1 . Many years ago, I was living in Cali, Colombia. My younger sister decided to visit me for a holiday. However, on the day I was supposed to go to meet her at the airport, I somehow_________time and realized that I was leaving my home much later than I had wanted to. And to make matters worse, when I went outside, the rain was_________from the sky and I couldn’t get a taxi to take me to the airport. I_________jumping onboard a public bus to Palmira, where the airport was. Except it wasn’t exactly going to be_________the airport.

The driver said that he would _________me off at a crossroads which was located six kilometers away from the airport. I had no_________but to travel with the bus. The_________took ages, however. When the bus did eventually reach the _________mentioned crossroads, the stop appeared to be in the middle of _________.The driver pointed in a given__________and told me that the airport was down that way. By this time, I had burst into__________.My sister would be arriving in twelve minutes, and there was no way I was going to be able to__________in time. Beside myself with __________, I begged the driver to drive the six kilometers down to the airport to drop me off. He stood up and asked the other__________to take a vote.__________, they all agreed. Thanks ECN to them, I arrived on time.

2 . The sun was preparing to rest for the evening. Saying goodbye to the clan (氏族), I headed back to camp. I looked forward to setting my ________ aside for an evening to reflect on my time in Ethiopia.

I wasn’t long headed home when I heard a ________ behind me. “Photo, photo, photo.” A young Surma boy about 7 or 8 years old followed closely at my ________. I breathed a tired sigh. I hoped he would find someone else to ________ his photograph, but he kept following me. He managed to draw my attention. With eyes ________ open, full of hope, he asked me again with ________ on his face, “Photo?”

As I looked at him, half interested, an idea for a composition ________ into my mind. I prepared to take the photograph, but his energy suddenly shifted from eagerness to shyness to fear. No matter what I told him to do—how to stand, how to ________ — I just couldn’t get the shot. Struck by ________, I gave up. The boy looked alone and awkward. He’d wanted his photograph taken, but now he went camera ________.

To cheer him, others in his clan gathered around, clapping loudly. ________, the boy’s face immediately broke into a smile. I intuitively (凭直觉地) took a few shots of the moment.

That photograph turned out to be better than the ________ I’d imagined. Reflecting on my experience with the Surma boy, I realized I had been ________ in my own ideas and wants. When I agreed to take the shot, I was looking for a ________ end result for myself. But all the boy had really wanted was to be seen for a moment. That was the moment that needed to be ________.

3 . I was shocked to see my baby Dani with a cleft(唇裂) at his birth. After the delivery, I wasn’t _______ to see my baby. All I could do was to ask for information about Dani. Dani had his surgery on the seventh day! It was a terrible experience. I buried myself in great _______.

Things _______ when I met Dr. Anastassov, who brought Smile Train—sponsored cleft care to Bulgaria. Dr. Anastassov was my _______ from the moment we met. He helped me build the confidence in Dani’s _______. At six, Dani finished his speech therapy(矫治) and could speak as _______ as everyone else.

Dani wanted to be a _______. When he began his formal training, the medical exam was very _______ for him. They knew he was different, even if they couldn’t immediately tell how. So they worked him harder than the others. But Dani showed great _______ and passed. He is now ________ his dream as a pilot!

Being Dani’s mother is a(n) ________. He has been so successful because we ________ him to understand that people with clefts should not be ________, because they can do anything.

Now I ________ Smile Train to help those like my son. I ________ my experience with them. I’m happy to work here and make change for the better every day.

4 . I was in my early twenties. I ________ from college in Education but still couldn’t find a full-time teaching job. I ________ each morning for the phone to ring so I could work as a substitute (代课老师) that day. However, it wasn’t ________. Finally one day I was asked to teach in a local school substituting for a 5th grade ________. Though I was a substitute, I was ________ to work hard. I went over the lesson plans, taught the subjects, and stayed ________ with the students. I smiled, congratulated the kids when they got something right, and ________ them if they didn’t.

At the end of the day just as they were leaving the classroom, a girl handed me a folded (折叠的) note. I waited until they were all gone before I ________ it, which was a lovely drawing full of childlike wonder and a note that said, “You are the best teacher I have ever had!” It really ________ me. I hadn’t realized that I would ________ the girl. I took that ________ home. Anytime I was feeling down or discouraged I would ________ it.

That experience showed me the ________ that a single kind word can have. It really can make a ________. I never saw that girl again later, but I sincerely hoped that her life would be full of kind ________ and loving people.

5 . My friend Wes has cancer. He has_______every other week. He gets chemo (化疗) on Monday, wears a pump and tubes on Tuesday, and has them_______at the end of Wednesday. Usually, I remember the_______, but sometimes I need to ask him whether it’s a chemo week or an off week.

Wes always_______his chemo schedule in a different way. He called his chemo weeks “good weeks” and his off weeks “great weeks”. Every time he called his schedule that way, I would give him_______and tell him, “You really don’t_______to be strong all the time.” I thought he was trying hard to be_______and that he was putting on a brave face. However, he didn’t care what others thought of him.

My opinion of Wes_______when he came to visit me on a Sunday. On that nice Sunday, I was cooking and watching birds. I was_______my life when it hit me: Wes isn’t trying to be________optimistic. He considers his chemo weeks not________at all because those weeks keep him________. Wes is thankful to be still here on Earth.

His words during our meal proved my________. “The chemo weeks let me live to enjoy my life. So I ________those weeks,” he said with a smile. Hearing that, I made a(n)________. I shouldn’t have misunderstood him.

Influenced by Wes, I’m trying to remove the term “bad day” from my vocabulary.

6 . Jane had lived her entire life in a small town. ________ she had spent decades dreaming about travelling, she never took action to make it happen.

