2 . I survey the pile of dirty dishes jamming the sink after the party. With no working _______ except my two hands, the task is huge.

Hot water _______ the sink, I plunge (猛扎) my hands into the _______. Then it occurs to me that every dish and spoon brings back memories. I bring up a tiny spoon, still covered with applesauce. I smile as I _______   the eleven-month-old eating it with wild abandon. I pick up a _______ and I remember my oldest daughter’s trying to cut meat for the four-year-old sister while correcting the eight-year-old’s rude table _______. A bowl with bits of lettuce (生菜) stuck like glue reminds me of countless discussions among daughters about diet food and losing _______. Eating delicious food and keeping a perfect figure is an endless _________ for girls.

My three daughters, now, are _______ and have their own families. They get along as well as they did when they were ________. My grandsons seem to be ________ like their mothers. The two oldest wanted their bikes brought out to ________ together. The youngest delighted us when he, feeling the soft carpet, erupted with bursts of laughter. All memories ________. My three daughters did the same thing years ago — riding bikes, feeling the soft carpet...

The dishes are done, and the sink is ________. But my life is full. It is full of happy children and grandsons. I thank the dishes for ________ me.

I like staying overnight at my Gramma’s house — that is, until Gramma starts telling me how wonderful my cousin Maya is. Then it’s Maya this and Maya that until I don’t ever want to hear another word about her.

That’s why I wasn’t too excited when Gramma called me on the phone to “come on over and bring your pajamas.” When I got there, it was worse than I’d expected. There, in Grandpa’s big leather rocker, sat Maya, all dressed up and formal-looking and wearing fancy shoes as if she’d just been to a party.

“Surprise, Kristen!” Gramma said. “Your cousin Maya and her parents have traveled in from the East Coast on business. Maya gets to stay with us this afternoon.” Gramma chattered away about how excited she’d been for this surprise get-together, and how cousins ought to get to know each other better.

I hung my baseball cap in the closet and set my backpack by the stairway, all the time smiling and nodding as if I’d been waiting forever for this chance to spend an afternoon with Maya. Grandpa’s chair squawked (咯咯叫) as Maya rocked back and forth. It’s the chair I like best in the house, the one I usually sit in. I sat down on the sofa across from her.

Shortly, Gramma went off to the kitchen to “see about some lunch,” she’d said. That left me stuck in the living room with rocking Maya.

She was still small but taller than I’d remembered her from her last visit four years ago. She was good at small talk, though, and was chatting away about how nice it was to see me again. But I could tell that she didn’t really think so. The last time she was here, we’d had hours of fun together building caves out of Gramma’s sofa pillows.

After that, I’d heard about her only through Gramma’s tales. Maya taking piano lessons. Maya learning math. Maya, Maya, Maya. Now Maya was here, looking great with the latest haircut and a fancy dress.

Glancing down at my jeans and my old sneakers, I wished I hadn’t come.

“How do you know all these things about me?” I asked.

Referred to as my hero, Jack, my brother, held significance in my life. Since he did everything before me, he always guided me and shared with his experiences I would have never had otherwise. As a master of learning and sports, he always accompanied me to study and take exercise. And he even got me through difficulties in life.

My first steps into high school were exciting but nervous, and I believed my extracurricular grades would be seen and valued by colleges. However, this sudden shift was difficult for me. Luckily, my brother noticed it all.

During that time, Jack was beginning his senior year and was finished with all the stressful subjects from junior year while I was studying for my very first math exam. Rather than just break into my room and sit down next to me, he let me decide by myself. He didn’t want to bother me because having someone sit next to me and micromanage my every move made me feel uncomfortable, leading to more stress and a feeling of distrust. Knowing this, he would leave me chips and snacks by my door, so I could pick them up whenever I felt like taking a break. He was there to help whenever I needed. With his encouragement and company, I became more confident while doing my homework.

