1 . When Sharaine and Wilson moved their family to Rhode Island, they already had a houseful. Five kids, a busy schedule, a long list of house projects and a whole new neighborhood _______ little time for anything else. And then Paul _______.

At 82 years old, Paul had just lost his wife, but he is still handy and _______. He walked across the street carrying a ladder to meet the new neighbors and _______ a little help with fix-up projects.

Sharaine remembers, “Our biggest _______ of moving into a new neighborhood was what if the new neighbors don’t like us. We have a lot of _______; they make a lot of noise.” But those fears were quickly put to   _______. Paul knows a lot about tools and _______ an old house that Sharaine and Wilson moved in, and he soon became a(n) _______ visitor of the family.

Thanks to Paul’s kind help, Sharaine and Wilson had no ________ in making a new friend. And neither did the kids, Paul made sure the kids crossed the street ________ after school, helped with homework and even ________ the little ones to brush their teeth.

“The kids run up to him like that’s their own ________,” Sharaine says. And that keeps Paul ________. There are neighborhood cookouts, birthdays, home projects and so on. He is also busy ________ a grandpa.

2 . The greatest sports moments often have a wonderful flow state behind the victories or performances. Being in flow refers to the moments where distraction reduces, and concentration ________ .

It was a _______ summer camp ping pong tournament where I was not only down I set, but 7 points behind my opponent (对手), who had only 3 points left to ________ the set, and the tournament. For a comeback, I had to win at least 10 points, without making ________ !

Facing the desperate situation, I could ________ it a day and let my opponent win. Perhaps my opponent had already focused on the ________, but failure wasn’t an option! Thus, I ________ it out, hoping for the best. I told myself, “Let’s just try and win the next point, nothing else.” ________ deep, I stared at the ball with a clear mindset and keen ________. I took it, hit it back and scored!

5 points to go, 4 points to go... My opponent started getting visibly ________ and made mistakes. Point by point I was getting closer to being even.7-8. I was one point away from doing the ________. My mouth was shut and my eyes stayed ________ the entire set. He made another error. 8-8. The comeback was complete. The crowd went ________! Winning the next 3 points, I managed to win that set. In the last set, my opponent turned restless again. ________ the flow, I ended up winning the final set, and the tournament.

Despite a small game, it inspired me a lot. Not being able to control how our opponent plays, we can _______ how to react. Don’t be there, where you are not. Instead, be here and now! Stay in flow! Be concentrated!

4 . As an elementary teacher, what I had experienced recently touched me a lot. Last week, my elementary school ___________ College Colors Day, when alumni (校友) and fans show their passion and spirit for a certain university. Bailey told me he wanted to wear a University of Tennessee shirt, but he couldn’t ___________ one. We discussed he could wear an orange shirt to show his ___________.

When the day finally arrived, Bailey was so ___________ to show me his shirt. I was impressed that he took it one step _________ to make his own UT’s label. However, after lunch, Bailey came to my office, ___________. He told me some girls had made fun of the label   ___________ to his shirt. Knowing that he used the resources ___________ to him to take part in the spit day, I decided to make it extra special for him.

I shared the story on my social media and contacted UT to buy a shirt, and what happened subsequently was beyond my expectation. Alumni, fans and volunteers ___________ in response to this story. Packages ____________ with shirts, gifts and souvenirs (纪念品) flooded in. ____________, in recognition of the fourth-grader’s spirit, the university decided to __________ a four-year scholarship covering his tuition (学费) fees should he decide to attend UT and meet admission ____________.

Bailey and I were __________ by the love from the extended community. I am sure this unforgettable experience will serve as __________ for Bailey throughout his life.

5 . When I was five, my parents began to place me in a variety of different sports. The first ________ was gymnastics, which was a complete ________. The second was track and field. Track was fun at first, I actually liked to run and I was pretty fast. When I joined the team, the ________ was going to begin soon, only giving me three weeks to ________ for my first track meet.

I ________ for a while and then the day of the track meet arrived. Arriving at the stadium I was ________ to see how huge it looked. Before my race I did my warm ups while watching the other kids run their races with a few hundred audience. The ________ of the stadium was something I never felt before.

While ________ the starting line to run the 400m dash, I started to feel ________! At the starting line, we sat there silently waiting for the gun to ________. In that silence I continued to ________ myself and I felt like I was going to win. The gun finally shot and racers began a(n)________ dash to the finish line. The first 100 meters I was doing great. Then came the 200m mark, and my legs were dying. I was slowing down still trying to run. Alone ________ I was on the track, I still walked to finish line. When seeing my mother, I burst into tears. That race was probably the most ________ one in my life. Even though I gave up running track and field, I am grateful for what I experienced when I was 5 because it ________ me who I am today.

6 . “Anybody has a bandage (绷带)?” a voice echoed (回荡) down the dorm hallway.

In the first week at college, we were all _________ some “forgetfulness”. I _________ to bring snacks for late nights. A poor girl in the dorm _________ forgot bandages. We all felt _________, more or less.

Several months before, I sat at my high school graduation party admiring my _________: sewing items, desk supplies, etc.—all well-intended and well-received. They would demonstrate their givers’ _________ over and over during my college life.

But one gift struck me as _________. Medical package? When I _________ it, a small packet of pills and creams lay within the wrappings. I frowned (皱眉头). Who would give that as a present?

I barely thought about that _________ until “anybody has a bandage?” rang out in the dormitory hall that day.

“Actually, I have one.” I __________.

