1 . The Beauty of Creative Friendships

I recently walked through an incredible exhibition in Venice. It _________ about 75 art works that a Dutch-American artist created during the time he spent in Italy in 1959 and 1969. The pieces on show included his ink-on-paper drawings, some gestural drawings, landscapes and sculptures.

Born in 1904, de Kooning spent the majority of his artistic career as a (n) _________ but in 1969, while visiting Rome, he _________ an old friend, the sculptor Herzl Emanuel, who invited him to his studio and _________ him to try working with _________.

At age 65, de Kooning _________ his first sculptural works, 13 small clay items. It was the _________ of a new artistic era for him and, over the next 15 years, sculpture became a (n) _________ and inseparable part of his career.

Later, after I left the exhibition, I was _________ by how beautiful it was that de Kooning began making sculpture because of the initial ____________ and encouragement of his ____________. It got me thinking about the often unacknowledged role that some friendships play in the creative process of ____________ across all types.

We often think about those friendships that journey deeply with us in our private lives, ____________ us through emotional ups and downs. But friendships that develop our professional selves are also ____________.In offering courage, insight and clarity on the work that we produce, these friendships ____________ the overall quality of our lives.

2 . When I have a sad look on my face and my mind isn’t where it should be, my wife says, “You need to go home!” So, I get my plane ticket, pack my suitcase and _______ Sierra Leone, the country I escaped from in 1999 when a war over diamonds destroyed our _______. The civil war lasted 11 years and ruined many schools, leaving children without an education or a future. It only seems _______ that I try to help the people in my home country, especially the children.

In 2009, 10 years after I ran away, I believed it was time to rebuild and _______ the life we had before the war. With most of the schools ruined, it was a _______ task. The first one was the school in Mbureh village. With the help of several charities, the organization I work with raised enough money. The school was rebuilt and the children _______ me with smiles.

I consider that payment in full. And it _______ me to do more. With each brick cemented (用水泥粘结) into place and each nail hammered, I thought about the kids who were now going to have a _______. Workers and volunteers _______ day and night, rebuilding one school after another.

After I returned to Canada, my wife could see the ________ in me. But something in my life here would always take my ________ back to the problems of my country. Sometimes it was wandering in the grocery store. All that food reminded me of the empty stomachs of the children overseas. Or sometimes it was the ________ I heard around me: The weather wasn’t just right or a flight had been postponed.

“Go home,” my wife always said ________. So, I’d return once again to build more schools, create more futures and see more ________ children. I’ve met many people who have the same heart as me and want to see the smiles of more children in Sierra Leone.

We all know how much a smile can ________ us: It is payment in full.

3 . Travel inspires adventure, team spirit and growth in children, as I discovered when I took my daughter Mai with me around the world.

When she was four, we had a parent-child _________ through the Fraser River in Canada. I was a travel writer and my job covered from describing the scenery I traveled along to _________ the people I met. So while I was taking pictures, Maia, wanting to prove her _________ as an assistant, began interviewing a couple in the same ship. Unable to spell words, she _________ their answers in crayon. Then when we sat together at lunch, my daughter _________ the kids’ meal and requested the salmon (三文鱼). She explained that kids’ meals might not always be _________ during travel, so her food _________ was “try everything.” That trip proved Maia as such an easy travel _________ .

When she was six, we flew to the Riviera Maya in Mexico. I was impressed by how _________ fearless she was when we dived along a reef(礁石). And I was __________ by how she cleverly worked out that she could order chocolate cake from room __________ alone. But it was on the __________ home, when my glued-to-my-arm kid said it was okay that the airline didn’t __________ us together, that I realized how much travel was __________ her. It helped her become more __________ .

As Mai a grew older, travel continued to __________ her life. We explored the Amazon rainforest, where she learned the importance of __________ our planet. We visited famous __________ in China , where she developed a deep appreciation in its rich cultures and long history. And we __________ at an orphanage (孤儿院) in Africa, where she learned the meaning of love and care.

Travel has also helped Maia develop important life __________ such as independence, problem-solving, and communication. I am grateful for what travel has had on my daughter, and I am excited to see what the future holds for her.

4 . 33 years ago, Thomas retired from his job, but he simply couldn’t sit at home doing nothing. His wife Elizabeth, who was an elementary school teacher in their hometown, suggested that he should ________ a job as a crossing guard. He though it sounded like a good way to keep busy. Over three decades later, he is ________out there every day!

