1 . Janice just returned from her mother’s. She almost drove on automatic pilot: a left onto Station Road, then a left… for she knew the _______ quite well. Then wham! A truck pushed her forward 100 feet onto railroad tracks. While hearing the _______ sound of metal on metal, Peter, then 65, was ready for bed. As a volunteer firefighter, without _______ Peter grabbed a flashlight and ran out.

The first he _______, near his yard, was the truck hitting Janice. Once Peter _______ the driver was OK, he looked around, and _______ Janice’s car. Just then he heard the urgent bell sound: the _______ of an oncoming train! Peter _______ to Janice and knocked at the window. She looked at him, with eyes _______. “I don’t know where I am,” she said.

“We have to get you off right now!” Peter shouted and pulled the handle ________, but the door was jammed. The train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was ________. He ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. Peter somehow ________ to pull her out and sped her to ________ a few feet away. Within six seconds, the train ________ into Janice’s car!

“It was like a Hollywood movie,” the reporter from CBS New York said. “But there’s one ________. The hero arrived in pajamas (睡衣), not in a fire truck.”

2 . It was 80 years ago when I wrote my first letter to Paul and Renee. I was about 13. Paul was the same _________ as me, his sister Renee was two years younger, and they lived in France. I was crazy about learning languages, so I was _________ when my French teacher assigned (分配) us pen pals.

It was quite a(n) _________ to get a letter from a foreign country, so I _________ receiving their reply. They weren’t good at English, so after six months, we were all writing in _________ , which helped me have a good knowledge of the language.

I decided to go to France on holiday in 1949 to_________them. The family _________ me well, and I visited several times in the years that followed. The first time I met Renee, she _________ me up at the station, and we hit it off straight away.

Lnever.got to meet Paul. Renee wrote to me and _________ me that he had died shortly after joining the army. Renee and I continued writing to each other, and our friendship became __________ . We talked about our families, our __________ and cur troubles in life. After that I moved to South Africa for a while, married, had children, and changed jobs. Throughout all this, we __________writing letters.

I’m 93 now and I still write to Renee. She has difficulty writing now, so she phones me to__________ . Most people don’t seem to have the __________for letters anymore, but it gives me great pleasure to write. And this is the most valuable __________ I have ever had.

3 . It was midnight, and I was on my knees, burying head in my hands. I struggled to________the sobs that threatened to wake my two tiny children. The call came just hours ago—I got the job. After five interviews and three presentations, I received a generous ________, one that needed my answer by tomorrow.

To others, the decision was ________—live the dream, with its security. But to me, taking the job would_______ compromise my heart.

Exhausted, I rose to my feet, and made my way upstairs to check on my children, finding each curled up in a________sleep. I heard their breathing, soft and even I became one with the moment. And in that breathtaking silence, I heard a voice:________your heart. The words echoed through my soul.

The decision, indeed, was simple. I would ________ somebody else's dream job and keep my own. I felt a great ________ lift off my shoulders. I pursued my options for working for myself. I started to write and edit, ________pages of scripts. I stretched myself and discovered that I could learn anything if I ________ some time to it.

To be sure, I lost a number of business opportunities. But I was available to ________the simple moments with my children. On sunny days, we'd ________ to the zoo with my backpack of work projects. Each night, when I tucked my kids into bed, my ________ was full. Over time, as my kids grew, my business did, too.

Now I have no regrets. I am ________ for the life that I have, a cherished closeness with my now adult children and a variety of fulfilling, passion-filled work. I'm glad I trusted my inner ________.

4 . Gaining work experience is key for boosting your employability, especially as a business student.That’s why, after my second college year, I ________ to intern (实习) for a part of the summer.

I ________ a six-week internship at a local bank, called Rawbank. At the start of each week, we were sent to a new department where we were ________ about work process and then given an experienced employee to ________. During the process, we mostly took notes and were given small tasks. After two weeks I was ________ to a “permanent”position at the front desk, where I ________ small daily operations such as check deposits, withdrawal slips and such.

In short, for four weeks I was treated and ________ like a regular employee of the bank. I had to be there at 7:30 every morning, and ________ to have positive interactions with clients at all times, no matter how I was feeling personally.

During my internship there, the ________ was working the front desk the morning of pay day. I had to deal with an endless stream of impatient and demanding ________, but just seeing my colleagues supporting each other, and heading out together to socialize after work, made it all ________.

My six weeks there allowed me to ________, and it also helped me to gain new skills and experience that I did not ________ have. Most importantly, I gained a new sense of professionalism and a clearer ________ of what it meant to be in the professional world.

So I would advise everyone to take the opportunity and do all internship, ________ it is not necessarily in the industry that you wish to work in.

5 . During a period of two months, the east coast of Florida was hit by three major hurricanes!

When we ________ on the morning of September 5, my husband and I stood on the balcony (阳台）and watched the still-powerful winds break huge trees. ________, in the midst of these destructive winds, we spotted a flash of color in our ________. No more than ten feet from where we stood, a hummingbird (蜂鸟) ________ and flew in front of us.

This was the first time we had ever ________ a hummingbird in our yard — or in Florida! Because they are rare, the ________ of a hummingbird in Brevard County, Florida, is almost a ________ in itself.

Although I had been trying to plant all the right plants to ________ them, it took a hurricane for me to ________ attract them to my yard and to really observe them closely. Almost every day since the hurricanes, I have had the ________ of observing the visiting hummingbirds. With a feeder right outside my office window, I get a daily bird’s ________.

The hurricane season affected me in a very ________ way. Every time I see the hummingbirds, I am ________ of the many blessings that nature holds for us: messages of beauty, strength, and determination. But perhaps the greatest ________ is that wonders are out there waiting to pay us a visit. We just need to keep ________ seeds of beauty and faith, and we need to keep an eye out for the wonders!

