1 . On the morning of Jan. 21st, 2023, I was taking the subway to work as usual. A quiet subway ride felt like a mini ________ from my busy life. Yet I found myself spending that ________ time browsing my endless messages on the phone.

One day, I put down my phone and started writing ________ notes to people who had contributed to a donation activity I had ________. When I got off the train, I was in a noticeably ________ mood. Then an idea struck me that I could write one for every day of that year. As an organizer and consultant, I had no ________ of people I could write to, so I picked out a different ________ for each month to keep on task. January was “charity”, February was …, and I thought of ________ names right away.

In July, my “________” month, I had become good at getting my memories back and ________ people to send my notes to. On the top of the list was Jenny, a(n) ________ chef. She had cooked at my favorite restaurant (It is now closed down). I thanked her and specially mentioned her biscuits ________ into the Roman number Ⅵ for our sixth wedding anniversary.

________, I received a note back from her, ________ “I have never received such a touching letter before. It was ________ expectation and unbelievably thoughtful. And so needed at a time when I’m ________ professionally. Your letter was a fantastic reminder that ________ back is a good motivation for moving forward.”

Part of the ________ of what I did was ________ with people like Jenny — people, who weren’t ________visitors in my life but made a lasting impact. And I wouldn’t have known if I had not reached out.

2 . Novels. Why do I read them? I was most ____ to read when I was a kid. I suspect this was because my only purpose was ____ and escapism. From all 21 Famous Five stories — in order, naturally — to Anna Karenina, ____ into a basket on a cycling holiday, I was ____ to another world. Then, for A-levels and a degree, I read to pass ____. Slowly, tellingly, the joy ____. And I was no good at the exams either. When those last exams were done, more than 30 years ago, I was done with novels. I had ____ love.

Gradually, it has come back, but it’s all ____ now. I find I’m reading whole novels mainly to ____ intelligence to help understand what I’ve been feeling; feelings that I’ve been ____ to express myself. For some reason I ____ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. The _____soon starts to fade, and all you are left with is how it made you feel. This is nice, but what makes it all worthwhile is those specific ____ that I make sure to harvest and go back to. ____, Helen says of her new life in the big city: “At first, I was ____ with the novelty and excitement of our London life, but soon I began to be tired of its ____.”

A few months later, I ____ Anne Bronte’s resting place in Scarborough. Standing there, I____ this little passage and appreciated anew how ____ it resonated (产生共鸣) with my own feelings about London. And there the poor young woman lay, gone 173 years and still making ____ friends. That’s quite something.

3 . There’s nothing more frightening than feeling adrift (漂浮着) and out of control — now imagine if you were a six-year-old girl in the ocean!

When a little girl recently was swept out to sea on a raft (橡皮艇), her father frantically ( 拼命地) called for a(n) _________ — but there was none to be found. _________ , the four Butler brothers took action, running to the ocean and _________ toward the little girl as fast as they could. The _________ rescue, which took an hour, inspired everyone around them. “I knew the water was getting deep, but I didn’t _________ ,” Declan Butler, who, at age 18, is the youngest brother along with his twin Eoghan, told The Washington Post. “I just didn’t want to _________ her.”

At one point, the little girl appeared to _________ the raft, and the brothers were _________, but then they saw her rise above the water again. From that point, the brothers _________ to swim for another half-hour before getting close enough to call out to the girl to keep her __________.

“It was emotional,” Alex Thomson, brother-in-law to the Butlers, said. “If anything, it was extremely rewarding __________ we got to her.”

In the time it took them to __________ her, the young girl’s father was __________ to carry on swimming and was also in __________ of rescuing. Once the little girl was __________ on the beach, twins Declan and Eoghan swam out to __________ her father too.

“Seeing her jump around and kiss her mom was really __________,” Declan said. Two days after they saved the six-year-old, the brothers were reflecting on the strange __________ of it all. Their grandfather __________ on that same day, decades before their rescue. By saving a young girl, they felt they had __________ their grandfather.

