1 . My husband and I are lucky enough to have just returned from Lord Howe Island after celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary.

One evening we were ______ at one of the restaurants on the island, and a lovely ______ couple were sitting next to us. The lady was very ______ and we had a brief chat, and she told me they were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and had ______ on the island 60 years ago. They ______ me a bit of my own parents. She was bright and ______, appeared young for her age, and seemed to speak for the both of them. Her lovely husband appeared to be ______ his age, didn’t say much, and took a ______ time to eat his meal.

Anyway, we ______ that we’d like to anonymously (匿名地) pay for their celebratory meal, so I walked up to the ______ and paid. The wait staff were ______ to bits (非常) and told me I’d made their day. They then ______ me that not only was it their 60th anniversary, but it also _____ is the lady’s birthday! Her name was ______ Helen. Later that ______ when we were back in our room it somehow dawned on me that I had seen a ______ from a lady named Helen on Lord Howe Island’s Facebook page earlier on! I quickly ______ the Facebook page. And ______enough, there was Helen’s comment from 2 weeks ago saying how much she was looking forward to celebrating her 60th anniversary on the island! How ______ that I had seen her comment ______, and just so happened to be seated next to her at dinner!

2 . Once upon a time, there was a small boy called Kunta. One day, when he was walking along the riverbank, he found a crocodile _________ in a fishing net. The crocodile asked the boy for _________. The boy was cautious about the crocodile because the crocodile was able to move its _________.

“Come nearer, please,” _________ the crocodile. “I _________ not to eat you.”

The _________ boy decided to be helpful to the crocodile. _________, the boy took a step towards the crocodile. As he _________ to pull the net off the animal, the crocodile instantly seized its _________ by the arm with its teeth.

“Is this how you __________ my goodness? With evil?” protested the boy.

With its teeth still holding on to the boy’s arm, the crocodile spoke __________ that that was the way of the world. The boy did not __________ the crocodile’s view of the world and asked the crocodile not to eat him. After some thought, the crocodile agreed not to __________ him without getting two __________ from passers-by.

First, came an old donkey. When the boy asked the donkey, he told them that his master had driven him out from the farm for the lions to eat as he was old and had lost the __________ to work in the fields anymore.

“See?” said the crocodile.

Then along came a mouse deer. The crocodile asked the mouse deer for its opinion.

The mouse deer __________ that he could not understand what the crocodile was asking and had him __________ his question clearly. In order to do that, the crocodile opened his mouth to speak. That was when the boy __________ the jaws of the crocodile. The boy was __________ to the mouse deer for helping him and brought it back to his village, promising to __________ it for as long as it lived.

3 . Get a guide dog when I had been afraid of dogs all my life? Crazy! Standing in the famous guide dog school, I was seized by _________. All sorts of questions ran through my mind, and the fear that I was making a(n) _________ was in the forefront (最前面). I wanted to _________ my nails. Finally, my instructor’s voice shocked me out of my own _________, “Shannon! Come and meet your dog, George.”

After our first meeting, I stayed there and was _________ everything about using a guide dog. Learning wasn’t easy and I was always left _________. Whenever I was confused, I thought maybe this guide dog thing wasn’t _________ for me.

Then came the big moment, one that _______ in my memory. I was asked to walk down a sidewalk with George, my instructor right behind us. _________ as the instruction was, it still __________ my confidence: put my life on the hand, ahem, the paws of a dog? I __________ my ability to do it.

Finally, I said, “George, forward.” __________, this seventy-eight-pound dog started pulling me down that __________ sidewalk fast without any hesitation. Several times, I cracked my __________ on the uneven surface and tree roots sticking out. And then… Suddenly, George __________. “You did it!” I heard the __________ words.

I did it! At such a __________ pace I had walked down an unfamiliar sidewalk, and was still __________ to tell the tale. Wait! Right then and there, I __________ myself and knelt (跪着) down on that hot sidewalk. I, who had never hugged a dog in all my nineteen years, threw every __________ aside and wrapped my arms around him.

4 . Neil Armstrong was uniquely suited to be an Apollo astronaut. And he was also a brave test pilot who put his life on the line for _________ progress. As the first human to walk on the moon, he _________ returned to Earth in 1969.

