1 . Be it the flu or the coronavirus (冠状病毒), we can all take one basic step to keep ourselves healthy--wash our hands regularly. But how _________ would you be to know that the practice of handwashing was not always around? We can thank a_________   for this important practice: physician Ignaz Semmelweis.

It was 1846     _________   no one knew germs (病菌) existed. Semmelweis worked at the Vienna General Hospital _________ two parts.The hospital’s ward was so large that doctors and midwives (助产士) divided it in half. At the time, there was a major_________ in the ward.   Many of the patients contracted (感染) childbed fever, a   _________   disease, after giving birth.

While looking after the women, Semmelweis noticed something___________   The women in the doctors’ ward were more likely to catch the fever than the women__________   by the midwives. Semmelweis also knew that the doctors worked in the ward before operating_________ the women. Semmelweis came up with a theory: the doctors__________ the women with dirty particles (微粒) from dead bodies! To test his theory, he _________ doctors to wash their hands with chlorine (氯) before going to the ward.   The rate of death _________ significantly.

________ , the practice of washing hands did not become widespread.   Semmelweis’ theory could not explain why women who gave birth outside of hospitals still contracted childbed fever. Many doctors _________   to believe that they were “responsible” for the disease. As a result, the medical community cast doubt on the practice of washing hands.

Handwashing was finally officially adopted in the 1980s by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They_________   handwashing as an important factor in preventing the spread of infections. Despite this, handwashing is only performed one-third to half as often as it should be.

2 . Facing a fear of fish soup

I loved eating fish when I was a child. However, once I _______ got a fishbone stuck in my throat, so I have never eaten fish since.

But recently, my mom made fish soup and I was so attracted by its smell that my stomach rumbled(咕噜作响) .I couldn’t _______ to have the fish soup. _______ suddenly, my consciousness(意识) seemed to bed vided into two halves, half an angel and half a demon(魔鬼).The angel said to me, “Be _________! You must not get stuck again.” But the demon said to me, “Have it! It’s so delicious!” But I still remembered how it felt to have the bone stuck in my mouth—the _______ bone was stuck in my throat, making me heave(呕吐) while it stayed motionless(不动的).

My mother felt very _______ and asked, “Didn’t you say you wanted to have fish soup today?”I _______ my head sharply, not admitting that I had said so.

As I watched my mom eat, the fish soup began to attract me again. I started to imagine the fish soup _______ my stomach. I suddenly thought since the meat in the fish soup had been stewed(炖), the bones must be stewed into the soup. It seems to be a bowl of fishbone soup. It must be dangerous to have the _______ with this fish soup!

I quickly called out, saying, “Mom, don’t have the rice with that soup. If you do that, you will get a bone stuck in your throat!” Mom looked at me with a ________ look, and then she nodded. She gave me a bowl of soup. I was puzzled when I heard my mother say, “It only ________ once! Why won’t you eat fish again? Eat it while it is __________.You won’t get stuck again!”

I ________ the bowl and was about to drink it, but __________, I put it down. Mom laughed and said, “Once ________, twice shy!”

3 . Seeing is believing and a small act can make a big difference. Deep in heart, I feel it. All began with a perfect score I received in my paper about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

Three years ago, I raced home to share the exciting news with my graceful grandmother Nana. Surprisingly, it ________ her childhood memories. “At that time,” she said, ________ in thought, “especially late summer, oceans of those butterflies were a common sight, a miracle (奇迹) of nature. We felt like standing in an orange ________.”

“Incredible. It sounds like you witnessed an epic ________, but what happened later?” I asked curiously. “Frankly speaking, I’ve never known. Actually, there do seem to be fewer monarchs around the neighborhood” Nana ________ regretfully. So we decided to ________ thoroughly.

Then, at the public library, going all out, we ________, reflected and researched, smoothly ________ abundant information, concerning but fascinating. Obviously, the number of monarchs has declined ________ for the last several decades with their habitat destroyed by housing developments. Hopefully, the ________ could be turned by creating a Monarch Waystation (驿站). Nana and I jumped ________ the opportunity to set up our own.

Nana presented the idea to her garden club. More and more people not only started to plant flowers in their private gardens, but joined hands to plant a butterfly garden next to the city fountain. My friends and I spread leaflets telling people in our community how to build Monarch Waystations. Unexpectedly, from across the country, dedicated monarch enthusiasts   ________ us with their own observations, ideas and findings. As summer progressed, our efforts ________ !   

