1 . Twenty years ago, I became involved in pet therapy (疗法) work with our dog J.J. After J.J. passed away, we ____ another young dog, whom we named Angel. As she ____ and went through training, we realized that she would be a good therapy dog.

Angel is ten now and ____ every week. She visits two hospitals, a day care center and a library. At the library, dogs lie on the floor, and kids ____ a book to read to a dog. After they_____, they get a trading card with the dog’s picture and history. Angel has also ____ at a children’s special needs camp. She is so _____ that everywhere we go people recognize her, _____ the kids she has worked with.

We have ____ some very special things through our pet therapy work. We used to pay a ____to a woman who was completely paralyzed (瘫痪) on her right side from a stroke. One day, my husband, Jack, asked the_____if she wanted to give Angel a treat.

She_______, and Jack carefully placed the treat in her right hand. Angel_____ took the treat. Then the woman_______her right hand and started ______Angel. Her friend in the room looked ______ and said, “ She hasn’t been able to move that_______since she had her stroke!” After that, every time she lifted her left hand to   ______us, we’d tell her she had to use her right hand, and she would.

When Angel visits the hospital, she also performs_______ for the patients, such as rolling over, shaking and balancing treats on her nose. Once she starts her performance, she won’t stop________Jack claps his hands.

2 . He caught my eye and up went his arm. As usual, I _________ and gave him a smile. “Do you know the old man, Mom?” asked my son. I _________ my head. “I don’t know his name, but he’s very _________. He waves to me whenever we meet.”

We were _________ to this town. Having moved from another city, I wasn’t used to waves from strangers. _________, where we were from, people hardly _________ each other. We simply passed by each other, heads down, _________ our own business.

Perhaps that’s why I _________ these daily waves. It felt good to be noticed and _________ that message of “Hello!” On days when I didn’t meet him, I missed him and wondered if he was __________. The next day, I’d find myself driving with only one eye on the road. It was a happy __________ when I’d spot him, and I’d wave first in my __________.

One evening when I was walking alone, my __________ travelled to “The Waver”, as my children called him. I wondered if I could be __________ enough to wave at the people I don’t know. I wanted to give it a try, but I __________. “I’ll feel silly,” I thought to myself. Then I heard a __________ approaching. The next moment I found myself waving to the lady in the passenger seat. Her __________ softened and waved back. I was a little shocked. They do this here! I reminded myself. It’s __________ cool! I waved to everyone I saw the rest of the way home.

That was the day I became a “__________”. I can’t change the world. It’s enough to help __________ it a little.

3 . Returning home from my university on a hot day, I longed for a cold sugary drink. I rushed to the fridge to ______ one, sat on my sofa and ________ playing with my mobile phone. That was where I ________ an ad for some burgers and fries. I decided to order because I was ________ and needed some ________ to finish my to-do list for the day.

I didn’t know at that point that eating this type of highly processed food would make me feel lazier, sleepier—and ________ my whole life in a harmful way.

I had moved away from home in 2021, when I was 18, to ________ my education. It was my first time living without my family and ________ myself independently. I was out of my comfort zone and felt ________. There were so many things to do, so I paid little attention to my ________ because eating highly processed food seemed the quickest and ________ thing to do.

About 4 weeks after moving away from home, I continued ________ whatever I wanted, until one day my stomach hurt so badly that I could ________ walk. My doctor told me it was the ________ of all the unhealthy food I had been eating. He suggested I make an effort to eat a healthy and ________ diet that gave me all the right nutrients.

4 . I have worked with hundreds of students in my thirty-six years of Spanish teaching at Walpole High School in Massachusetts. Some of them are ________ while some are academically (学业上) at risk. ________ , only one stands out in my memory.

Vincent entered my classroom as a ________ freshman on his first day of high school. His eighth grade teacher had described him as that “ sad, introverted (内向的) boy always lowering his head.” As for his Spanish, he hadn’t had a lot of ________ before.

At first he was shy about ________ questions in Spanish. I told him I could relate to his shyness, but he needed to get over it and join in more ________ about his family and interests. Little by little Vincent became braver. Some classes even saw him not only ________ to answer questions but also share his opinions. I was beginning to view him as a ________ role model for the other students.

