1 . In some parts of Central China’s Henan province, daughters will _______ wild goose-shaped cakes for their parents before the leap month (闰月) comes, wishing for auspiciousness. There is a _______ surrounding the tradition.

Long ago, there was a girl living at the southern foot of the Songshan Mountain in Henan, who was very _______. In a year which had a leap month, the married girl _______ of her parents, who never had enough food to eat and might suffer from hunger due to the _______ month. So, she collected some leftover millet (小米) and headed toward her parents’ home. On the mountainous road, she _______ fell down and when she woke up, the millet was already _______ up by birds. Seeing this and thinking of her parents, she cried loudly and slowly fell asleep again.

Then she heard some weak voice and woke up again, seeing a couple of wild geese were staying in her bag and not willing to leave, so she took them with her. When she arrived at her parents’ home, the village was _______ famine and plague, and her parents were on the verge of _______. She hurriedly boiled the wild geese and fed them to her parents, and her parents recovered soon. She then gave the leftover food to the neighbors and the ________ miraculously disappeared the next day.

After that, before each leap month, daughters began to visit their ________ and bring gifts. As wild goose is a ________ bird, people use dough to make wild goose-shaped cakes in ________ of the actual bird for their parents, wishing them healthy and hoping to banish any plagues.

In some parts of East China’s Shandong province, the married daughters will send dough-made fish and toad to their parents, which ________ “wealth” and “health” respectively. ________, it is said that the dough fish is for a mother and the dough toad is for a father.

2 . Not long ago, Linda was sitting by a hospital bed, feeling anxious. Beside her lay her 88-year-old father. His heart was ________ and he needed an operation.

What ________ her almost as much as his health was the fact that all day the two of them had engaged in nothing but ________ small talks. She and her father had always had good ________, but now all he talked about was the awful hospital food and the ________ outcomes of his illness. His once wide-ranging interests seemed to have ________ to the size of the room.

That day in the hospital, Linda’s eye fell on the ________ that people had brought as gifts and left on the table. Her father had always been a passionate reader, but lately he didn’t have the ________ or focus. She ________ a book, and started to read it out loud.

It ________ changed the mood and atmosphere. It was a ________ and a pleasure for both of them. Reading gave the daughter a way to connect with her father and help him in a situation that was ________ out of her hands. ________ allowed the father to travel on the sound of his daughter’s voice, up and out of the bed and back into the world of mature, intelligent engagement, where he ________ himself again.

In fact, almost any kind of reading to another person can be ________ to both parties, providing a joyful shared experience.

3 . It was the middle of winter some 30 years ago. I was a young father and _______ three little children. My education, however, didn’t _______ me to find a good job and now I was working for just above the _______ wage. One day, after I got up, I had to put band-aids (绷带) around my fingers and put more in my pockets. Cutting wood all day had caused my fingers to _______ in the cold, dry, winter air. Despite hesitating to work, I _______ started my car.

That day work was tougher than usual. The machines kept _______ . When the work day finally ended I _______ my injured fingers. The situation was worse than ever. I didn’t think I had ever felt _______ tired and sad before. I stepped into my car and drove back home. On my way, I had been thinking about why my life was so _______ .

I tried to put ________ on my face as I arrived home but one appeared ________ . My daughter ran up to me, shouted “Daddy!”, and ________ her little arms around my neck. My aches and pains disappeared into her hug. At that moment I knew I could ________ and that things would get better. I kissed my little girl’s cheek, holding her ________ . I think we all have bleeding fingers in our lives here. But with ________ we can make it through them all.

4 . I’m not a barber but I cut my 5-year-old son’s hair. Normally, it would be _________ to get him to sit down for a mere 5 minutes, let alone 20.

Anyway, I began a haircut _________ the other day with a firm speech, “Ethan, I need you to sit _________ and behave yourself.” Strangely enough, he _________ to do it for the first 7 minutes. Then he started to swing his legs and arms and _________. My speech now sounded more like _________, “Please Ethan, don’t move. When it’s done, it’ll make a _________ and you shall get some candy.”

I tried my best to calm him down and it was somewhat _________. This was only because I took some time to explain the _________ and how he’d look different after that. When he understood the purpose, he was __________ to sit through the discomfort to obtain the __________ at the end. I had just taught my son how to be __________.

All things come to those who __________, as life experiences are just like getting a haircut. If we learn to not __________ and give the barber a chance to finish our haircut, we can __________ looking better than we ever had our entire life.

8 . As usual, Lily bought expensive gifts for her children Alice and Peter before Christmas. Her job kept her busy, and she _________ got to see her children during weekdays. Being a mother, she always wanted to be _________ her children, but she placed her _________ first, thinking earning money was more important.

Lily _________ the gifts in secret and decided to give them a day before Christmas since she had to attend a business meeting the next day. _________, a day later, the meeting got canceled. Lily was _________ she could spend Christmas with her family. Therefore, she decided to _________ a party. Lily sent _________ to all her friends and her father-in-law, Michael. Lily was worried her friends would not feel _________ in the presence of aged people. Later that day, her children noticed the gifts she had bought. Unexpectedly, neither of them seemed __________ to open the gifts.

On Christmas Eve, Lily __________ her friends into her house. However, she felt __________ when she saw Michael walking in. On arrival, Michael gave Alice and Peter presents—some cookie molds (模具)! The two kids ran happily to their grandfather and showed great __________ for his gifts, asking him to bake cookies with them.

All the guests present were moved by the scene. Lily __________ all they want is their parents’ time and __________ not what their parents buy them.

9 . With a broad smile on her lips, 15-year-old Sirin rushed to her mom to show off her new painting. But her mom raised her eyebrows, and spoke in a hushed tone, “Shh... honey.. don’t shout. I am busy with a(n) ________ talk.”

Holding her oil painting, she ________ and then searched for her dad. “Dad, see what I have done,” Sirin announced aloud in a(n) ________ voice. Her dad smiled and just patted her on back lovingly, saying, “No time, baby. I’m late for work.”

Hearing this, she stormed off to her own bedroom, slammed the door and ________ herself on her bed, sobbing. When her mom was calling her for dinner, Sirin arrived late deliberately. She kept silent, ________ the table mat with her nail. Her mom was puzzled at the ________ behavior. Suddenly, the morning ________ clicked in her mind. Softly, she asked, “Honey, did we do anything wrong?”

At this very moment, Sirin could no longer ________ her anger. “Why is everybody so busy?” she roared, tears streaming down. She assumed that, ________ ignoring her like others in her school, her mom and dad would appreciate her painting, but they were no ________. Shocked, mom threw her arms around her tightly, announcing ________ and firmly, “Baby, I am so sorry!”

When back from school the next day, Sirin was surprised to see her beautifully-decorated ________ on the wall. It was beautifully framed and just below the painting, it read, “Honey, we are really proud of you!” ________ her parents’ stress from daily routine, she felt sorry about her previous behavior. She ________ her head and apologized.