1 . When I was three, I had a very good friend named Gemma. She was fearless where I was anxious, rebellious where I was conservative, and _________ where I was awkward. She was also entirely imaginary. With Gemma’s support, I almost made it to the top shelf of the bookcase before my parents found me — and “Gemma said it was fine!” did not _________ me from a telling-off (责骂).

I cannot remember when or how I “met” Gemma, and, perhaps sadder still, I do not remember the _________ time I “saw” her. _________ my brain created her, she inspired me to go on adventures I would not have had the confidence to embark upon without her. It _________ me, then, that 72 percent of nursery workers believe children have fewer imaginary friends than they did five years ago, as is shown by a recent survey. This is believed to be a result of _________ screen time.

It is thought that 40 percent of us at one time or another had imaginary friends during our _________. In an essay for Aeon, writer Sophie Elmhirst found that 81 percent of those surveyed had “lost” their imaginary friends after they turned ten, but most of these friendships ended _________. Perhaps imaginary friends simply stay with us for as long as we need them. They move on when our lives become too _________ for our brains to make space to generate their own entertainment.

If you have enjoyed an imaginary friendship, I would guess that you did not __________ sit down to create a perfect pal. They probably arrived as an indication of the thoughts and ideas you never knew you had. In order to be a good __________ to an imaginary friend, you need to be able to make “what if?” into an exciting proposition. When we grow up, we are too quick to finish the sentence with “what if it goes wrong?”

Having grown up, we might not need our imaginary friends anymore, but we could still use a reminder that a little bit of boredom is good for us, and that our brains can create the best ideas when they are left to their own devices. If there are fewer imaginary friends __________ the worlds where our children live, that might lead to a future with fewer artists, writers and problem-solvers. This is a real cause for __________.

As an adult, I think of my fearless, invisible friend Gemma whenever I have to do something that __________ me — usually public speaking, rather than scaling a bookcase. However, whenever I __________ my own expectations and meet myself in a place that I did not think I could quite reach, I can hear my subconscious whispering, “Gemma made me do it.”

2 . On March 11, 2021, World Kidney (肾脏) Day, the actress Raisa wrote on Twitter: “I’ve kept my kidney donation process pretty private. However, I think I’ve got to a point where I feel comfortable in speaking about my experience...” Showing her ________, the singer Gomez responded, writing: “Thank you for blessing me.”

In 2015, Gomez was diagnosed with a terrible disease and soon she became seriously ill. She even had to deal with the mental health problems ________ from her battle with the disease.

Although she was then living with Raisa, Gomez did not tell her long-time friend about the ________ of her health troubles. “I hadn’t asked anything. I knew that she hadn’t been feeling well,” Raisa recalled in an interview. “She couldn’t open a water bottle one day. She then started crying, and I asked, ‘What’s wrong?’” That’s when Gomez revealed that she needed a kidney transplant (移植), but that the waiting list was ________ long. Deeply ________ about her friend’s condition, Raisa decided that she would get tested to see if she could be a ________ for her. Gomez immediately refused, not wanting to make Raisa put her entire career and life ________ for her, but the actress insisted, and amazingly turned ________ to be a match indeed.

With physical and psychological evaluations (评估) taking place over the ________ of a single day rather than the usual six months, Gomez and Raisa began their ________ journey. The surgery was ________ successful. It wasn’t long, however, before Gomez’s new kidney began to turn around inside her body, which then resulted in a second surgery, ________ by a lengthy process of recovery. Gomez, now back to normal, is certain that she ________ her life to Raisa, a true friend indeed.

Both Gomez and Raisa said it was their ________ that guided them through their emotional journey. The pair also hope that sharing their story can have a positive impact on others. “I don’t think what we went through was ________. I just hope this inspires people to believe that there’re really good people in the world,” said Gomez.

3 . “Just the man I was looking for,” said a voice at Winston’s back.

He turned round. It was his friend Syme, who worked in the Research Department. Syme was a philologist, a specialist in Newspeak. Indeed, he was one of the enormous team of experts now ______ in compiling the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak dictionary.

“How is the dictionary ______?” asked Winston.

“Slowly,” said Syme. “I’m on the adjectives. It’s fascinating.”

He had ______ immediately at the mention of Newspeak.

“The Eleventh Edition is the definitive edition,” he said. We’re getting the language into its final shape --- the shape it’s going to have when nobody speaks anything else. When we’ve finished with it, people like you will have to learn it all over again. You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re ______words --- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the ______. The Eleventh Edition won’t ______ a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050.”

His thin dark face had become animated and his eyes had grown almost dreamy.

“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. It isn’t only the synonyms, there are also the antonyms. After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other words? A word contains its ______in itself. Take ‘good’, for instance. If you have a word like good, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well --- better, because it’s an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of ‘good’, what sense is there in having a whole string of ______useless words like ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’ and all the rest of them? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning, or ‘doubleplusgood’ if you want something ______ still. Of course we sue those forms already, but in the final version of Newspeak there’ll be nothing else. In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words --- in reality, only one word. Don’t you see the beauty of that, Winston?”

A sort of vapid eagerness fitted across Winston’s face. Nevertheless Syme immediately detected a certain ______ of enthusiasm.

“You haven’t a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston,” he said almost sadly. “In your heart you’d prefer to ______ to Oldspeak with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year? Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to ______ the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly ______. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not ______ that point. But the process will still be continuing ______ you and I are dead. Every year fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. But in the end there won’t be any need even for that. Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?”

4 . In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents __________ five or more children were common. Over the years, the__________ of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the __________ of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them ____________ dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better __________ and have more money to spend on _________ . The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers _________ away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents ________ . A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling _________ as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children’s emotional and psychological __________ while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and __________ very little time for the parent’s own personal_________ . Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are _________ to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs ___________ that things are getting better. The divorce rate is__________ . The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.