1 . One day, hundreds of people were stuck in traffic on the highway in below-freezing temperatures due to a snowstorm. With the conditions making it _________ for rescue workers to help, many were trapped overnight with no access to _________.

But one stuck driver found a _________ spot in the despair. As she was sitting in her car fearing the _________, Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, _________ a bread truck just ahead of them in the jam. Willing to try just about anything, they called the customer service number listed on the back of the truck and left a _________ begging for the driver to open the back and _________ bread to the hungry passengers around them. It was a last-ditch effort, and the couple wasn’t very _________ about getting a response. But to their _________ they soon received a phone call from the company’s owner, Chuck Paterakis, with the news that he was __________ the truck’s driver to open up and pass out loaves of bread from his cargo. Overjoyed by the news, Holihan and Noe __________ the truck’s driver to bring much-needed things to the cars around them.

The simple loaves of bread were surely a ray of __________ in an impossibly disturbing situation. Holihan herself calls it “one of the __________ moments” she’s ever witnessed. This company could have made a(n) __________ from the bread but instead chose to help the people around them. That is just so incredible that someone chose __________ over profit, especially in a situation where people were so desperate.

2 . When my mom passed away only a few years after we’d lost Dad, the wound of my grief was ________ and deep. To save myself from ________, I play a game I call “It’s 1980”. Best done during a walk in the woods, always done alone, the rules are simple: Think of every single ________ of the year 1980, which was a very happy year for my family.

As I walk along the path through the park, I ________ each family member and picture what they might have been doing. Dad is in the garage, working on a car ________. I can smell fresh paint. Mom is in the kitchen, with another delicious supper in the slow cooker. On and on I go, letting this daydream become my ________ reality, feeling myself ________ the scent of what Mom’s cooking, the ________ of the breeze blowing in the open kitchen window.

________, on my walk, I come to the end and need to ________ the present. Having had my ________ vacation in the past, this is easy because I’ve realized that the girl who knew such happiness and love is still here, in the woman I am today. And I long to share the game with those struggling over the ________. It’s true that ________ have changed for me. ________, with “It’s 1980”, my loving memories can serve as a ________ that all is not lost, has never been lost.

3 . Biar Kon grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, after his parents were forced to flee the war in neighboring Sudan. When he was 17, he moved to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to ________ school.

Once he arrived, he needed to get some ________ from the Sudanese embassy. But when he went looking for the embassy, he couldn’t find it. Then an older woman ________ him on the back, “Hey, my son, how are you doing?” The woman told Kon that she had seen him asking questions of ________ people as they passed, and she wondered if he needed some help. The woman’s ________ left a deep impression on Kon. And it inspired him to pay it ________, five years later, when he moved to Boston, Massachusetts.

One day, outside a coffee shop, he ________ an interaction between a young woman and a(n) ________ man that troubled her. Kon went up to the man, to see what he could do. “He told me why he was on the street — because he made a mistake when he was in high school, and he couldn’t get a ________ now,” Kon recalled.

Kon bought the man some breakfast, and gave him a little bit of money. Today, it’s an encounter he ________ on often. For him, it was a reminder that you never know what people are ________ unless you make a point to talk to them.

“She kind of sowed a seed of ________ in me. And every time I see somebody who’s in trouble, I always try to ________,” Kon said.

Kon is now a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He hopes to provide housing and social support for people ________ on the streets — an idea partly inspired by his unsung ________.

4 . A Maryland couple stranded (滞留) without food in the freezing cold on a Virginia highway. They were getting ________ and more discouraged by the minute.

After almost 21 hours of being ________ on 95 South, Casey and her husband John slept there overnight and not ________ access to food or water. At that time, they ________ a Schmidt Baking Co. truck ahead of them in the standstill. “People around us were very much ________. Many of them had small children, some were elderly and hadn’t eaten in almost a whole day. ” In a desperate bid for a ________, they decided to call the Schmidt Bakery and see if it could help ________ some much-needed food for them, as well as their fellow highway captives.

“I didn’t think it would ________ work,” said Casey, who left a message with customer service. But to their ________, 20 minutes later, they actually got a ________ from Chuck Paterakis, the owner of the bakery. He told them to walk over to the truck driver, Ron, who was given the go-ahead to start handing out ________ to 50 motorists. Then, the couple joined the driver in making ________. Soon, others joined the effort, in which some 300 loaves were ________.

