1 . Turning 13 can be painful. Sure, pimples (粉刺) are a problem. _______ it’s the feelings of insecurity that really _______. “I would gaze into the bathroom _______ and ask myself, ‘Is this the sum of my 13 years?’” author Gary Soto says of his _______ self. “We all doubt ourselves — _______ we look, how we play on the field, how we dress, how we do in school.”

These _______ form the basis of Soto’s latest book, Mercy on These Teenage Chimps, which is _______ in bookstores.

Soto tells the story of two 13-year-old friends, Ronnie and Joey, who are self-conscious about their _______ appearance. In the mirror, they see the _______ coming out of their chins doesn’t improve the look.

It gets ________ when the coach at school embarrasses Joey in front of a girl. ________, Joey returned to his childhood hideaway in a tree. Soto understands the need of a place to ________ it all. “I remember my childhood street from tree level. It was an escape from the ________.”

The trouble is that Joey has no intention of ________ his sanctuary (避难所). It’s up to Ronnie to convince his friend to face the world ________. In his search, Ronnie stands bullies and nosy neighbors, and ________ from more than one roof.

“This book is a call for mercy for young people ________ self-doubt,” Soto told TFK. “It’s a comic novel about ________. Ronnie concerns his friend and knows he must do ________ in his power to return him to his optimistic, fun-loving spirit. That’s ________ a friend does.”

The moral of the story: You don’t need to be the best-looking chimp in the jungle. All you need is a loyal friend who will stick by you, even when the going gets a little, well, hairy.

2 . David and Case are 12 and 11 years old. Like most _________, they don’t have much money. They get a little pocket money from their _________ for doing chores. And of course, they wish they had more _________ to spend on comics and candy.

One day, the two friends were walking through a parking lot when they saw something on the ground. It was a wallet. They _________ the wallet up and looked inside. The wallet was _________ loaded with cash. _________, there were $500 in bills.

The boys _______   to find the rightful owner. They didn’t even think about touching the money. _________, they found a driver’s license and _________ a plan. Case stayed at the __________ where they had found the wallet, while David took the wallet to a nearby __________ station. Pretty soon, the police officers were able to __________ the owner of the wallet.

Scott Ames was so __________ to get the wallet back. It wasn’t __________ the money. The wallet also had some __________ in it, such as a photo of his late mother. And of course, Ames was amazed to __________ that not one of the bills had been removed.

__________, a person with strong morals had found his wallet, he __________. When the police told him that two pre-teen boys had found the wallet, he was __________. Sure, there was no reason for him to be surprised that two boys were pillars (栋梁) of the community. But it didn’t exactly __________ the stereotype (刻板印象) of young people.

3 . Confucius would be happy if he lived in the modern world. He would see his works and philosophies(哲学) still _______________ among teenagers even though they live in an_______________ of information.

In Changzhou No.2 Middle School, Jiangsu, all senior 3 students now_______________ a course in Lun Yu once a week. The school aims to improve students’ appreciation of the Confucian heritage(遗产)as well as_______________   Chinese civilization.

“Students’ attendance in this course will _______________   30 percent of their Chinese score on the final exam.This reward_______________ their interest in the course, which is _______________ but full of wisdom,” said Cao Yongzhong, a Chinese _______________ at the school.

_______________won’t be easy for students to enjoy The Analects(文选) of Confucius ________________ ancient Chinese as they________________   so many other subjects to learn and exams to ________________.

Cheng Yun,18, didn’t like the”additional burden”________________, but now it turns to be a course ________________ she looks forward to.

“I thought it would ________________ my time for homework, but it doesn’t.________________ sentences are short and concise(精练). I even use some of his wise   sayings in my compositions, ________________   makes my writing more attractive,” Cheng said. ________________ the fact that all students are required to learn some chapters of the book when in junior school, they may be ________________ young to understand the truths revealed(揭示)by Confucius.” Although I ________________ the language we use nowadays to Confucius, what the master said in the book does help me shape my personality.”said Zhang Junzhuo,18.

4 . As a new teacher, I was sent on my first practical class at a middle school. During my class, I_________ something terrible in the school and realized it could be a place lacking justice and_________among the students.

Jess was an 8th grade student who always _________her classmates though lack of respect in return. Kids constantly _________her behind her back. Tyson, a 12th grade student, was handsome and always_________ by his classmates. When the school talent show came around, Jess asked to _________a solo(独唱) act. I hesitated to allow her to take the stage, fearing that she might _________challenges. However, I knew it would be_________to say no, so her name was onto the list of performers.