On her 65th birthday, Jane made a brave decision. She sold all her ________ and with a backpack, she set off. The initial days on the road were ________ --- she felt like she finally lived the life she had always dreamed of.

Yet, after a few weeks, she began feeling ________. With each new step, her legs hurt more and more. ________, she slammed (怒摔 ) her backpack on the ground and sat down beside it with tears. ________ hopelessly into the road ahead, she shouted loudly, “I have nothing left in my life!”

It ________ that a life adviser heard her words while resting behind a tree near her. He decided to help her, so he grabbed her backpack and ________ quickly. Shocked and in complete sadness, Jane cried more loudly, “That backpack was all I had. Now everything is ________ !”

About twenty minutes later, she collected her ________, and slowly walked forward. Then ________, she saw her backpack on the road a short distance ahead of her. She was so ________ that she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Oh, thank heavens! Now I can continue onward ......”

As we journey ________ our lives, we may experience incredible disappointments. During this time, it seems we’ve lost everything. ________, actually, we are holding a backpack of support.

So don’t lose ________. Keep going, and you’ll achieve your dream.

7 . I never planned to move back to my hometown in Ohio when I came home from California! I thought I would ________ there for a few weeks and then I could leave as soon as my dad ________. But one of his doctors told me that he couldn’t live alone anymore and suggested that I take him with me.

“Two big ________,” I said to my dad one night. “Stay in Ohio alone? Or go to California with me? It’s like choosing your own adventure.”

My dad ________ for a second and replied, “Based on my ________ and age, I don’t think I can do either one.”

My dad had lived in Ohio for the past 54 years. And then at 75, I asked him to leave all his life behind and come to live with me, his 31-year-old ________ and trust me to take care of him, something I had never done before. To be honest, I was ________, too. I had to ________ apart of my life as well. But I’d rather have us be terrified together.

After sitting in silence for a few seconds, I added, “If I said you had to ________ California and live with me, how would you feel about that?”

I was ________ shocked by his answer: “Oh, great. But...”

I didn’t even let him ________ his but. It was decided. In less than a month. I cheerfully ________ his apartment up, and bought him a ticket to California.

At first, people kept asking me, “Are you ready to take on this responsibility?”

My ________ was always the same: “I’m his daughter and no one is going to ________ him as much as I do.”

Now, he is living happily with me and I’m ________ that I have done what I had to do.

8 . I was born in a poor village in Uganda. I spent the ________ days of my childhood there. My mother died when I was born. My father never cared about me, which ________ me to leave when I was ten. For the next three years, I helped people do something and they provided me with shelter and food ________. Luckily, a ________ family paid for me to go to school. For the first time after leaving home, I felt ________. Then, I attended school and got a job. I always ________ to help children in need. Yet I ________ felt I could do something more.

In 2016, I got passed to be a foster (收养) parent. By the end of 2019, ten kids had filled my house. In 2020, I got a call from a center for ________ children. When asked if I could take Anthony, I ________ it because ten kids were all I could do with. ________, I was talked into taking Anthony just for the weekend. I didn’t ask about his situation ________.

Anthony arrived that night, “Can I call you Dad?” he asked.

“No.” I needed to keep my ________.

Monday morning a worker in the center came to ________ Anthony. From their talk, I learned he had been ________ three times, but nobody would take him in.

Looking at Anthony, I saw something that made me think of the ________ boy I had once been. “I’ll take him in,” I said.

9 . I started collecting shopping lists around 1997. One day, I was shopping for my daughter’s birthday party in St Louis, Missouri, where we lived. After leaving the store, I_________ a yellow note in the parking lot. I picked it up and it was somebody’s shopping list. I thought, “That’s interesting. Well, whenever I see one, I will _________ it.”

People collect all sorts of things you would never _________ . It’s as if all these _________, unimportant things, when put together as a collection, suddenly become meaningful. The first list I found was nothing special. But after you see a lot of them, the odd ones_________. One says at the bottom: “NO MORE CHIPS, JESSICA.” Another one I found is a long _________ of stuff and then, in the margin (空白处), someone had written: “If you dare to_______ any more rice, I’ll hit you.”

The shopping list_________started slowly. At first it was just me and people I knew who would_______ lists for me. Then at the beginning of the 2000s, I put it online and I started receiving lists from everywhere in the world. It seemed there was a(an)__________supply (供应).

In 2012, I was__________ by a publisher who wanted to turn my collection into a book. Then I started going through all my lists,__________ ways to sort and explain them. The project is continuing, but it grows more __________ now. Technology has made shopping lists more__________, because most people use apps, like I do. I guess there might not be another__________.

10 . Making a difference in someone’s life is a rewarding experience. During my time in college, I landed my first real _________ at a cafe. Out of all the _________ I served, an elderly gentleman named Jeff left a lasting impression on me. Every Saturday afternoon, he would drop in and _________ a medium coffee. Whenever I had a moment, I would _________ a conversation with him and over time, we got to know each other well.

After a year of working every weekend, I decided to leave and _________ my two-week notice. The most _________ part of quitting was not informing my boss, but _________ the news to Jeff. I felt quite _________, as if I was abandoning him. When I finally brought it up, he replied in a _________ voice, “Oh, that’s too bad. I’m sure that the staff will miss you.” I began to think that our visits held no real __________ to him, and that he would be just as content enjoying his food alone. __________, on my last day, Jeff came in with a card that simply read, “Your __________ during our time together is heartwarming. Few things have brought me more __________ than our weekly visits. Thank you.”

The sincere __________ I received for my small gestures was truly astonishing. Giving up my weekends for a year was a small price to __________ the remarkable impact of kindness.