1 . My friend and I had just set off from Vancouver to do a five-day canoe (独木舟) trip in Bowron Lake Provincial park.

We’d been _________ the trip for quite a while — reservations at the park need to be   _________ months in advance (提前). I’d taken some time off work and my friend managed to spare some time for the adventure.

We were driving to Bowron Lake when our car_________ down. _________ , we were just outside a small town which had a little motel (汽车旅馆), where we met a kind stranger.

He gave us the _________ of a mechanic (修理工) in town. We called him and it _________that our car problem wasn’t a big deal to fix, but the mechanic needed to order a part that would _________ a few days to show up. At that point, we _________ our trip would have to be cancelled.

The kind-hearted stranger insisted that we _________ our trip when we mentioned the change of plans. He offered to drop us off at the lake, coordinate with (与……协调) the mechanic to __________ the car while we were gone, and then __________ my friend and me after we finished canoeing.

I still remember everything he did to help us, which was __________. It was a trip that would never have happened __________ he hadn’t done all he did, which helped us so much. It’s people like him that make me __________ to go out of my way for others who are travelling and __________ help.

2 . Making friends is a skill. Like most skills, it _________ patience. If you want to meet people and make friends, you must be willing to _________   some action. You must first go where there are people. You won’t make friends staying home _________ .

Joining a club or group, talking to those who like the same things as you do is much easier. Or join someone in some activities.

Many people are _________ when talking to new people. After all, meeting strangers means seeing the unknown. And it’s human nature to feel a bit _________   about the unknown. Most of fears about _________ new people come from doubts about ourselves. We imagine other people are _________ us——finding us too tall or too short, too this or too that. But don’t _________that they must be feeling the same way. Try to accept yourself as you are, and try to put the other at ease(轻松). You’ll both feel more _________.

Try to be self-confident even if you don’t feel that way when you __________ a room full of strangers. Walk tall and straight, look at other people directly and __________ .

If you see someone you’d like to __________ say something. Don’t wait for __________ person to start a talk.

Just meeting someone __________ does not mean that you’ll make friends with that person. __________ is based on mutual(相互的) likings and “give and take”. It takes time to develop friendship.

3 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _________ on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _________ it.

For most people, that would be the _________ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell _________ the letter. He had just _________ his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _________ on the ground outside of a hardware store in Manvel. “I _________ it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I _________ it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _________ me. “ Carrell thought the letter would __________ someone’s day and that maybe he could find the __________, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, __________ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s __________,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t __________ you found my baby’s letter.”   Carrell reached Alvarado to __________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally __________ on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado’s wife’s birthday.

“__________ the letter made it home,” said Alvarado. “We are __________ for what James Carrell did.”

We often forget the power of __________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a(n) __________ impression.

4 . Almost everything was fantastic in the nature camp except for a girl, Elizabeth. When I saw her _________ alone in the hot sun at lunch, I asked her to eat with us under a shady (阴凉的) tree. However, Elizabeth refused my kind ___________. When we invited her to play volleyball with us, Elizabeth ___________ our invitation, too. After a few more unfriendly refusals like that, I decided to stay away from Elizabeth.

It ___________ that we were going on a nature ___________ and that our instructor paired everyone up with a partner. Guess who my partner turned out to be? It was Elizabeth!

“What do you like to do ___________?” I asked, trying to make small _________ as we started out. “I like to walk in peace and quiet,” Elizabeth replied. So we had the quietest and most peaceful hike in the world ___________ we saw a bird. “I think his wing is hurt. Poor little bird,” Elizabeth said ___________. “He might be taking a rest over there,” I said. Elizabeth nodded. Then she whispered, “But what if he’s in ____________, like my granddad?” “Your granddad?” I said. “He fell and broke his leg the day the camp started. He’s ____________ in hospital and is in so much pain,” Elizabeth explained. I noticed she was __________. “I’m sorry for what I have done. For some reason, whenever I get really sad, I act __________ and want to be alone,” she added.

