1 . Nevins had his legs seriously injured in a war and had both legs amputated (截掉) and spent several years going to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The years left him _______ and restless. He was often woken up by bad dreams. He knew he needed _________. To find a way out, he called a friend, Anna Dennis. She told him, “You need yoga (瑜伽) in your life.” At first, Nevins laughed at the advice. “That’ s the stupidest thing I’ve heard,” Nevins said. But he decided to have a _________.

A yoga teacher, Dennis decided to give him three ___________. At his first lesson, he found himself feeling sad because of his artificial (人造的) legs. It was painful to keep balance, and he was angry __________ she kept telling him to press his feet into the ground.

Finally he told her: “___________ saying that word! I don’ t have any feet!” And then, he __________ his artificial legs and threw them away. It was a big move because he was afraid for people to see him without them—only his doctors had seen him like that. However, when he raised his arms, he felt good. “I became a ___________ person,” he said.

When the day was over, he couldn’t ________ his next lesson. Although it began as a ____________ exercise, yoga finally became Nevins’ s saving grace (长项).

Nevins __________ others to learn yoga. “All of us are living with wounds (伤口)”, he said. “Yoga helps you to ________ the things that aren’t useful to you any more.”

Now he travels the world as a yoga teacher, hoping to bring peace and ________ to those who have suffered from the wounds of war. He teaches about twelve classes a month.

“I have a great life. On most days, I ________ that I’ m a disabled (残疾的) person. That’ s because of yoga. Life goes on. I’ m _________ for every breath,” said Nevins.

2 . English idioms can be interesting and in some way not easy to understand. A year ago, I paid _______ attention to English idioms, though my English teacher stressed the importance _______. But by and by, the importance of the idioms was _______ in a funny experience.

One day, I happened to meet _______ in the street, and I went forward and we began to talk. As I was talking about _______ I was getting along with my English study, the foreigner seemed to be surprised, gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say.” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a _______ topic.

“Well, I’d better _______ the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, _______ we talk about the Great Wall? _______, have you been there?” “Certainly, everyone __________ home will laugh at me if I leave China __________ seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was __________ in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the __________ of the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was __________ again by his order — “You don’t say.” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t ask you to do so,” he answered, greatly __________. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say’?” Hearing this, he laughed out __________. Then he explained, “You don’t say” actually means “Really?” It is a(n) __________ of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay much attention to English idioms.” Not until then did I know I had made a __________ of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. When I meet an idiom, I will not __________ the meaning simply. Instead, I __________ of it.

3 . We moved there on my third birthday. My first ________ is our neighbor Arlene handing me strawberries from her garden through a hole in the chain-link fence. She and her husband, Bill, lived next door.

One day, my parents asked Bill and Arlene whether they’d watch me ________ they were out on a date. This ________ well for everyone, so it became a somewhat monthly occurrence. Arlene and Bill didn’t have kids. They had a ________ room in their house, which became “my” room. I had a cabinet and boxes of toys and books in that room, Arlene and I would do crafts together. Bill taught me how to ________ the lawn tractor and eventually a car (stick and automatic).

When I was about five, I had an idea. My parents were watching TV when I spit it out: “What if I adopt Bill and Arlene as my ________?” My parents said I could go over and ask them. I ________ on Bill and Arlene’s door, sat down in their living room, and said, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and ________ accepted. Soon after, they printed out an adoption ________, and it hung on their living room wall from then on.

I remember being surprised that they took my ________ so seriously —not because I wasn’t serious but because I was just a kid. They could have ________ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly magnificent about a child offering up her love and ________ being so excited to accept it. Every child in this world ________ enthusiastically responded love.

Arlene passed away in 2013, two days before our adoption anniversary. Bill gave her eulogy (悼词). At the end, he said, “Arlene ________ her husband, Bill. And the greatest joy of her life, her granddaughter, Katie.”

After the funeral, Bill gave me the ring he’d gifted to Arlene on their 25th wedding anniversary. It’s a simple gold band that I wear on my ring finger as a ________ of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.

4 . A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, but unluckily two of them fell into a deep pit(坑). All the other frogs _________ the pit. When they saw how _________ the pit was, they told the two frogs that they might as well be dead.

The two frogs _________ what the others were saying and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their physical _________. The other frogs kept telling them to _________. Finally, one of the frogs paid attention to the comments, _________ considered them, and gave up. He _________ down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as _________ as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs _________ him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally __________ it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog __________ to them that he was a little __________. He thought they were encouraging him the __________ time.

This story teaches two lessons: First, there is power of life and death in the __________. An encouraging word to someone who is __________ can lift him up and help him make it through the day. Second, a destructive word to someone who is down can be __________ it takes to kill him. Be __________ of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

The __________ of words is great. It is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that __________ to rob another of the spirit to continue in __________ times.

