1 . When my doctor was delivering his speech on statistics and survival rates, those cruel words upset me terribly. He might be telling the truth, but I realized there was a need for a special human _________ , especially for a new cancer patient like me. I _________ to do something.

I called my local _________ and asked if I could give a speech to the community, about “What to Say and How to Help When Someone Has Cancer”. The _________ came five minutes later, “... we would be pleased to have you _________ your topic to the community.”

As the day approached, I got _________. What if no one _________ and all the preparation and work was for nothing?

Despite the worries, things went _________. At 6:45 pm on a Tuesday evening, I started my presentation by _________ the first words my doctor said to me, and I saw tears and heads nodding in ____________ as I spoke. At the end of the presentation, applause filled the library hall. Little did they know that I had just finished treatment and still felt ____________ and tired. But somehow giving. the talk helped me stop being a(n) ____________ and start acting like a survivor.

Later, I gave more presentations. I won such great ____________ that I had the privilege of speaking ____________ cancer survivors across the country. And that makes all the ____________, not only to me but also to the world around me!

2 . I never planned to move back to my hometown in Ohio when I came home from California! I thought I would ________ there for a few weeks and then I could leave as soon as my dad ________. But one of his doctors told me that he couldn’t live alone anymore and suggested that I take him with me.

“Two big ________,” I said to my dad one night. “Stay in Ohio alone? Or go to California with me? It’s like choosing your own adventure.”

My dad ________ for a second and replied, “Based on my ________ and age, I don’t think I can do either one.”

My dad had lived in Ohio for the past 54 years. And then at 75, I asked him to leave all his life behind and come to live with me, his 31-year-old ________ and trust me to take care of him, something I had never done before. To be honest, I was ________, too. I had to ________ apart of my life as well. But I’d rather have us be terrified together.

After sitting in silence for a few seconds, I added, “If I said you had to ________ California and live with me, how would you feel about that?”

I was ________ shocked by his answer: “Oh, great. But...”

I didn’t even let him ________ his but. It was decided. In less than a month. I cheerfully ________ his apartment up, and bought him a ticket to California.

At first, people kept asking me, “Are you ready to take on this responsibility?”

My ________ was always the same: “I’m his daughter and no one is going to ________ him as much as I do.”

Now, he is living happily with me and I’m ________ that I have done what I had to do.

3 . Zac Clark was doing yard work with his mother this past weekend. They ______ heard their neighbor’s wife calling for help. She told them her husband was ______ underneath their car.

Zac didn’t ______ to rush over to their house to help. “Instincts (本能) kicked in and I just ran over there. I guess the jack (千斤顶) broke or ______ and the car fell on top of him,” Zac said. “The only thing I could see was his legs and he was ______ .” Then, without any ______ , Zac came up and used all his strength to ______ the car off his neighbor a little bit. Then his wife and Zac’s mom could ______ him out from under it. Immediately the ______ neighbor got rushed to the hospital.

“He had a couple of broken bones and his face was messed up pretty bad, but the doctors told him if I wasn’t there, then he’d be ______ ,” Zac said.

Zac’s football coach Dave Carroll said he was ______ when he heard about what Zac had done. “He has just a ______ heart,” Carroll said. “Here’s a young man who’s been ______ sadness himself with his father passing away last summer, but he had no hesitation in saving somebody’s life.”

Zac said he was thinking of his late ______ as he lifted the car and wanted his neighbor to be able to spend his life with his family.

The lucky man is now ______ at home.

4 . As the saying goes, life is sweet. But while we may wish for consistently sweet moments, life often serves us other _________.

Recently, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. In her nineties now, as she _________ the closing stages of a long and remarkable life, she struggles with dementia (痴呆), leading to her mind and body not _________ the way she would want.

The day before the celebration, we _________ to bake cookies with her great grand kids. Not just any cookies, but 60 _________ sugar cookies cut in different shapes, covered with lots of sprinkles (糖屑). Though the kids worked as carefully as they could, they made the kitchen a total mess, _________almost as many sprinkles on the floor as on the cookies. They went on for hours, rolling dough, baking, cutting shapes, and _________ with four kinds of sprinkles.

The next day, the birthday _________ was a success. We took many pictures, and the beautiful cookies were shared. In an _________ way, those sweet sprinkles have not only stuck in my mind but remained almost everywhere in our home for the past few days. In every __________, I continue to find them, in all the colors of the rainbow, four shapes and sizes, sweet, and after I __________ step on them, not so sweet.

Truly, these are bittersweet moments, filled with __________ emotions. From such moments, we unwillingly learn that much in life is __________ our control: the separations and losses, the __________ of life, the passage of time. Life serves up many flavors. __________, we can choose our attitudes on the journey.

5 . David lost his beloved dog Baya before Christmas two years ago. Baya was active and cute. David’s family spent many days _________ for their furry (毛茸茸的) family member. The kids said they wouldn’t want any _________ from Santa Claus. They just wanted to get their dog back. All attempts to find her turned out to be _________. Baya was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the family wouldn’t have any more _________.