The day of the show, the whole school gathered in the hall. The _________began and I was pleasantly surprised when each performance was greeted with __________and praise. Then it was Jess’s __________. The music started and, to my horror, she missed the first line of the__________. She became nervous, and forgot her lines. As she__________through the song, kids whispered and laughed. Jess looked very embarrassed and was about to__________when the most amazing thing happened. The sound of somebody__________with the beat of the song began to rise above the crowd. I looked around to see__________it was. It was Tyson. He was clapping loudly, __________his friends to join in. Slowly, the claps spread from Tyson’s group to the rest of the students, then__________the hall. Soon the encouragement made Jess find__________. As the song ended, the whole audience cheered.

The smile on Jess’s face that day is one I’ll __________ forget. Tyson changed my life by regaining my faith in the kindness of youth.

5 . The first day of school, I came home crying because all the other kids said I was too big for kindergarten. On the bus, the first three seats were_______for kindergartners and the bus driver made me move _______because she didn’t believe me when I told her I was in kindergarten-I was just too _______

When I was about nine, my sister and I were _______ in a play area at the mall and a security guard came up and told me I was too big. The age _______ was 12, but they still wouldn’t let me play.

Finding jeans that are_______enough for a girl like me is nearly impossible. One of my friends is a boy. One day, we decided to _______jeans-his came up to about my mid-shin(小腿中部), and everyone kept telling me I _______like Tom Sawyer.

At 16, however, I suddenly found being tell has its_______

I can ________ things on the top shelf, like Wal-Mart and the shopping mall, where I ________by little old ladies to get stuff down for them all the time. I also get ________ first in a crowd because my head sticks way ________everybody else’s. But I do run a higher ________of hitting my head on things.

Being tall is a great way to get people’s________I get approached by strangers all the time, asking me if I played ________ . I did play basketball, but the thing I was________at in it was intimidation. I loved watching the other team’s faces when I walked out to________.You could usually see the________in the eyes of whoever had to jump against me.

I used to________ being tall. Now I’ve gone back to smiling when I hear someone tell me how lucky I am.

6 . She was not the kind of girl who could draw attention. She looked ordinary and was not _________. One day I asked her to read aloud the text. When I heard her _________ English, I looked at her _________. And I remembered her name — Kelly. _________, one student in our school was allowed to _________ the National College Speech Competition. I thought it over and filled in her name. However, _________ Kelly practised hard for the competition, I was a little worried, because she was always _________ quiet.

In the night of the competition, I came to the hall very early and told her to _________. Her face turned red and she said nothing. It seemed that she was really _________. I just patted her on the shoulder and let her go to draw lots(抽签). She drew No. 9 while No. 8 was a boy who was very good at __________.

Sure enough, No. 8 was very successful .The __________ made a warm applause(掌声).

When the hall was __________ with excitement and noises, Kelly appeared on the stage. Because of the strong spotlight and the large hall, __________ seemed to notice she had been there. I felt hopeless.

But the moment   that surprised me __________. I clearly heard a voice, a very loud voice, “Now, please focus on me.” Three times in all, __________.The whole audience __________ silent. I could hardly __________ that loud voice to the girl, who was usually soft-voiced before. She gave a perfect __________.

I think I will never forget this touching __________ my student taught me — never underestimate(低估) the __________ of the silent people.

7 . Alpinist (登山家) Marion has cleaned up 8. 5 tons of waste on Mount Qomolangma in just 3 years with her team.

_________? We certainly think so. But that’s nothing compared to Marion’s future _________.

Marion has a tough and _________ goal: finish cleaning up Qomolangma and then _________ on to the entire Himalayan mountain range.

“Climbing Qomolangma should offer one of the best interactions between _________ and the natural world. But _________, I realized that the mountain had been _________in the past 30 years when I reached the top in 2013. Nearly 10 tonnes of waste had been _________ at the top alone! I was totally shocked when I _________ the rubbish problem on the mountain,” she told the Yves Rocher Foundation.

For Marion,__________ is an important part of her life that helps her feel alive. Therefore, she wants to do her __________ in helping others get the best possible experience. Her __________ to nature started when she was a child. She would __________ in the woods and learn the names of the plants and animals. As a __________, she’s been working as a mountain guide in India and Tibet for over 17 years. After founding the Clean Qomolangma project, she __________ to ask the local authorities to __________ her project. She was given 50 yaks (牦牛) to help get the waste down. We can only hope that Marion will keep on and that others will __________ her.

