1 . I once worked on a farm. One day, a powerful wind slammed (猛推) me against a post. My left arm got totally _________, and it was later cut off.

Back home after an operation, I found everything a(n) _________. My husband tried to help me, but I wanted to be _________. I called my left arm “Stumpy” and tried to _________. I learned to squeeze toothpaste; I developed a technique for pulling the toilet paper.

“Mom can do anything,” my daughter said _________. The one thing I really wanted to do, though, was get back into _________. First, I tried to swim. When I swam with Stumpy, there was no forward motion. _________, I kept going and finished the lane at last. Then I tried the triathlon (铁人三项). I _________ how to balance the bike with one arm and start running. Within a year, I became an _________ athlete, winning a silver medal at the Paratriathlon World Cup.

In 2020, I decided to do New Zealand’s __________ event. Competitors have to run for 36 km, cycle for 140 km, and kayak (皮划艇) for 70 km. I __________ hard over the next six months. Then the big day came. After kayaking for a long time, my legs felt like jelly. “Don’t __________,” I told myself. In the last few kilometers, I heard loud __________. Many people came to support me.

Life in __________ for me, but I choose to change it. “Just because you’ve got only half a wing doesn’t mean you can’t __________ to achieve your dreams,” I said to myself.

2 . One day, my children and I found a homeless, small cat trapped in a burning box. She was _________ injured, with most hairs burned. We rescued her and named her Smoky. Back at our ranch (牧场) we _________ her.

Weeks later, Smoky looked better, but was completely _________ due to medicine on her skin. She looked so ugly but we adored her. My husband, Bill, didn’t. Smoky _________ him, too. Why? He was a pipe smoker _________ matches and lighters that _________ and burned. Every time he lit up the pipe, Smoky panicked, _________ his coffee cup before fleeing.

“Can’t I have any _________ here?” he’d complain, instead of quitting smoking though it harmed his health. _________, Smoky became more __________ of the pipe and its owner. She’d lie on the sofa and look at Bill as he smoked. One day he laughed, “Oh, the cat makes me feel __________.” Slowly, Bill __________ smoked in the house, and one night, surprisingly, I found Smoky lying on his lap. Bill started liking her.

During Smoky’s second year, she began growing fur. Tiny white hairs gradually grew long. Bill continued to enjoy her __________, driving around with Smoky. When he got out of the truck to check the __________ on the ranch, he left the cat __________, letting her enjoy the air conditioning.

3 . A simple honk (汽车喇叭声) from the bus is one part of a secret code between the driver and students living in a remote village in Wanzhou district, Chongqing city.

Noticing a schoolbag hanging on the door of an old house along his _________, the bus driver pulls over and honks to answer the “code”. After a moment, he leans (倾斜) out of the bus and _______ a loud reminder. A boy then rushes outside and _________ the bus.

The boy's parents work far from home, leaving him in the _________ of his grandmother. Despite this separation (分离), the boy is determined to pursue (追逐) his education, making the _________ journey to the city to go to school. He and the driver, Mr Cheng Lin, have _________ a special routine. Whenever the boy's schoolbag is hanging outside the house, it signals to Cheng that the young student needs to catch the bus. This simple interaction between the driver and the student became their _________ “secret code”, a non-verbal (非语言) way of saying,“Today, it's time to go back to school.”

Mr Cheng, who has been _________ the Luotian to Wuqiao Nan Station route for many years, shared his ideas on the matter. He mentioned that this rural route had a significant number of left-behind children due to their parents' work _________. Recognizing the importance of his role in their lives, he paid extra __________ on Fridays and Sundays, the days when these children typically traveled back and forth to school.

4 . I entered this world with Poland syndrome, a disease that prevented the formation of my right arm and muscles. My parents believed playing with Lego could enhance my_______and gifted me my first kit when I was five. Initially I _______to piece the the components together but finally I crafted my first Lego work – a car. By the age of nine, I had _______my first prosthetic arm (义肢) using Lego– a simple box that perfectly accommodated my right arm.