“It felt incredible just hearing people say thank you and hearing them so ________ to finally have food in their car. This was one of the ________ moments I have ever witnessed.” recalled Casey.

5 . I’ve always loved horses, but for years my riding took a back seat to my four kids’ soccer games, dance recitals and so on. As my children became more _______,I decided it was time to put myself _______the calendar, not always being at the beck and call of my family.

I have a work-to-ride rent at a nearby stable (马厩). As soon as I arrive at the stable, I always _______ to take a deep breath or two, inhaling the sweetness of freshly mown hay (干草). Then I go for a joyride. Sometimes, I’m_______by a friend and other times I ride solo, but it’s always a reset and _______ of my batteries for another week in the real world.

One day, as I wiped off my bridle (马笼头), my friend Mary asked with sad eyes, “Did you hear about Heather? She _______ her son last week.”

“No, how awful! Heather’s son is around my age.” I murmured.

“Yes, it’s tragic,” she said. “I _______to her yesterday. She seemed okay despite everything.”

“Yesterday? She was out here?”

“She and her grandsons went for a trail _______. This is the best place to be when you need to _______real life,” Mary commented knowingly.

I nodded ________. Mary’s husband had just ________a horrible disease, and whenever she wasn’t taking care of him, she was here to take care of herself. We all ________ various levels of heart-hurt on a daily basis. Our stable is pure________— from worry, frustration, hurt, even unimaginable loss.

Relief from real life. We all need it, somewhere, somehow, because life is ________. I’m so glad I’ve found that horse time can make the hardest landings a little ________.

6 . Lobb, a 24-year-old banker from Toronto, has been sharing everything with his friend, an artificial intelligence engineer Jafri.

One day, the two were _______ in a lunchtime workout on Pier (码头) 15, overlooking the East River, when Lobb froze. “Somebody’s in the water,” he said. _______ Jafri could respond, he climbed over the rail and jumped into the cold water without any slightest _______. Seeing this, Jafri also swan-dived towards him even without _______ his shoes.

_______ the unconscious victim, Lobb saw that it was a big, middle-aged man. He was 3 feet _______ the surface by the time Lobb reached him. The rescuer dove, _______ the man and kicked upward until they both appeared above the water. With great efforts, the pair _______brought him back to Pier 15 where a crowd had gathered.

Both men, extremely _______ from 20 minutes in the water and bleeding from numerous cuts, watched as rescue workers loaded the nearly drowned man into a(n) ________ and drove away. They even ________ learned who he was, what became of him or how he’d fallen into the river.

In place of that knowledge, they have a story they get to tell now, another experience that has further ________ their bond. Lots of people were on the piers that day,________ only the two of them jumped in the water — because, they say, they were the fittest people there and, so, had a moral responsibility.

“If I know I’m ________,” Lobb says, “why wouldn’t I help?”

Jafri ________, laughing, “People always say, ‘If your friend were in danger, would you reach out to him?’ I think I answered that one.”

7 . Everyone has a different way of showing how much they love their family members. When you see the beautiful and ________ “safety bed” a man made for his autistic (自闭症) grandson, you can’t help but feel the depth of his love!

In a video that has gone viral, the ________ grandpa Reddor shows off the custom bed he ________for his 3-year-old grandson. “Some kids with autism and other ________ need a safety bed to keep them safe and contained”. He mentions that he keeps his grandson’s well-being in mind while making the bed a(n) ________ environment with sweet pictures depicting Winnie the Pooh (维尼熊) and friends. He also ________ that the bed is on wheels, so it can be ________ to change the sheets and clean underneath.

To ensure that this bed would be safe in the event of an emergency, Reddor even ________ with the local fire department who familiarized themselves with the bed and gave their ________ throughout the design process. The grandpa even ________ a wrestling mat to prevent self-harm, and a Bluetooth sound system, adjustable LED lighting, and double-monitoring cameras.

The response to the safety bed has been overwhelmingly ________. His grandson was so excited when he first saw it that he cried.

Obviously, no two autistic people’s experiences or needs are the same, but this grandpa made sure what he built was just ________ for his grandson. Just as one netizen wrote in a ________, “Your grandson may not currently have the capacity to fully ________ your efforts, but I do hope he’ll eventually show his ________ to you for this beautiful thing you made for him! ”

8 . Ralph Street loves maps. Appropriately (相称) for someone with his surname, he studied geography and town planning. And well before that, his parents _________ took him out orienteering (定向运动).

