1 . A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he ________ that the elephants weren’t being held by the use of chains or kept in ________ . All that was holding them back from escaping the camp was a small piece of ________ tied to one of their legs.

________ the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely ________ as to why the elephants didn’t just use their ________ to break the rope and escape the camp. They could ________ have done so, but they didn’t try to at all.

________ and wanting to know the answer, he asked a ( n ) ________ nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape. The trainer ________ : “ When they are very young and much smaller, we use the ________ size rope to tie them and, at ________ age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot ________ . They believe the rope can still hold them. ________ , they never try to break free.”

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the ________ that it just wasn’t possible.

2 . It was snowing hard outside. Thomas and Mick had to _________ in their house all day. When they went to bed late into night, it was still snowing, and every time they _________ up during the night, they could _________ the wind whistling around the house, and through the branches of the trees.

But the next morning the _________ was bright. What a(n) _________ day! It looked as if the branches of the trees had been covered with gold. “Oh Grandma! Please do make _________ as quickly as possible. We are going out to build a fort (城堡),” cried the boys, running into the _________. Grandma smiled and told them to eat a good breakfast, for building a fort was _________. They were soon out in the snow, and what a great time they had _________, the fort didn’t grow very fast, for they had to ______________ so often to play snow-ball each other. When Grandma called them in to dinner they wondered where the ______________ had gone since breakfast.

After dinner, Thomas was looking out of the window, when he ______________ two little birds standing on a branch of a tree. “Mick! Come here,” he called. “See those ______________ birds. They seem half frozen and so ______________.” “Poor little things,” replied Mick. “Doesn’t it make you feel ______________ to think what a happy time we had this morning out of the snow. Let us get some bread from Grandma and throw it out to them,” said Thomas. The birds soon found the food and ate it quickly. Will other children be as kind as Thomas and Mick?

3 . “I knew when I saw you, I wanted to take you home,” my dad says to me when I visit him one Saturday. There is a deep-seated _________ of a father seeing his daughter when she was born.

My father has Alzheimer’s (老人痴呆症). He does not _________ express in words, so the sudden accuracy of his words _________ me.

Another Saturday, he points to a photo of me and says, “She’s smart.” Does he know the _________ person, 30 years older, is sitting beside him? It does not matter. At that moment I can feel his _________.

Now I bring a spoonful of yogurt to his lips. With a _________ hand, he touches me and says, “You’re very good. Thank you.” He totally forgets it was he that _________ me in lifting a spoon to my mouth.

These words are all he can give now. But they make me understand more _________ my generous father.

His door was always _________. Drop-in visitors were welcomed with a drink. He would not ____________ to give money to a family member in need. In the community, he ____________ his time to preserve the historical buildings.

Time, advice, money. There were many ways he ____________.

And he gives, still. The ____________ has taken much from my father. What’s ____________ are his words. It’s ____________ for him to find the right word and say it out loud. Yet he keeps going.

4 . Columbia high school girls’ soccer team had lost every game in the season until a new ______stepped in two years ago.

Stuart Henley, a former soccer player and now a truck driver, ______the team and started training hard in February 2020. He ______the progress of the girls to team-building activities to help them bond on and off the field. He focused on the basics of football like passing, ______, and movement to try and bring the girls up to a good standard. His ______: coaches could give them guidelines, but girls ______what they felt they needed to work on.

Obviously, the girls were onto something big in the new season. They ______the skills they had learned and teamwork into their ______, which led them to an ______run of eight games, until they were sadly beaten 3-2 by Wyrley Pumas Team. Although this means they have been _____ the league title, the team have still exceeded (超出) expectation by earning the ______to the county’s top division.

“Whatever brings you down will ______make you stronger, especially for girls.” Captain Chelsea said, “Stuart has really ______our girls the philosophy of playing soccer. We’re going into next season full of confidence and ready to compete against tougher ______, but for now we’re still very much enjoying our ______.”

5 . It started 30 years ago with a squirrel. A few months after I moved into a building in downtown Manhattan, my next-door neighbor, Nicole Figaro, knocked, asking for help with a squirrel that had gotten into her apartment.

I ______ Lout the animal and made a new friend. Soon Nicole was ______ me over for dinner or ______ home-cooked food at my door. When I went to my beach house, Nicole picked up my ______ and watered my plants, and when she ______ on vacations, I did the same for her. She'd bring me wonderful ______ from far-away places, but her ______ and best wishes have been the greatest gift of all.

In 1997, I took care of my partner during his ______ days, and it was Nicole who took care of me: Years later, I ______ the favor, helping out when her husband, who was ______ needed her to take care of him for almost everything. More and more, we ______ strength and inspiration from each other.

My father ______ last January. Nicole helped my family prepare for the service. I couldn't have gotten through that day without her. The pandemic ______ then. Nicole and I ______ for groceries for each other, knowing we could get through anything together. And we will. A ______ might separate our apartments, but nothing separates our hearts.

6 . Zou Shengyu isn’t your average street photographer. She’s a breakout star on Chinese video platform Bilibili, _______ by influencers and fashion models.

The 6-year-old — known to her fans as Shengsheng — has become _______ on Chinese social media in recent months.

A vlog series showing her capturing (拍摄) fashionable _______ people has attracted over 3million views. In the videos, Shengsheng _______ approaches a well-dressed young woman on the street and asks: “Hi, miss! Can I take your photo?”   She then _______ to shoot away on her camera, directing her subjects — who often _______ over her — with surprising confidence. Fans have been won over by her precocity (早熟), but also the _______of her work.