“I get it,” I said. “I don’t always know how to ________ it when I’m feeling down, either.” “Thanks,” she said, wiping off her tears.

After that, Elizabeth seemed to get along well with us, and I think she actually __________ the last days of the camp.

Next time, if someone is unfriendly, give him a second chance. Maybe he’s going through a difficult time.

5 . My former teacher, Katelyn Varga, was an amazing teacher. The first day I had her social studies class, I knew we would have a great _________. Her style of teaching was so _________ that almost every student of hers loved studying social studies.

My favourite _________ was from our class about the American Civil War. Each student _________ a person from the American Civil War to research and then explained his or her findings in class. I chose Abraham Lincoln while other classmates chose other _________ people of the time like Jefferson Davis. The students would walk around _________ about the other students’ characters and their roles in the tragic time period. Mrs Varga could always find useful ways to make her students well understood while they have _________ at the same time. Besides, she always _________ us to explore new things.

To be honest, Mrs Varga had a great _________ on me. I remember I behaved badly before. __________, I met Mrs. Varga and she made me become the best student that I could be. I really appreciate her coming to our school. During my eighth-grade year when I was __________ where to go to high school, she was one of the biggest reasons I continued to __________ Conrad Schools of Science. The last day of school was a(n) __________ one for us, because she would no longer teach us. __________ our graduation ceremony was over, I went to her office to say goodbye to her. Mrs Varga gave me a big hug. Both of us stood there crying in each other’s arms.

Mrs Varga is one of the best teachers that I have ever had. She pours everything she has into her __________. Thanks to Mrs Varga, I had a great time at Conrad Schools of Science.

6 . Among 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Bouyei occupies the smallest with about 3, 000 people living in a few small villages._______the fact that the Bouyei has the smallest population, Bouyei people still________their typical customs and culture. Boayei people live mainly on________farms. Up to now, the husband has been the only one who can_______everything in family. In each family, three or four________are living under the same roof.

On_______day the younger sister of the groom (新郎) will ride a beautiful________to fetch the bride (新娘) as the groom is not allowed to go to bring the bride home. Sons don’t cut the hair of their father and daughters don’t comb the hair of their mother. Only when their parents pass away are they allowed to comb their parents’ hair. During 3 years of mourning (哀悼) their parent, sons don’t________wine, daughters don’t wear jewellery and neither of them are________to get married.

Annually, Bouyei people celebrate four main festivals including Lunar New Year, the 1st lunar month of the year, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month’s festival of killing insects and New Rice Festival. During each festival, they________ steamed glutinous rice (糯米) and cakes made of glutinous rice for worshiping their ancestors (祖先) and________for health, good weather, and a good harvest. At family events and festivals Bouyei people sing their folk songs which are said to be divided into some styles of welcome, congratulations, and weddings.

Bouyei people generally wear navy blue shirts, the button (扣子) of which is on the right side. Women’s costumes are more eye-catching with colorful________. Women wear shirts,________dresses, and headscarves.

Currently, Ha Giang Province’s government has supported Bouyei people in________their culture and customs by creating a project to protect the folk songs of Bouyei people: documenting songs and________old people to teach the songs to young people.

7 . At the age of 60, my father was hit by a car when he walked to a nearby supermarket to buy vegetables. After ______ for two months in hospital, he finally woke up. His waking up ______ all our family. ______, he didn’t know any of us. Doctors said his brain was hurt so ______ that he had lost all his memory. And his mental age (心理年龄) was only five. We were sorry to hear about the bad news.

Since I was his only child, it was my ______ to look after him. He forgot almost everything, but he did remember he liked sweets. I used the sweets as a way of ______ bad behaviors. I would gave him one sweet if he didn’t sit on the ground, a second for stopping painting on the wall, and another for not trying to put clothes on the dog.