Once spring came I recommended he ________ the National Spanish Competition. Much to my ________ , he won the second prize. One of my ________ moments as his teacher was to call Vincent to the stage at our yearly Foreign Language Awards Night to ________ him for his outstanding performance.

Several years later when we ________ in the street, he told me my class was the first one where he had ________ success. It has impressed on me how important it is for teachers to ________ with kids and also reminded me how success produces success.

5 . Torbjorn Pedersen is a Danish traveler who recently finished a trip around the world. But this wasn’t just any trip. Mr. Pedersen spent nearly 10 years ________ every country in the world.

As he began to plan his trip, he made a few ________: no flying, no visiting home, and spend at least 24 hours in every ________ . He hoped that he could ________ about $20 a day, and finish his trip in about four years.

It took him far longer. The first part of his trip was pretty easy. He ________ across Europe and North America, where his biggest ________ was not spending too much money. But as he ________ on to other parts of the world, things began to get much ________ . Mr. Pedersen says he had many difficult experiences. He was once ________at gunpoint and thought he might be killed. He also became ________ ill with malaria（疟疾）.

But he also had many good ________. Mr. Pedersen says that one reason he didn’t ________ was the help he got from people all over the world. “You might have to try 1,000 closed doors,” he says, “But there is always a（an）________ door somewhere. Never, ever give up.”

On July 26, 2023 Mr. Pedersen arrived back in Denmark after a 33-day boat ride. He was ________by about 150 people, including friends and family members. Mr. Pedersen says he plans to write a book and ________ what he learned in his travels around the world.

6 . I have struggled with feelings of unworthiness since forever. My most painful moments were at parties. My friends made fun of me because I was rhythmically (有节奏地)__________ and I couldn’t get my__________ body to imitate the latest dance moves. I was never chosen to dance. I felt like I didn’t__________.

Around age 12, I decided that the way to__________ these feelings of unworthiness was perfection. If I was just perfect then I would fit in. But this strategy didn’t__________.My self-esteem (自尊心) was high when I got good grades and felt__________, but crashed when I didn’t do well__________, or was left out.

After several years of spiritual growth, it__________ me that for many of us, self-worth is tied to our__________. We experience low self-worth__________ we fail or lose approval. So I have begun to cultivate an unconditional self-worth. It’s not about doing things perfectly.__________, “Unconditional self-worth” is the______ that you deserve to be alive, to be loved and cared for.

The__________ to unconditional self-worth is not always easy. It takes courage to free yourself from the __________ you’ve placed on your worth. But this journey is beautiful and worth taking. So I challenge you to embrace yourselves and find your metaphorical (隐喻的) __________ floor and move freely.

7 . In the last 100 years, the global temperature has gone up by around 0.75℃. Such a small increase is causing sea levels to rise and ________ the habitat of many species of plants and animals. A(n) ________ of 2℃ in global temperatures could result in ________ of 30% of the world’s land species.

Sea levels in the UK have increased by around 10 cm in the last 100 years and experts ________ that global sea levels could rise by up to 59 cm in the near future. ________, areas which were land a few hundred years ago are now under water.

As a result of the changing ________, the world’s ecosystems are also changing faster than ever before. So what is ________ climate change? The main cause of climate change is the huge amount of greenhouse gases like CO₂ in the atmosphere, but the reason for this is the world’s population — you and me. As the ________ increases, more land is needed to provide food, and more energy is ________ too. Burning fossil fuels for heating, lighting, transport, or electricity ________ CO₂. Furthermore, humans breathe out CO₂ and trees “breathe in” CO₂ and produce oxygen — so by ________ trees, we are increasing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere and reducing the amount of oxygen. As a result of these ________, CO₂ levels are now at their highest for 800,000 years.

The biggest ________ we all face is to prevent further environmental disasters. We need to ______________ burning fossil fuels and start using renewable energy. If we can get enough ________ from renewable fuels, we can stop using fossil fuels completely.

8 . One afternoon in late September, little Zhang Feng sat down with his school friends and read out a poem he had just written:

In the eyes of a frog,

______ form seas,

Big and small,

Wherever they fall,

But me, too,

I see those seas.

