1 .

It was a Sunday afternoon in May. Paul Blachut was busy working at a restaurant in scenic Augsburg, Germany. Many tourists came for food at the pretty place beside the river, where the meltwater was cold at this time of year.

A mother and her daughter were _______ the cooling water by the riverbank. They were playing with an inflatable tube happily when _______ the girl lost her footing and was caught in the river’s current. It happened so fast that the girl desperately grabbed (抓) on to the tube, which her mother was sitting in, throwing her into the river, too.

Blachut heard the sudden shout, “Two women are drowning in the river!” Then he hurried to the _______ , where he spotted them trying to grab anything they could. He was horrified to see that one of them kept sinking. Blachut’s mind _______ , “How can I help them?” _______ having no lifesaving training, he rushed down to the riverbank. Quickly he _______ his T-shirt and jumped into the river. He didn’t care about the cold; all he could think about was saving the women. It was obvious they were _______ .

As Blachut got closer to them, he could _______ that the mother seemed to be in the most trouble. She was drowning. He _______ a film in which a lifeguard grabbed a drowning victim’s body, pulling the person ashore while swimming on his back. Blachut tried this, but the woman’s clothing made her so ________ ; he kept being dragged under, too. He needed a new ________. He quickly dived under the drowning woman, ________ her upward and using that momentum (水势) to take her toward the shore. At that time, an onlooker was able to ________ the woman’s hand, pulling her ashore. Then Blachut jumped into the river again. He swam downstream, got hold of the daughter, and was able to get her out in the same way, too.

Several onlookers expressed their ________ for Blachut following the incident. However, Blachut was ________ about his role, “The whole rescue only took several minutes and I am happy to receive your praise.”

2 . I was in my early twenties. I had _______ from college with a degree in Education but still couldn’t find a full-time teaching job. _______ I worked as a substitute (代课) teacher. I was determined not to just slide by. I was responsible for my students and stayed positive. I congratulated the kids when they achieved something, and _______ them if they didn’t.

One day just as the students were leaving, a girl handed me a folded _______. It was a lovely drawing full of childlike wonder and read: “You are the best teacher I have ever had!” My mouth fell open in shock. It really _______ me that one of my kind comments had touched that girl’s heart so deeply. Anytime I was feeling down or _______ I would look at it and it always made me relieved. _______, I lost the note when I moved house, but it still _______ in my mind and heart.

That experience showed me the _______ of single kind words. I never did see that girl again, but I pray that her life has been full of kind words and loving people. And I continue to try my best each day to let the love and __________ live through my life. May you do the same. You will create so much joy and your life will never be the same.

3 . Service Area Sweets

This past holiday season, I drove with my parents to Boston to visit my distant cousin. On my way back home, we stopped at a service area for food. As we stopped there, there was this old lady who was busy _________ all the tables and chairs as people were leaving, making sure everything was _________ and clean. I just thought of gifting her with five dollars and a chocolate in my pocket. I wrote on a paper napkin(纸巾) “Thank you and Merry Xmas.”

I had wanted to leave it there for her but decided to walk up to her and give her.

She asked me, “Is it a gift? Only then will I take it.”

I nodded, “Yes,” and _________ at her.

“Thank you,” she replied, and I left to buy some _________ from the store inside. On my way back to the car, the woman stopped me.

“I made a lot of cookies and candies on Christmas for people,” she explained. “Would you like to have some?” A bit taken aback, I replied. “Yes.”

She asked me to _________, and came back carrying a four-inch plate filled with different cookies and chocolates! My first expression was a big smile.

“That’s a lot,” I said, a bit surprised.

She smiled and told me that she made eighty to ninety of these plates every year, to _________ to friends and others.

I had no words or thoughts in my brain. Finally, I asked if I could hug her. We hugged, wishing each other a happy and healthy holiday season. Then, as we _________ I felt as if I had met a new friend with whom I _________ the gift of a smile and some happiness.

There is a(n) depth to the joy of giving and receiving. From either _________ both the giver and receiver are always __________.

4 . “I knew when I saw you, I wanted to take you home,” my dad says to me. I am sitting beside him for our Saturday morning visit. While our conversation may repeat at times or be filled with silence, sometimes I get these _______ words.