As I __________ the kit, my new dorm-mate struck up a conversation with me.

Soon, more __________ from my dorm-mates for medicine for mosquito bites or a slight headache and so on came. As cold season approached, many needed cough drops. Each girl __________ for a few moments.

The little gift I had __________ initially now led me toward new friendships. As it broke fevers, it also broke the ice, allowing me to meet and __________ many in the dorm building.

7 . When it comes to high-proof fathering lessons, few adventures can compare with the motorcycle trip I shared with my 20-year-old daughter Ewa.

In 2023, we _________ a one-week motorcycle trip in the southern part of British Columbia. Each _________ a motorcycle, we headed north on the Sea-to-Sky highway. What made this trip so _________ was that Ewa took it on herself to be the planner. We didn’t even have a _________ about it. As a father, wasn’t I supposed to plan it?

My old Harley had no gas gauge (汽油表). So, when the main gas tank was empty, the motorcycle _________. After all, these years I hadn’t known whether I would _________ it. But on the first day of our annual trip, when we were on a lonely highway leading to the US border in Sagna, Ontario, it came to a _________ after some time.

Ewa headed into the distance_________ that she was riding alone. When she _________ noticed that I wasn’t in her rearview (后视镜) mirror, she stopped and waited as I pushed my Harley to meet with her. In my adult life, while __________ children, I always followed my parents’ __________: I stood by and provided support. When Ewa __________ her own way of life, I seldom said ‘no’. But when she said she wanted to __________ with the out-of-fuel motorcycle on the side of the country road while I was going for gasoline, I said “no way”. I wouldn’t let her stay there on her own. She insisted, but I was very __________. Ewa finally __________ and went looking for gasoline with me.

I learn from the trip that however old my child is, I will never stop being a father.

8 . Life is a series of unexpected and unforeseen events. Some of them bring about welcome and pleasant consequences, while sometimes they do not _________ any joy. In fact, they can be destructive and unfortunate.

But during these trials and hardships, the love and kindness of others can make a world of _________. It can even save a life, as was the case for a paralyzed (瘫痪的) man in a wheelchair from Dallas, Texas.

Dennis Brown, who is _________ to a wheelchair, was in a rental car when the vehicle burst into _________ suddenly. When he looked up, he _________ the fire extending several feet from the front of the car, _________ him immediately and sending smoke high into the sky above.

_________, a complete stranger put her life at risk to rescue Dennis, who didn’t _________ to take action. The woman _________ Dennis out of the burning car, shifting him to __________. But before Dennis was able to show his __________, she had left quietly. Dennis said that he was eager to have the opportunity to say thanks to his rescuer.

But Dennis is not the only person grateful to the __________ woman. Dennis’ mother, Julia Brown, will forever ________ appreciation to the woman for her __________ deed. “I cannot thank her enough,” Julia said. “Because if she hadn’t __________ the assistance in time, I would have lost him. She was a hero!”

9 . A man took a little too long to complete his PhD. While a majority of PhD programmes are _________ to be finished in five or six years, a 76-year-old student who studied for a PhD in 1970 completed it after 50 years.

Dr. Nick Axten received a scholarship for a PhD in mathematical sociology in 1970 at the University of Pittsburgh. _________, he returned to the UK after 5 years with an unfinished PhD.

Dr. Axten _________ his studies again in 2016 when he was aged 69, studying an MA in Philosophy at the University of Bristol. He then studied for a PhD in Philosophy at the same university and _________ in 2022, aged 75. This year, he _________ his doctorate in front of his wife and 11-year-old granddaughter.

“What I was trying to do in the early 70s was extremely _________,” said Dr. Axten. “Some problems are so _________ that it takes the best part of a lifetime to get your head around them. This one has taken me 50 years, which is simply _________.”

Dr. Axten’s research is a new theory for understanding human _________ based on the values each person holds. Dr. Axten says it can __________ our view of behavioural psychology.

“I have loved being a __________ again at the University of Bristol. All of the other philosophy graduate students were around 23 but they __________ me as one of their own,” said Dr. Axten. The 76-year-old considered his classmates as __________ and expressed that he loved spending time talking to them.

“Nick was a(n) __________ energetic and hardworking student,” said his professor. “It’s great to see him graduate half a __________ after he started his original PhD.”

10 . Sargassum is the smelly seaweed piling up on beaches across the Caribbean. It isn’t something most people ________ kindly. But for Omar de Vazquez, a gardener, it was something like a(an) ________.

Years ago, as part of his gardening business, Omar launched a beach cleanup service to ________ the leafy seaweed. But, as its ________ intensified, he started considering how to turn it into something useful, and in 2018 he ________ a way to use it in building blocks. He started his company—SargaBlock to market the bricks which are being ________ by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a sustainable solution to a current environmental problem.

“When I look at SargaBlock, it’s like looking in a ________,” he says, comparing his company to overcoming his personal ________, including drug and alcohol addiction. “That was a time when I felt unwanted and ________, like the sargassum people complained about.”

Luckily, Omar grew up in nature and poverty, which ________ his character and turned him into someone who takes action. He wanted to make something good out of something everyone saw as bad. Omar then put his idea into ________, mixing 40% sargassum with other organic materials, like clay, which he then puts into a block-forming machine. The process was ________.

The UNDP selected Omar’s work for their Accelerator Lab, which ________ and recognizes innovative solutions to environmental challenges globally. The idea is that some of the most timely and creative ________ come from locals suffering from environmental dilemmas ________.