3 . Gary Guadagno had lost hope of ever finding his parents’ wedding rings. While selling his childhood home in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2011, just before his mother’s _________, Gary searched high and low for the rings, but found _________. He figured his mother, who had Alzheimer’s, had thrown them out.

“They’re _________ and part of my family inheritance (遗产),” he says. Gary’s parents _________ the rings when they got married in 1947．They moved into the house in the early 1950s. After his father died of a heart attack in 1978, his mother started to work in a hospital. She _________ in 1998 as her Alzheimer’s progressed, and sometime before 2011, she _________ the wedding rings inside the kitchen light.

A _________ passed and the rings never turned up. Then, last September, Gary got a Facebook _________ from Hannah Keuscher, who had bought his mother’s _________ back in 2011．It said that she had discovered a jewelry (珠宝) box with two __________ inside a kitchen light fixture (固定设施). Keuscher believed they were __________ for someone and should be returned. __________, she searched the name on the home’s bill of sale, located Gary on Facebook.

Gary was __________ at the news of the discovery. “It means the world to me that I have this,” he says. Keuscher had never thought of __________ the rings.“They belonged to __________,” Keuscher says, “and they had a history.”

4 . For three years in the 1980s, my father had an ongoing legal case in Oregon. He often returned to New York with two things: a dad joke and a tiny spoon ________ in the gift shop of an airport. We had always been ________ since my parents separated. But ________ were always arriving — souvenirs I wanted badly, almost as badly as I wanted to be alongside my father on his ________.

I would like to imagine that through ________ from friends and family, the meaning of travel was ________. Perhaps children like me are always waiting at home for their spoons to arrive, and for the world to display itself through the ________ of those spoons. I felt that these spoons showed a level of art that other souvenirs couldn’t ________.

My father retired at 54 with the ________ of traveling the world. However, he died of cancer at 57. In the final weeks of his life, I asked him about the places on his bucket list (遗愿清单). By then, we both knew that he would not __________ to see the impressive sea of New Zealand. Not long after his death, I ________ a solo flight to Auckland — a ________ he had shown me on the computer. I brought his ashes with me. I did not buy a spoon.

After seeing my spoons, my son has been ________ about collecting spoons and he likes to look at the collection much the way that I did: not as a mark of where he has already been, but as a mark of where my father have ________ transported him. They’re a way of keeping my father ________ in the eyes of a grandson he never met.

5 . On a trip with my grandparents when I was ten, I was rolling around in the back seat of the car. My grandfather was driving and my grandmother had the passenger seat ________ throughout the trip. I hated the smell.

At that age, I’d take any excuse to ________ my math ability. I’d been hearing that every puff (吸) of a cigarette takes about two minutes off of one’s ________. I decided to do the ________ for my grandmother. I roughly computed the ________ of cigarettes she had per day and puffs per cigarette, and so on. When I was satisfied that I’d come up with a(n) ________ answer, I tapped my grandmother on the shoulder and ________ announced, “At two minutes per puff, you’ve taken nine years off of your life!” I expected to be ________ for my cleverness. That did not happen. ________, my grandmother burst into tears.

My grandfather ________, got out of the car, opened my door and waited for me to ________. “Am I in trouble? Grandpa has never said a harsh (严厉的) word to me. Will this be the first time?” I was ________. We stopped beside the car. My grandfather just looked at me. After a bit of ________, he gently said, “Jeff, you’re a clever boy. I never doubt that. But it’s cruel to talk about life like that with people of my age. One day you’ll understand it’s harder to be ________ than clever. Cleverness is a(n) ________, while kindness is a choice.”

7 . When my husband, Jerry, died of an illness, I became angry easily. I hated being _______ and soon a hard wall round my heart took shape.

One day, driving down a busy road in my town, I noticed a new fence(篱笆)being _______ round a home I’d always admired. A woman was _______ the flowers and cutting the grass at the back of the house. Each time I drove past the house, I watched the great _______ of the fence.

Another day, I pulled off the road to _______ the finished fence. The carpenter had done such a good job that I didn’t have the idea to _______ at once. I touched the fence. It still smelled of fresh paint. Over the low fence, I saw the woman _______ at the back. “Hi! I come to see your fence. It’s _______,” I called, waving. “Well, hey,” she smiled, as she stood up straight and cleaned the dirt on her hands.

She let me in and showed me around her _______. Then she explained. “The fence isn’t for me but for all the passers-by. I think they will ________ seeing something really pretty. Many people, like you, stop moving on and come to have a ________.” At the time of my leaving, she said, “Come back any time. And leave the gate of my garden ________ when you go out. It looks more friendly.”

I ________ left the gate half-opened and ________. Feeling something deep inside me, I made a ________ to leave the gate of my heart open for whatever might come my way.

8 . After graduating from university with honors in English literature, I found myself filled with hope yet directionless. My _________, while impressive, had not equipped me with many _________ skills. I wanted to _________ somehow, but I had no clear idea how to achieve that. Then, I discovered the Lighthouse Project.

Eager to start my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer, I researched the experiences of _________ participants. I knew the task ahead was _________ , requiring hard work and time away from my family and friends, yet the opportunity for self-growth _________ me in. My family, too, originally hesitant, eventually came to _________ my decision.

After countless _________ and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and _________ the test alone. Several months later, I received a call that I would be serving in a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Unsure of what to expect, I was still ____________ for the adventure.

Upon arrival, I was warmly welcomed by the locals, ____________ their poverty. They offered me their homes, food, and friendship, making me feel like part of their community. My ____________ was to lead a team in building a new schoolhouse, and for the next year, I ____________ in that school. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.

The Lighthouse Project not only allowed me to contribute to a worthy ____________ but also broadened my horizons. It was a life-changing experience that ____________ me forever.

9 . Antony grew up without gifts at Christmas. When he was a boy, his parents couldn’t _______ gifts for the family. He admitted that for a long time he _______ Santa Claus. He was left to think it was _______ that the magical man always forgot him.

Now Antony is a doctor working at a children’s hospital. He is _______ over his childhood regret about Christmas. He often talks with the kids about the holiday and tries not to _______ their fantasy about Santa Claus. As Christmas approached this year, the hospital saw a sudden increase in young patients, most of whom looked _______. Watching the kids in bed, Antony knew how it felt to spend the holiday without _______. He planned to do something special in the hospital ward(病房).

Along with his colleagues, Antony organized a “surprise party” for the kids on Christmas Eve. It _______ colorful decorations, music, and games, turning the ward into a(n) _______ space. Antony even dressed up as Santa Claus to give each kid a gift, which ranged from picture books to artworks, based on their ________. The unexpected arrangement which brought smiles to the young faces was also ________ by some kids’ parents. As the party ended, Antony was filled with a sense of ________ that he had never experienced before. He was glad to have brought ________ into the children’s lives. This experience enabled him to ________ the holiday more. He realized the meaning of Christmas goes beyond exchanging gifts, but rather lies in spreading ________ and positivity.