The __________ affecting the Himalayas has an effect on the drinking water used by around 2 billion people living there, so the __________ to clean up the mountains isn’t just about protecting nature. It’s also about our __________ of life.

8 . When Nihal was eight years old, he went to visit his grandparents who lived near the Krisha river. He saw people _________ rubbish and plastic waste into the water. This was the point at which the ecologist in him _________, and he wanted to do something.

Nihal has always been _________ by environmental issues, but he’s never given them much _________ except reading the relevant novels. _________, one day, after hearing about a large fire _________ by a lithium battery(锂离子电池) at a waste disposal(处置) site in California, he became _________ and determined to do something. He thought, although the problem could be settled, many people who were observing would simply _________ it. That’s when the concept for “ Recycle My Battery ” _________.

Then, Nihal did more research into battery __________ and discovered that many worldwide companies have __________ about batteries. “ Surely there has to be a __________ to keep them out of landfills(废物填埋地),” he remarked. Then he began to __________ batteries at his school and in the neighbourhood. His father would drive him __________ throughout every corner of towns to collect __________ batteries. With so many batteries piled up, he decided to __________ his own non-profit Recycle My Battery.

So far, more than 1.5 million people have __________ Recycle My Battery. Nihal and his strong team of young people have already recycled over 150,000 deserted batteries and taught over 1.5 million people about the __________ of battery recycling.

Nihal, now only 12 years old, has been struggling for three years to __________ the battery pollution, calling on others to raise battery recycling __________ and working towards the aim of zero pollution.

9 . You may think that someone whose loved one has just one lung would be clinging to masks to protect themselves from COVID-19. But Dennis, with his one-lung wife, actually _________ a single N95 mask to a first responder. The _________ farmer sent the mask along with a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, _________ him to deliver it to a nurse or a doctor. Governor Cuomo was so _________ that he posted the deed on Facebook, “This is humanity at its best. I share his letter as _________.”

Dennis became aware through the news that the first responders were _________ heavily on masks, but were at times experiencing desperate _________. So he thought, “It was just one little _________. But maybe if you get enough of them, it will result in a better end.” Dennis and his _________ wife, both over the age of 70, made this decision despite their own preexisting health conditions.

After hearing about this act of __________, Kansas State University considered __________ Dennis and granting him his degree! It was about 50 years ago that Dennis had to __________ the university after his father passed away. He was just two credits short from __________. He kept dreaming of going back to finish his degree, but his farming career kept him particularly __________. The university wanted to help his educational dream become a reality. They __________ that his lifelong experience in agribusiness more than covered his two missing credits, so they granted him his degree!

10 . Originally, I don’t think about getting older. Perhaps it’s because I like to keep busy and just don’t think about it. ________, sometimes something happens that makes me ________ my death and what lies ahead.

I used to be a radio broadcaster and recently I was ________ by the activity director at a senior citizen’s home near where I live. She told me there are a couple of former broadcasters who live in the home and they would really ________ a visit from someone with a ________ background who can trade stories with them about the good old days. I’m retired, and I have some free time so I said, “sure, I’d come for a visit or two.” That has developed a ________ in which I spend an afternoon each week ________ the old boys and helping them to ________ their happier and busier times.

One of them, it turns out, is ________ tied to an oxygen generating machine, can only ________ in a wheel-chair, and ________, has dementia(痴呆) and knows he is ________ losing his memory and ability to think clearly. My other new friend in the home is about ten years than I. He has cerebral palsy (大脑瘫痪) and is also ________ to a wheel-chair. Neither man can live ________ any more: they can’t drive a car, can’t prepare their own meals, and can’t plant a garden. But they’re being well ________ and they have television, people to serve their daily needs and workers at the home who try their best to keep them comfortable. They have family members who visit them ________ and now I guess they have me. It makes me consider what lies ahead, perhaps not for a number of years, perhaps tomorrow, I have no way of ________.

The thought of being dead doesn’t ________ me, for I’m in absolutely no hurry to get there. What worries me is the process of dying. I’m getting older but I’m still going strong and feeling ________. I go to visit the men in the senior’s home and sometimes I look ahead into the unknown. Life gets ________ in unexpected ways as one gets older.