Thomas began his ________ as a driver overseas and then he returned home and worked for the post office until he ________. He and Elizabeth have been married for 51 years, and she said she was ________ to still have her ________ husband around. “He decided he needed something else to do, so we made it ________ for him,” said Elizabeth.

He ________ for work at 5:00 am every weekday. He is a ________ face for two generations of the students and their families. When he turned 100 years old, the entire people of the ________ came together to celebrate his birthday. “Not many of us can even think about turning 100 and still wanting to get up every morning to go to work with a ________on our face,” teacher Verhonda Evens said. “We appreciate you ________ .”

Even at his age, Thomas ________ takes a day off, even for vacations! His son said he did it all for the ________. “He has more things to do than we have to do,” he explained. “Even when it comes down to vacations, he wants to hurry up and come back so he can do the crossing guard. He doesn’t want to ________ his work. It keeps him busy.”

5 . A boxing match taught me a life lesson.

At that time, I had been a _________ of a boxing gym for about a year, and I had just started stepping into a ring（拳击台）with another boxer and _________ everything we’d learned. It was always a _________ experience. I was far from the largest or the strongest guy in the gym, and I didn’t even have the skill or experience to _________ my bodily weakness.

But what if, no matter how hard I got hit, I would _________ coming forward? Ignoring the _________voice in my head that this was a bad idea, I looked forward to my next boxing match.

My partner was so much faster and more experienced than I was; I could _________ hit him. After three rounds of _________ his blows with my nose, I stepped out of the ring, thoroughly _________. I wanted to apologize to my partner for such a poor match, but before I could say anything, he was __________ me.

“I am grateful for such an exciting game you gave me,” he said. “I’m not __________ to having some-one come forward at me like that. It really forced me to make quick __________ the whole time!” That moment dramatically __________ my understanding of success. My focus had been on winning. __________ I scored the most points or earned the best grade, I wasn’t a success.

Then I discovered what matters is the ongoing __________ to improve; To continue a game that has no finish line.

6 . On the day after Thanksgiving, Allison Scott and her boyfriend, Alfred Valdivia, Jr., made the decision to head up to Big Bear Lake in California for a last-minute camping trip. The couple packed up their _________ and brought along their dog for the planned overnight, never once imagining that they were actually setting out on a(n) _________ mission for a man they’d never met.

Allison and Alfred _________ a camping spot between Big Bear Lake and Angelus Oaks. They were relaxing when, suddenly, a low-flying plane _________ their attention. As the plane went by, they heard a man’s voice calling out for help somewhere nearby. _________, they tracked the sound to a ridgeline (山脊线), and at the bottom of the hill, a man named Eric was _________.

“He had a stick with a water bottle on it trying to signal. He couldn’t _________. His feet were extremely swollen and _________ just from walking so much, and possibly the cold where he was,” Allison recalled.

Allison and Alfred climbed down to Eric and learned that he’d _________ from his home in Oceanside two weeks earlier. No one knew where he was, and no one was looking for him. He doesn’t own a cell phone, either. He’d managed to __________ for the past 14 days eating only a half a jar of salsa he’d brought along for the hike.

Eric told the couple it was a “Thanksgiving miracle” they’d __________ him at all when he was extremely weak and hungry. Then, Alfred comforted him and Allison used her cell phone to call 911, and within 15 minutes a rescue helicopter arrived to airlift the __________ man to safety.

Once Eric had been __________ evacuated (撤离), Allison and Alfred continued on their camping trip as planned. Later, Allison __________ Eric down to check on him. He __________ the couple dinner would be on him next time they find themselves in Oceanside!

7 . A 6-year-old girl named Quinn Hill is being honored for what she did for her mom.

Quinn’s mom, Jennifer, said that earlier this year, she was ________. She didn’t remember what happened next, so Quinn filled in the ________.

“Quinn told me that I, ________, sat down in a chair, looking up at the ceiling and started breathing quickly,” Jennifer said. “She said that I then ________ the chair onto my left side and my hands were together and my body was shaking. She kept saying, ‘Mommy, Mommy,’ and I wouldn’t ________.”

