1 . I was preparing for dinner with my husband when our daughter Rikki stormed into the sitting room and marched to the sofa. I glanced out of the window and saw our neighbor Lexi walking slowly back to her house with her head down, looking so _______.

“I don’t want to play with her,” Rikki complained, “I wish she would stop coming over here all the time. Her dress looks terrible and smells disgusting. Everyone in our class chooses to _______ her.” “That’s not her _______ , Rikki. Maybe she doesn’t have anyone to help her.” I said.

“You see, baby,” her father began to say, “I really know how she felt when you showed your _______ to her because I had the same experience when I was a kid. I was the poor kid with hand-me-down clothes, the kid who others looked down on. That _______ never goes away.” He told her he wanted her to be kind and _________ , not judgmental and hurtful. Tears were streaming down her face.

Then we _______ Lexi to come over and have dinner with us. I remembered Lexi coming in all smiles. We gathered together and soon I saw the girls talking and _______ . They had a great time. I could even see a sweet glow in Rikki’s eyes.

Rikki began to think _________ from that day on. Lexi came over a few times after that. They became good friends.

Today, Rikki has a heart of gold. She is always the first to welcome those whom others might __________ and is generous in helping others. I truly believe that day made a major difference in the person she has become today.

2 . One bus driver for the North Elementary School can now add lifesaver to her experiences after a student started choking (窒息) on her bus last month.

On Sept.29, bus driver Raquel Baker began her work just like any other drivers and was about to drop off students at the school gate when something went wrong. Video from the school bus showed 7-year-old Preston putting something in his ________ and then dropping down between the seats, clearly in ________ .

It was hard for the boy to ________ a word but he managed to mention something about a coin. Baker ________ stood up, took hold of him and ran out of the ________ .“On my way to the sidewalk, I was actually performing the Heimlich maneuver (海姆利克氏操作法),” she said.

Preston hardly ________ and Baker didn’t waste any time to jump into action. The whole time she was saying, “Baby, breathe, baby, breathe.”

Preston was blue in the face. Baker saw a parent and asked her to call 911. “All I could think of was I had to ________ this boy,” Baker said. She had never performed the Heimlich before, but her ________ on the first aid given by the school one month ago worked. “I was ________ at the time, but I just couldn’t be scared,” she said. She didn’t even realize when the ________ flew out of Preston’s mouth until Preston said, “Miss Baker, I’m OK. I can breathe.”

Preston’s mum was ________ for Baker’s help. The school’s headmaster was also touched and ________ her for her life-saving work. “As of today, I’m still in shock. I really can’t believe that this actually happened. I didn’t really realize what a big ________ I had,” Baker said.

Until today Bake r still doesn’t know how she got the ________ to do what she did that day, ________ she knows this, “If I wasn’t there, other drivers may have done it as well,” Bake r said.

3 . We live in a town, about half a mile from the banks of the Ahr River. It had been raining buckets that week and there were _______ warnings for some of the nearby areas, but not where I was.

As a precaution, I’d _______ sandbags outside my garden door and piled electronics and clothing on tables and the couch just in case water managed to see p through.

As I fell asleep, I was _______ by the sound of rushing water. When I swung my legs off the bed, I was _______ to feel cold water already up to my knees and rising fast. Shivering and in darkness, I grabbed my phone and _______ its flashlight. Water was coming from the garden door, and chairs, bookshelves and pieces of my drum set were floating all over my living room. The Ahr must have _______ burst its banks and breached the sandbags. And now I had to get out — fast!

With the water now up to my waist, in bare feet I started to paddle to my only _______: the door leading to upstairs. Finally I made it to that door and tried to pull it open, but the water’s pressure was high. I managed to make a _______ of about 30 centimeters with all my strength and effort, enough for me to squeeze through. Rushing down outside, I _______ that if I had woken up just a few minutes later, I would have drowned.

The experience made me grateful and determined to live each day to its fullest. I will remember what my mother told me: “Don’t remember the day when you ________ everything. Remember the day you survived.”

4 . While I was in hospital for a heart surgery, something affected me and made me do something meaningful. Before my surgery, my doctor showed me a video, in which there were patients like me and they each had a heart pillow, so I decided I would get one.

