1 . “We can spend the rest of our lives together making plans,” says the woman who now goes by Jeanne Watts (formerly Danas).

Jeanne and Stephen Watts first _________ and soon fell in love in 1971, when they were at Chicago ‘s Loyola University. But Jeanne ‘s mom strongly _________ the relationship because she didn’t want her White daughter seeing a Black man. Still, the pair _________ dated for seven years. But after Jeanne graduated from a nursing school and _________ a job that required a long commute (通勤) and late shifts, she faced difficulties seeing Stephen, who didn’t own a _________. Jeanne was completely overwhelmed by everything. The couple talked about _________, but Jeanne was afraid of taking that next step because the family issue was always _________ on her. Standing at the nurse’s station during her _________ one evening, Jeanne told him over the phone, “I love you, but I just can’t do this.”

Crushed by the news, Stephen was _________. They would spend the next four __________ leading separate lives and not speaking to each other.

Cut to 2021, when Jeanne was a divorced retiree whose mother was no longer __________. She began looking for Stephen from her home in Oregon, but she couldn’t __________ him on social media. Everything seemed to come to a(n) __________ end.

In April 2021, from his niece, Jeanne got to know that Stephen was in a nursing home. When she walked into the room, Stephen __________ her instantly, said her name and started to cry.

“You are my heart and soul,” Stephen told her. “I want to be with you always.”

A few months later, he asked her to marry him. “I gladly took his last __________,” says Jeanne Watts. The pair said “I do” on Oct. 15, 2022 in front of about 65Guests at the couple’s new home.

2 . In the back of my closet, there is a small cardboard chest that has followed me to every one of my new addresses. Until now, the only _________ contents in it are three wrapped _________ marked in my mother’s tidy handwriting: “Engagement”, “Wedding” and “First Baby”.

When I was three, my mother learned that she had advanced breast cancer. When I was seven, she had begun _________ a gift box for me. Inside, she packed presents and letters for the _________ of my life she was going to be missing — driver’s license, graduation, and every birthday until the age of 30.

My mother died ten days before our _________ birthday. That morning, when I turned 12 and she would have turned 49, I woke up early and opened the package _________ “12th Birthday”. A white card curling around the present _________: “I always _________ a birthstone ring when I was a little girl. Your Granny finally bought me one and I loved it more than I can say. I hope you like it, too.” I put on the ring and _________ her writing with my fingertip.

On the morning of my high school graduation, a __________ of pearls appeared as I opened the wrapped present. Her note read: “There seemed to be a __________ in my family that when girls graduated from high school, they received pearls.” I wore the pearls that afternoon as I took the stage to accept my diploma.

Year after year, my mother __________ forward in time to meet me. When I was a child, opening the next package felt like a treasure __________. As I grew older, her message met me like guideposts in a dark forest. If her words couldn’t point the way, at least they offered the __________ of knowing that someone had been there before and that I have been __________, wildly loved.

3 . A sunny afternoon before Christmas, a little girl was decorating a box with a gold wrapping paper to put it under the Christmas tree. Money was tight, so the girl’s father _________ her for wasting almost all roll of that _________ paper.

However, the next morning the girl _________ the gift to her father. “This is for you, Daddy.” she said. He opened the box and found it _________, so he became angry again. “Don’t you know, that when you give someone a _________ it is supposed that there would be something inside it.” he said _________. The little girl looked at her father with _________ in her eyes. “Daddy, this box is not empty, I _________ it with my kisses, all for you.”

The father was extremely _________. He felt so embarrassed that he could just put his __________ around his little daughter and beg for her __________. For many years of his life the man kept that golden box near his bed. Wherever he felt __________ and downhearted he opened the box and thought of __________ that the little child had put into it.

Each of us have been __________ a present of unconditional love from our children, family, friends and God. It is the most precious __________ that anyone could hold.