When Jennifer didn’t come to, ________ Quinn decided to grab her three-year-old brother and run to a neighbor’s house to ask for help. No one ________ at the first house, so she tried another. Fortunately, they came to the door and ________ followed the kids back to their home, where they ________ Jennifer lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.

The ________ neighbor called Jennifer’s husband, who sent emergency services to the ________. And they transported her to a local hospital where doctors ________ she had a grand mal seizure I (癫痫). It was the first time she’d had one.

To recognize Quinn and her ________, Conover, NC, Mayor (市长) Kyle J. Hayman, honored her with a ________ certificate during a city council ceremony, where he also ________ Resolution 05-24 naming February 5, 2024, as “Quinn Hill Day”.

8 . The snowstorm wasn’t supposed to hit until night. I decided to go home from work, snowstorm or not. I wasn’t ________. It was just past 4:30 p. m. I ________ I had more than enough time to make it home.

________, 15 minutes after I got on the road, the snow started — and it was coming down fast. The windows were ________ up and getting covered with snow, so I stopped and called 911, only to be told nobody was coming to my ________ until morning at the earliest.

Breathe, I told myself. Panicking won’t ________.

I pinned my location on the Google Map app, took a screenshot, and ________ this information to my Facebook community group, ________ for anyone who knew who lived nearby to help me. But I was wondering ________ someone did figure out where I was, would help be able to ________ the swirling snow and shrieking wind?

About 45 minutes later, I saw a tall figure in a yellow raincoat walking hurriedly toward me in the dark, carrying a flashlight. It was André Bouvier, who’d walked about 550 yards through the snowstorm, fighting the ________ and snow each step of the way. “I want you to follow me in your car. You’ll be OK.” he said, his voice ________.

He ________ and started to trudge (跋涉) through the snow. I drove slowly behind him, feeling my heart begin to beat more slowly. When we reached the house, I burst into tears, all my fears turning into ________ and gratitude.

The experience has been a game changer for me. I now approach ________ with a sense of calm I’d not known before.

9 . Madison Baloy was a normal twenty-something a year ago, with a positive attitude on life. However, a _________ colon cancer completely changed her life course.

A year later, her health condition became worse, and she _________ 50 pounds over nine months. During the _________ diagnosis, Baloy tried the social media platform for help. She couldn’t find people like her, and she started filming her own journey. It makes sense people with terminal illnesses would _________ social media to express themselves or share their _________ wishes. It is because social networking sites _________ the fundamental human need of social connection and _________. Just as it makes sense for Baloy to live life in her own _________ while she still can.

Even though it was hard, Baloy _________ shares her journey on social media, aiming to change perceptions about cancer patients and __________ that she is more than her illness. __________, one of her videos got more than 1 million likes. Baloy __________ that’s because people were really __________ to the fact that she looks and seems like a very average woman in her 20s. Yes, Baloy has terminal cancer, but she also is a person in her 20s trying to figure out her life. She is old enough to __________ her own choices, and still __________ enough that she doesn’t need to just stay in bed all day.

Before Baloy dies, she has many __________ on her bucket list (遗愿清单). __________ the bucket lists of terminal people on social media gives us some insight into what __________ to someone at the end of their lives. It’s a way for us to learn about life __________ having to face our own mortality (死亡). Madison Baloy was a(n) __________ twenty-something a year ago. And she still is.

10 . On a summer evening in 2014, my wife and I encountered a sad scene during our trip to the grocery store. A man, who was incapable of ________ mental function, wrapped himself with an old advertisement banner (横幅) as________in the bad weather. Although he seemed unresponsive to our inquiries, his circumstance________us deeply, inspiring my wife’s suggestion to buy him_________.

We bought some bread and returned, but he wasn’t there. We felt disappointed. Soon we found that he had________ a family of migrant laborers who were camping nearby. To our surprise, the family did not ________ his presence but warmly treated him like one of their own. They________their humble meal around an open fire, ensuring that the man’s plate remained________. Observing this act of genuine________and compassion, we felt________ for having missed the chance to directly________ the man ourselves, but________ the selfless nature of the migrant family. Poor as they were, they demonstrated________ by sharing everything they had with someone in need.

Moved by their actions, we________the loaf of bread near the man and departed, realizing that true giving is about more than________ needs; it’s about extending empathy and solidarity (团结) to others, regardless of personal wealth or status.