Right after my _______, I asked about the heart pillow. Unluckily, I was told they didn’t offer it but it could be _______ at the hospital gift shop. So my daughter bought one for me. It was comfortable and became my “security blanket”. However I was _______ that many patients couldn’t get that comfort. So I took this whole mission upon myself. I called various hospitals to find out what they used for patients after heart surgeries. I also found a site _______ that the cloth pillows were considered dangerous because it might spread bacteria to patients. I _______ understood, but that didn’t stop my mission. I continued to call the manufacturers. Finally, a lady called back and told me about the heart pillow that they had produced, which could be _______ and disinfected (消毒).

I did all my _______ so that no one could think of a reason why this wouldn’t work. It took me over a month to be able to meet with the hospital authorities to _______ my finding. I’m glad that they agreed and are _____ getting these pillows for patients. I cannot be ________— I actually did something that will help many patients.

5 . In 2022, my 4-year-old son, Tyler, needed to have a serious surgery (手术). My wife and I took him to Children’s Hospital.

There were a lot of worries in our hearts in the waiting room. When a nurse called us to the doctor’s office, our _______ only grew. A young doctor told us that he would perform the surgery and began to _______ what the process (过程) would be and all the risks of a surgery like this. My mind went to the _______ possible result. I just couldn’t help but feel like: What was I going to do if I _______ my son?

But he then did something that was very _______. He looked us both in the eye, put a hand on each one of our shoulders and said, “Your son is my son.” I will never _______ that because that sent a calm through me. What he said was very helpful and meaningful.

After the surgery, he _______ to us, looked us once again in the eye and said, “Our son is just fine, and you could see him here in a few minutes.”

I can’t tell you how _______ we both were for having him there and for what he said to us. I’ll never forget that doctor. And to this day, anytime I have a chance to volunteer or donate to Children’s Hospital, I’ll make sure I’m one of the first ones in line. I hope that I have the _______ of seeing him again someday to thank him for his ________ words.

6 . A winter storm dropped huge amounts of snow overnight on January 16 in western Pennsylvania. Coach Brian Delallo, who worked on a local high school football team, decided to _______ his players’ weightlifting practice. He texted his players saying: “Due to the expected severe _______ Monday’s weightlifting workout has been cancelled. Find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel (为……除雪) their driveway. Don’t accept any _______-that’s our Monday workout. ”

The players received the message and went out to work on the more than six inches of snow that fell overnight. They said that they removed _______from dozens of homes. Some players texted their coach afterwards to tell him how _______ it was. “We all feel great about it, ” said team captain Gavin Moul. “It’s not only helping them, but it’s helping us to become a better team. ”

Many of the people whom the team members approached couldn’t believe that the players wouldn’t accept any payment. Sometimes people even _______ their help because they wouldn’t take money for it.

Actually, it was not the first time for the team to have shoveling workout. It was started by a coach more than two decades ago. It was one of the many _______ the team kept.

“It’s about community. ” the coach said. “It is an inspiring way for us to interact with our community and show that it _______. Shoveling snow is just one of those opportunities to show appreciation to the community that supports us. ”The team got a workout and gave _______ to the community by doing these acts of kindness at the same time. It was a __________ for all.

7 . A golden fog settled over the fields. The sun prepared to rest for the evening. I looked forward to setting my _______ aside for an evening.

I wasn’t long headed home when I heard a voice behind me. “Photo, photo, photo.” A young boy about 7 or 8 years old followed closely. I breathed a tired sigh. I had no _______ to press the shutter button one more time, no matter how beautiful or eager he was, but he kept following me. As I looked at him, half _______, an idea for a composition flashed in my mind.

I kneeled in the field and instructed the boy where to stand and how to pose. As I prepared to take the photograph, his energy suddenly shifted from _______ to shyness to fear. No matter what I told him to do — how to stand, how to look — I just couldn’t get the _______. Defeated, I gave up. I looked at the boy, who looked _______ and awkward.

