1 . Growing up, I was fortunate to have dinner with my family almost every day. Sometimes, the family dinner circle_________to include relatives stopping by. Yet, I knew some friends whose parents got home after dinner or even_________the entire evening. So I_________the quality time around our kitchen table, which witnessed countless valuable_________in my life.

_________,my kids cannot relate to my childhood memories. They have been left to_________with babysitters more times than I would like to admit. My husband and I have_________careers. And we often end up staying at the office way past dinnertime. When this happens too often, it_________the balance of our family.

Apart from suffering from_________,what else can a hardworking family do? I think we can all try to__________our own ways to spend time together. Surely there are days when I’m too busy to share a meal with my family. But I would make efforts to__________and chat later that day,__________       setting aside cellphones every time. And I even find a bedtime reading with my kids much__________.I am also proud to have our “big breakfast” routine every Saturday. My husband serves as the head chef, and my younger son__________       him to make the breakfast.

I am aware that my sons are growing up quickly and will be out of the__________someday. But now, I am happy to have so many wonderful things on my plate.

2 . Matthew began working on the brakes of his truck immediately he got home late on a Monday. For safety, he couldn’t _________ repairing his truck any longer. His teenage son, Dalin, came to help. Matthew couldn’t get a good _________, so he slid his body under the truck to hit it. But when the rotor (刹车片) bounced off, the truck moved forward and _________ right on top of him.

Matthew couldn’t breathe, move or yell. This was definitely a _________ situation. Seeing this, Dalin was scared. _________, he sprung into action despite his fear and was _________ enough to lift the truck a little. Dalin _________ as hard as he could to get the truck up just enough for his father to roll out.

The _________ left Matthew with a separated shoulder. Matthew was taken to the hospital for his _________. Everything happened so fast, Matthew couldn’t remember how he __________. “Later, we looked at our security cameras and realized Dalin __________ the truck enough for me to roll out. My son is my __________. He saved my life.” Matthew recalled.

Not only the father but also everyone was __________ for Dalin’s bravery and quick thinking. It was a situation that could have easily __________ differently were it not for his quick __________.

3 . What guides my successful teaching career comes from my Dad’s tire shop. He_________the tire business when I was in high school. I began working for him. Although I had little_________ with things connected with motor vehicles, I_________to learn and work hard. My main motivation was to have customers_________him because of my work ethic (职业道德).

When I was in the shop, I was_________, not sitting around chatting with the other guys. The work was exhausting but_________. I had to remove the tires and_________a new one to the vehicles outside even in the hot summers. Two of my dad’s_________were sanitation (公共卫生)companies. I well remember times when garbage trucks, full of the morning’s collection,_________my dad’s lot with a flat tire on the way to the rubbish dump. It was my job to__________underneath the ill-smelling truck to set the jack, often while a(an)__________liquid fell on me. After a day at the tire shop, I was often__________, covered in dirt.__________, employment in the tire shop afford life lessons in meaning, perseverance, and fulfillment.

Now, whenever I return and visit the tire shop, I__________the cars and trucks I serviced, and the thousands of wheels I fixed. More importantly, I also remember the great feeling of__________that accompanies honest labor, no matter where it is accomplished.

5 . Kayden and his little sister Kaycee were having a great time playing outside as their family gathered nearby for a get-together. While Kayden was safely riding his bike on the sidewalk, Kaycee ended up_________into the road. By the time Kayden noticed, a car was_________his 2-year-old sister.

No one else had realized where Kaycee was. Instead of panicking or waiting to get_________, this brave brother _________ran into the road and pushed his sister out of the way.

“By the time everybody else saw Kaycee in the road, Kayden was right there...He ran right into the road to_________her,” their mom Kayla said. “But in the_________, he got hit by the car.”

Although Kayden had to be _________ to the hospital, he only needed to get a few stitches (缝线). Best of all，he’s already made a full_________!

Since the accident took place, Kayden has been getting all the heroic attention he_________“He’s got the heart of a hero,” said Steven Millhouse, a public information officer. “As a 6-year-old young man, Kayden was__________to recognize what was happening and to__________the way he did. He’s definitely great.”

As for the__________, Kayla and the rest of their family aren’t holding any hatred. Kayla said, “It wasn’t her__________. She was trying to stop when she saw Kaycee. We should have kept a close eye on our__________.We’re just__________that both Kaycee and Kayden are still here.”

6 . Alice had a serious disease. She needed a(n) _________ blood transfusion to save her life. Her only chance of _________ would be to get a transfusion from her younger brother, Michael. He had overcome the same disease she had, which was considered a _________ . Therefore he had antibodies(抗体)in his _________ needed to fight the illness, but no one was _________ what Michael thought.

The doctor explained to Michael that it would save his _________ life if he were to give her his blood. The boy _________ for a moment before agreeing to give his blood if it would help his sister. This was _________ to a boy of 5, after all. He _________ to do anything to save Alice’s life.

As the __________ was on, Michael lay next to his sister in the hospital. He felt __________ when seeing his sister coming back to __________ . Then he quietly asked the doctor, “When will I start to __________ ?” No doubt that Michael had __________ that he was giving his life in order to save her. Hearing the words, his parents were astonished over the __________ , which led Michael to think they were choosing his sister over him—and even more astonished and moved that he had been willing to do so.

While we may not be faced with such a life or death decision, being selfless can help us connect with others, which is rewarding and fulfilling.

7 . The other day, Dino, our neighbor across the road, saw me in front of our new home in Italy and called out, “Good evening!” His English, though _________, is much better than my Italian. “You OK?” he asked.

He had_________ me before, usually with a good morning or a good evening. Once, seeing him trying to_________a tall street lamp, I’d held the ladder for him to climb. But that was pretty much it for us: a general air of_________, nothing more.

I’ d just_________46 years living in New York City. But now I ‘ m living in a town in Italy’ s Puglia region, and everyone here except my family is a_________. And, living in the countryside as we do, I’ve started to feel pains of rural_________

This moment therefore seemed an _________to get to know Dino a little. I could have stayed behind our gates to talk with him through his gates. But_________I crossed the road toward him. I stood in the street talking with Dino and his wife, Grazia-I in English, they in Italian. One minute later they______________me in for a tour.

Here was a fig(无花果)tree, ____________ripe figs. Dino picked a few of the fruits, tore one in half, and put one half in his mouth. He handed me the other half and ____________ to me to follow suit, and I did. “Delicious!” I____________

I once saw a wonderful documentary about Gregory Peck. In it, the older actor travels to Ireland to meet his new grandson. But first, wandering a field, he ____________ a fig tree. He picks a fig and eats it with____________delight. To me, the____________ captures the sweetness of life and how such sweetness is all around us if only we’d ____________to reach out and taste it.

Dino and I ____________ this sequence with trees bearing plums and walnuts, too-he picking, I sampling. In spite of our____________in language neither of us knew many of the other’s words - nothing important was lost. Both of us understood all we needed to understand: that now we were ____________neighbors.