1 . Last week my four-year-old son Basti and I went for a walk in a park. _________ a beautiful tree off the road, he _________ a lovely toy dugong (儒艮) on the ground. Basti was so excited by this _________ discovery that he held it all day, and even took it to the _________ with him that night.

That evening, I came across a community post from a (n) _________ mum trying to find a _________ dugong, her son’s favourite toy. Although _________ about my son’s sadness, I immediately _________ her and told her we had found it!

The next morning, I had to break the _________ to Basti, who was still __________ the lovely toy. I told him it was another little boy’s. Tears ran down his face. However, he gave me the dugong and cried, “I’m just so sad. I __________ the dugong, Mum. But it’s the right thing to __________ it”.

The lovely toy was returned. Feeling unhappy, yet I thought we had made a good __________ . A week later, on my door hung a card and a new dugong as a big thank-you from that mum. It’s __________ a wonderful surprise! It was the kindest of kind things, which not only __________ my son but also made our week!

2 . David and Candace recently welcomed their new baby, Luna. Before their daughter was born, the couple, who now _______ in California, had been preparing for the baby shower (迎婴派对) and sent out invitations via text messages.

_______ , a message was sent to Angela’s phone, who lives in Indiana. “I was _______ at first, but then I thought there was a reason why I got that _______ and invitation. I could and should do something lovely about it, ” said Angela, who runs a small business making and selling _______ .

“What better way to _______ the arrival of a new little one than with a baby blanket? So I _______ a super-soft blanket made from my own business with hopes that it would reach them, ” Angela said. Inside the special delivery, she included a note _______ the error and why she felt it necessary to do so.

David and Candace said they were blown away by Angela’s _______ and how someone they never ________ could be so generous to them from thousands of miles away. “ ________ indeed. People often get wrong number calls and texts, but most times, they’re ________ . Luna is just so blessed that a stranger sent her a(n) ________ . This is so crazy,” said Candace.

Being a mother of 4 children, Angela has ________ from acts of kindness throughout the years. She said being on the ________ end of that same kindness, shown to her family, is great.

3 . There once lived a monster named Nian, who lived deep in the sea and climbed up to eat cattle and ______ people.

Then, one New Year’s Eve, the villagers were in a great ______ to run away. Some were closing windows and locking doors, some were ______ and others were driving cattle and sheep. There came a beggar (乞丐), saying “I’ll drive away the ______ .”

Around ______ Nian rushed into the village. He found the grandmother’s house was bright with red paper ______ on the doors. The monster gave a loud cry, looked ______ for a moment and went to the door. There suddenly came the sounds of explosions (爆炸). Shaking all over, the monster dared not take a step ______ . It turned out that the colour ______ flames and explosions were what Nian feared the most. The monster ran away quickly in the darkness. All the villagers felt ______ and came back to thank the beggar.

To ______ such good luck, the villagers put on their ______ clothes and hats and went to their relatives and friends to send their ______ and congratulations. These ______   have been passed down through the generations, which is the ______ of the Spring Festival.

4 . 37-year-old Kyle Semrau wasn’t feeling well when he arrived home on Monday morning after his night job. Surprisingly, his 6-year-old daughter, Macie _______ to go to school that morning. Her parents eventually gave in and allowed her to _______ home that day with her 4-year-old brother Caleb and her dad. They didn’t expect that _______ would end up saving Kyle’s life.

Kyle was soon feeling _______. Macie recalled hearing her father _______ start shouting. She and brother Caleb _______ to find him lying on the ground in the basement unconscious. “I don’t want to say this, but I thought he was going to _______,” said Macie. “I immediately Googled the Eliot Police for its number and _______ the police department.” Meanwhile, Caleb did what he could to comfort his dad until _______ arrived.

6-year-old Macie was able to ________ give the police their address, her dad’s name and age. After first responders arrived and ________, Kyle was rushed to hospital.

Kyle has now fully ________ and is grateful for all the help he received. “Just incredible all around. It’s ________ for children to look up to their fathers as heroes, but Macie is, and will always be my hero,” said Kyle.

The Eliot Police Department was also ________ with the little heroine’s actions. “Great job, Macie!!! It was her ________ thinking and swift action that saved her dad’s life,” said a police officer.

5 . Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges is celebrating becoming a grandfather and is also happy to be back in acting. But life wasn’t so ______ for him in 2021. He had to fight with cancer and suffered from COVID-19 ______ . Recently, he spoke about those hard days, and what kept him motivated (有动力的).

Life suddenly took a ______ turn for Jeff when one day he started getting pain in his stomach. His whole life ______ when a nine-by-twelve-inch tumor (肿瘤) was found in his stomach. ______ was started immediately and the tumor disappeared soon.

But in January 2021, both he and his wife Sue were ______ by COVID-19. Sue was able to recover in five days, while he ______ with it in hospital for months.

“COVID-19 made my cancer look like ______ ,” Jeff recalled. He couldn’t breathe properly and needed oxygen even to roll over in bed. His wife Sue was ______ that he might die.

“I was pretty close to ______ . The doctors kept telling me, ‘Jeff, you’ve got to fight.’ But I was about to ______ . I was ready to go,” said Jeff. But he remembered his ______ to his daughter to dance with her on her wedding day, which gave him the will to ______ back. And he eventually recovered. He was not only able to ______ with his daughter but was also happy to be reunited again with his wife and enjoy the second ______ at life.

6 . Verda Tetteh, a 17-year-old straight A high school student, is on her way to Harvard. At her graduation ceremony, Verda won a famous scholarship for general ________ that offered her $10,000 each year for four years. The scholarship was to help her _______ expenses on living, books, and computers.

