3 . It was July 2019 and Mum had taken me on a 120-km mother-and-son walking holiday as a treat for my birthday. Although I was still on my first special ________, I’d love to see some ancient civilisation.

“Why don’t we go to Egypt?” I said. “It sounds ________, but I’m not paying for it,” Mum smiled and replied.

“I’ll save up my pocket money, and get a ________,” I said. I started saving my $10-a-week pocket money and washed my parents’ car for ________ cash.

In 2020, we moved to Perth. One day, I ________ a brochure in the letter box which was advertising a job delivering catalogues (目录). I applied for the job, and ________ I got it a week later.

On a Monday, a mountain of catalogues were ________ at our house. It took me nine hours to sort through them, and then I ________ them to 430 houses. At first, I used my bike and ________ the catalogues in my backpack, but this wasn’t very ________ so I bought a trolley (手推车) which improved my speed. As time went by, people started ________ me and saying hello on my rounds.

After three and half years, I’d ________ a massive $6,500, and in January this year I flew to Egypt. I had a good time visiting the powerful pyramids at Giza, ________ local food and sailing down a river. I fully ________ that nothing can stop a person from following his ________.

5 . While warming up to a cheerleading competition, 17-year-old Keianna Joe experienced a scary medical event. She _______ suddenly and went into cardiac arrest (心脏骤停).

Andrea Joe, Keianna’s mother, said her daughter’s cheer coach ran madly, _______ for help, and asked someone to call a/an _______. Andrea Joe then witnessed her beloved daughter _______ and without a pulse. Andrea, a certified medical assistant, _______ into action, working to save her precious daughter’s life. “I just _______,” Andrea said. “I know CPR. I know how to do this. This is my baby and I have to _______ her.”

For about ten _______, this loving mother worked to save her cheerleader daughter in cardiac arrest. She _______ CPR (心肺复苏术) on Keianna, hoping to get her heart beating again.

Then, a portable defibrillator (除颤器) arrived on the scene. Thankfully, Andrea had received training on these ________, but there was something different about this one.

“The machine said, ‘Shock required’,” Andrea said. “And I mean, I’ve trained on these AED (自动体外除颤仪) devices before and they’ve never told me, you know, ‘Shock required’.” Nevertheless, Andrea used the defibrillator to ________ Keianna’s heart back into rhythm and performed even ________ CPR on her. Finally, a heartbeat returned! Andrea had saved her daughter’s life!

After a 10-day hospital stay, Keianna is out, but with a mini defibrillator in her ________. It still remains unclear what on earth ________ Keianna to go into cardiac arrest. Andrea stated, with tears ________ up, that on the way home from the hospital, she made Keianna hold her hand.

“She’s with me, she’s here, she’s right next to me and I’ve got her,” Andrea said. “And it’s the best feeling ever.”

My two-year-old daughter and I often get smiles from strangers as we walk through our town with Clara riding in her backpack, singing and swinging her feet.

I felt extra grateful for my sunny little girl on one walk at the end of April, 2006. Just three days before she woke up from her nap (小睡) with a fever. We spent a tough evening in the emergency room. Any parent or child is frightened by such an experience. So it was a great feeling that Clara was so happy that day.

We were heading home from a local grocery store, which wisely gives out free balloons to children. Clara always looks forward to getting a balloon there. She did an especially nice job — waiting patiently in the long queue at the store. Luckily, her patience was rewarded with a pink balloon. Pink means a lot to her, especially these days, since the medicine she is taking for the high fever is bubble-gum pink.

Clara was so happy that she started singing “Mister Golden Sun” to her balloon. But when we walked under a tree, POP! There went the balloon. Clara immediately burst into tears. “My pink balloon popped!” She has had many balloons before, but is always very careful with them. This was the first time that she had had such an upsetting experience. Heart-broken, she stared at her poor short-life luck, out of control.

A college-aged young man, about 21, with light brown hair, who was walking behind us noticed Clara’s tears. He was clearly preparing for an important date, as he was carrying a bouquet (束) of a dozen pink roses. He quickened his pace and asked Clara what had happened. Unfortunately, Clara was too shy and upset to answer, but I briefly described the situation, deeply touched that a young guy, probably hurrying home to get ready for a date, would stop to comfort a little child.

