1 . It’s never too late to make your dreams come true . After more than half a_________since his last class at the University of Cincinnati , Paul Blom, 94,_________ received an associate ‘ s degree(副学士学位).

The World War II ex-soldier first enrolled(注册)at the_________in 1946, after_________in the Navy for three years. “ I came down to UC_________I was going to go to school , but , you know, it was_________ , it was almost August , and there wasn’t room for me ,” Blom told WCPO - TV. However , Blom enrolled in UC’s evening college program where he took night_________for nine years. But as he became too_________with the family business , he decided to stop_________.

He said, “I think I only lacked maybe two__________for some reason or another. I just didn’t ever go back and__________all the courses .”

Back in May 2020, Blom’s daughter, Paula Baxter,__________ UC to see if her father could receive an honorary degree and the university found that it could__________him much more .

After__________that Blom received more than enough credits to get a__________for an associated degree through a regional college within the University of Cincinnati, university officials were able to issue him the associate’s degree he had earned in full all those years ago.

2 . About a decade ago, my grandpa who was suffering from Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症) got into my car and drove off. Angel and I ______ the police, but before they could find him, two ______ kids pulled into our driveway with my grandpa.

They said they overheard him crying about being ______ at an empty gas station 10 miles away. My grandpa couldn’t remember our address, but gave the kids his first and last name. They looked him up online, found our address, and ______ him home.

I was ______ on that incident today while sitting near the edge of a beautiful ocean-side cliff. I am suddenly _____ of footsteps behind me. I ______ around to see a young lady who was almost in ______ slowly walking to where I was sitting. I walked up to her and ______, “What’s wrong?” She told me she was ______ afraid of heights, but was worried about my safety and wanted to get over her fear. Her braveness and kindness truly warmed my heart.

I’ve spent the rest of the day thinking about what an extraordinary person she is, and about those amazing college kids who helped my ______, and about what it means to be a kind and ______ person. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile, or face your biggest ______, or stand up against your own negative tendencies to make a (n) ______ difference in someone else’s life. It’s ______ to start doing the hard things-the right things-for others.

5 . In the summer of 2015, Brian Peterson often heard a ________ man yelling on the street corner near his apartment. Peterson, a car designer, would pass the guy on his way to work, but they never ________.

One day, Peterson was reading the book Love Does in his living room, when his ________was disturbed by the homeless man.________ by the book’s sympathetic message, Peterson decided to go outside and introduce himself.

In that first conversation, Peterson learned that the man was Matt Faris, who had moved to California to________ a career in music, but he soon fell on hard times and________living on the street.

Peterson recalled later, “I saw beauty on the face of a man who ________hadn’t shaved (刮脸) in a year. But his story, the life inside of him, inspired me.”________ Peterson, a graduate of art, hadn't painted in eight years, he asked if he could paint Faris’s portrait. Faris said yes.

Peterson’s________with Faris led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization________ on befriending and painting portraits of members of the community who are unhoused.

Peterson________ the painting - signed by both ________and artist - for a few thousand dollars, dividing the profit and putting half into what he calls a “love account” for his model. He then helps people use the money to get back on their_________

Faris used the funds from his portrait to ________an album (专辑), fulfilling his musical dreams. Another subject, Kimberly, asked, “Can I use the money to pay my daughter's rent?” When the check was delivered, “they both________in my arms,” Peterson recalls.

6 . Ethan Katz loves dogs. For his ninth birthday, Ethan ______ the idea of selling T-shirts for City Dogs Rescue in Washington, DC.

Both of Ethan’s ______ were adopted (收养) from animal shelters (收容所). Most shelters have limits (限制) on the ______ of animals they can take care of. City Dogs Rescue ______ dogs from overcrowded shelters. Volunteers ______ the animals until they are adopted. Ethan said, “I decided to do something for that rescue organisation and ______ money for them.”

Ethan went on a website for T-shirt designing and fund-raising. He typed a short article about his ______ designed a T-shirt, and priced each shirt at $20. Every time someone ______ one, part of that money went to City Dogs Rescue.