_________ Armstrong’s early life, people felt that fate chose the gifted young man to become an astronaut. He was _________ by planes and took to _________ as a child. At 16, he _________ his pilot’s license and became a test pilot.

He went to Purdue University on a U.S. Navy scholarship and then served for three years as a fighter pilot. He _________ to Purdue University to finish his degree and was _________ by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) n 1955. A year later, Armstrong married Janet Shearon and they _________ their son in 1957. He started his space __________ at the NACA Lewis Research Center, but made his __________ as a daring test pilot at another research center.

Armstrong flew the famed X-15, an experimentally challenging rocket-powered plane that __________ the lives of several brave National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) test pilots. The X-15 __________ a top speed and could climb right to the edge of __________. But to fully break the __________ of Earth’s atmosphere and survive, he would have to become an astronaut. The long-awaited __________ to join NASA’s astronaut training program came in 1962. Armstrong __________ himself into his new job at NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Armstrong’s hard work __________. In 1966, he was chosen as the command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. The mission required someone with Armstrong’s steady hand and __________ heart. He finally finished the first-ever docking(对接)of two vehicles in orbit __________ much difficulty, which laid the groundwork for his future missions to the moon.

5 . I remember clearly my sister and I secretly prepared breakfast for my parents early in the morning. Before they ________, we quietly took out the eggs, a glass bowl and lots of spices (调料). The ________ was that we didn’t know how to turn on the burner to cook the eggs. We were always ________ not to use the fire before, but we ________ our work. We still let the eggs sit on the ________ frying pan (平底锅) for about 10 minutes, and then poured them into the bowl.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was not a(n)________ third grader and I did know the eggs were not ________. But I also knew how ________ my dad would get every time when we did something for him out of love.

As we entered the room, I could hear my parents had woken up. We knocked gently and ________ merrily, “Happy Father’s Day, Dad!” My sister and I ________ them with the breakfast, including eggs, bread and two cups of juice. “Wow! What a ________!” My dad couldn’t help ________.

I had ________ my father might have been disappointed when seeing the uncooked eggs, but he never was. He and my mom ate up all the food except the eggs.________, my father then ________ them into the orange juice, and drank quickly,________ our efforts.

As I grew up, I could read their good ________ to protect us from the ________ that our parents were not really enjoy the uncooked eggs. My father ________ great happiness about our efforts even if the result was a total ________.

6 . After getting an electric shock, Felix Gretarsson had to have both arms amputated(截肢) at age 26. As the ________ man worldwide to have both arms transplanted(移植), he’s recovering his ability to make everyday ________.

As an electrician, Felix got an electric shock while he was ________ a power line. The fire ________ his hands and he lost consciousness. To enable him to ________, the doctors had to cut off his arms.

This ________ turned his life upside down. Fortunately, he ________ to convince a French surgeon to perform a never-before-seen transplant of both arms. The ________, which lasted 15 hours, took place in January 2021 in Lyon.

The Daily Mail reports the surprise of the scientific community in reaction to his ________ progress after the surgery. ________, although the doctors ________ he’d be able to regain the use of his hands in two years, he started to move his ________ only nine months after the surgery.

While Felix couldn’t feel his hands in the first few months, he can now write with his hands and use his phone ________. Though he still has to overcome many difficulties to ________ his daily routine, the 49-year-old gains more ________ every day— “I can go to a café and I don’t have to ask others to search my pocket to get the change...”

He’s full of ________ for all the people who’ve helped him. “I’m honored to always ________ the goodness of those kind people,” says Felix.

Since he doesn’t have full strength and mobility, he ________ at times, but compared to having no arms at all, it’s already been a ________. And his greatest joy now, he says, is being able to ________ his children again.

7 . Daniel Gill has been helping to open young minds as a teacher. He has always been a champion for civil rights because he grew up ______ the ugly effects of segregation (种族隔离) and prejudice.

In the 1950s, 9-year-old Daniel was ______ to a birthday party. He and Archie, who was black, ______ at the party with presents, excited to see their ______ , but the birthday boy’s mother met them at the door. She told Daniel that he could ______ , but that there “weren’t enough ______ ” for Archie to attend.

Daniel ______ to sit on the floor so they both could celebrate their friend’s birthday, but she ______ . The boys broke down when they realized that what the boy’s mother said ______ meant that a black child was not ______ in her home. They both left in tears, and the ______ stuck with Daniel for his whole life.