5 . Working in a pet hospital, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound(爱尔兰猎狼犬) named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very _________ about Belker, and they were hoping for a _________.

I examined Belker and found he was _________ of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do _________ for Belker but perform the euthanasia procedure(安乐死) for the old dog. Ron and Lisa _________ and told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to stay _________ Belker. They _________ as if Shane might learn something from the _________.

Before the procedure, Shane seemed so _________, petting the old dog for the last time, that I __________ if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker left the world __________.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s __________ without any difficulty or puzzle. We sat together for a while after my work, __________ about the sad fact that animal lives are __________ than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, __________, “I know why.” Surprised, we all __________ him. What came out of his mouth next __________ me. I’d never heard a more moving __________. It has changed the way I think and live.

He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a __________ life—like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The six-year-old __________, “Well, dogs already know how to love others, so they don’t have got to stay as long as us.”

6 . A man was driving when he found a lady needed help. So he stopped. When he was coming up to her, she was worried______nobody had stopped for hours. Besides, he didn’t look safe as his appearance was so ugly and ______. He could see how scared she was, so he tried to ______ her, “I am here to help you. Don’t worry. My name is Bryan Anderson.”

The car______, so he had to crawl(爬)under the car to repair it. When the job was done, she asked how much she should ______him for his help. Bryan smiled, “If you______want to pay me back, the next time you see someone who needs help, ______the person help. And think of me.”

Several days later in a small ______, the lady saw a waitress nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的). The waitress gave her a friendly smile although she was______after spending the whole day on her feet. Then the lady______Bryan. The lady paid for her meal with a﹩100 bill. When the waitress got______and came back, the lady had gone. She______a note on the napkin(餐巾纸), “You don’t owe me______. Somebody once helped me, ______like now I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let this chain of______end.” The waitress found four more﹩100 bills under the napkin.

That night the waitress came home earlier, ______ how the lady could know how much she and her husband needed money when the ______would soon arrive. She knew her husband worried about that, so she was very ______to tell him the news. Then she kissed him and______, “Now everything will be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

The help you give to others shall always get back to you, so please don’t______to offer a helping hand whenever someone needs help.

8 . Jimmy is an automotive mechanic, but he lost his job a few months ago. He has good _________, but always feared applying for a new job.

One day, he gathered up all his _________ and decided to attend a job interview. His _________ was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an _________ man wildly kicking the tire of his car. _________ there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished _________ the car, the old man asked him how much he should pay for the _________. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone _________, and he had to _________ for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It’s the __________ I could do. Please. I insist.” Jimmy __________.

Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of __________ waiting to be interviewed. Jimmy still had some grease (油垢) on him after the car __________, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer’s office with __________ look on their faces. Finally, his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. __________ the chair back and forth, he asked, “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy’s heart __________. “With the way I look now, how could I __________ pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

Then the interviewer __________ the chair and to Jimmy’s surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It turned out he was the General Manager of the company.

“Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce __________ you even stepped into the office. I just know you’d be a trustworthy worker. __________!” Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee as he landed himself a new job.

10 . “Just sign here, sir,” the deliveryman (送货员) said as he handed Oscar Reyna a package.

The package consisted of (装有) a long, narrow box ______ wrapped in brown paper. ______ the box, Oscar saw an umbrella inside—a very old one with a beautifully carved handle. ______ he had not seen it for more than 20 years, he recognized it immediately.

Oscar was 16 when he first saw the ______ umbrella. He had gone to a concert with his grandparents. As they were leaving, he noticed an umbrella on an empty seat. Impressed by its ______, Oscar felt a strong desire to find its owner.

Oscar ______ the manager to look in the record of advance ticket sales. Just as he thought, a name matched the seat ______ Oscar had found the umbrella. The name was Mrs. Katie O’Brien.

Oscar talked his grandparents into going by Mrs. O’Brien’s house on their way home. He rang the bell, the door opened, and an elderly woman appeared. “May I ______ you?” she asked. “I’d like to return it if it’s yours,” Oscar said, ______ the umbrella as if presenting a gift that had long been wished for. “Why, yes! it’s mine, “ replied Mrs. O’Brien with a ______ smile and shining eyes. “It was given to me by my father years ago. Thank you so much for returning it. May I offer you a reward for your ______?” “No, ma’am.” he said, “my grandmother says that a good deed is its own reward.” “Well, that’s ______ what my father used to say. What is your name, Young man?”

Years later, Oscar was staring at the finely carved handle of the umbrella as he remembered Mrs. O’Brien. It was in perfect condition, considering how ______ it was. Why had it arrived here today? As if ______ , a note fell from the paper. It read: Mrs. O’Brien wanted you to accept this umbrella as a present for a kind, ______ gesture long ago.