As word spread, many people bought shirts. ”My earliest ______ was to sell 75 shirts, and I went above that in three days,“ said Ethan. By the ______ of his 30-day fund-raising drive, he had sold 179 shirts and raised $2, 640. That money helped City Dogs Rescue ______   ten dogs from overcrowded shelters.

But Ethan wasn’t finished. People ______ to contact his parents and City Dogs Rescue about buying shirts. So Ethan decided to ______ the fund-raiser for another month. Through T-shirt sales and other donations (捐赠物), he raised more than $14,500 in all.

Jodi Sirotnak who was working at City Dogs Rescue said, ”Kids often feel as if they have no say in things, but Ethan shows them that they can make a real ______ .”

Dogs in Washington, DC are ______ to have Ethan as their friend!

8 . Afraid to have a start, I was walking slowly into my first school in America. I had _______ a long way from India in order to join parents. They had been here for three years, and hoped America would help my future. My father decided that I would go to school here, so I found a local high school in my new town.

With _______ on one hand and fear on the other, I arrived at the classroom. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the classroom. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the _______ and asked if it was the right class. With a _______ voice, he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted (安慰) me a little. He gave me a piece of _______ called “course requirements”, which I would never get in India. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I chose the _______   closest to the door instead of the corner where all of the boys were sitting. I didn’t _______ want to pick a seat. In India, the teacher _______ the seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the picture produced by the overhead projector (投影仪).

_______ it was my first day, I was confused (困惑的) about which hallway (走廊) to use, but I ________ to get to my classes without asking anyone. I was very confused about when I would have ________. It was noon when I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the normal process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. Feeling ________, she said, “That is the lunch bell.” I felt a little awkward. Without another word, I headed for the cafeteria (食堂).

At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus stop. I realized that all the ________ was like the difficulty I had to ________ to reach my goal. I ________ my bus and sat down inside happily. I said to myself: Today isn’t so bad.

9 . Millions of young people grow up with a deep love of Disney. ______ by the studio’s fairytales, they dream of becoming a prince or princess.

Cori Borgstadt, however, has a slightly different ______. Instead of ______ to be a princess like Snow White, she wants to become Disney’s CEO and has been ______ the company’s shareholder(股东)meetings since she was three years old.

Borgstadt, now 18, has ______ Disney for as long as she can remember. As well as collecting dolls and toys ______ her favourite films, she owns ______ in the company.

She is studying economics and film and media studies at Texas Tech University, and has ______ Bob Iger, the Disney CEO about how to eventually ______ him, at most of the meetings she has attended, Iger, now 72, replied: “Well, one thing you can do is keep coming to our shareholders’ meeting.”

The love of Disney has always been in Borgstadt’s ______. Her grandmother bought her and her younger sister a single share when they were children. It was her mother, Jan, who suggested she attend the shareholder meeting ______.

Borgstadt ______ that her dream of one day becoming the boss will not be easy to achieve, and would require a ______ similar to the ones Disney has been creating for a century. But she is ______ to work her way up, from making her ______ felt in the meetings.

10 . My cat hospital was very busy. So when the door rang just before closing on a Friday night, and a man walked in carrying a shoebox, I wasn’t _______. “I have a little cat,” he said. “I have _______ taking it to the shelter (收容所), but the shelter won’t _______ the cat because it is too sick.”

I looked into the box and found a thin cat. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll _______ the cat.” And the cat’s road to recovery (康复) began.

Months later, after great care, the little cat _______ a cute ball of fire. I named him Ben.

_______, the day came when I had to find someone to adopt (收养) Ben and give him a forever home. But there was a  _______: after months of taking care of him, Ben had become more to me than _______ another rescue (营救) .

Ben was placed in the adoption cage. Andrea, one of my favorite clients (客户), was _______  but not ready to adopt. “I’ll let you ________  in a week,” she promised, and I was hopeful.

Over the week, I found myself becoming less and less excited at Ben’s possible adoption. So, when Andrea phoned with her ________, I really had ________ feelings. She said she ________ another cat would be too much for her.

“I understand,” I replied, trying to sound sad.

There was only one ________ of fostering (代养) in our cat hospital: The worker could not keep an adoptable cat. But sometimes rules are meant to be broken. Why should this one be any ________? That night, Ben was put into his carrier for a one-way trip to his forever home — mine.