Clara was still crying, unable to say a single word.

After over 10 years of dreaming and planning and 18 months of very serious considering, my husband and I finally bought a farmhouse about a mile from where I grew up. Neither my husband, David, nor myself had any experience with decoration, but we jumped in with much excitement. There was much to be done before the winter came to knock at our door. We rearranged the garden, laid out the lawn (草坪), and set all the furniture in place. Then there remained only one thing to worry us: We didn’t have a fireplace (壁炉) indoors against the extremely winter.

I knew the perfect choice of person for the work is my uncle, Richard Jones. Being a senior construct worker (建筑工人) for almost 40 years, he could do the job better than anyone else. On thinking of the idea that my house would be in my uncle’s hands, my heart was filled with expectation and comfort. The problem was that he lived far away in Florida, about an 18-hour drive from our home in Cortland. Another problem was the cost of building a fireplace. Buying the farmhouse cost almost all our savings, so could we even afford to pay him?

Much to my relief, the drive turned out to be no problem at all. On receiving my call, my uncle, at the age of 65, loaded his suitcase and his tools into his truck and headed to our place. When I asked how much he would charge, he replied, “We’ll figure up a price when the job is finished. Just have coffee and cookies ready when I get there. The more you bake cookies, the lower the price will be.”

My uncle wasn’t joking. As long as I had served coffee and cookies, he could work pleasantly. The man was obviously born with a sweet tooth. For two weeks, the coffee machine never stopped, and the cookies often disappeared before I could put them into the cookie box.

The construction was slowly coming to an end.

I found the paycheck (工资) lying quietly next to the coffee machine.

8 .    Lots of kids like to talk about sports, but Joseph D’Avirro talks about sports like a professional host in a show called Sliders & Curveballs. The 9-year-old from Newington, Connecticut is a natural at sports talk and has been broadcasting the show—which is about baseball, basketball and other sports—with his dad, Mike D’Avirro, since September 2019.

   The D’Avirro started the broadcast after two former college roommates of Mike died, which made Mike want to spend more time with his son. Then the idea came to him. So far, they have done about 50 programs. Joseph’s favorite is when the father-and-son team interviewed Jim Calhoun, the coach leading the Connecticut Huskies to three national titles. They have also interviewed important sports authors.

   The father and son make about one 30- to 40-minute podcast each month. They prepare for the podcasts by deciding on the questions they want to ask the guest. Joseph asks half of the questions, and Mike handles the other half. Joseph reads his questions again and again to get them in his brain well. It is a lot of work, but Joseph says it is “a lot more fun than homework”. Joseph has also learned to speak up and speak clearly. He has to listen and to go with the flow of the conversation. For example, he said, “If the guest is talking about sports in the 1990s, you have to think about sports in the 1990s.”

When asked how long he and his dad will continue doing the show, he answered, “Until my dad starts growing gray hairs.” Joseph has other ambitions when he grows up—to be a sports player, a sports broadcaster or to own a basketball team. Those are big dreams, but Joseph is already living a dream: talking sports and spending time with his dad.

9 . I was shocked when my socially awkward sister, who had suffered from Asperger Syndrome (阿斯伯格综合症), decided to sing in front of the school. I knew she would ________ me in some way, so I protested. However, my parents insisted that she ________ and I would have to be part of the audience. I silently hoped that something would happen to ________ me from watching her losing face.

As I waited in the hall, sweat ________ my forehead. I comforted myself that no one knew she was my sister and tried to persuade myself that it would be ________. The lights darkened and the ________ opened to reveal (使露面) my sister standing alone on stage. She seemed ________, taking a minute to stammer (结结巴巴地说) her name and class. ________ began to be heard in the audience.

I shifted nervously in my seat, afraid what was about to happen. But as my sister started to sing, I was ________. Her voice flowed effortlessly and melodiously, filling the hall with its ________. I watched in wonder, realizing I had never known she could sing so ________. I listened carefully to the lyric (歌词) she had written herself, feeling ashamed for doubting her ________. My heart gave way as I heard the heartfelt words.