the time, but I’m happy and realizing that this work is ______” she said frankly.

4 . “If that little girl is causing that much trouble within your group of friends, I would simply stop her,” I said as Abby was about to set off to school. Abby listened carefully, as I continued. “If she causes any more _________ to you, I will go to your teacher to _________ her to never let her sit next to you.”

By this time, Allyson, my then eight-year-old daughter, had joined us, listening to every word too. Neither of my daughters cut in as I finished my _________. Then, as I was telling each of them what I thought _________, Allyson’s real words of wisdom (智慧) came about. “Mom,” she said. “I was just thinking maybe Abby is supposed to be that girl’s _________. Maybe Abby is supposed to let that girl see forgiving (原谅) and goodness through her.”

Hmmm, I had become a _________. And at that moment, I _________ that wearing the “Mother Hat” didn’t mean I was always right. In fact, I wanted to pull that hat over my face and _________ so that they couldn’t see my awkward (尴尬的) look.

“Yes, that’s a good point,” I said, forcing a _________ at my girls. “Abby, __________ this situation the way you think is right.” “OK,” she said before walking out of the door and off to __________. “Bye, Mom!” Allyson called, __________ her big sister out the door. I was left __________. In those following quiet moments I was lost in thought and felt __________ that my two daughters were little in height but big in heart. Sometimes our children have great lessons to teach us — if we’ll only __________.

5 . Francis Kere is the first African to win the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture. However, his ________ to the peak of his field was far from smooth. Growing up in a village where there was no kindergarten, he was ________ into an extremely hot classroom with over 100 students. At the age of 7, Francis Kere had to leave his family home to attend school because his village didn’t have one of its own. This ________ of poor building facilities contributed to his vision of better educational lives of local children, using architecture. Thirteen years later, he boarded a plane for Germany on a scholarship to study architecture.

His early reputation came in helping ________ a school in his village after graduating from college. He ________ the whole village to provide ideas and drew the ________ on sand for all to see. ________, he involved them in constructing the school, using local wood and local clay (黏土).

The result of their hard work was a welcoming structure with a “floating” roof that ________ ventilation (通风) in a hot climate and wall openings that bring ________ for students to learn even without electricity. He showed the villagers that ideas to ________ climate or other challenges are always at hand.

In this process, local people learned ________ skills that they could later use to find work. By cooperating with them, Kere ________ the idea that climate solutions started with big institutions. He ________ that everyone could contribute to addressing the major issues related to education and climate and ________ a global impact by acting locally.

Adopted by architects in dozens of countries, his ________ is rooted in the “unique” aspects of each community now.

6 . There was an old couple who had been married for 40 years. They loved each other deeply and went on dates together. Every time they went out for supper, the husband would order pie for dessert, which became their_________. Although the wife always_________ to order any, she would _________ the first bite of his pie every time.

But then the husband began to _________ a type of disease. He started to slowly _________ who his wife was. It _________ progressed to the point where he didn’t recognize his wife at all and became troubled by living with a stranger.

He moved out of the house and into a nursing home. She was _________. However, she thought of good _________to help him recover. She would visit him with items (物品) that he loved before, but he never knew who she was. Even seeing pictures of them together from their past _________ him.

One of the doctors __________ the wife to start taking him on a few dates like before, so that the husband could gain a new kind of familiarity with her. The wife __________ his suggestion. So she took him to a __________ they had been going to their whole lives and had dinner. Afterwards he ordered pie, and without thinking she stole the first bite of it. The husband looked angry, and was ready to leave. But __________he stopped and seemed shocked, and then started crying.

Everything had come back. His wife’s __________ made him get back to who he was. Tears came to his eyes once more. They moved back together and __________ their lives again.

7 . Anna was cleaning when she spotted a hidden door leading to part of her attic (阁楼).And in the secret room she _______ two boxes stuffed with hundreds of letters, which were handwritten in the 1950s. The letters were _______ to a Betty McGhee. There were dozens penned by a young man named Vance, _______ the same way: “Hi honey”. Anna read a few and a new romance was blossoming on the old _______.

Once realizing the _______ nature of the notes, she was hesitant to pry (窥探). However, she _______ that the letters would likely be meaningful to someone else. So she turned to social media to try and find the _______ to pass them on to. Within days, she found a(n) _______ clue with the aid of strangers who saw the post.

Finally she _______ to Dalton, who lived 3,000 miles away. Dalton confirmed that Vance and Betty got ________ following a string of written correspondence and eventually started a family. He ________ this because they were his grandparents, and were wed for 50 years.

Dalton was close with his grandparents. ________, he knew little about how their ________ started. With his beloved grandparents now gone, to ________ words to that time in their life was going to be incredible. He was grateful that Anna saw the ________ in the written words.

8 . Just before New Year, the principal (校长) called me into his office and asked me to read a poem written by me at the New Year party. “Sure,” I said with a smile, my dreams of being a famous ________ floating in my mind.

For weeks, I worked on my poem, ________ bettering the structure, sound, and voice. I reread my Emily Dickinson and William Wordsworth for ________. I practiced reciting it aloud. I revised, revised, revised. By December 30th, the day of the event, I was ________.

Well, I was confident until I looked around and realized how many people were there. And how big the hall was, and how ________ I felt about myself. How could I ________ a piece of my poetry to 800 people? My heart was beating so hard I thought everyone around me could ________ it. I was nervous. I could feel cool shakes run down my back. I couldn’t remember why I had said yes to the ________. Then the light darkened, the crowd quieted. It was starting.

Suddenly, I was on stage with the bright white lights blinding my view of the audience and the feeling that my ________ was closing up. I leaned in to the microphone and tried out my ________ as I read the title: “Let There Be Light.” My voice boomed (声音低沉洪亮) from the speakers loudly and sounded much more confident than I felt.

The room was ________ as I began my piece, and I tried to focus on the words and ________ the people. The words somehow ________ in the right order, the lines flowed together properly, and I even remembered which words to ________. I finally came to the last line of the poem and breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was over.

The room was dead silent. Maybe no one liked it. I felt like I was going to faint. Then out of the silence there was ________, cheering, and smiling. I had done it. I had shared a piece of my poetry with the world.