1 . It was the first day of school. Mrs Thompson, a primary teacher, stood in front of her class. She told the children a ______. She said that she loved them all the same. But that was ______, because a little boy named Teddy Stoddard didn’t listen to the teacher. He often made ______. And Teddy could be so ______ that she would find pleasure to put a big “F” on his papers.

One day, Mrs Thompson read each child’s ______ records and she found that Teddy had been a good boy, but ______ a lot after his mother died.

By then, Mrs Thompson knew what the problem was. She began to pay ______ attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come ______. The more she encouraged him, the more ______ he made. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the best students in the class.

Years past after Teddy’s ______, Mrs Thompson got a letter, saying that Teddy would soon graduate from university with the highest honors. Then four more years passed and yet ______ letter came. The letter explained that she was still the best and ______ teacher he had ever had. But then his ______ was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD (医学博士).

There was yet another ______ that spring. Teddy said that he fell in love with a girl and was going to be ______. He explained that his father had died a few years ago and he was wondering if Mrs Thompson might ______ to sit in the place at the wedding (婚礼)that was usually kept for the ______ of the groom (新郎). Of course, Mrs Thompson did.

At the wedding, Dr Stoddard said to Mrs Thompson in a low voice, “Thank you, Mrs Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel ______ and showing me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs Thompson smiled and said, “Teddy, you have it all ______ and you were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know ______ to teach until I met you.”

2 . When things got hard for Gary Rosheisen who lived alone in a wheelchair, he thought it would be a good idea to get a pet. ______ he brought home Tommy, an orange cat that would soon become his best ______.

Because of his ______ problem, which included epilepsy (癫痫), Gary ______ kept the phone in the living room on the floor. The phone also had a speed dial button (快捷键) programmed to call 911. Gary spent some time attempting to ______ Tommy on how to use that button in case of ______. But his friend -Tommy never really seemed interested. Then one day, while in his bedroom, Gary had a seizure(发作) which ______ him to fall out of his wheelchair and onto the floor. Once the seizure passed, Gary couldn’t ______ or even move. Gary soon realized his life would end.

Meanwhile, the police received a ______ from Tommy’s home. No one said anything. The line was ______, and then it rang again. And so the policeman called back hoping to get an ______. The police were sent to investigate and they ______ the location when the phone just rang and rang. Officer Patrick ______ the home, which was empty except for Gary and his faithful cat, Tommy. Tommy was lying next to the phone in the living room, while Gary was ______ on the floor in his bedroom. And so, the only ______ seemed to be that Tommy’s training had been far more ______ than Gary thought to be.

If it weren’t for the call that was made to the police, there’s no telling how long Gary would have been ______ alone on the floor and he would probably have ______. Now both he and the police consider Tommy a hero. And it just shows that we have to care for ______, which also can care for us … and ______ sometimes save a life!

3 . “WHAT are those?” one of my pupils asked me. I looked over at two large raised beds. A warm autumn sun was falling on the school _______. “Those are potatoes,” I answered.

The pupil in front of me was a girl named Jennifer. In class, she _______ had her head down, focused on the work in front of her. Today, however, her brows were _______ into frown as she looked over at the raised beds.

“But ...” she began. Her voice trailed off as she took a few steps towards the plants. With a _______ feeling, I knew where this conversation was going.

Jennifer started again, “But they’re green. Aren’t potatoes brown?”

I _______. “Well, the bits we eat —the roots— are brown, while what you’re looking at is the part above the soil. That’s what all those leaves are.” I tried my hardest not to sound superior.

Looking _______, Jennifer shook her head and just said, “Hmm.”

I knew that the situation called for drastic (果断的) action. I reached over to the potato plant, _______ it by its green leaves, and pulled. As the plant was raised into the air, several large tubers dropped onto the compost. I held the plant aloft, _______ a few more potatoes that were still attached at the roots.

Jennifer, on the other side, stood with a shocked _______ on her face. It was an expression somewhere between disgust and horror ________ I had just done something morally wrong. Seeing Jennifer take a few steps back, I tried to reassure her, “It’s okay. You have to ________ up the plant to get the potatoes.” I held one out for her to touch.

As Jennifer took the potato in her hand, ________ began to spread across her face. Once ________ from the stems and leaves, the tuber was now something that she recognized. She looked at me and smiled.

