1 . I was tasked with looking after my 13-year-old cousin Megan while my parents were away. Megan had been living a _______ life, having lost her parents at a young age and currently living with my parents.

At first, I _______ that I could be a good role model for Megan and teach her the _______ way to do things, just like I had been taught to do the right A-levels and the right university. _______, things didn’t go as planned.

I _______ to get her to go to school and do her homework, but she just wanted to watch TV. I wanted to show her an educational movie, but she wasn’t _______.

One day, while driving Megan home from school, I stalled (使熄火) the car several times trying to do a hill-start. Megan found it _______ and started laughing uncontrollably. I couldn’t help but _______ . We both laughed and something _______ between us.

I realized that I didn’t have to be the boss of Megan and that we could just ________ together.

From that moment on, we started to enjoy each other’s ________, and Megan would share the day’s gossip with me. We have different personalities and interests, but we ________   spending time together. Despite my initial (最初的) ________, I learned that being a good ________ isn’t about being the perfect adult figure in her life but about building a strong ________ with the people you care about.

2 . My nine-year-old daughter, Vivien, is a little princess. Under ______ circumstances, she can’t even pour herself a glass of milk. So when I came home ______ with fever, my first thought was, “How would Vivien react?”

At 3:30 P.M., I ______ myself out of bed and drove to pick her up. On the way home, I said, “Sweetheart, Mommy’s really sick. Can you fix your own meal tonight?” “That’s okay, ” she replied ______.

When we arrived home, I ______ back to bed. Every now and then, I would wake from a feverish sleep to find a little angel ______ over me with some goodwill offering. A cool washcloth to wipe my hot brow. A bell to ring if I ______ anything. A picture she had drawn to ______ me up.

Throughout the evening, Vivien issued periodic reports on her progress with the evening ______. “I just made myself a salad.” Or, “I’m running my bath now.” I smiled to myself under the ______.

Then at bedtime, Vivien ______ a little book she made, entitled “I LOVE YOU MOMMY.” The first page ______, “Thank you for all you did for me MOMMY.”

I felt a wave of gratitude for the ______ that had given my little princess the opportunity to ______-and me the opportunity to ______-what an angel she truly was.

3 . It was the final part of the 2016 World Triathlon (铁人三项) Series in Mexico. With just 700 meters to go, Alistair in third place and his younger brother, Jonny, was in the ________. Alistair pushed himself towards the finish line in the________heat, but as he came round the corner, he saw his brother about to ________onto the track. Alistair had to choose-- brotherly love or a chance to ________the race?

For Alistair, the choice was clear. His brother was ________. He had to help. Alistair ran towards Jonny, caught him and started pulling him towards the finish line. Alistair then________ his brother over the line. The move put Jonny in second place and Alistair himself in third. It was an________ end to the race, but Alistair did not want to discuss it with the media. He just wanted to see his younger brother, who had been________ to the medical area.

The brothers have been doing triathlons since they were children.“________, when your older brother is doing it, you think it’s a cool thing to do.” says Jonny. Alistair says that they________ each other as much as they can when they train. Despite________over “stupid things” now and then, Alistair agrees that having a brother is an advantage. “Throughout my entire life, I’ve had my brother trying to beat me at everything I do. It has been an hugely________force.”

Watched by millions, the ending to the race has ________ opinions: should the brothers have been disqualified (使丧失资格) or highly ________ for their actions? But for Alistair, his decision was easy to explain:“Mum wouldn’t have been happy if I’d left Jonny behind.”At that moment, he was no longer an athlete aiming for a medal -- he was just a ________.

5 . Life was easy for my family 15 years ago. My mum, now 51, had ____ her modelling career to start a family while my dad was the only breadwinner. Our family was _____, with mum, dad, two daughters, and three sons, including me.

Life took a ____ turn one day. My dad had suddenly passed away for some unknown ____ on a business trip to Jakarta. At first we were not _____

When my father was alive, my mum lived a ____ life: she had two maids looking after her as a stay-at-home mum. After my father’s death, she selflessly accepted a total lifestyle ____ , so our lives would not be different completely. She ____ different jobs, working tirelessly from home, sewing curtains and baking cakes. As we got older, she worked even harder to ____ our education. She began to work in her canteen from 6 am and ____ home to monitor our homework.

We may never understand what ____ our mum has gone through to provide us with the basic necessities. From living a fascinating lifestyle as a fashion model to working as a waitress in a restaurant, it requires humility that could have only been ____ by love.

While providing for us financially was _____, providing emotionally was even harder. My mum’s mental health was ____ damaged after my father's death. We knew she was struggling, ____ she always managed to put up a strong front. My mom’s ____ has rebuilt this family, kept it together and even put me through school.

Fifteen years on, we still spend weekends as a family and have managed to ____ stereotypes (模式化形象) associated with a single-parent family. ____ her, this family portrait is still picture-perfect.

7 . A ship was badly broken during a storm at sea. Only two of the men were able to swim to a small, ______ island. Not knowing what else to do, so they agreed to pray (祈祷) to God for help.

However, they wanted to find ______ whose prayers were more powerful. So they divided the island into two parts and each of them ______stayed on their own part of the island.

The first thing they ______for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a tree with plenty of fruit on his side of the island. But the other man’s part of the island ______ nothing.

Soon after that the first man prayed for a house, ______ and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man ______had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ______ so that he could leave the island, and in the following morning he really found a ship at his side of the island.

The first man was very ______ and got on the ship. He decided to leave the second man on the island. He thought the other man was unworthy to receive God’s blessings (保佑) since none of his prayers had been ______.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a ______ from Heaven, “Why are you ______ your friend on the island?”

“My blessings are mine alone ______ I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered, so he doesn’t deserve (应得) ______.”

“You are ______!” the voice shouted. “The only prayer your friend prayed was that all your prayers would be answered.”

9 . There are many kinds of friends. Some are always _________ you, but don’t understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only _________ friends leave footprints.

I shall always recall (回想) the autumn and the girl with the _________.   She will always bring back the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.

It was the golden season. I could see the _________ leaves floating with the cool wind. In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves, _________ to the sound of them.

Autumn is a harvest season and life is uninteresting. The boring days always get me _________. But one day, the sound of a violin flowed into my ears like a stream (小溪) flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was _________ in playing her violin.

I had _________ seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn’t know that I had been _________ there for so long but my existence (存在) did not seem to disturb her.

Leaves were still falling. Every day __________ she played the violin in the corner of the building I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became __________. Though we didn’t know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me.

Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly __________. To my surprise, the girl came over to me.

“You must like violin.” she said.

“Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

Suddenly, a __________ expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual. “I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that encouraged me.” she said.

“________ it was your playing that gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let’s be friends.” The girl smiled, and so did I.

I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only Thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine __________ of the girl. She is like a dream-so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.