Though she only picked up a camera in 2019, Shengsheng has already developed a signature_______. Her photos always have a warm orange tone. She _______ to capture her subjects in a relaxed pose, with broad smiles on their faces.

The ________ of Shengsheng’s success has been her father, Zou Yupeng. A commercial photographer by trade, he says his daughter was ________ to follow his passion.

Zou is a________ teacher. Even in the vlog videos, he can barely hide his anger when the little girl is unable to ________ his professional standards.

According to Zou, his daughter has already used up over 110 rolls of film taking photos. But the father insists he has no________ of pushing Shengsheng to become a professional photographer. He says he just wants to teach her to be ________.

7 . Before I lived in Pakistan, I was always with my grandfather. We were never ___________: I followed him wherever he went. He would never get ___________ with me when I wouldn't learn to do things. He always tried to cheer me up anytime I was in a bad ___________. I thought we would always live together.

However, on the morning of June 20, 2009, when I was 5, I went to ___________ grandfather, but he wouldn't open his eyes. I was   ___________, thinking he was just playing a game with me, but after trying for a while, I started getting _________. When my parents arrived, they explained solemnly (庄重地) to me his body didn’t work anymore. Slowly, I began to understand but couldn't face the truth. I stayed ___________ in my room, not speaking to anyone.

My parents had to call a psychologist (心理医生). Sonia was very kind, showing deep ___________ towards me. She said it was understandable to feel sad about death, but that didn't mean that I ___________ doing things that I used to do. Soon I started playing with my friends and talking to my family. My parents were pleased with my ____________. When I told them the pain I was going through, my eyes were filled with the ____________ instead of tears.

Dealing with a death of a family member is ____________, so it's hard to know what the right thing to do is. My grandfather's death made me realize that my life must move on, and that if I ____________ my feelings, it would be hard for me to overcome the pain. I'm now starting to forget the ____________ details of the time that he and I spent together, but I will never forget him and the ____________ he gave to me.

8 . I have been volunteering for Tri-County Wildlife Care (TCWC) for 7 years. The job is emotionally demanding, and even more _________ for a migraines(偏头痛)sufferer．So why do l throw myself into it? Because at the most difficult time in my _________,saving wildlife saved me too.

I have had migraines for as long as I can remember. Sometimes it was a(n) _________to attend school. I would have to put my head _________ my desk to reduce the pain. So I chose to study at home. But being disconnected from the rest of the world made me feel _________.

“I can’t_________this anymore!” When Mum came to get me from the clinic, I nearly _________.

Then on our way back home, I _________a fallen nest. Two baby birds lay on the ground. Were they still alive? I _________closer. Thankfully they were__________! “You’re going to be okay,” I said to the birds. “I promise.”

The next day Mum and I __________took them to a wildlife care center. For the first time in a long time, I felt helpful instead of helpless. It was as if the baby birds' __________for me was stronger than my pain. I did find something__________ to do.

Then I began volunteering for TCWC. Every time I hold a bird in my hands, I feel a sense of __________, because it brings me so much __________to help these homeless animals.

9 . Alvin, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane last December when something like litter on the ground caught his eye. It was a _______ balloon with a note attached.

“Dear Santa,” the note _______. “My name is Luna. Four years old. This year I have been _______. I would like candy, Spider-Man ball, My Little Pony. With love, Luna.”

Alvin’s heart hammered in his chest. It reminded him of his childhood wish. He smiled and set out to _______ Luna’s wish. He posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas wish list on his Facebook page, asking for help _______ the sender.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez, the mother of four-year old Luna, had no idea that such a(n) _______ was underway. It had been a hard year for her family as COVID-19 spread. On a _______ tough day last December, she _______ the idea of having Luna send a letter to Santa by releasing a balloon. They enjoyed a _______ Christmas together, and then the calendar turned to a new year.

One day, Gonzalez received a call saying that someone had found Luna’s balloon. Her jaw ________. She logged on to Facebook and saw Alvin’s ________. She called Alvin and finally agreed to let Alvin fulfill her daughter’s wish list.

“Santa dropped your balloon ________,” Gonzalez told Luna, “but one of his elves (精灵) found it.” Not long after that, Luna received three boxes’ worth of ________with a note signed “Alvin the Elf.”

Now, having received so much ________, Gonzalez and her girl intend to pay it forward this year. After all, when Alvin could have just ________ that balloon in the trash, he went more than the extra mile.

10 . Letter writing may seem like a lost art to many of us, but for Emerson Weber, it’s a way of life. Emerson is a fifth-grader. Her dad said the 11-year-old has a(n) _________ letter writing habit and _________ dozens of letters to her pen pals (笔友) each week. She pours her heart out in these simple homemade _________, often including jokes, drawings, and stories about her family.

One day, she decided to write a _________ letter to Doug, their mail carrier, to thank him for helping everyone stay _________.

“You may know me as the person that lives here that writes a lot of _________ and decorates the envelopes,” she wrote. “Well, I wanted to thank you for taking my letters and _________ them. You are _________ to me. I make people _________ with my letters, but you do too. I don’t have a ____________, so how else am I supposed to stay in touch with my friends? You make it ____________!”

Emerson gave Doug the letter and was ____________ to receive a reply from him the very next day. He also included some stamps to help Emerson do what she ____________ best!

Now that their story has gone viral (传播开来), Emerson’s dad is ____________ more people to reach out. After all, everyone ____________ human connection, and it doesn’t take much to let someone know they’re not alone.