4 . In the late 19th century, there was a poor farmer in Scotland named Fleming. He was ________ and always ready to help others. One day when he was ________ in the field, he suddenly heard a cry for help in the wetland nearby. It ________ that a boy was trapped in the wetland. Seeing the mud up to his ________, Fleming immediately jumped into the wetland and ________ to save the boy. The next day, a brand-new ________ from a distant place stopped at the farmer’s door. An elegant gentleman got off the carriage and ________himself as the boy’s father. The gentleman brought the farmer many precious gifts ________saving his son, but the farmer refused. He ________ that saving others was what he should do. It ________ that the gentleman saw the farmer’s son playing in a dirty suit. He thought about it and said to the ________, “In this case, I have a ________. You saved my son’s life and I want him to ________ the best education in Britain.”The farmer agreed ________. Later, the farmer’s son graduated from St. Mary’s Medical School in England and became the ________ Sir Fleming Alexander. He is the inventor of penicillin (青霉素), which has saved ________ lives. Years later, the gentleman’s son caught pneumonia. What saved his life? Penicillin. Who was the gentleman’s son? Churchill, the prime minister of Britain during World War II.

This story tells us that the simple and kind Scottish farmer’s ________ in saving others without ________ any return, brought his own child a good opportunity. And because of his child’s achievement, he ________ the gentleman’s child, who became British prime minister of World War II. The kindness of an ordinary farmer ________ changed the whole world.

5 . I had been swimming for years but was ready to quit. My _________ reason was that I kept receiving “Honorable Mentions”, just because I showed up.

One day before a big swim meet, I decided to _________ the news to my grandma that I was _________ the swim team. When I told her, she said, “Baby, remember: Quitters never win and winners never quit.” I was _______   to say anything but “Yes, ma’am.”

The next day we arrived at the swim meet late, _________ my group. My coach _________ I swim with the older group. I knew she was _________ me in the race so our journey to the meet would not be wasted, and she had no expectations that I would _________ anything but eighth place as there weren’t nine _________.

As I was __________ the board, my grandmas words rang in my head. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

SPLASH! I swam harder than ever. After a little while, I was __________ to find that I had a half-body length ________ over others. However, they soon __________ the gap. Halfway through the race, the girl to my left almost ________ me. Right then, the powerful words __________ again in my ears. I __________ my arms and legs and used every last bit of __________ to swim the last 50 meters.

I made it! Narrow victory as it was, I did win my first real __________ that day. Everything felt like a dream as I stood on the winner’s __________. Back at home, I __________ replaced all the “Honorable Mentions” on my shelf.

6 . It’s a rare thing, in this day and age, to move into a new neighborhood and find yourself warmly welcomed by the local inhabitants (居民).

Glenda and Raphael Savitz_________in 2011 and moved to Boston. Glenda was with child before the move and within three months, they gave_________ to Samantha. Unfortunately, something was wrong. A week or so of _________ showed that little Samantha had been born completely deaf. The Savitzs were completely _________.

Jill and the other _________wanted to do something to make things easier for the family. What they decided was that they were going to_________sign language as a group to help Samantha to communicate as she grew. As remarkable and _________ an undertaking (任务) as this sounds, the neighborhood_________to take on the burden of learning an entirely second language all for the_________of their youngest member. People were working hard and hoped to__________with the little girl, which was an inspirational thing for them to do.

Finally, the time had come to__________Raphael, Glenda, and Samantha what they had accomplished. As soon as the__________arrived, they found themselves touched by the welcoming signs of their friends and neighbors. Glenda recalled it as one of the most __________experiences she’d ever felt. A present for Samantha would have made her __________, but this means so much more. “People are putting in so much time and energy to learn a language for my little girl. I don’t have__________for that.” Glenda explained.

7 . Khanna, a chef and humanitarian (慈善家), but most popularly known as the judge of MasterChef India, has a huge fanbase.

Eleven years back in 2013, Khanna was on a flight to New York. On the _________, an air hostess came up _________ him to meet a woman for a few minutes, who was _________ to speak to him.

Khanna _________ agreed, and a woman in her 60s came to see him. He respectfully _________ and said, “pairi painna,” a practice to touch the feet of your _________ as a sign of respect.

The woman said she saw him _________ the plane and so wanted to see him. Khanna asked her where she came from, and she replied that he might not have _________ the place as it’s a tiny village in Kolhapur. But Khanna’s instant _________ was, “It’s one of my __________ cities.”

