I have a fifteen-year-old son. He    1     (be) a perfect boy. I love my son with all my heart.

Last summer he worked to earn money for his new bicycle instead of     2     (ask) money from me. Then he spent hours and hours on it. Later I bought him a pair    3    glasses and gloves. My son rode the bicycle with the glasses and the gloves, and he looked so cool. He dreamed of taking part in a race and winning.

On November 10, my birthday, when I went to the kitchen to start the milk and bread in the morning, I     4     (notice) a beautiful guitar on the table, beside which was a card. It said, “Happy birthday to my    5     (wonder) mother, all my love, your son.” I was very    6    (surprise) and then began to sob (抽泣). I remembered once I joked to my family that I wished    7     (learn) to play the guitar to make my life more colorful. I had forgotten it, but my son remembered. He took it    8     (serious), and bought one for me as my birthday gift. When I wondered     9     my son could buy this expensive gift, I realized that my son sold his bicycle to get me     10     guitar.

One day Mary was busy    1    (work) in her office in London    2    she received an e- mail from her friend Joan. In Joan’s e- mail, she asked Mary    3    (look) for a flat in London for her. As she had    4    (little) money at her command than before, the flat had to be cheap, but it had to be modern with elevators and gas lines. It had to be in the eastern part of London, with petrol and subway stations nearby. Though Mary found    5    difficult to find such a flat, she still went from one block to another, looking for a flat    6    would meet Joan’s requirements. Having tried too many times, Mary    7    (meet) her boss and politely asked him for advice. It was the first time that she    8    (talk) with his boss about her personal    9    (problem). It happened that the boss just had such a flat for rent, so they quickly reached    10    agreement. But to her surprise,when she e-mailed Joan, telling her the good news, Joan said that she had changed her mind—she was not returning to London.

My mother entered a nursing home (疗养院) as her Alzheimer’s disease got worse. I    1    (smile) as I tried to explain to a Chinese friend that many Americans really care about their aging parents.But parents often enjoy    2    (live) by themselves and may refuse help.Of course this is different from most Chinese parents who want to    3    (stay) with their adult children in the future.

After living    4    China for over 30 years, I came to appreciate (欣赏) the Chinese people’s care for their aging    5    (parent). Every morning when the sun would warm up the little park near my home, I saw a man-maybe the son-walk with his    6     (mother) who obviously had suffered a stroke (中风). He supported her weak body and walked    7    (slow) with her as she dragged one foot behind her. I couldn’t    8    (tell) if they were talking as I watched them through my window, but it was a picture of love between mother and son.

I don’t know what care is better for aging parents, but in    9    (me) opinion, I have lacked (缺乏) enough respect for the elderly. I have learned more from the Chinese about what    10    (true) love is.

When an important holiday comes, I usually think of what gifts to buy or prepare for my family members. It is the act    1    (it)rather than the things you buy that matters. Either a small present, a text message or a phone call can mean a lot to the receivers.    2    , I had never got anything from my son, who is    3    university student. Parents never forget to celebrate their children's birthday, but their children seem to be very forgetful. They seldom do something in return.

Life is unpredictable, and you never know what will happen tomorrow. When my son came back during the summer vacation, my wife and I, as usual,    4    (meet)him at the station. On arriving home, much    5    my surprise, my son took out a fashionable wrist watch and gave it to me,    6    (say)it was a birthday gift for me. You can imagine how    7    (surprise)and excited I was at that moment!

Some people say children get too much care and love from their parents,    8    they never express thanks for. It is natural for people to have such concerns and    9    (worry), but things may not turn out as badly as    10    (expect).

Look at the round cakes．They are made by Siew Boon．She is a jelly artist     1     runs her own business．She has created beautiful 3D jelly cakes by     2    （use）seaweed jelly and natural coloring．

Siew Boon     3    （begin）her business more than two years ago．In late 2017，unfortunately，doctors found a cancer on her breast．However，she was determined not to let cancer get in the way of her doing     4     she loved．On the days when she was feeling     5    （well），she spent time creating 3D jelly cakes for her team of doctors and carers．

During her fight with breast cancer，focusing on creating beautiful 3D jelly cakes helped to turn her focus away     6     the physical pain and negative thoughts．Moving forward，she hopes to find     7    （way）to make it a meaningful career．

Every piece is created upside down and takes up to 4 hours to complete．The flowers are made with special tools．It takes a lot of creativity and     8    （patient）to create every piece．

Aside from being beautiful，the cakes are special in taste．They have a     9    （vary）of unique tastes，such as flavors of apples，lemons，peaches and roses．

Siew Boon thinks the most     10    （satisfy）part of her job is to be able to bring joy to others．