1 . My 70-year-old mother was fighting an 18-year battle with cancer. It was a battle I knew she would someday______.Maybe soon. And it______my heart to think about that.

Mom and I had a good relationship, but we just weren’t______in the way I was with my daughter. Mom and I never______or said “I love you” like I often do with my daughter. Sometimes I felt______about Mom’s love for me. Then the pandemic hit. Our city was in lockdown to______the possible infection(感染). Therefore, I didn’t come to Mom’s place but made daily phone calls instead. We didn’t say too much, but we knew we cared about each other. “ I’ve set about quilting(缝被子), and I’ll make one for you,” my mother announced______over the phone one day. I tried to ______her suggestion as it was too tiring for her, but she insisted.

My quilt was Mom’s last one. A month later, I got a call from Dad saying Mom was gone. A great sense of_______overwhelmed me-the pandemic took away my last chance to see Mom and show my love to her.

One day, I decided to give quilting a(n)______myself for my daughter. I carefully______the fabric(面料) I thought she would enjoy, and maybe I was still trying to make a______between Mom and myself in this way. I always thought what had______her to quilting late in life. I imagined asking her for______       on how to make the right stitches(针脚). Sometimes I’d______us sitting together in the living room watching TV together.

Finally, I got the quilt Mom______ me. I opened it and what I saw caught my______.It was exactly the same fabric I had chosen for my daughter. Yet something far more difficult to______at last became clear. Mom, in her own way, had ______ said those three beautiful words “I love you” I______ to hear.

2 . For my daughter's 19th birthday, we bought her tickets to go and see Linkin Park, as they were playing in our city. We didn't really have the ________ but we knew how much this band meant to her.

The night before she was like a ________ at Christmas. Every so often she got up and came to ________ with us, because she couldn't ________ . On the night of the concert it was good to see her so ________ and excited, as she and her boyfriend set off.

Needless to say when they ________ after midnight, with T-shirts and lots of pictures of the band, ________ her telling about how fantastic they had been, we knew the money had been well ________ . This will be a memory she would never forget, and nor would we.

________ full of excitement from the night before, the following day they ________ to go shopping on the other side of the city. My husband and I laughed, loving the fact that she had not ________   that quality as she grew up.

Later that day they returned, with faces full of happiness and warmth. They presented my husband and me with a ________ each. On each present were the words "Because you are the ________ mum/dad in the world. "When we expressed our thanks and told her she didn't have to, we asked her why she had bought us gifts. Her answer was simply "Just because I love you."

This wasn't something ________ from our daughter; she had always given us gifts when she wanted to express her ________ , and each gift was always a welcome surprise. It could have been anything, it wouldn't have mattered, and it was the act itself and the feelings behind it.

3 . We might look different and speak different languages, but most of us, especially the young ones, love sweets! One day we _________ one of the 15,000 orphan(孤儿)-led houses in Swaziland. Inside the _________ we found a beautiful little girl with huge brown eyes, Tanzile. I gave her a sweet from my bag and she said something in the _________ language. The nurse next to me _________: “She wants another one, doctor, to give to her little sister.” I said “_________” and gave her another.

Later that day, we passed by Tanzile’s house to say goodbye. To our _________ she seemed to be holding on to that _________ sweet I had given her. I thought she was _________ and had taken two for herself. But after the _________ had asked her some more questions, this is what we learned:

Tanzile is 7 now. Two years ago her parents __________ in the disaster. At the time of her parents’ death, she __________ her baby sister, who was three at the time, and has never seen her. But ever since that time, whenever Tanzile __________ anything from anyone, she refuses to accept it, __________ they give her two. In fact, in the little mud hut where she lives, we found a pile of old things which she has been __________to give to her sister one day.

I can still remember the nurse trying to __________ her that “ Tanzile, if someone gives you food, you must accept it, __________ it is only one piece and not two - for your own __________ and safety.” And it was so __________ for us to keep the tears from our eyes as she shook her head __________

On the way back, I thought of that old Eagles’ song — “When we’re hungry, __________ will keep us alive.”

4 . Just before Christmas, my daughter Katie and I went over to my dad’s place to decorate. I couldn’t help _________ the old glass balls when _________ them on the tree. Later that night before I went to sleep, in the quiet darkness, I recalled some _________ from years ago.

The Christmas after I turned 16, while decorating the _________ with my mom, I accidentally _________ and broke a ball. The old glass ball had been on our tree for as long as I could _________.

Broken-hearted, I knelt to pick up the pieces and was _________ to find a small slip of paper on the floor. Unfolding the note, I _________ my father’s writing. Lifting my eyes, I saw my mother’s _________ expression.

“Your daddy wrote that and put it in that __________ during our first Christmas together, just before you were born,” she said with a smile.

I wouldn’t have __________ it, except for the proof there in my __________. The daddy I knew always seemed a bit __________ around the holidays. And yet, this bit of yellowed paper __________ that long ago, my daddy had done something quite romantic at Christmas.

I cleaned up the pieces, __________ I could put them together. “It’s OK,” Mom said. “Just pick out another of the old ones and put the __________ inside.”

Now, as we __________ the holidays without my mom, who we lost to cancer, my discovery is even more __________. Each year as I decorate my dad’s tree, I remember the moment I __________ with my mom that winter afternoon.