She smiled and asked him to __________, too, just like a mother making her child greet. Khanna smiled, and she looked at him with __________ eyes and then thanked him.

The woman then prepared to leave and told him that she __________ every episode of MasterChef India only to see him smile because it __________ her of her late son, and it feels like his smile brings her son to __________ again.

She gave him good wishes and then left. Khanna then __________ on social media that whenever he feels __________ or under pressure, he thinks of the woman’s words and smiles and feels better.

This is what __________ is all about. You don’t realize the __________ of doing something good for someone, but it __________ affects you too!

8 . A car store in my hometown sold six to eight new cars a day. And 72 percent of this store’s first-time visitors returned for a second ________ . I was curious about how it ________.

On one particular June morning, my wife Jane said to me, “Today’s my fifth anniversary of being ________.” She suffered from it five years ago and had undergone surgery. I was ________ because I had forgotten it. To mark this special occasion, I did the most impetuous thing in my life: I ________ a new car in the car store I mentioned. I didn’t pick the ________ or the model, but I paid cash and told the staff I’d bring Jane to make those two ________. I also told them that it was my ________and hoped they didn’t reveal anything to her. Then one morning, it occurred to me that Jane always wanted a white car. So I called our sales consultant and asked him if he had anything ________ in the store. He said he had one ________ but he couldn’t promise it’d still be ________because they were selling so fast.

After I told Jane the biggest ________ to get her out of the house, we finally made our way to the car store. Jane quickly ________ the little white car. But I told her we could buy the car after our son graduated from college. Hearing what I said, she ________ walked to the front of the car. Then she ________a scream. There was a large sign, which said, “Congratulations, Jane. This car is yours. Five years cancer-free. Let’s treasure life!” I looked around and ________that there was no one in the store. Customers that came to the store were not ________ to enter; instead, the staff took them aside and ________ what was happening. Actually, our sales consultant had arranged it; ________, we could share the special moment alone.

Over the years, I’ve told this story as an example of the legendary ________.

9 . In the late afternoon, Brandon finished his farm work and went home. As they often did, his two sons, Louie, 6, and Everett, 3, _________ him.

As they headed for the house, the two boys ran ahead of him, who stopped to close the gate. Louie _________ at an old well. The _________ covering the well was brittle (脆弱的) over time. When Louie stepped on it, it was _________ and the boy fell in the well. Brandon quickly _________ what had happened.

He ran to the well and heard Louie _________ the water and screaming. Without _________ , he jumped in. As he _________ the well, he grabbed a thin pipe, which slowed his _________ and kept him from hurting his son.

Brandon hit the __________ water at the bottom of the well. He grabbed Louie, who was __________. Knowing they could not __________ in the freezing water too long, Brandon carried his son onto his chest as he __________ his own legs and back against the narrow walls for __________. Then he asked Everett to go back out to the road and get help.

About 15 minutes later, Christi and Mark, nearby farmer, noticed Everett stood __________ by the side of the road, waving. They asked if he was OK. He told them the __________ accident. The couple put Everett into their car and drove onto the farm, and the boy __________ to the well. Mark called the police while Christi called another __________, Dan, who sped to Brandon’s farm with his son and a __________ rope.

With the neighbors’ help, Brandon and Louie were rescued __________ at last.

10 . Elizabeth lived with her six children in a small house. One winter, there was a big ______, and quite a few houses were washed away, but Elizabeth’s house was high enough to ______ it.

Elizabeth ______ one of the families which had lost everything. She shared her home ______ the family could build a ______ house. Elizabeth’s friends could not understand her since she already had so many children to ______.

“Well,” Elizabeth ______ to her friends, “At the end of World War II, there was a poor ______ in a town in France. Her husband had been ______ in the war and she had a lot of children, just like me now. The day before ______, this woman said to her children, ‘We won’t be ______ to have much for Christmas. I’m going to get just one ______ for us all. Now I’ll go and get it.’ She came back with a little ______ who had no parents.‘Here’s our present.’ She said to her own children. The children were more than ______ to get such a present. They welcomed the little girl ______ and she grew up as their sister. I was that Christmas present.”