1 . I'm Karol Lainez, a 29-year-old from Honduras. For me, volunteering has been like a(n) _________ of life where I've learned a lot about myself and _________ a world I never knew. When I was 15 years old, I _________ my volunteer work by helping with street libraries. Later I joined a worldwide volunteering organization and came to Guatemala at 21 to help people in _________ . It has been a journey that has influenced me deeply because all the people I've met there have _________ me how to learn from others and work with others. Through volunteering, I've _________ the meaning of "being together" after seeing so many people try their best to _________ a better world.

One day, a local woman _________ me to go with her to the town hall to get a birth certificate for her daughter who was two years old by then. She couldn't _________ the paperwork until that day because of her inability to read and write. When she __________ the certificate, she said, “Finally, my daughter exists(存在), not __________ for me but for the whole world. It's you who came to help me to do it". Her words really made me realize the __________ of my work for the first time. I felt so __________ to have helped someone change his life forever.

To be a volunteer has been like a __________ for me. I have realized my dream to help change the world. At the same time, I am __________ by the local people who never stop helping themselves even though they are living in a very poor condition.

2 . Michael Todd wore the same old clothes for the first three weeks of school. When some kids began to ______ that, they piled it on. Todd became the target of ______. But there was little Todd could do.

The kids taking the ______ were Garrett and Graham. But over time, they realized their seemingly making fun of Todd was ______ bullying(欺凌) and was hurting Todd. "Finally something ______ I knew I needed to do something ______ the thing got much worse," Graham said. So he and Garrett ______ a plan. The two went home and ______ through their rooms. They asked Todd to come into the ______ the next day at school. Todd was understandably nervous of being called out by them.

"He looked ______," Graham said. "I told him, 'We make a (n) ______ for starting the unkind thing, and want to ______ it.'" He then handed Todd a bag. Inside were clean shirts and a new pair of shoes. Todd was _______

Reflecting on the day he was called to the hall, Todd said it "marked the ______ of my life". Because he got much more than clothes and shoes. He's no longer being ______ at lunch. Now he eats with his new friends, Garrett and Graham.

3 . These surfers have been recognized as heroes after they came to the rescue of two drowning swimmers last month.

Adrian York and his friends had already been ________ some waves at Trinidad State Beach for several hours when they decided to take a break. As they were resting in the ________ waters, however, they began hearing cries for _________

Since it had been a particularly ________ evening, the 15- and 16-year-old boys had to look through the mist to locate the source of the yelling. They then ________ two swimmers who were ________ in the ocean with their ________ barely held above water 100 feet away.

The surfers --- two of whom had been through ________ training - knew that the swimmers did not have a long time before they fell ________ to hypothermia （体温过低）,so they ________ jumped into action. While York quickly headed back to ________ to call 911, the other three swam quickly to the swimmers and helped them onto their boards.

The ________ said that the swimmers were two brothers who had not been wearing the appropriate swimwear for such cold waters. They had been playing in the surf when they were suddenly ________ by a strong wave -- and since the beach had been so foggy, the brothers^, parents had not been able to spot them in the mist.

Though it had been difficult to calm the ________ brothers and get them onto the surfboards -- particularly because one of the brothers reportedly weighed an estimated 250 pounds --the group was ________ able to get everyone safely to shore.

4 . My life as a tax-paying employed person began in middle school, when, for three whole days, I worked in a baking factory.

My best friend Betsy’s father was a manager at Hough Bakeries, which, at Easter time, _________ little bunny (兔子) cakes for all its _________throughout Cleveland. It happened that the plant downtown needed eight kids for _________ help during our spring break, for which I had no_________ beyond listening to my favorite records. I’d _________ minimum wage. I’d see how a factory_________. My parents thought all of this was a grand idea and called Betsy’s dad with their _________.