For me, ________ is about more than textbooks and exam results. What should matter most in education is inspiring young people to be ________ of the world around them, to actively engage with knowledge, and to ask questions about their environment — even if that question is about something as simple as where a potato comes from.

4 . Reading involves looking at illustrative symbols and expressing mentally the sounds and ideas they represent. Concepts of reading have changed _______ over the centuries. During the 1950’s and 1960’s especially, increased attention has been devoted to _______ the reading process. Although experts agree that reading _______ a complex organization of higher mental _______, they disagree about the exact nature of the process. Some experts, who regard language primarily as a code using symbols to represent sounds, _______ reading as simply the decoding (解码) of symbols into the sounds they stand for.

These authorities _______ that meaning, being concerned with thinking, must be taught independently of the decoding process. Others maintain that reading is inexplainably related to thinking, and that a child who pronounces sounds without _______ their meaning is not truly reading. The reader, _______ some, is not just a person with a theoretical ability to read but one who _______ reads.

Many adults, although they have the ability to read, have never read a book in its ________. By some experts they would not be ________ as readers. Clearly, the philosophy, objectives, methods and materials of reading will depend on the definition one uses. By the most ________ and satisfactory definition, reading is the ability to ________ the sound-symbols code of the language, to interpret meaning for various ________, at various rates, and at various levels of difficulty, and to do so widely and enthusiastically. ________, reading is the interpretation of ideas through the use of symbols representing sounds and ideas.

5 . Our ancient nomadic(游牧的)ancestor would often sing or dance to show others where to find food. In my family, we’ve always had music around us too and this influence is starting to _______. Our seven-year-old son has _______ to perform his own raps which are quite excellent even without considering how _______ he is. Our four-year-old daughter is showing her musical _______ too — she started to make up little ditties(小调).

What is most joyous about our shared _______ of music are those moments when we all come together as a _______. My favorite time happened in April when I was feeling quite _______. I was cooking breakfast when the kids _______ that I was playing dance music. My seven-year-old son then started to join in dancing. This _______ his four-year-old sister, soon the three of us were jumping up and down. It was a moment of real ________ and it turned around how I was feeling.

At that point, I felt like music would be the way to ________ to the kids. I’ve sat down with my son and together we’ve remixed his voice and I’ve sat with my daughter and we’ve played the guitar. We might not be ________ anything about the whereabouts of food as our ancestor did. But we are giving them an ________ through song. We’ re teaching them “Flower of Scotland” so that they might know something about their heritage.

Through ________, we have all become a ________ family.

6 . A mother with cancer has been moved by the kindness of a stranger as she fights with the terrible disease. Jerina Edwards and her family were _______ at a Chinese restaurant when a customer offered to _______their bill.

In a touching note written on the bill for the meal, the _______ explained the inspiration behind his Christmas kindness. The kind­hearted stranger who offered help _______ how his own life had been affected by cancer five years before. “I lost my _______ to cancer five years ago,” he _______ on the bill. “I know how _______ it can be going through this. My children lost their mother. Your meal is on me.”

Ms Edwards _______ the kind stranger alongside a photo of the bill posted on the Love What Matters Facebook page. The widely­shared _______ has since been viewed more than 35,000 times. “We went out to eat last night at a little Chinese place after church. Right as we were getting ready to ________ our ticket, the waitress brought us this instead，” she said. “Someone in the restaurant had paid our bill and left us this ________. More than anything, having cancer has shown me that there are a lot of ________ people in this world and that I am ________ for my own family.”

Although her diagnosis (诊断) was not terminal (致命的), Ms Edwards said cancer had ________ her family and herself so much. “It has been hard,” she said. “I have fought; I have been sick; tears have been shed; I have missed out on things; I have lost my hair, but I will live. My parents will ________ have their daughter; my husband will have his wife; my children will still have their mother.” She ended her emotional post with a personal message to the stranger at the restaurant. “Whoever you are—thank you.”

7 . I still remember the last few hours I spent with my grandma in the hospital. On the _______ day of her life, I sat with my grandma, in silence, in laughter, in tears, and in _______ of a woman who was still _______ though she was very weak and in great _______.

My grandma was always smiling, which ______ me a lot. She seemed to be ______ with everything. After hearing my confusion, she spoke softly about her life and the reason for her present _______. It was the most meaningful day that I will never _______.

