When I was young, I was not popular     1     my classmates. If you’d asked me, I would have told you I was against bullying(霸凌).

But one day, I was in the classroom,     2    (chat) with my friend Lizzie, when Kristina walked up to me. She was one of the bullies so I prepared     3    (me) for more insults(羞辱). I looked at her, feeling     4    (terrify). But she said that she was sorry for what she     5    (do) to me.

I accepted her apology. Later, we became friends, laughing at people,     6     even pushing them. People were noticing me in       7     way they never had before.

Then one day, Lizzie came up to me and shouted, “you’ve become a bully!” That night I was     8    (wake) thinking for a long time. The next day at school, I apologized to Lizzie and told her I would never hurt her       9    (feel) like that again.

    10     took a while to earn back her trust, but eventually we got back to normal.

Kids always have to sit in the back seat these days for security reasons.

This would have taken a lot of joy away from my childhood. How many     1     (time) did my brother and I fight over who got to sit in the front? I'm     2     (surprise) my mom never implemented (执行) a policy     3     (real). She kind of let it up to us. Once in a while, she would put her foot down and make us take turns. I recall that at times, the front seat would go to whoever     4     (yell) “I call the front!” first. But it had to be     5     we were outside of the store or the house. We couldn’t “call it” while we were still inside.

Sometimes we would determine who got to sit in the front by whoever touched the car first. I certainly lost because my brother was more athletic, and therefore     6     (quick). So, he would tag the car first.

And     7     other way we would decide who got the front was by     8     (argue) over whose turn it was. Of course, we always thought it was our own turn. So, we’d argue about it until one of us gave in, or my mum got frustrated enough     9     (make) one of us sit in the back.

For my brother and me, fighting over the front seat     10     (be) an important part of our sibling（兄弟）bonding.

I have a best friend called Mike. He and I have been friends for years. When I first knew Mike, we lived in     1     small town. We always went to school together. Every morning when I went to Mike’s house,     2     mother would say, “I’m sorry. He’s a bit late this morning”, and therefore I had to wait. Each day we were late     3     school, and I still remember the teacher     4     always got     5     (anger) with us.

Now 25 years later, I play tennis with Mike. I usually drive him to the tennis club. I go to his flat and he opens the door and says, “I’m sorry. I’m a bit late today.” As boys we spent a lot of time out     6     (explore) on our bikes. We went walking and fishing, too. Probably the     7     (fun) thing we did was that we     8     (steal) a bottle of whiskey from my dad. We cycled about 5 miles away to drink it in one of our favorite     9     (place). When we finished it, we did not cycle back. I’m sure if our parents knew it, they would be     10     (shock).

It happened at a weekend in the 1970's. Mum gave me two tickets for a film，telling me she was too busy to go together with me with the     1    (end)housework. She told me to keep the money if I could sell the extra ticket. I was very happy. At that time，a ticket cost only 20 fen. But to me，a little girl of twelve，20 fen seemed quite a lot.

I reached the cinema     2    (hurry)．Holding the ticket in my hand，I began to look for a buyer. Just then a handsome young man，    3     noticed me and the ticket，came towards me with a big smile，“You've got     4     extra ticket？”

“Yes，”I nodded.

“That's great. Say how much？”

“20 fen.”

“Oh，” he thought for a while and then took out a ten-yuan note     5     his wallet.

“I'm terribly sorry，    6     I've only got this note.” Seeing I was confused，he added，“Then how about waiting for a while     7     I have changed it in the cinema's store？”

Without much thinking，I agreed. Then we went to the cinema together. He walked very fast. I could hardly keep up with     8    ．Soon he disappeared. I stood there     9    (puzzle)．Suddenly I realized the handsome young fellow     10    (cheat) me.”

Before long I found that he'd sold the ticket to a little boy. He earned 20 fen，but lost his honor!

5 . When I settled in Chicago, my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a physical problem and had to go to hospital for     1     whole examination. It seemed a small challenge     2     (compare) to the one I was about to face, but things started to go wrong right from the beginning. Not having a car or knowing the city, I was depending on a couple of buses     3     (get) me from A to B. Although I'd left myself plenty of time, soon     4     was obvious that I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that     5     (take) me in the opposite direction.

I got off the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I looked into the eyes of a stronger，who was trying to get past me. Surprisingly,     6     moving on, she stopped to ask if I was OK. After I explained     7     was troubling me, she pointed to a bus stop across the street,     8     a bus would take me back into the city to my appointment.     9     (sit) there waiting, I felt grateful that someone had been willing to help. Then，hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend waving at me to get in. She had returned to offer me a lift to the hospital.