It was a rainy day, and the children had been ______ inside during their break. Eleven-year-old Zhang’s poem was ______ by the rhythm of the raindrops, the first sign of autumn.

As soon as he ______ reading his poem, his classmate Liu Jie ______ shared his own verse:

It is raining.

Ordinary raindrops fall on the ground,

But the naughty（调皮的） ones slip off the wall,

Into my soul.

“You must be a naughty raindrop,” one boy joked, and they ______ laughter.

The children are members of a poetry club ______ in 2019 in a rural school in Henan province’s Xiuwu county, which has about 50 ______, all natives studying in Dananpo, a mountain village that is home to about 1,000 people.

These young poets, ______, have written more than 2,000 poems, and their works have been ______ into three books since the club was founded four years ago.

Liang Yawen, the poetry club’s ______, says that many rural children are feeling ______ because they are separated from their parents, who are working in faraway cities. “Some children, due to a lack of security, are ______ to open up to their families, teachers or peers, but now they have learned to pour out their ______ in writing,” she says.

The teacher thinks that poetry is like a ______ light that helps us understand life better.

9 .

It was a Sunday afternoon in May. Paul Blachut was busy working at a restaurant in scenic Augsburg, Germany. Many tourists came for food at the pretty place beside the river, where the meltwater was cold at this time of year.

A mother and her daughter were _______ the cooling water by the riverbank. They were playing with an inflatable tube happily when _______ the girl lost her footing and was caught in the river’s current. It happened so fast that the girl desperately grabbed (抓) on to the tube, which her mother was sitting in, throwing her into the river, too.

Blachut heard the sudden shout, “Two women are drowning in the river!” Then he hurried to the _______ , where he spotted them trying to grab anything they could. He was horrified to see that one of them kept sinking. Blachut’s mind _______ , “How can I help them?” _______ having no lifesaving training, he rushed down to the riverbank. Quickly he _______ his T-shirt and jumped into the river. He didn’t care about the cold; all he could think about was saving the women. It was obvious they were _______ .

As Blachut got closer to them, he could _______ that the mother seemed to be in the most trouble. She was drowning. He _______ a film in which a lifeguard grabbed a drowning victim’s body, pulling the person ashore while swimming on his back. Blachut tried this, but the woman’s clothing made her so ________ ; he kept being dragged under, too. He needed a new ________. He quickly dived under the drowning woman, ________ her upward and using that momentum (水势) to take her toward the shore. At that time, an onlooker was able to ________ the woman’s hand, pulling her ashore. Then Blachut jumped into the river again. He swam downstream, got hold of the daughter, and was able to get her out in the same way, too.

Several onlookers expressed their ________ for Blachut following the incident. However, Blachut was ________ about his role, “The whole rescue only took several minutes and I am happy to receive your praise.”

10 . There are places that call your name. Though _______ passes, there’s a lasting calling, an ancient appeal to experience their offerings. Egypt has always been that _______ place for me. I wanted to swing on a camel’s back while gazing (凝视) between its _______. I wanted to have a sense of how its people _______ life, death and rebirth.

I lost loved ones like many during the COVID. One result for me was a _______ that no one knows what’s around the comer. Life is precious and _______ I have to ride a camel, the time is now.

On my second day in Egypt, my four-legged adventure partner, called Humphrey, and I _______ each other. Then I swung my leg over his back and the owner signaled him to _______ so I could move toward the location of the best _______ advantage. The smile on my face in those photos is beyond ________.

Amazingly, the camel boss asked, “You ride horses?” “Yes.” He threw the rein (缰绳) up to me and said, “It’s just like a horse.”

I was ________. “Can I go anywhere?” He nodded.

Unbelievably, I rode with Humphrey and gazed between his ears at the most spectacular view of the Great Pyramid of Giza, a wonder that has ________ to the present day. As I ________ my way back, the camel boss asked if I wanted to go faster. Of course!

Returning Canada, I continue to feel the magic and mystery of Egypt, as if it was deeply rooted in my heart. Death cannot be avoided, and the Egyptians ________ that view. They did not fear death but planned for it by living ________. Even for a camel-riding.