Two years later, a homeless dog _________ alone on a busy road. Someone _________ it to the Animal Protection Association (协会). Thanks to the microchip (芯片) planted in the dog, the association was able to _________ the owner. They _________ David. When David got a phone call that they were going to get Baya back, the family were pretty _________.

Obviously, Baya is __________ to living in this home. She is quite __________ of where her feeding bowl is. Even though Baya isn’t the dog she used to be, David is confident she’ll become her old __________ again. He said, “She was a very healthy and __________ dog. She’s not like that anymore, but we’re going to get her back. Our whole family are taking __________ of her. Kids play with her happily. She’s __________ her joyful nature. We will love her even more.”

6 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

7 . Harry Burleigh headed into the woods for a camping trip with his fishing equipment. A few days later, his wife Stacy grew _________ when he didn’t come home as planned.

Stacy called the _________ to report her husband’s missing. Search and rescue teams _________ began their work and went on for days, but there was no _________ of Harry anywhere. Everyone was worried — the temperatures were quite low some nights, and it had even snowed.

On May 15, the rescuers finally caught a break when they _________ a shelter and his fishing equipment. They _________ support from over 16 rescue organizations, and they explored every possible _________ but with no luck. Therefore, the rescuers _________ him a lighter and a note telling him to make a _________ and they would be back. Two days later, a team found another __________, but this time, Harry was nearby and heard his name called! It turned out he was __________ along the path with minor pain.

__________, the crew radioed for a helicopter to take him to the hospital for a complete evaluation after spending 17 long days out.

“This was the __________ we all have been looking for in this case,” a rescuer said. “It is our __________ search and rescue teams and the partnerships we have with other teams that helped __________ Mr. Burleigh and his family.”

8 . As I walked to the market this morning, I saw a poorly dressed old man with a towel covering his face sitting in front of a shop. I ____ he was a beggar looking for charity. I made a mental note that on my way back from the market I should give him whatever ____ I had.

A few feet away was a young man on the pavement ____ in a drunken state and no one who passed by took any ____ . I thought in my mind it was some good-for-nothing, drunkard who had ____ all his money on alcohol. I finished all my shopping, and walked back along the same road. When I reached the beggar, I put out my hand full of change ____ him asking him to take it. He shook his head as though saying that he did not need it. I ____ and pushed it into his hand .

As I stood there, ____ of my great act of charity, the beggar slowly got up, walked up to the young man lying on the pavement, and shook him awake, ____ him something close to his ear. I stood there watching with ____ as he walked to the tea shop, where he asked for something for which he paid with the money I gave and ____ a bread. He then went back to the young man, and helped him to ____ and eat the bread.

He noticed that I was still there so he said , “That young boy has not eaten for two days and has no energy even to sit up. That is why he ____   on the pavement.” Suddenly I felt so ____and admired the nonjudgemental ____ of a man who has so little compared to me.

9 . Chiara suffered a stroke when she was two years old. The disease led to her developing hemiplegia (偏瘫)—a condition that causes ________ on the right side of her body. As she grew up, she was always trying to ________ her disabled arm behind her back, afraid of receiving negative ________ from others.

But a(n)________—one she hadn’t intended to upload at first because it would ________ her arm to the public—started her journey towards becoming a video logger. “This is the only photo of me and my grandparents, who gave me the most ________ but had passed away. I really ________ the picture and decided not to hide it anymore. So I posted it online,” said Chiara. The ________ decision inspired her to share her experiences with the world.

“My ________ was always that I looked different, which was quite a hard thing to deal with,” she said. “Unexpectedly, ________ getting any unfriendly response—I got numerous ________ remarks on the contrary.”

Pretty soon, she was more than happy to share more about her life and even her ________ about how to live with only one hand as ________ as she could.

Now she has made videos for some charities to ________ life for those who are like her. She says, “People have said. ‘You’ve ________ me that my child can be dependent.’”

Looking back, Chiara said she’s really proud of how far she’s come.

10 . Of all the men who ever liked fresh air, no one liked it more than Wilson. He often climbed mountains to ________ the fresh air at the top. He drove an open car without a roof. He’d always keep one window ________ in his room.

One ________, Wilson went to Finland on business. The hotel he stayed in was ________. It was warm and quiet. But Wilson got ________ when he found all the windows were closed to keep warm. He tried his best to open one, but ________. The manager had wisely ________ that. No fresh air in the room!

Night came, but Wilson couldn’t fall asleep. Having ________ in bed, Wilson became hot with anger. His hands waved madly in the dark air. Suddenly, he ________ something on the floor. It was his heavy boot! Without thinking, he threw it with all the force. A terrible sound ________ the bedroom. Wilsom calmed down immediately. “Now I should go to ________.” he thought in great ________ and soon fell peacefully asleep.

The next morning, Wilson woke up. He ________ the terrible sound, and opened his eyes to look. The ________ were all in one piece, just as good as the night before. No fresh air was ________ entering the room, since what he broke was his own cup on the table. He felt guilty (内疚的) about his behavior.