Dad became the ______ child in town. He climbed up the tree to catch a bird and couldn’t get down after it ______ away. He broke my window with a ball and ______ our telephone in water like washing clothes. When I told him he was doing ______ things, he would answer smilingly, “I like that!” My son, then aged five, and two eight-year-old daughters, welcomed their big playmate. He would happily make them real cigarettes, ______ his sweets with them, and carry them high in the apple tree to pick apples.

It is eight years since the accident. Dad has accepted the fact that he is the ______ of his three playmates but not a brother. He has also accepted that they grow taller but his ______ stays the same. Though it is still ______ to take care of him, he brings us a lot of fun. In some way I think it is a(n) ______ thing to look after dad like looking after a child. How many people can have the chance to care for a child-like parent?

8 . The life of the dog, Shelby, is a surprising story. The little dog went from living in garbage heaps(垃圾堆)to _________ the hearts of moviegoers around the world.

Shelby was first _________ near Nashville two years ago when Megan Buhler, a Cheatham County Animal Control officer, was patrolling(巡逻)nearby. He saw the poor dog _________ something to eat in the garbage.

“There were lots of _________ passing by — I mean, it was heavy traffic,” Buhler said. “She was so _________ when crossing the road, and finally came up to me for help.”

Shelby was then taken to a local animal centre where she was _________, without the worry for food. Most importantly, the workers here took _________ of her smiling face to improve the _________ of her being taken home by people. However, they never expected this would put Shelby on the _________.

At that time in Hollywood, filmmakers were __________ for a new movie called A Dog’s Way Home. They __________ to find a dog to play the leading role. So they asked Miller, a(n) __________ dog trainer who had trained dogs for years to help.

Miller __________ three dogs, but none of them stood out after some time of training. He then __________ the pictures of Shelby by accident from Cheatham County Animal Control and immediately became interested to see it. It turned out that Shelby was __________ after three months of training.

Since the film was put on, Shelby has been praised for the way she carried humour and brought much joy to people.

9 . Today, I’ll tell you a story about a boy who was the son of a horse trainer. When he was a pupil, he was _________ to take out a piece of paper to write on it about what he wanted to do when he _________.

That night he wrote on the paper saying his goal was to _________ a horse farm someday. He made a drawing to show a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream farm. The next day he handed it in to his _________. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a _________ that read, ‘‘See me after class.”

The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked ‘‘Why did I receive an F?” The teacher said, “This is not a _________ dream for a young boy like you. There’s _________ you could ever do it.” Then the teacher _________,’’If you rewrite this paper with a better goal, I will consider your grade again.”

However, the boy _________ the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my __________.”

I’m the right boy and you are seated in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse farm. I still have that school __________ framed (装裱) over the fireplace.

The best part of the story is that last summer the __________ schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my farm for a week. When he was leaving, he said __________, ‘‘Sorry, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. __________, you had enough courage not to give up yours.”

Don’t let anyone __________ your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.

10 . NEST4US, a charity organization, was born when 17-year-old Amanda realized how much food waste there is, how many _________ people there are, and how simple it would be to use the food waste to help the people in need. “There was a _________ man standing on a corner and he was holding a _________ that said “Hungry Need Food,” she remembers. “So I gave him my _________. It was so _________, it only took me 30 seconds, and it really _________ him.”

Hunger is just one of the many serious problems of living on the streets. But the ease of this small act _________ her to find a way to get food to the people who need it the most. She didn’t think too much about it and decided to just _________.

How would she _________ this huge task? Many kids have difficulty talking on the phone but talking to strangers is not a problem for Amanda, who says she emails, calls, and __________ to business owners to ask for money. From there, she and other volunteers __________ enough food.

“We have 1.5 times the amount of food we need to __________ every person on the planet, it’s just a matter of how to hand it out,” she says matter-of-factly, “__________ there are so many people who want to help the hungry people all you have to do is to ask them.”

She thinks running NEST4US has __________ her life skills like time management, public speaking and leadership. “What it’s really given me is this viewpoint, of putting other people __________.” she says.