Such unexpected kindness from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive.     10     I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose faith, for all things are possible.

6 . The mama﹣bear instinct

Ms． Angela McQueen， a math and PE teacher at Mattoon High School， Illinois， has a routine when she's on lunch﹣monitoring duty． She    1     （keep） an eye on the hundreds of students in her charge by walking laps（圈） around the school cafeteria．

In September 2017， McQueen， then   40， had hardly finished one lap    2       a 14﹣year﹣old freshman standing not far from her pulled out a gun． She knew too well that he was going to start shooting．

School employees    3    （train）on how to handle active shooters：Attack their ability    4     （aim）． So with the shooter's finger on the trigger， McQueen rushed to him．    5    （grab） at his arm， she forced the gun into the air， but not    6     he struck one student in the hand and chest and hurt another． As students ran for the exits， McQueen defeated the shooter with help from the school resource officer，    7     disarmed   the student and took him into imprisonment until police arrived minutes later． Afterward， McQueen went outside to give hugs and support to her shaken students．

"It's the mama﹣bear instinct，" she told the local paper． "I don't have kids of my own， but these are still‘    8    ' kids．"

    9     McQueen， a story that has played out tragically at far too many schools across the country had a relatively happy ending． "If it hadn't been for her， the situation would have been a lot different，" Police Chief Jeff Branson said at a news conference．

As one    10     （impress） student told CBS News， "Mr． McQueen is our heroine．"

It is in your daily life    1    you always get into a situation where your parents control hundreds of things for you when you are a kid, such as the clothes you wear, the food you eat, where you go and whatever can keep you     2    (spellbind). It is a good thing. Kids need this kind of protection and help because they are not old enough to take care of       3    (they) and make decisions     4    (correct). But with you growing older, the part of being a teen is developing your own identity,     5    is different from your parents’. Different attitudes towards events like partying may lead to arguments, because your parents will always     6    (concern) about you and keep you safe, no matter how old you are. As a result, your parents feel     7     hard to get used to the new situation without     8    (know) your latest news. What kids should keep in mind is that in most cases, your parents can understand what you are going     9    because they     10     (be) teens once.

Anna lost her arms in a car accident when she was a teenager. What was worse, she lost her parents at     1    age of 20. Her elder sister,     2     was ten years older than her, wanted to take care of her. However, Anna refused     3     (live) with her sister, saying that she would take care of     4    (she). She managed to enter college and     5     (study) very hard. Four years later, she graduated and     6     (give) a job. Once she wrote     7     her diary, “I am quite lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have my legs.” Anna chose to face her misfortune in a positive way. Instead of     8     (feel) sad every day, she decided not to let it hold her back. She has taught us a good lesson. When something bad happens to us, we have two     9     (choose). One is to complain, and the other is to face it     10     (brave). If we choose to escape, it will always follow us wherever we go. If we decide to be strong, new hopes will come. So choose wisely.

9 . The passengers were all seated. One of them considered     1    (have) his medicine so he said to an air hostess，“I need a cup of water to take my medicine before the plane    2     (take) off.” She told him she would bring him the water within ten minutes.

Thirty minutes passed .But the air hostess was so busy in the aircraft cabin(客舱)that she     3    (forget) to bring , him the water! As     4     result, the passenger could not take his medicine. When the air hostess hurried to him with a cup of water, he refused     5    (accept) her offer angrily though she kept     6    (say) sorry to him. The situation was a little     7    (embarrass).

In the following hours on the flight, each time the air hostess passed by the passenger, she would ask him with a smile whether he needed help     8    not . But the passenger never paid attention to her.

The plane reached its destination(目的地).When the passenger was going to get     9    the plane , he said to the air hostess with a smile “Thank you .Although I didn’t accept your help, how can I refuse the twelve sincere smiles     10    (give) to me by you?”

10 . Last weekend we celebrated Jacob turning nine    1    his friends with an art party. Instead of hosting it at our house, we    2    (decide) to try something new to celebrate it. It cost US $5,000 to rent a small restaurant. I worked with a store manager. And I bought    3    (balloon) and a few other things from him.

On the day of the party, the tables in the restaurant     4    (cover) and waiters and waitresses were ready to get to work when we arrived. We started with helping the children paint their own canvases(油画)    5    then create their own T-shirts. I should have advised parents     6    (take)some old clothes.    7     (unlucky)we did not. When one child got paint all over    8    (him), I felt bad about that.

Overall, Jacob had    9    wonderful time. We were able to do the art parity for minimal cost. The smile on his face at the end of the day was all    10    mattered to me.