In an effort to _______ him, I clapped my hands, saying, “That was great. You were great.” Passers-by gathered around, cheering and clapping loudly. The boy’s face immediately broke into (a) _______. I intuitively (直觉地) took a few shots of the moment.

That photograph turned out to be better than the _______ I’d imagined because it came from a deeper place within me. When we ________ frustration (懊恼) and focus on what’s here in the moment, that is when we are moved to create from the inside out.

8 . On a bright afternoon, Jordan, Mahir and Mahir’s father gathered at the foot of a mountain. “Hey, Jordan, over here!” Jordan’s best friend, Mahir, waved his hand, pointing to a crack in the side of the mountain. “We could ________ this!”

Jordan tied his safety harness (系带) and checked his rope. He weighed one of them in his hand, determining its weight. Then he looked for ________ locations, considering the difficulty of the task. “That crack is ________ narrow. I don’t think we’d get up very high.”

“At the time of a test, a person rises or falls.” said Ghanim, Mahir’s dad. Shaking his head in ________ over the foreign proverb (谚语), Jordan examined the crack. It was nothing more than a sliver in the solid face of the cliff. He shifted in his harness as Mahir gave the proverb his own explaination: “If you’re not reaching the ________, you’re not trying hard enough.” Jordan recognized the bit of advice from a previous climbing lesson.

His own father’s voice resounded in his thoughts, as if in a half-forgotten dream. “Climb a mountain, son, and you climb the insecurity in your own life. You climb over your shadow, climb over your ________.” That was five years ago, before the automobile ________ that took his dad’s life. Jordan’s father swiftly turned his car and effectively ________ a car from going over a cliff. The sudden move had saved the people in that car. But his father’s car went off a cliff. ________ with the difficult situation, Jordan’s dad had never hesitated before making the decision.

And now Jordan wouldn’t either. ________ on his balance, he took a deep breath and began to climb. Finally, they made it to the peak of the mountain.

9 . When Halloween arrives, you know there is bound to be some mischief (恶作剧). So I wasn’t entirely surprised when I opened my front door that night to see my candy bowl completely—and very suddenly—_________. To be fair, this was after some light rain had _________ the street of most trick-or-treaters and the youngest had already made the rounds. I never saw who took it, but I did shout “Happy Halloween!” into the night air.

Was a candy theft ideal? Nope. But, hey, we all make _________—especially as kids. What did _________ me was what appeared in front of my door the next evening: a plastic bag filled with the lost candy. Stuck to it was the following handwritten note:

“Hello, I am the kid that took all of your candy. After thinking it over I want to _________. Because it was late and no one else was out, I thought it was OK. It was not. I took the candy before you said it was _________. So, I am sorry, and I’d like to give the candy back. Maybe you can give it to a kid who is more _________.”

A tiny Halloween miracle! I have never been prouder of a kid who wasn’t mine. I assume a parent had something to do with this sudden reflective _________, but I’ll never know for sure.

What I do hope is that this kid knows how good it can feel to _________ a wrong. I hope they don’t think they’re bad—simply that they made a not-so-great choice. They do deserve to get their fill and have fun and run wild. __________, next year they’ll come back for more.

10 . Last September, Sarah, 44, slipped on a platform and ________ in the gap between a train and the platform edge. When the train left the station, it ran over her right arm and leg. Unfortunately, another train pulled in, causing further ________. A few minutes later, someone noticed her and called emergency services. They ________ to the scene and took Sarah to the hospital, but doctors were ________ to save her arm and leg.

________, Sarah is now the world’s first woman to use a £250.00 bionic (仿生) arm ________ by AI.

“It’s hard to explain but when I think about a ________ — say ‘open my hand’ — my muscles twitch (颤动) in a particular way. The sensors in it will ________ these twitches, and send signals to make my hand work. And if it ________ the fact that I point my finger often, it will learn that I like to do that and make it easier for me to do so,” said Sarah.

In February, Sarah returned to work and a few months later she attended a conference in Rome to give a speech about the accident.

“I do miss myself before the accident. But at the end of the day, I’m just ________ that AI can give me a piece of my life back. I know I am blessed to be able to keep moving forward with my family.”