One day when the sun was shining and the sky was deep blue, suddenly, just as Nana remembered, a few fluttering (颤动的) orange wings, laced with black lines and bordered with white dots, soon became thousands of soaring butterflies. As monarchs ________ above and around us gracefully and merrily, Nana cried tears of happiness, hugging me tightly. It was really a(n) ________ experience.

Seeing is believing. Now I know what it means to stand in an orange cloud of monarchs. Truly, a small act makes a big difference.

4 . In my freshman year, I asked myself, “Why am I in school?” I thought I was forced to be there, but I decided just to get along with it until I could find it _________.

One day it finally hit me. We were studying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in our _________ class. Each of us was asked to _________ a part, and I jokingly _________ to play the nurse. They all laughed, thinking that I, a boy, couldn’t play it, _________ I decided I was going to be the best nurse ever to appear on the stage of the freshman writing class. On the day of the _________, I walked slowly onto the stage and put my heart and soul into the play. The _________ look on my peers’ faces let me know that my performance was excellent, and then I knew what _________ meant to me. School was then a place where I could explore _________ areas in my mind. Perhaps this realization had __________ appeared before I had never been brave enough to __________ it.

To feed my new-found hunger for learning, I decided that I wouldn’t be __________ any more. I began raising my hand higher in class discussions; I was at the point where I no longer felt __________ to take part in, but did because I wanted to. In oral communication class, I chose unpopular speech __________ like “The Flat Tax” and made them __________ by creating characters. In British literature class, I chose to write a song for a creative project on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. __________ these creative activities, I made classes interesting not only for me, but also for my classmates and teachers.

In short, I’ve discovered that __________ is not something teenagers are forced to experience. __________, learning is a way teenagers grow. What I want to __________ my classmates is that I’m a brave and creative actor, musician and writer, whose __________ each of my teachers knows by the end of their first class, and will be reinforced each day through my brave behavior.

5 . Rogers saw a woman sitting on the side of the road. She had long hair and expressive eyes. What he didn’t see was that she was also in ________. Her right leg was injured. She tried to stand but failed. So she dragged herself to the ________, like a badly wounded animal preparing to die. She’d called a ________, but after 30 minutes, her friend said he was lost.

At first, Rogers tried to play it cool. He ________ to ride by-at a slower speed and ________ asked if he could help. The woman ________ her problem and asked for help.

With Rogers holding her ________, she tried to hop(单脚跳) along, but the pain was too severe. After a brief discussion, Rogers decided to ________ her down the 0.6-mile trail over his shoulder.

To avoid the ________, the pair introduced themselves, discussed life goals and future plans. ________ laughed a lot along the way. 40 minutes later, they arrived at the parking lot, where her friend was waiting.

Rogers ________ loaded her into the back seat. Though she was in pain, she looked at Rogers through expectant eyes, wishing he would make the first move. Rogers also wanted to ask for her number, but felt that the ________ wasn’t right. After she was rushed to the hospital, Rogers went to get his bike.

At the hospital, the girl looked for Rogers on Facebook. No luck. At the same time, Rogers was ________ her online, with no luck, either. On the trail, they’d fallen so deeply into conversation that such details as last names had seemed ________. So she contacted the local newspaper, which published her story the next day. Rogers happened to read the article.

Immediately, he got in touch with her and arranged their first ________: a trip to the same spot after her recovery.

6 . Some years ago, I was extremely sick. I had already been in hospital without _________ for so long that I became deeply discouraged. Day after day, the doctors would _________ in my room, bringing bad news. It seemed like life would be over.

That afternoon, a volunteer came into my room with a _________. We made small talks. I told him how _________ I was for some time. He said, “I’ve come today to tell you that you are not to lose hope.” He set the container filled with snacks on my bedside table before leaving.

For the first time, I fell into a sound sleep. When I _________, I thought I had had a great dream. Then I saw the container. I _________ that it was all real.

After my visitor came, something _________ inside me. The same doctors came in with the same _________ news each day, but it no longer _________ me the same way. I had not been given new __________, but I had been given hope, and it was the most __________ medicine of all. Eventually, I __________.

It has been many years now, but I still __________ that snack container. It is a permanent __________ through all the challenges of life to never give up. The snacks are long gone, but the container is not empty. It is filled with __________.

