1 . I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. I had been always full of ________ about it before I saw The Revenge of Prince Zidan-the Peking Opera version of Hamlet. ________ an orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments, the opera brought a ________ new sound to my Western ears. At first, I thought what I ________ was a violin, ________ later I learnt that it was an instrument with two strings called jinghu. Then, I was ________ when the main characters came on ________. The costumes and masks were amazing. Although the performers sang in Chinese, the music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the ________ across to the audience. The voices sounded really ________. So ________ were some of the female voices that I was sure they could break glass! And the stage was really ________: a decorated whip represented a horse, and a screen with Chinese character, a study. Using such techniques, the opera had transformed a small stage into the whole universe. What I liked most was how the characters moved on stage. It was so dazzling and ________ that I wasn’t sure if the characters were performers or athletes! Everyone was ________. Feeling the strong emotions of love, anger, fear and grief in the ________, I could easily ________ the theme of Hamlet.

3 . We always celebrated my Dad’s November birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. As years went on, these events took on a(n) ________ meaning - a traditional birthday party for Dad, and a personal ________ for all that he had done for me in my life.

When we knew that it might be Dad’s ________ birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home. It was a crowded party ________ all of us sitting around him.

Dad was a wonderful ________ , and here was a biggest audience he’d ever had. During a quiet moment, I announced that it was now Dad’s turn to ________ stories from us. I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him. ________, we told stories from our hearts, ________ Dad listened with wet, flashing blue eyes. We ________ all kinds of lost memories - stories about when we were little, stories about when Dad was young and stories that are shared as family ________. Even the littlest grandchildren couldn’t ________ to tell their grandfather why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our ________ to honor him.

A few months later, at Dad’s memorial service, we fully realized what we had given Dad that night. Those were the stories people normally tell at a ________. They are told, then, full of tears with the hope that the departed will somehow hear the outpouring of love. ________ we had given those loving ________ to Dad when he was ________, told through laughter, accompanied by hugs and joy. I’m sure the stories and memories ________ over in his mind during his last months and days.

Words do ________, and they are enough. We need to say them, to speak them ________ to the ones we love, for everyone else to hear. That’s the way to ________ love and our chance to honor a person in life.

5 . I have grown up in a football-loving family. My dad played until injury _________ him out. My elder sister Stevie _________ with Crewe Alexandra Girls for a year or two as a left back (后卫), just like our hero Jamie Carragher.

I remember the exact moment when I told my dad I was _________ in doing what my big sister did. I was watching the game with him in the living room and it just came out: “It makes me _________ that I can’t be a footballer.” He asked why not, and I answered, “Because I’m not a boy.”

He _________ responded by telling me that women’s football was “great” and that I could play if I wanted to. “Yeah, I suppose so,” I responded, “but no one _________ women’s football.” Looking back, I can see exactly why I felt like that.

At school, there was an unwritten _________ that sports like rugby and football were for the boys. I’d never seen a women’s football match on TV and the only _________ athletes I’d heard of were in the Olympics.

Today, the England Lionesses (母狮队) will _________ Scotland in the World Cup, and people across the world will watch it. __________ women’s football has turned out to be one of FIFA’s investments, the majority of female players in top tiers are earning under what anyone would consider a fair __________, and only £24 million prize money was awarded to the women’s World Cup victors in __________ with £315 million to the men’s. That’s a vast __________.

Maybe, the truth is: Investment is needed for female football to become more visible and become a(n) __________ respected game. It’ll mean talented, skillful female footballers being __________ by millions of homes and maybe, just maybe, a little girl believing that she can also be a Lioness one day.

6 . Most people who keep animals choose to have dogs, cats or fish. But Recep Mirzan keeps a _________ animal on his farm in Western Turkey. The 63-year-old retired worker has a swan ( 天 鹅 ) which he _________ many years ago. Mirzan was driving in his car when he _________ an injured swan with a _________ wing. Mirzan immediately _________ and took the swan with him to _________ her from predators (捕食者).

“Since I love _________,I said to myself that I should take her home instead of _________ her as prey (猎物),”Mirzan told The Associated Press.

He named the swan Garip. It means “strange” in the Turkish language but is also used to _________ a person who has had difficulties in his/her life. After Garip’s broken wing recovered, she __________ with Mirzan. Mirzan is not married and has no __________, so the swan is like a child to him. Garip has been living on Mirzan’s farm for the past 37 years, __________ Mirzan wherever he goes and never trying to __________ the farm.

According to the group Swan Sanctuary, in Britain, swans live in the __________ for only about 12 years. But thanks to the __________ environment, Garip can live up to nearly 40 years old.

7 . One can never find his/her potential until he/she has a try. When I retired five years ago, I started running. I was not a natural _________. I wanted to lose weight and it seemed that running was a_________way. At first it was very_________ — I was mainly walking more than running when I started — but I didn’t _________．When I started training running, I was just trying to build up stamina (耐力), and just the idea of even going two miles, but even walking was a_________. In the beginning, I just walked as much as I could and then as time went on, I_________began running. Later I kept on adding more and more _________．

I_________ my coach, Albert, in my running club, and he’d been running for over 25 years. He had a lot of knowledge and often sent various quotes to_________ and encourage us. Running the Los Angeles Marathon for the first time was probably the greatest__________of my life. I was really prepared, __________ Albert. I learned a lot of life lessons during the__________ : you have to believe in yourself   __________nobody else will. When I crossed the finishing line, I was so excited. I remembered just getting to the__________and realizing, “Oh, my God, I’m going to do this! ” I heard them say, “Welcome to the finishing line,” and I thought, “Wow, I was actually going to__________this!”

I could never have imagined myself doing the Los Angeles Marathon, and here I am and I made it. I was a true example that it’s never too late to present yourself with a new image, as long as you have faith and let that faith direct you.