2 . Larry was performing with his acting troupe（剧团） on the streets in England. As the crowd _________ around the professional actors, the stage was _________ for an exciting story completed by costumed actors and an energetic narrator telling the story on a loudspeaker.

When the story took a turn, Larry's character was thrown from an imaginary _________ . The actor fell to the ground and began _________ heavily to show the seriousness of his false _________ . Though the audience understood that this was all an act, there was one member who couldn't _________ to watch Larry lying on the ground in great _________ . Larry accepted an interview and recalled his reaction to the _________ .

“The character I played was hurt and painful,” he said. “He'd fallen off a horse, and was breathing hard. I felt _________ on my face. First, I thought my scene partner was approaching me.” Instead of feeling disappointed that some __________ the scene, Larry quickly broke into a smile as he felt the kisses from a __________ worried dog. “I was very happy when I felt the dog’s kisses,” Larry recalled. “I was very __________ . He was like an angel who wanted to help me. It was a very emotional moment for me. I hadn't __________ it.”

Some people might think that the acting troupe would be __________ about this accident, but everyone seemed to enjoy the dog's reaction to the scene. The dog showed its __________ for humans in a strong way.

4 . For the past ten years, my dad and I have attended the same school — he as an administrator and I as a student. Our relationship, in and out of school, has been totally unpredictable.

When I was younger, all that my dad said was doctrine (信条) and anything he did I, _______ , copied. We played games together, and stayed up late reading bedtime stories. I could _______ my dad taking me to school, running into him regularly during the day and riding home with him every afternoon.

As I grew older, we were not as _______ as we used to be. He wasn’t cool any more. He wore his socks too high, listened to horrible country music and laughed too loudly in front of my friends. He became a total embarrassment.

However, the _______ that occurred in school were even worse. The worst one happened in seventh grade. My dad came to our New Year party, dressed up as Donald Duck, guitar in hand, singing silly songs. Just kill me! I wanted to run away.

This _______ continued into high school but we somehow began to find a balance. Things started to _______ around the time of my 10th-grade physics project. The _______ was to build a wood bridge with the best strength-to-weight ratio (比率). All the students and physics teachers _______ , and so did my dad — the only administrator! Embarrassed as usual, I _______ the scene. However, later when I learned from my friends that my dad ________ all competitors and won everyone’s admiration. I found that mixed in with my ________ was a touch of pride.

I had needed someone else to show me what I ________ in my dad. It wasn’t the fact that he’d won, it was more than that. I began to ________ that we have many of the same values and sometimes the same opinions. No matter how much I had tried to ________ him, he still influenced me.

I feel fortunate to have such an unusual father. The ________ I have developed with my dad over the years has enabled me to look back and see how I’ve grown.

6 . My parents never once spoke of the stress of having to pay for college, but I knew enough to appreciate that it was there. Therefore, when my French teacher announced that she’d be leading an optional class trip to Paris over one of our ________ for those who could come up with the money to do it, I didn’t even ________ to raise the issue at home.

Yet one evening my parents ________ me down, looking puzzled. My mom had learned about the France trip through my friend’s mom.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” she said.

“Because it’s too much money.” I replied.

“That’s actually not for you to decide, Michelle,” my dad said gently, feeling almost ________. “And how are we supposed to decide, if we don’t even know about it?”

I looked at them both, ________ of what to say. My mother glanced at me, her eyes soft. My father had changed out of his work uniform and into a clean white shirt. They were in their early forties then, married nearly twenty years. Neither one of them had ever ________ in Europe. They never took beach trips or went out to dinner. They didn’t own a house. Everything went into us. It seemed that we were their only ________, me and my brother.

A few months later, I ________ a flight to Paris with my teacher and a dozen or so of my classmates from Whitney Young in Chicago. We would stay in a hostel, and ________ the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. We’d buy snacks from ________ on the street and walk along the banks of the Seine. We’d speak French like a bunch of high school kids from Chicago, but we’d at least speak French.

As the plane ________ from its gate that day, I looked out my window and back at the airport, knowing that my mother stood somewhere behind its black-glass window, dressed in her winter coat and waving me on. I remember all the ________. I remember the jet engines firing, ________ loud. And then we were rattling (嘎啦嘎啦地响) down the runway and beginning to tilt (倾斜) upward as the ________ seized my chest and pressed me backward into my seat for that strange, in-between moment that came before I felt ________ finally.

7 . David sat on the hard ground, scratching (乱划) his name with a stick. As he finished the last letter “d”, he noticed a rosy old ________ shone in the dirt.

“David!” his mother called. David looked ________, glared at the yellow farmhouse that was now supposed to be his home, put the key in his pocket and walked down the hill.

Grandpa had ________ away last year, leaving the house and farm to David’s mother. She had chosen to ________ her job and move to the farm. David had been very unhappy about leaving his friends.

In the city, dinnertime had always been an opportunity for conversation between David and his mother. Here, ________, he had nothing to say. He knew his silence hurt his mother, but surely it was better than the angry stream of ________ that waiting behind it. After swallowing up a plateful of spaghetti (面条), he quickly said, “Thanks,” and went to his room.

Later, he went out to look for something to read. In the deep silence, he saw his mother sitting alone. On her lap lay a ________ album. Looking up, she smiled ________, “See what I found, David? Here’s your great - grandfather. He’s about your age in this picture. Do you think you look like him?”

David stuck his hands into his pockets and shrugged (耸肩). He ________ the old key.

“Here it’s his wedding day. Next to him is his bride.” his mother continued. David moved ________ and glanced down at the photograph. Then something else caught his ________. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a painted wooden box in front of her.

“It’s a ________ music box,” she put down the album and took the box gently with both hands. “Years ago, my brother dropped the key somewhere. We searched and searched but never ________ it.”

David opened his hand. His mother’s eyes sparkled ( 闪烁) . “That’s it! How did you...?”

With trembling hands, she fit the key into the hole and wound up the music box. With its sweet music ________, mother and son smiled.

“It has been silent for a long, long time,” the mother said.

“It’s so clear!” said David. “It sounds as good as new.” The ________ had been broken.

8 . Every day, a few minutes before 4 p.m., Jake, my cute dog, used to stare at me, pushing me to get his dinner. Now Jake is _______, and the disappearance of the comforting pace he brought to my days is like a _______ of my loss. Though friends _______me by telling me I saved him, I know clearly when I met him at an adoption event, he had already been saved, just not settled.

The real story is that Jake saved me. Before Jake, I was separated from the world. I _______ into myself. Then I started _______ this lovely creature around. Jake never _______. He smelled everything. If I tried to move him along, he’d _______ his feet in protest. Once I let go of the idea that our walks were about getting somewhere, my internal ticking _______. I started to notice the rhythm of the neighborhood. I’d _______hellos with passers-by. I started making small talks with my neighbor, who I’d lived across the hall from for seven years with ________ a word. Eventually, we developed a real friendship.

I was told Jake was 2 when I ________ him. In truth, said the vet, he was between 4 and 6. Whatever had happened in his life left him ________ and had ________ his trust in humans. I met him too late to save him; the damage was done. Trusting me was a matter of ________. But he came to trust me and his trust developed into something else — that this ________ little dog learned to be loved, same as me.