Since he became a teacher, he has been keeping a (n) ______ chair in his classroom. Every year when he ______ his lesson around Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, he tells his students the ______.

Daniel says that students tend to ______ through symbols, so he keeps the chair there to remind them that everyone can enter his ______.

At a recent festival he mentioned a book idea called “No More Chairs” to publishers, hoping to take his ______ of inclusion and acceptance to an even ______ audience.

Daniel’s story is powerful, and it is a (n) ______ that we are all responsible for making the people around us feel comfortable, and ______.

8 . I looked at the result of the pregnancy test and found I was pregnant. My heart almost stopped. I was married, but my _________ had just lost his job. I was working in a _________ position, struggling to find permanent, full-time employment. Having a _________ was a “future plan”—and it was supposed to be carried out many years later.

Weeks later, I had a _________ day at work. My bus ran late, my report didn’t save, and I _________ my lunch at home. I started to cry at my desk and _________ into the women’s restroom. I hid in the stall (小隔间), but it was _________ to cover the sound.

Several people entered the room, heard me crying, and left without _________ anything. Then, one older woman to whom I’d _________ spoken several times knocked on the door of the stall and handed me a __________. I told her everything that had __________ to me. I expected her to imply that I was careless and irresponsible for getting myself into such a dilemma.__________ she gave me a hug and told me everything would __________. She told me I’d be a wonderful mother, and that my baby would be the __________ of my life.

Later that day, I saw a(n) __________ on my desk. She’d written a note wishing me well and enclosed(随涵附上) what I __________ was all the cash from her purse. I cried again when I __________ it. This time it was because I was in relief that someone __________ that I’d find a way to make things okay. One of the things I bought with that money was a small Teddy Bear. My son’s a teenager now, but that Teddy Bear is one of my most prized __________. Whenever I look at it, I’m __________ that hope is the most precious gift of all.

9 . Smartphones have become a big part of people’s lives. When we can’t find them for a ______ , it causes us to feel anxious, which is ______ nomophobia (无手机恐惧症) or no mobile phone phobia. Most people feel it a little, but some can feel it more ______ , depending on how addicted they are to their equipment. When I first ______ using mine, I’d still look for it before remembering it wasn’t a part of my life anymore. But just like when I gave up smoking, I successfully ______ the withdrawal (脱瘾期). Thankfully, it was short-lived.

Wuyou Sui, a researcher at the University of Victoria, ______ nomophobia as a dependence that’s been placed upon us. He says, ” ______ nomophobia isn’t a reflection of one’s personal failings, but the behaviour is meant to form ______ . The more we use the smartphone, the more ______ we become.“

Finally, that sense of dependence is ______ . As I’ve found, I can find other ______ —with a desktop computer, at times, or a friend’s phone—to do all the things I need to do. It’s not always ______ , but I know I’m always much better without my ______ .

Now when my son and I are playing, my attention is ______ on him. I can see his smiles. After he’s gone to bed, instead of fixing my eyes on the ______ , I light candles, read a book and enjoy the room I’m in.

10 . I’ve always been attracted by scars (伤疤). I find it funny when people are ______ of the scars they have on their bodies. To me, scars shine a light-on who a person ______ is.

I have far a lot of ______ to tell about my scars. Of course, I’ve got the ______ kind that everyone has from when they were clumsy (笨拙的) little kids. Like the ones on my knees. But I also have the kind of scars that tell a more ______ and complex story.

I was born in the year 2000. My parents ______ that I’d be a handful (棘手的人) because a variety of illnesses were ______ by doctors before I was born. Ten days after I was born, I had my first surgery ______ my first of many scars. I consider myself to be quite different because my medical conditions are ______ and very few people have the same scar as I do. It’s original, ______ me, Then, after several more months of going in and out of the ______ , I received my biggest and most meaningful scar from a six-hour open-heart surgery. This one ______ all the way down my chest.

Typically, the heart is a(n) ______ of love, so I see this scar as representative of my ability to love. Today, I am completely ______ . Although I still go to the hospital for yearly check-ups, my heart condition does not ______ my abilities in any way. I’m able to ______ any physical activity that I please without ______ . If it weren’t for my scars, nobody would know I am any ______ from the next person. The thing is, I ______ my scars. I wear them as symbols of courage and ______ .