My father has Alzheimer’s (阿兹海默症病人). It has been a long time since he _______ me by my name. When he says these words, my tears _______ . There is a deep-seated _______ of a father seeing his daughter when she was born. It makes me think of a rare photo I have of my father with me as a baby. In the photo, he is holding me, with arms outstretched as if inspecting me.

Another Saturday, it happens again. He is looking at a photo of me in high school. He points to the photo and says, “She’s smart. She can do anything.” I am shocked. The emotion catches in my throat. Does he _______ the same person is sitting beside him? It does not _______ . In that moment I feel his love and it’s a/an _______ of my pain.

Our weekly visits repeat. We sit. I listen. He talks.

The more I listen, the more I _______ that his words are tied to a memory from long ago. He may _______ to find a word but he finds a way to express himself. I am ________ to be by his side when he says these unexpected words. He’s giving me what he can.

5 . In 2007, Whitmore was considered one of the most successful athletes in America. However, everything changed during a triathlon (三项全能) that seemed like so many others she had _______ . “Once I got off the bike and began the running portion, it was hard to pick up my legs. I knew something wasn`t right.” Whitmore tells Reader`s Digest, “I didn`t have any symptoms (症状) as long as I wasn`t running. But every time I tried again the muscles were super tight.” Assuming she`d simply _______ herself too hard in the last race, Whitmore shrugged off the pain.

It wasn`t until a _______ night at a sports camp in Arizona that Whitmore says she knew something was _______ wrong. Then she went to hospital. After examination, she was quickly _______ . What doctors found during surgery shocked them all: Whitmore had spindle cell sarcoma (梭形细胞肉瘤). When she heard the diagnosis for the first time, Whitmore says time stood _______ . “I couldn`t breathe. They were talking about treatment and I just started crying and saying ‘I don’t want to die!’” Waking up after the surgery, she was even more shocked to find out she, a/an _______ athlete, wouldn`t have the use of her leg anymore from the knee down.

Whitmore now had drop foot and had to learn to walk again with the help of a physical therapist (治疗学家). In the following days, Whitmore endured a punishing two-month _______ , after which her scans were coming back clear of cancer. To her joy, she was pregnant with twins. Now, she is a mother of two sons and competing again, and has won a gold medal in the Paralympics. Whitmore has some words of advice for others with _______ : “Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. You have to ________ yourself.”

6 . Emily checked her shoelaces(鞋带) and began to jog in small circles _______, waiting for Sierra. She didn’t mind the brief lateness; she was so grateful to have a running _______. Practically the first thing Emily had done after enrolling in this new school was to sign up for cross-country running.

“Hi, sorry, I’m late. It’s a good day for a run, don’t you think?” Sierra _______, talking nonstop as was her habit. Sierra ran every day, which encouraged Emily to take her own training more seriously. The regular practice had helped both of them to _______ their times over various terrains (地形).

Continuing her warm-up, Emily asked, “Are you racing next week in the big regional meet?” “Yeah, the coach encourages everyone to _______.”

“Oh.” Emily followed after Sierra just a bit, thinking about this information as they ran across the field. Knowing Sierra was easily the faster runner, Emily was very _______. She worried that her own time might _______ the team.

Race day arrived, and Emily gathered with the other team members to receive a colored wristband(手环) that showed their school. “Sierra, where’s your band?”

“You’re running in my place today because your times will _______ the team as much as mine, and I want you to have the _______ to show your stuff to the team. I’ll be your water girl at the end.” Sierra smiled and gave Emily a high-five.

“Wow, you’d give up a race for me?” Emily gave her friend a quick hug and thought this ________ would be her best performance ever.

7 . In the heart of the city, nested between the towering skyscrapers, stood a little library that had withstood the test of _______. Every brick and book in that building held stories not just from the pages, but of the countless souls who had walked its _______.

Anna, a young writer, often visited this oasis (绿洲) of knowledge. She was on the _______ of publishing her first book but was facing the crippling self-doubt that often troubles creators. One evening, as she wandered between the shelves, she happened to see an old, dusty _______. It was a journal from the 1800s, written by a then-unknown writer named Lillian.

As Anna skimmed through the pages, she was _______ by Lillian’s struggles which mirrored her own. Lillian wrote of her rejections, her moments of despair, and the nights she wanted to give up. But she also wrote of her _______ moments, where the words flowed like a river and the stories took a life of their own.