Our_________in the factory were simple: Place cakes on a moving belt. Attach icing (糖霜) ears. Apply icing eyes and nose._________ bunny from the belt. This was ____________ than it sounds.____________ a bit and the cakes pile up. As I told my parents at dinner that first night, it was all a little more high-pressure than I’d   ____________ .

Dad __________. The son of a grocer, he’d spent the summers of his childhood____________ food in Benardsville, New Jersey. This was the sort of work that made you____________ the dollars you earned and respect those who did the work, he told me.

5 . It had been only two weeks, but teaching at Ming Jheng turned out to be the most rewarding experience of my life. I not only _________ a deeper understanding about teaching, _________ experienced unimaginable cultural differences. I made some lifelong friends, and learned to be a more _________ individual.

Things were not all _________ at the beginning. Never having taught before, I still recall how _________ I was at the night before my first day of class. How would I keep the students _________ for six periods a day? How would they react to my teaching plans and activities? There were many other conditions and fears I had to _________ . Having been forced into such a situation, I was taught by my fellow teachers a lot about being a more generous, considerate person.

Teaching at Ming Jheng turned out to be quite _________ from what I had expected. I was _________ by how respectful most of the students were. Some girls would __________ to me and offer me messages while __________ would share their precious candies with me. During the breaks, a group of second graders would gather around me and ask for hugs. Gradually, the third and fourth graders would __________ me by the hand and make me play with them in the playground. How nicely these kids treated me and appreciated me! All my __________ and exhaustion paid off in the end. Everything was worth it.

Now, as I __________ the past month, I can smile and say, that I’ve truly grown, mentally and socially. Thanks to the Overseas Compatriot Youth Volunteer Teaching English Program, it has taught me so many things I would   __________ have learned in school.

6 . When I was a little girl, I had some extra classes in my spare time. I went to a(n) _________ school every Saturday morning. One day, Billie Holiday’s records _________ me on my way to school, I was _________ by her voice and the mood. I thought it was the most _________ voice I had ever heard. I stood silently there, listening to her songs.

I _________ her wonderful songs. My favorite song was her I Cover the Waterfront — a _________ song about watching and waiting for a love that's gone. That year my father became very ill. After he passed away, I often listened to the old records alone at night.

My family members buried the sadness of _________ in music. My mother took me and my sister to Europe to study with famous _________. After I had spent ten years living and studying there, I _________ back to the United States. I made my way through the ____________ scene of the New York music world because it had changed a lot. I was starting over again, and it was ____________. There were moments of disappointment and defeat. As Billie sang in her song “Beautiful to take a ____________”, I found the new courage, then got some chances and had some surprising ____________—winning a competition and a recording agreement.

Over the years, I have understood a lesson that I’ve learned from Billie’s' records. The magic in making music is to ____________ about all the improper rules you ever learned, to think about your heartaches and joys, and to make something new that’s ____________ your own.

7 . By the time I finished my appointment, I was starving. I ____ at McDonald’s to order a hamburger to take home and eat while working.

Since it was a little before noon, there was a _____. A woman, who I soon learned was Marcella, was ____ at the register. She asked the woman behind her in line if she would like a drink and then asked me. We both said no, and must have looked _____, because she said, “I got you. ” She continued to pay for both of our meals, even though we were _____.

I asked Marcella why she did this, and she shared that someone once did something similar for her. The person ____ that she pay it forward someday and she was making good on her _____. Before I left, she gave me a warn hug and requested me to do an act of kindness for a stranger when I could. I arrived home, but instead of working through lunch, I sat and ____ on her kindness.

Marcella didn’t need to pay for my lunch. But what she did ____ my day. Not because I got to keep my $15, but because she was kind-with no ____ of receiving anything in return.

______, Marcella allowed me to take her picture so I could share this ____ story. As I promised her, I planned on paying her kindness forward. Maybe I’ll make a small ____ in someone else’s life, and the positive effect will be _____. Because that’s what being human is all about—being kind—even to a stranger.

Remember that kindness and love can ____ in the most unexpected places, even a McDonald’s.