6 . Near my house is a library. As an enthusiastic reader, the idea to be surrounded by books itself is ______. So I volunteered to ______ it, managing books. But never had I realized reading had such ______ until I met an old lady.

One day I was arranging books when I heard a lady ______ something at the information desk, where I went to give ______. She was in her 70s with a beautiful smile.

After communication, I was ______ that she came to take the membership. Without family, she had ______ her house and settled in a nursing home, living off ______ the interest from her savings account. Her love of reading, even at such an age, never ______. Her confidence, whenever she ______ reading, livened her up.

The membership was ______ for her, so I explained the fee. She didn’t hesitate to open her purse and ______ for the amount. Noticing her ______ look, I offered to pay for her but she insisted, “I’ll come and pay tomorrow.” I failed to ______ her. The next day she returned, paid up and got her membership card. When I took her into the world of books, her eyes shone with excitement. She became a regular visitor, one I’d ______ every few days.

Now her cute smile in my mind still reminds me of the magic of reading.

7 . Many athletes desire to compete in the Olympics. And they ______ hard to be “faster, higher and stronger” in achieving their goals. Only a few of them ______ to the world’s biggest events, and even fewer ______ to receive their medals. However, the ______ of them end up in silence or are forced to deal with life-long injuries. It makes you ______ if it’s all worth it.

In my years of covering sports, I’ve noticed that a key factor is often ______ — sports provide a lesson in dealing with failure. It’s ______ to see some straight-A students, ______ and spoiled by praise at home and school, turn out to be ______ when they enter the real competitive world of life. If they hadn’t been ______ from failures earlier, they would probably have learned to accept the world’s imperfections, their own ______ and build a steel wall around themselves.

Back in school, I was always afraid of losing. However, after years of ______with athletes, I was able to gradually build my ______. Strong athletes share two characteristics: passion for their profession and ______ of their own abilities and limitations. This self-awareness, which is regained by their enthusiasm for their sport, usually comes with a lot of ______. A well-trained athlete can face all kinds of barriers in life.

8 . As an ordinary mother, I am proud of my three children, David, Phil and Angel. I gave birth to my last little Angel in the middle of pandemic.

Due to the pandemic, society was cornered into ___mode. Schools were closed, food supplies and deliveries were ___and children were stuck at home. Luckily, I had some____time to do what I enjoyed. Since it was winter, I purchased tons of yam (毛线) to make scarves for my children as Christmas gifts. In such ___times, however, my children spent every day happily. Meanwhile, they had a new friend named Jane, the only daughter from a family which moved in down the street. It seemed that her family was a financially ____one, for she always wore old clothes. _____, in such cold days, she had no more clothes to wear and_____with cold.

Every time David came in, he always cried,“Mum, it is freezing cold outside!” Then he __ to see whether I finished the scarf. I could tell how______he was to wear it sooner! I had to speed up, but David____ me saying he could wait a few days. At last, my great art project was accomplished on the morning ahead of Christmas. Both David and Phil were in high spirits, and they rushed out___to play with Jane. David was a caring and considerate boy,and he noticed Jane would hardly bear the freezing weather with worn-out clothes.“Can I give this scarf to Jane as a gift?” David_____in a low voice. Smilingly, I nodded. David was wild with joy and gave his scarf to Jane without hesitation. Seeing Jane play happily outside, with the scarf sheltering her to____the bone-chilling wind, I felt relieved and I felt ___of David.

For Jane- -a scarf to keep warm, and for David- -a taste of_____of giving.

9 . I lived with my mother and three younger brothers. We never had much, but that was OK, for we made ends meet ______.

Years later, I was ______ into the University of Pittsburgh and received some academic scholarships that ______ my tuition. Room and board were not included so I chose to pay for the meal plan but not the ______ because it was too expensive. I drove my ______ van(厢式货车) to the campus and purchased a ______ pass so as to live in my van.

The ______ in Pittsburgh was bad. It was super hot and humid in summer and freezing cold and snowy in winter. Being homeless ______ me to use everything the campus had to offer ______ I wanted to spend as little time in my van as possible.

I spent most of my spare time at the ______. Besides, I often visited my professors’ offices. I didn’t really speak much unless ______ to, but not wanting to sit around in my van made me ______ out of my comfort zone and do new things. I really developed a(n)______ personality because of it.

Now, I have got a really good job and have been ______ my brothers to prepare for life. Looking back, I want to say that suffering is not just an experience for me, but a precious spiritual ______ as well.

10 . For many years, I was so wrapped up in my kids and my family that I ignored how I looked. The words “________maintenance” described my approach to beauty perfectly.

It wasn’t until recently, when I had my picture taken for a work ID, that I ________ the “Youth Train” had left the station, and I was no longer on it. The woman in the ID picture looked ________ and definitely middle-aged.

For a few days, I was a little ________ by the fact that I was no longer the sweet, young thing I thought I was. For those few days, I tried a little harder to ________ younger, brighter and tighter. I ________ with my hair and added extra eyeliner.

I thought I was ________ in my seeking for a youthful glow until one of my new co-workers ________ asked me a question that told me I was ________ only myself. “I don’t suppose you know what beauty is, do you?” she asked.

That simple question opened my weary eyes once and for all. My family ________ me not for my no-longer-shiny hair but because the ________ I’m playing, that is my husband’s wife and my kids’ mom.

Someone once said that ________ is the first gift given and the first one taken away. I agree but only when it comes to ________ beauty. When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift ________ a face-lift any day. The ________ beauty, the stuff inside that all of us have, lasts a lifetime.