The final entry was dated a day before Lillian’s first book was published. It read, “To the future dreamers who may find this: Remember, every _______ has its dawn. Your struggles are merely the dark before the morning light. Keep writing, keep dreaming, and one day, your stories will light up someone’s _______ just as you have lit up mine.”

Anna felt a connection to Lillian across the centuries. With renewed _______, she left the library, ready to face the challenges ahead. For in her heart, she carried Lillian’s story — a beacon of hope and a testament to the timeless journey of ________.

8 . The lead role

Travaris always loved singing and he landed the lead role in the school musical. He could barely wait to tell his parents the _______. But when he made his announcement over dinner, they looked at each other and frowned (皱眉头). “You said the performance is in the week of November 13?” his dad asked. Travaris’s heart _______. Of course, his older sister was getting married in Hawaii that week. “I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to tell them that you can’t do it,” his mom said.

The next day at school, Travaris _______ to tell Ms. Phelps, the theater director, that she should give his part to someone else because he wouldn’t be in town during the _______. But all day he was flooded with _______ from his classmates for getting the lead role. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that it was all for _______ in the play.

Travaris was still staying after school to practice his part, reading his lines, singing the songs, and even learning the dance numbers. But as the weeks went by, Travaris started to feel _______. He knew that the longer he _______ dropping out of the play, the more he would hurt the rest of the cast and crew.

Finally, Travaris told Ms. Phelps how he couldn’t be in the musical. Ms. Phelps thanked him for taking the whole _______ into account. “But don’t forget to audition(试镜) again next year, and the chance is bound up with ________. ”she added with a smile.

9 . On a sunny afternoon, Anthony Perry stepped off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. The 20-year-old, who worked nights in a grocery store, was on his way to see his ________.

On the platform, something unthinkable happened: a man fell over the edge and onto the electrified train tracks! As Perry and other horrified passengers watched, he shook uncontrollably as the ________ moved through his body.

“Help him!” someone cried. “Please, someone!”

Perry couldn’t just stand there and ________. He sat at the edge of the platform and eased himself down. ________ all rails between the man and him were electrified, he quickly leaped towards the victim, using a high-knee technique from his high school football days.

Perry soon reached down and grasped the victim’s wrist. ________, he felt a powerful electric shock shoot through his body. Perry jumped back. He reached down a second time, and was shocked again. But the third time he seized the man’s wrist and forearm, and managed to move the guy’s body away from the ________.

“Give him chest compressions!” yelled an old lady on the platform.

Perry was no expert, but for a few moments he worked on the man’s heart until the victim regained ________. Then, first-aiders arrived. Perry let the professionals ________. Heart still racing from the electric shocks, he climbed back up onto the platform, grabbed his things and continued on to his grandfather’s.

The evening news reported the incident, ________ an unnamed hero with saving the victim’s life. To many, Perry’s ________ deeds demonstrated the power of choosing compassion over personal safety.

10 . The story of Jennifer Bricker is one of the most amazing story, which is full of both great surprises and life lessons.

Jennifer was born in Romania without any legs. She was later _________ by a loving American family, the Brickers, and raised in the small town of Hardinville, Illinois.

The Brickers never let this _________ stop her from achieving her dreams. Her new parents gave her a simple rule, “Never say can’t”! They did whatever they could to make her life a success.

The girl was _________ just like the Brickers’ own children. She was encouraged to play with the other normal boys and girls and became good at many _________, including volleyball, softball and basketball.

But it was tumbling (翻腾运动) that was her true love. When she was a little girl, she was a big _________ of the Olympic gold medalist--- Dominque Moceanu. She would copy her on TV whenever Dominque Moceanu _________in the tumbling programs and continue practicing afterwards.

As she grew older Jennifer began _________ against professional tumbling athletes around Illinois. Not only did she compete, but she even went on to become a State Champion! Jennifer and her family always believed she could do whatever she wanted to and that her positive attitude and hard work would make it another _________.

If her story was not amazing enough already, when Jennifer turned 16, she got the most _________ news in her life. She learned that her beloved Dominque Moceanu was actually her biological sister! Now Jennifer is touring the country as a(n)__________ speaker to encourage more disabled youngsters.