My grandma told me that she _______ remained idle (无所事事的) through her life. She was once a teacher and after leaving her job she _______ to work as a volunteer in the community though she was old. She tried her best to _______ those in need for free and make her life meaningful.

Ralph Emerson once said, “The _______ of life is not simply to be happy. It is to be _______, to be honorable and to make a difference.” My grandma had been serving our society, and she had _______ all her life without any regret (遗憾). That day I completely _______ it was the reason why my grandma was smiling.

8 . As I was walking along the river one day, enjoying some hot chocolate with the sun shining down on me on a nice spring day, I was in the mood to do something nice for a ________ and started looking around for an opportunity. Not long after that, I found I was ________ by a complete stranger and he started talking to me aggressively. I could tell he was probably ________ due to a strong smell of alcohol, so I just stayed calm and kept walking ahead. There were hundreds of people ________ around nearby, so I wasn’t that worried.

As I tried to change my ________, he kept following me. At one point, he literally cornered me near the rail next to the river. I got really ________, praying that one of the many people nearby who watched this whole episode unfold would be ________ enough to help me out of the situation.

________ later, a couple passed by me and had seen everything happen. Just when I felt completely helpless, the lady came along, linked her arm into mine and said, “Darling, why don’t you come with us?” and started ________ me away from the guy. ________, her husband stayed between us and the guy and gestured for him to walk in the other direction. The guy started swearing and getting angry, while the sweet lady ________ me, saying don’t worry. Finally, once he left, she said, “Why don’t you carry on walking where you were going and we’ll make sure he goes away and leaves you ________.” As I rushed away, I was still badly shaken, but at the same time had feelings of immense ________ for this random couple who chose to ________ me. Here I was, thinking I was on a mission to do a random act of kindness, when instead, I ended up on the ________ end. I guess it is equally important to learn how to receive and to feel grateful for the kindness of others.

9 . Dogs are our friends. Taking your dog to work with you can be great for ______. That was what Steyaert, who sells women’s clothing in an outdoor market learned after ______ her dog Nelson there. At first, she did so just to prevent him from being ______ during the day. She put a blanket in front of her stand so that Nelson could sit there ______and take in everything around him.

Soon Steyaert realized that Nelson’s presence would ______ shoppers walking by. “He lifts his paw to greet people,” Steyaert said. “He knows how to steal their ______. And people’s behaviour made me ______. I never thought passers-by would pet a stranger’s dog so often.”

The ______ Nelson gets from strangers passing by varies from simply turning their heads to showing great love. Many people have ______ him over the years. Steyaert, in turn, has gained more ______ within her community. “It happens often that people ______ me through Nelson,” Steyaert said.

Besides interesting many shoppers, Nelson has also ______ some people. For example, one day a girl passing by asked Steyaert if she could pet Nelson. She told Steyaert that her dog had just passed away and that it was ______ to see and pet Nelson. That encouraged Steyaert to ______ her influential act of taking Nelson to her workplace.

While Nelson’s presence in the market contributes to Steyaert’s sales, it’s their ______ that benefits much more from it. “He’s my best friend and always at my side,” Steyaert said.

10 . It is during times of great challenge that the best of humanity comes forward, and Hyderabad’s Ramu Dosapati is just one more example of this.

To prevent further _________ of the disease, the government has carried out social distancing, _________ shutting down many small businesses and leaving thousands out of work. _________ by the wife of a security guard, who, despite their _________ salaries, fed laid-off migrant workers during lockdown, this HR manager created a year-round ‘Rice ATM’ to help out-of-work individuals unable to _________themselves. “I _________ a good salary, my family is in comfort and I _________ there is nothing that stops me from helping those in need,” Ramu told The Indian Express. Dosapati used his _________ fund, credit card and part of the _________ from selling his land in Nalagonda to establish the distribution centre. He designed an ATM that __________ rice instead of cash. He arranged for the ATMs to be __________ on streets in cities across Vietnam. While the __________ was intended to remain open only until things come to __________, the 43-year-old was simply unable to turn away those who continue to reach out for help. The ATM completed 250 days of operation on 19 December 2020. It has inspired __________ movements nationwide to help those in poverty survive the pandemic, which, of course, __________ hope to the people in need.