7 . Owen was born just as Hurricane Katrina _________ the Gulf Coast. Days later, Owen became _________ ill. Those weeks taught me something about the _________ of strangers.

All disasters are personal. Some in the Gull Coast sought their families who had survived. Some sought to _________ others. At the hospital, we watched our son Owen sleep. Despite the tubes dripping. he still slept his baby sleep. I _________ the doctor, who held the CAT scan up to the light and searched for answers. No one can know what you will feel in a time of need, but I learned that in this _________ time, the people our family depended upon most were people we had never _________.

We depended upon the doctors, clerks and ambulance drivers who knew their _________ was to help others. We depended upon the nurses who _________ our son all through the night. We depended upon the hotel that gave us a place to __________ near the hospital. We depended upon those strangers who made a __________ to helping others.

This commitment is a(n) __________ that holds us together in hard times. By the time we took Owen home, the worse effects of Hurricane Katrina were __________. I watched the images from the Gulf Coast, images of communities, lives and families whose essential parts had been __________.

I thought of the web of strangers that had helped my family. I can only hope this web will be __________ enough, so that it will hold and care for many and we can all depend upon the kindness of strangers.

8 . On my 16th birthday, I ran into my bedroom, closed the door and cried for an hour. I thought I had turned 16 and had not_________anything in my life.

The feeling of not achieving adequately is_________: Even the most successful people can feel like_________at times. Goals and desires to achieve something great are_________things. However, if we regularly become_________by such feelings, this can lead to unhealthy thoughts.

As for me,_________, through experience and an attitude change, I have been able to keep negative feelings under control and_________.

Often we_________our successes and we probably have achieved more than we_________. A visual reminder of what you’ve done can work wonders for one to be__________. Write down the small achievements, like graduating from high school. Another way is to have your life__________. You may have friends and family that may be the hard-to-please types. This may be a huge__________of your feelings of inadequacy. So what’s important is to__________at least one friend that is your cheerleader. We all need that person who will always see the silver lining instead of the dark cloud.

Life is not a__________though some people will have you believe that. It can be a lifelong process to keep you from thinking you are not doing__________in your life.

9 . I visited my sister’s family yesterday. When I arrived there, my 14-year-old nephew looked quite ________. When asked about the reason, he said he was going to take an exam. I was not________ after listening to his explanation.

I know it is commonplace to________ anxious thoughts before an examination or during the examination. Moderate levels of stress________us to work hard, overcome our limitations and give our best________. However, when we are overly distressed, we may feel like a complete failure and see no________in making an effort.

As a society which now believes firmly in ________, achieving, and winning, we might________ turn examinations into larger-than-life events. We seem to ________ the fact that an examination is just something used to tell us how well we have grasped a particular curriculum and where we need to improve in that specific curriculum. Whatever the________of an examination we have got, they cannot change who we are and what we will do in our lives. Therefore, ________we fail to perform well, we must________ ourselves that it is just one exam in our long life and it is not going to be the end of the world.

Comparing ourselves with others brings a lot of fear in our mind and prevents our________. Rather than thinking about either defeating others or getting defeated by them, we should________this unhealthy thought and make self-perfection our long-term goal. Let’s always strive to________ourselves and realize our internal potential.

10 . I’m approaching the Knight Street Bridge in my car. It’s 5:15 pm. The traffic is already _________ and then it comes to a full stop. I’m _________ even before getting on the bridge. Ahead of me are endless rows of _________, roughly 300.

When I finally _________ it onto the bridge, the traffic is still moving at a slow pace. Tired and hungry, I become very _________.

Just then I hear a weak sound in the distance. The sound gradually becomes louder, until I can _________ it as an emergency vehicle approaching from behind. What do we do? The bridge is _________. There’s no room for us to move.

But I’m wrong. Every single car quickly, yet _________, moves to the side. Without thinking, I follow suit. The lane (车道) remains _________ for a few seconds, during which the ambulance __________ through. Afterward, we close up the emergency lane, ready to continue our wait. Back in my __________, my anxiety is gone. I start __________ what we just did.

Despite our tiredness, we collectively drew on our compassion (同情心) and __________ to help the stranger who needed the time more __________ than we did without any orders. Although I may seem alone stuck on the bridge, I’m __________ to all the other drivers. Together we could make the impossible possible.