The workload was just a major struggle for me during high school. Homework from advanced classes began piling up, and I was often stressed about different projects and deadlines. Moreover, there was also a math competition that my parents valued a lot, which needed plenty of practice every single day.

Even though I liked the time my brother gave me to figure out things on my own, it was reassuring to always have somebody who was willing to help me when I was stuck on an unsolvable problem. He would help me memorize formulas, explain different terms to me, and point out traps in different questions. And with his reputation as the best math student in our school, he could make those topics and questions simple to understand.

I began to spend hours at my desk focusing on getting a good score in the math competition.

Later Jack and I went to the same college and joined the same sports club.

7 . One day Hilary Krieger was sitting in her parents’ home when her friend accidentally squirted (喷、射) himself with an orange slice. “I said, ‘Oh, the orange just orbisculated,’” she recalls. “And he said, ‘It did what?’” The two made a $5 bet, and Hilary confidently grabbed the family dictionary. But “Orbisculate” is somehow not in the dictionary!

Hilary burst into her dad’s study and told him the shocking news. He looked kind of embarrassed, and said he had made up this word in college and defined it as “When you dig your spoon into a grapefruit and it squirts juice directly into your eye.”. He had just been using it all the time. She was mad at his words but quickly came to see her dad’s made-up word as a gift, one that showed his creativity and inventive spirit.

Two decades later, Hilary found herself telling that funny story again and again. Her father, Neil Krieger, passed away in April 2020 at age 78. Then Hilary began to think that “orbisculate” is such a great word; it should be in the dictionary!

Getting a word into the dictionary isn’t easy. Merriam-Webster adds only about 1,000 new words to its master database every year. Only words with a large and broad readership in publications can enter the dictionary.

Then Hilary, 44, hatched a plan. She built a website called orbisculate.com and encouraged people to use the word publicly enough. Many friends and strangers are inspired. Some wear T-shirts with the word printed on them. Some use the word in an online crossword puzzle. Some even put a homemade orbisculation warning sign in a grocery store.

It has been three years since Neil’s death. Even if the word doesn’t make it into the dictionary, Hilary feels her effort to get her father’s word into the dictionary has helped her recapture a little of the joy that has been missing from their lives.

One day, Gina received a smartphone. But she didn’t know how to use it. So Gina went to her daughter’s house to ask her grandson, Josh, for help.

When seeing Josh, Gina asked him for help. “Sorry Grandma. I have to leave for baseball now,” Josh answered from the sofa, his eyes locked on his own phone. Then he stood up, took his baseball bag, and left. Over the next few days, Gina went to see Josh several times. However, Josh always had something to do, giving excuses such as going to the movies.

Gina finally understood Josh actually didn’t want to help her. She stopped asking him. She turned to some friends for help. Before long, she learned how to use her phone to read stories, communicate with friends, etc.

Later, on a Monday evening, Gina visited her daughter, Oona. They happily talked when Josh was making dinner. Suddenly, they heard Josh crying out. Oona rushed towards the kitchen. Gina followed and found Josh’s hands burned by hot water by accident. “Mom, I think we need to go to the hospital,” Oona said. “Yes, I’ll drive,” Gina said.

At last, the doctor said Josh would be fine after a few days, but his hands would be bandaged (用绷带包扎). Josh was also advised not to go to school for some days so he could rest and get better soon. Oona asked Josh’s best friend to tell him his homework.

On Wednesday, Josh was alone at home. His grandma came to help make lunch for him, because he couldn’t use his hands. While Gina was cooking, Josh wanted to check his homework. His friend had sent his homework assignment to his phone through emails and text messages. But Josh couldn’t operate his phone. He realized he had to ask his grandma to help him out.

And he suddenly remembered he had refused to help his grandma when she asked for help with her phone. He was regretful and afraid she wouldn’t help him. But he decided to have a try.

“Grandma,” he finally said, standing before the kitchen,

Then, Gina sent Josh’s homework assignment to his computer.

10 . 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.