2 . In 2009, Lauryn Valladarez and her fiancé Pedro took their very first trip to the beach to relax. Drawn in by the swimmers and surfers, they _______ made their way into the water.

“And then before you knew it, we weren't touching the _______ . We turned around and were pretty far from where we _______ . I noticed that Pedro's sort of _______ a little bit,” Valladarez said.

It turned out that Pedro wasn't a _______ swimmer. When Valladarez realized this, she started to _______.

“Here I am about 100 meters from the shoreline and my fiancé can't swim and he's starting to really struggle.

Just as she was starting to lose _______, a surfer appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He could see we were struggling and ________ to help us get back to shore. We ________ accepted, grabbing onto his board as he paddled (用桨划) us toward the ________ .

“When we came up on shore, we were ________ and shocked that we were even still alive,” Valladarez remembered.

After ________ us to safety, the surfer walked away without introducing himself. Years later, as the mother of three children, Valladarez wishes she’d asked the surfer for his ________ .“He not only saved our lives, but he saved our future family.”

5 . 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.

7 . A cancer diagnosis will force King Charles III out of the public eye for the foreseeable future. For a highly _________ royal family that has cultivated its public image through countless appearances a year — ribbon-cuttings, ship launchings, gala benefits and so on — the marginalization of Charles may finally force the royals to rethink how they _________ themselves in a social-media age.

The king’s illness is the latest _________ to the British royal family, which has seen its ranks thinning by death, scandal (Prince Andrew) and self-exile (流放) (Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan). Regardless of what is predicted, it appears that the king’s cancer presses the royal family into _________ territory.

The answer to it, royal watchers argue, may be _________. During the coronavirus pandemic, Elizabeth conducted meeting s via Zoo m calls,becoming _________ enough with it that she made jokes with the digitally distorted faces on her computer screen.

Social media can also be employed to enhance the _________ exposure of family members. The royal family’s Instagram account _________ more than 13 million followers. But for young people, who spend whole day following their favorite celebrities online, a royal turning up to dedicate a new primary school may not _________ as much as it did to their previous generations.

Prince Harry, the king’s younger son, fell out bitterly with his family after his __________ from royal duties and relocation to California in 2020. Undoubtedly, the greatest burden falls on the mere remaining 41-year-old heir (继承人), William, who has been recognized as a qualified successor for __________ a role on issues from climate change to homelessness. Meanwhile, he has jealously guarded his family’s __________, demanding his office release no photographs of three young children visiting their mother in the hospital. That approach stood __________ his father, who approve the disclosure of an unusual amount of detail about his recent cancer diagnosis. The scrutiny (审查) of William will __________ increase, experts said, as he occupies a more central place in the Windsor family hierarchy.

Queen Elizabeth viewed assuming kingly duties as so __________ that she steeled herself, two days before her death at 96, to meet with the outgoing prime minister in Scotland, masking her own condition. Charles, though, has departed from long family practice “in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”

8 . It was dinnertime at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. It was a feast (盛宴) but without ________ occasion. We had chicken, potatoes, green salad, corn and fruit salad. We sat at the table. Grandma ________ the food to Grandpa and their girls. Grandpa said, “Looks delicious. I'm as ________ as a bear.”

As soon as Grandpa picked up his ________, they heard a car drive up. Grandma opened the door, and in came Aunt Maud. “Come in! You’re just in time,” Grandpa said. Then in came Aunt Dessie, Aunt Clara, friends, and their families. Grandma was a little ________, “I never expected so many guests to come, but I can ________ it.”

Grandpa sat in the doorway. There was little ________ in the kitchen behind his chair. So he got up and pulled his chair in so people could ________. But when he sat down again a strange thing happened: His plate had ________ before his eyes! He put his fork down, thinking to himself, “Well, there seems no ________ for my plate anymore.”

Grandma tried to serve the kids some water, but Aunt Dessie ________ her, “We’ll take care of ourselves.” Then everyone started ________ around the sink (水池) and cupboard to drink water. Kids were thirsty! There were lots of kids. Grandma had enough food for four, not twenty-four! ________, Aunt Dessie helped Grandma make more dishes. The girls ________ to help, but Aunt Dessie said they were too ________ and had better stay at the table so that they wouldn’t do more harm than good. Grandma added some more foods to everyone's plate. There was lots of laughter. No one doubted they had a good time.

They never found out who used Grandpa’s plate, but did know that he enjoyed the reunion and that was enough!

9 . Julie Durocher is an art teacher from an elementary school, but now because of the serious flood, there are no students in the school ________. She’s trying to keep her hands ________, because she thinks the end of the school year left her with an empty feeling. “It is terrible not to say goodbye to the ________ at the end of the year in person, and I really ________ ending the school year like that,” said Durocher.

As a(n) ________ teacher of over 20 years, she ________ to use her love for art to create and ________ a coloring book for families. ________, she has got the help of eleven other kind art teachers to help ________ the spirits of students. “People have a lot of ________ about what is going on in our world today, and I think ________ can give you an opportunity to be creative, and doing creative things can make you less anxious,” said Durocher.

Students are not the only people she’s ________. The book costs five dollars, and all proceeds go to the Jackson Interfaith Shelter to help start their own project to help rebuild their kids’ area. So far, Durocher and her team have ________ more than 13,000 dollars for the project. “It’s exciting to see it being used and making a ________, and know that I was a part of that is kind of a really ________ thing,” said Durocher.