4 . My mom taught me songs. However, she never taught me how to sing. Of course I never really learned the English ________ then, but I realize as I grow up that one does not really ________ to understand the language of a song in order to ________ it completely. I also realize that music has become an important aspect of my ________. I use music to ________ my emotions, my joys, and my sorrows. Also, music is an ________ aspect of our culture. For example, some people use music to celebrate weddings.

When I came to the UK I realized that music has ________ me to deal with times when I miss home. It has become my ________ and when I miss home, especially my mum,   I find myself ________ the songs that we used to sing together. ________ I hear a song that makes me think of my brother and I find myself smiling or crying.

People use ________ instruments to create music, yet none of the lyrics and ________ have similar effect on all of us. When I listened to people singing as they ________ the world cup, I realized that music can actually bring ________ to this world and through songs the people of this world can be ________ as one!

5 . One of my earliest childhood memories: I’m maybe six, and it is Easter Sunday morning. I wake up early and skip down the hall to my parents’ bedroom to wake them up so that we can get straight down to the _______hunt. My dad is still in bed _______; my mum is nowhere to be seen. After _______my dad with finger for a bit, I go over to windows _______ the garden. I draw back the curtain to see if I can find any chocolate eggs that may be _______, perhaps   even the Easter Bunny (复活节兔子) himself going about his work. _______ I see my mother with a little basket of Cadbury’s Creme Eggs in one hand, crouching (蹲) to_______them here and there among planters and flower beds. What I am _______ makes no sense at all. It _______ in the face of everything I know to be true. Yet here it is unthinkable, ________ right in front of me. Hurt by my own expanding comprehension of what is happening, I turn to my sleepy father. "Mummy is the Easter Bunny!" I say, and burst into ________.

As losses of ________ go, this thing fades away slowly. But in retrospect (回想), what upset me most about this ________was my understanding that a part of my childhood had been gone forever. I was ________ able to enjoy the innocence I ________so highly in the first place.

6 . Life became dull when social distancing began in March due to the coronavirus. The_________all faded (消逝) together into what felt like one unexplainable long day. Not only did I have no opportunity to_________with my friends, but as more time passed in solitude (独处), I lost any_________to be around people.

That is, until July, when one of my_________from another state asked me to go camping with her family. I agreed, although somewhat_________. Once you have forgotten the pure_________of being among friends, the idea of driving six hours to live in a tent in the middle of a bug-infested (虫子滋生的) forest doesn't hold much_________anymore.

I don't remember the drive there, and even the scenery slowly_________from my mind. What I do remember is the_________feeling of happiness that washed over me. Within seconds, I remembered what it was like to live each second to its__________. I slept under the stars,__________from cliffs (山崖) into the crystal-clear water and walked through a night so__________that I couldn't see 2 inches (5cm) in front of me. I made new friends that are among my closest friends to this day. I instantly fell__________in love with the liveness of life.

The coronavirus brought on the hardest couple of months of my life. But I wholeheartedly__________that it was worth it.__________the advantages of the past gives you a greater appreciation of them when they finally return. Those five days in New York will forever be among my happiest.

7 . When Amanda Moore noticed that the new student from Mexico always sat alone at lunch, she decided to befriend Rafael Anaya. She also noticed that he________ to understand English. Then she used the Google Translate app to hand-write a letter in Spanish asking him to________her for lunch. Her action________her the “Student of the Month” award for October at school.

Actually, Rafael always________ because he felt so lonely. “He always ate lunch alone and I felt ________ about that，” Amanda said. She knew he spoke Spanish and he seemed lonely. She spent the whole afternoon ________ writing the letter, using the app to help her.

The next day Amanda handed the letter to Rafael and waited for his________.It wasn’t until their math class that he said “yes”. The two had been________together for lunch ever since. The letter helped Rafael feel more comfortable and encouraged him to________his English harder. “I think for Rafael it made a huge________，”said their teacher. “He really wants to learn English to talk to Amanda. The two used hand gestures and Google Translate for ________now but they hoped it would become ________ when Rafael's English improved. And, Amanda was learning some________.

Amanda’s mother felt________moved by her daughter’s action. “It is just so sweet，”she said. I think this ________ is special.”