“I don’t really remember a time before orienteering,” Street _________. “My parents took me orienteering the first week I was born.” He now _________ internationally as an orienteer. In 2023, he won the first place in Orienteering World Cup. Street remembers a childhood trip with friends who trusted him as they realized his excellent _________ for getting around the new city.

Street _________ the sport of orienteering at the age of nine. As his experiences suggest, childhood exposure shapes people’s comfort and _________ with navigation (导航).

People who grew up outside cities, or in more spatially (空间的) complex cities, also appear to be better able to navigate. “Even as adults, we have good _________ that people who navigate more widely around their environment have better spatial skills,” says Nora Newcombe, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Misconceptions _________ about human navigation. “One of them is that you think you cannot improve,” Newcombe says. Navigational _________ like maps and compasses can lead to a dependence. People can train themselves to better notice environmental __________ like the wind, the sun and slopes.

For people who can’t imagine wayfinding without a phone app, there are still ways to __________ spatial skills. The system on many apps is that “wherever you’re going is straight ahead, which is a terrible way to learn. I advocate keeping north on the top all the time,” Newcombe __________ . Getting a(an) __________ amount of sleep may help too. One global study found that for participants __________ fifty and older, sleeping seven hours a night __________ the best performance in a navigation game.

9 . Early in life, my lack of maths skill made me strongly dislike the subject. As a freshman in high school I was far from a math teacher’s dream student.

When I walked into Mr. Ash’s classroom, my focus was on ______ a good seat, surrounded by my friends and with easy ______ to the door. From day one, I made everyone know I hated math. It was not ______ for me to give up midway through an assignment, or became absent-minded during a lesson because I didn’t understand it. I didn’t think I ______ doing well. “I can’t,” I often said to myself.

However, I soon learned that “I can’t” was not a(n) ______ in Mr. Ash’s class. On the first day of class, Mr. Ash ______ us with his arms extended, “Welcome! Smile! It’s a great day to be alive!” These words, which I would often hear in the next four years, became a source of ______ and familiarity. Mr. Ash had a true passion for both math and teaching. His ______ and inspiring attitude never disappeared. And he encouraged each student.

I found myself looking forward to math class, ______ the fact that I still disliked the subject. Seeing Mr. Ash made me feel good ______ I had the potential (潜力) to succeed. However, my story is not one of overnight success. In fact, it was in Mr. Ash’s class that I received my first failing test grade.

But I didn’t give up or use the score as ______ that I was not meant to do well in math. ______, Mr. Ash didn’t give up on me. He became more determined to help me. My determination to succeed ______. I spent an increasing amount of time on my homework. Finally, my hard work began to ______.

Even today, when I feel my mind beginning to think “I can’t,” I hear a deep voice in the back of my mind ______ me to take a deep breath and remember: it’s a great day to be alive.

10 . Coming together for a meal always has symbolic and sentimental (情感的) value. That’s what Peggy Winckowski has been doing since October 2021.

Sam Crowe, Winckowski’s grandson, and his friends had a plan to go to school late on Wednesday morning and would have breakfast together at a restaurant. However, one day they _______ that Winckowski’s breakfast served more warmth and deliciousness. Soon after discussing it with his grandma, it became a tradition for Sam and his friends to _______ every Wednesday for the delicious meal. 66-year-old Winckowski shared, “Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. I will _______ them as long as they come.” The teenagers and Winckowski grew to have a wonderful _______ week after week.

_______, in 2022, something bad happened when young Sam passed away in a car accident. Winckowski was very _______ at the loss of her young grandson. However, Sam’s friends _______ appeared at her house on the day when their beloved friend’s passed away. The youngsters _______ to be there for Winckowski, selflessly appearing the whole week after Sam’s passing to _______ that she was all right. The question appeared at the end of the school year when they were not sure whether this heart-warming tradition would __________.

Winckowski, without doubt, kept her home and heart open to the young students and assured them that even others were welcome to __________. After over a year of losing their dear friend, the tradition continues. Winckowski __________ their hearts. What began as a simple meeting with friends __________ to be a remembrance of love among over 30 students.

“It’s a tiny house but its walls are filled with __________,” said Winckowski. She connects her meetings with the students to those of her late grandson, expressing that it makes her feel __________ to him.