She accepted, sat back down but then jumped up again, ________ to ask if she could say a few words. “It is such a great ________ but I also know that I am not in the most need of it,” Verda said. She ________ the money should go to struggling fellow students to help them ________ in community college.

After her ________, there was shock, and then applause followed for this ________ act of kindness. Verda ________ that right after receiving the scholarship, she ________ her mom, Rosemary Annan. ________, she knew that she should do the right thing and _________ the scholarship.

Annan worked hard and showed ________. She brought Verda and her ________ to the US from Ghana, often working 80 hours a week to ________ the family, and never hesitating to help out the needy in her community. Annan always stressed the importance of ________ and, in fact, went back to school as a(n) ________ student and is now working towards earning a bachelor’s degree.

Annan also taught her children to be ________. She is very ________ of her daughter’s act. “That ________ my heart. I would do that. And I know she would do that, too. She’s learned from me over the years,” Annan said.

7 . On her way to the grocery store, Amelia saw a person sitting on the sidewalk holding a cardboard (纸板) sign. Amelia thought he was ______ and asking for money. She went over and ______ him a $5 bill, and much to her ______, the man refused it.

She didn’t understand why. She walked a few paces more to get a good look at his ______. It read: “Shoemaker looking for ______! I can sew and repair any kind of shoes too!”

“Oh! You’re a shoemaker. I think that many factories out there could offer you some ______,” she told the old man, finally noticing some of his ______ around him.

“No, Miss. At my age, no one is willing to ______ me anymore. It’s been hard, so I’m trying to find some work this way. I’m too ______ to beg (乞讨) for money. If you know someone who needs shoe repair, please let them know about me,” the man continued.

Amelia ______, thinking about a few pairs of shoes at home.

Typically, she would ______ the old and buy new ones, but if this man could repair them, she could keep ______ them.

Amelia went to the ______ and back home, and returned to the man with her shoes for ______.

The following day, the man gave her ______ and they were in fantastic shape.

8 . Ethan has always dreamed of becoming a firefighter. Recently, the 18-year-old got a ________ of what it really feels like to save lives!

It all ________ when Ethan and his two friends, Ryken and Jackson, both 17,were heading to a local basketball court. They looked up and saw ________ pouring from the Citadel Mews Retirement Home. Pulling over in their tracks, they ________ to the Retirement Home to see if they could help.

“We knew that the elderly people were struggling ________,” Jackson said.

The ________ teens first went to the rescue members. Learning that there were still people inside the building, they didn’t ________ to go in after them. Thinking nothing of their own ________ , they ran up to the fourth floor and began to carefully ________ the rooms.

“Knock on every door, say, ‘There’s a fire; everyone gets out,’” Jackson ________. “After that we’d open the door and take a ________ look through to make sure no one was in and go to the next ________.”

Smoke began to ________ the hallways, and the roof was in flames, but they were so focused on evacuating (疏散) everyone that they didn’t have time to be ________. “The only thing that was going through my mind was to get out all the people ________ in the building,” said Ethan. Soon he found an old lady ________ to make her way downstairs, and he picked her up and ________ her outside.

The three teens are receiving lots of ________, but they insist they were just raised to do what they thought was ________.

After this experience, Ethan said he is more convinced than ever that he wants to be a ________.

9 . I’m grateful to have the ability to take care of my family. This is why I try to help those in _______ whenever possible. Here are two _______ that changed my opinions about what’s really important in life.

One hot day, I was sitting on my front porch (门廊), _______ a cold drink when a homeless man walked by my house.

“Would you like something to drink?” I asked.

“No, thank you. What I’d really like more than anything is a clean pair of ________.”

His ________ really hit me right in my heart and soul. Along with a bag of these warm foot coverings, I gave him some cash, and he was so grateful. Now I can’t look at my socks without feeling ________.

Another time, I was coming home from work on payday with a huge ________ in my pocket. I found myself ________ at a stoplight. I saw something common: a man in old clothing holding a cardboard sign that ________, “Need work or food. Anything ________.” I have a full-time job, and this unfortunate soul had________ nothing. So, I rolled down my window, and gave him a rather large bill. “Thank you so much” was something special that he ________ me.

Most homeless folks are people like us. They’re just bearing an ________ part of their journey through life. They ________ our respect and admiration in overcoming their everyday struggles. They’re just people who might need a helping hand from others. Now I’m grateful that my life didn’t hand me enough bad luck to ________ in their situation.

10 . After realizing students at his primary school were going hungry, PE teacher Jason Watson got an inspiration.

“I grew up in Frazeysburg, a 1,300-person town,” said Jason. “It’s a community where people _________ one another.”

During the 2020 COVID, Jason and his wife, school librarian Anne, bought a used _________, and for the past two summers, the couple, both 39, have delivered hot _________ lunches to kids in need in Frazeysburg, with the help of their own kids Pax, 12, Skye, 11, and Lily, 14. They _________ about 70 meals a week and so far they have given out about 1,500 lunches on _________.

“Upon seeing our truck, they come _________,” said Jason. “To see their faces, there’s nothing _________,” added Anne.

The family prepares all the meals themselves. “We love _________,” Jason said. “We try to actually cook a really good meal, like grill hamburgers or chicken sandwiches, things that they just wouldn’t _________ be able to get, to treat them a little bit.”

“We’ve received lots of __________,” said Anne. “And we’ve been __________ to do more. Our dream is to possibly open a free café where we __________ people in for a hot dinner. Then we can sit down and share __________ together.”

In addition to helping children in need, the Watsons are excited they have found an activity that __________ their entire family. “It’s __________. It’s our favorite thing,” Jason said.