This early creation sparked my drive for further _______. Years later, I developed another prosthetic arm called the MK-1, which had fingers, a motor, a pressure sensor, and a grabber capable of _______things. Before constructing it, I was against traditional prosthetics as they were too _______. My parents had looked into getting one years earlier, only to be discouraged by the prohibitive price. So, I concluded that I might not need one because I was managing well without.

As the years passed, my _______evolved from MK-1 to the more advanced and comfortable MK-V. One day, a couple with their eight-year-old son, who lost both_______in an accident, reached out to me after learning about my story. Short of money, they couldn’t afford well-functioning prosthetics. “Daniel,” the father_______asked, “we were wondering if you could help build a set of prosthetics for our son.”

It would be a _______task, but I responded with a “yes”. Without any delay, I _______ the task. The subsequent days witnessed how I carefully selected the Lego piece and intricately integrated practical components to enhance its dexterity(灵巧). Days _______into weeks, and the boy-customized prosthetics finally took shape. It’s time for them to fulfill their intended purpose.

I rushed to the boy’s home and _______the prosthetics onto him. They worked! The room erupted with cheers! The boy expressed his gratitude and sprinted to his parents to _______them in the biggest hug. Never had I imagined that my creations, born out of mere _______, would someday make such a difference.

5 . In 2015, Misty Copeland was named a principal dancer-a ballerina of the highest rank — at American Ballet Theatre. She is the first African American woman to ________ it.

In her childhood, Misty was shy and ________ the spotlight. But she loved music and ________. When she was 13, Misty’s teacher suggested she ________ a ballet class. For two weeks, Misty sat on the gym bleachers (露天看台) watching the class, ________ to join in. She felt ________ in the class. Over time, however, she began to enjoy the lessons. She discovered her ________ — especially her long legs and strong, flexible muscles — was just right for ballet. ________, ballet meant a lot to Misty. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged in ballet, she says.

Misty suddenly gained ________ and developed curves at 19. “I was being told that my weight and proportions just weren’t ________ anymore. ” This shook her ________. Even though Misty felt ________, she didn’t quit. She learned to eat healthier foods. She learned training techniques ________ to her body type. When she wasn’t performing, she was practicing. When she wasn’t practicing, she was stretching. As she did, she began to believe again that she ________ in.

“No matter what that dream is, ”she says, “you have the power to make it come true with hard work and ________. ”

6 . Donna Urquhart is an experienced runner. She ran 1,402 kilometers over the course of 28 days in Antarctica (南极洲), _______ the record for the longest-ever run in a polar region.

Urquhart spent 10 months training for the _______, turning to some unusual training methods. A company allowed her to run in a _______ storage unit where she ran in temperatures below zero. Besides, she ran along the beaches with uneven (凹凸不平的) surfaces that are like the _______ grounds in Antarctica. All those proved useful _______.

The difficulties that Urquhart faced in Antarctica were _______: taking in about 5,000 calories each day, _______ in a tent. Combined with the sound of _______ winds and the continent’s 24 hours of sunlight in the summer months, these were _______ favorable to a good night’s sleep. Urquhart would usually wear four layers of coats and keep ________ her own body temperature while running.

Urquhart launched the Run Antarctica aiming to encourage more women to ________ sport. Though still unsure about what her next running challenge will have, she has set a ________ of raising $1.5 million for charity.

“Confidence is a real issue for females,” says Urquhart. “And a sporting environment provides them with a great opportunity to ________ themselves.” This served as a huge ________ for her to take on a challenge that no other woman had attempted before. “It was actually showing that we can push our ________, and explore what seems impossible,” says Urquhart.

7 . On August 2nd when Indonesia got its only gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the winning team of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu fell to their knees and cried with relief. Some 3,500 miles away, Indonesia _________ with joy. The president _________ their success in the women’s doubles game of badminton to be an early “birthday gift” to the nation, whose independence day is on August 17th.

In England, where the modern version of the sport _________, badminton is a lawn (草坪) game. In Asia it is a serious business. At the Badminton World Championships in 2019, Asian countries won 19 of 20 medals. In recent decades, China has _________ as a heavyweight. But Indonesia is the sport’s _________. It has won more titles at the Thomas Cup, the most _________ tournament, than any other country.

Badminton is the only sport in which Indonesia has ever won gold at the Olympics — and it has done so at all but one since the sport became an official _________ of the Olympics in 1992. Indonesia is the “home of badminton”. “Wherever you travel in Indonesia, within a _________ you can find people playing badminton. Racquets (球拍) and balls can easily be bought or made, and once a clothesline and a challenger have been _________, the match is on,” says Raja Sapta Oktohari, president of the Indonesian Olympic Committee.

It is little wonder then that badminton is Indonesia’s __________. It is also the most developed in the country, which owns the only national team for which the government __________ a training centre. Parents also encourage their children to take it __________. The rewards for skill and hard work are __________. It’s said that players of the national team earn more than $2,000 a month, ten times the average income. Perhaps most importantly, badminton is a __________ of national pride. It is the only sport to __________ a string of heroes; Rudy Hartono, for example, has won eight titles at the All England men’s singles, more than any other player.

8 . When it comes to emergencies, children are sometimes unsure what to do. _________ 9-year-old Aria Lamen was fully _________ when she faced such an emergency. Her mother collapsed in the house and her quick _________ saved her mother’s life. She immediately called her father and then called 911.

However, she has been _________ most for her calmness. On February 2nd, 2023, when Aria was finishing her homework in the dining room, her mother, Caron Lamen, collapsed. “Out of nowhere, I just _________ ... I was on the floor and couldn’t move or feel my entire left side,” said the mother.

“In the ambulance, they _________ to know my allergies (过敏症), medications and all that,” said Caron. “Aria said, ‘Well, here I have my mother’s phone. I know all that _________ is on her phone; let me _________ it.’” At that moment, all that _________ to Aria was that her mother needed __________.

Even the police were __________ to hear Aria was so calm on the call. “I’ve taken calls for 30 years,” said Tracie Whalen, the 911 dispatcher (调度员). “I don’t see most adults do as well as Aria did.”

After getting to __________ about what Aria did, Mayor (市长) Richard Irvin rewarded her for her __________, “Your courage and calmness made all the __________. Congratulations, young lady.” Hearing that, the 9-year-old is __________ that she knows what to do in emergencies.

9 . As HalleeMcCoombes approaches the finish line of the 800-metre run for kids with disability, the crowd is cheering wildly and chanting her name. The ten-year-old paralysed-athlete had spent months preparing for the ______ in Brisbane. Now she has the hyper-focused ______ that has become her trademark; anyone who has seen her ______ knows that nothing will stop her now. With only ten metres to go, Hallee ______ all the noise and pushes forward with every ounce of her ______. She doesn’t have any ______ in her waist or below her knees, but pain sears her thighs. When Hallee crosses the finish line and ______ an exhausted heap, her twin, Jada, scoops her up in her arms. “You came in third!” she whispers to Hallee.

Hallee McCoombes has matched up numerous Australian track-and-field ______ in events for athletes with her type of impairments and has set her ______ on the Paralympics. It’s an amazing ______ for someone who wasn’t even expected to walk. Hallee was born with spina bifida (脊柱裂), a neural-tube defect that ______ how the spine and spinal cord form in the womb.

Her mother, Christine McCoombes, 38, shudders when she ______ learning about Hallee’s diagnosis. “The doctors also told us they didn’t know what kind of brain function she would have because she had hydrocephalus,” she recalls. “Fluid in the brain is ______ with spina bifida. We really didn’t know how much she’d be able to ______ physically and mentally.”

It’s no wonder that, regardless of how many times Hallee’s parents watch their ______ daughter compete, their hearts burst with pride. “I cry everytime, especially when people start cheering for her,” admits her dad, Gavin, 51.

10 . 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.