The note inside one of those old glass balls on my dad’s tree holds the heart of my parents’ __________ in three little words: “I love you.”

5 . My father passed away on March 21, 2010 in Calgary after a brief journey with cancer. I loved my father so much, and we were very_______. We traveled together and talked on the phone at least twice a day. His death has_______a forever pain in my heart.

One day_______ I arrived back home from walking outdoors I sat on the front step, thinking about my Dad and feeling quite_______.Within a minute or so, I_______and saw a butterfly on the other side of the fence. It flew over to me, around my head for a bit, then_______near by. I thought maybe it is a sign my Dad is_______. The butterfly then flew up again, and this time it rested on my left side for quite a while on a beautiful_______before flying off.

The_______day I went out for a walk by the lake, a different time and place. I started________Dad again. I called out in my________for him to show a sign he was________here with me. Within moments the same type of butterfly________.

It rested on a rock while I________it. When I got up to continue walking it followed me down the________. I took a picture of it as some people didn’t________me when I said I saw a butterfly at that time of year.

The next day I walked on the path again________to meet the butterfly once more. Within moments of thinking about my Dad the same type appeared.________, this time it joined up with two more before they all flew away.

I feel it might have been a(n)________from my Dad saying he was with his Mom and Dad and he was okay. Those________helped me feel comforted when I needed it the most.

6 . The scars that Pat Rribble carried through life were formed nearly 50 years ago, inflicted (欺负) by fellow students in Woodland, who _______him because he was different.

Pat never _______or had children after graduating. He never had a _______, only a series of jobs. Now 65, Pat appears _______with his long gray hair and beard, whom you might cross the street to _______. But, to talk with him reveals (展现出) a _______side. He speaks quietly, measuring his words to _______his weakness, for which others once seized upon to _______him.

In 2021, when Carey Jim, Pat's classmate, learned Pat _______to attend his high school class's party ________ he'd been hurt in school, he ________. “Pat had it rougher than the rest of us.” Days later, Carey found Pat's ________and called. Pat answered. “We talked about the ________things, and the good things too,” Pat said. “Carey's love and ________caught me unexpectedly.” After that, Carey asked all his ________to call Pat. And so they did. They made a ________that they wouldn't lose track of Pat, and they have ________it for over ten years. Every week, one or more of them call Pat to see how he's doing.

The recovery of the ________from the past has allowed Pat to look to the ________. “I'll be at the next party,” he says. “These guys…” He pauses, stifling (强忍) ________. “Let's just say that everyone needs people like these guys in their lives.”

7 . When a man lies in a chair in a barbershop with a steaming, hot towel across in his face, he relaxes. Going to the barbershop is a great opportunity for men to gather and _________ life stories. Men walk out feeling great _________ spending just an hour in this community setting and taking time for_________.

Lorenzo Lewis considers that the barbershop is one of the few safe spaces where men feel _________ to express their feelings openly. In 2016, Lewis _________ The Confess Project, a community-led project that trains barbers as mental health advocates after years of struggling with his own mental health. It mainly reaches out to men who may be _________ to receive therapy (心理治疗) because it means opening up to a stranger in a clinical setting.

Matt Dillion, who owns a barbershop that _________ The Confess Project, explained why he _________ that the barbershop is the _________ place for men to open up. “This is our ‘country club’. There is fellowship (交情), and there’s that wonderful __________ when you’re around guys that have been through what you’re going through.”

Speaking about one’s __________ and being listened to in an accepting way greatly __________ mental health. A study shows that when people share their feelings, they __________ to have strong immune systems.

The barbers support their clients in the moment, __________ trust and opening a pathway for communication. They encourage their __________ to seek support from therapists and other mental health professionals if necessary.

8 . At some point in our lives, the chances are that you and I will feel lonely. It’s an important topic and one that causes a lot of misery, but there are plenty of _________ surrounding it. Here are three of the biggest.

Is loneliness all about isolation?

Feeling lonely is not the same as being alone. Loneliness is a feeling of _________. It’s the sense that no one around you really understands you and that you don’t have the kind of meaningful connections you would like. Being _________ can be a factor, but it’s not the only one. You can feel lonely in a crowd, just as you can seek _________ in spending some time alone. Sometimes we want to be alone. But if we don’t have the option to spend time with people who understand us, that’s when loneliness _________.

Does loneliness disproportionately affect old people?

Loneliness is undoubtedly getting a higher profile, but that _________ means a higher percentage of old people feel lonely now compared to a few years ago. _________, the study from Christina Victor from Brunel University has shown that the proportion of old people experiencing chronic loneliness has remained steady for 70 years, with 6 to 13 percent saying they feel lonely all or most of the time. But it is true that the actual numbers of lonely old people are _________ simply because there are more old people in the world. Loneliness is more _________ in old age than in other adults, but in her review a peak is also found in adolescence. __________, studies show that 50 to 60 percent of old people are not often lonely.

Is loneliness always bad?

This one is a bit more __________. You often see statistics quoted on the effect that loneliness can have on our health. Reviews of the research have found that it could increase the risk of heart disease by almost a third and that __________ people have higher blood pressure and a lower life expectancy. It is possible that unhappily isolated people are more likely to become __________. But it could also happen the other way around. People could become isolated and lonely because they already have poor health, which stops them from __________. Or lonely people may show up in the statistics as less healthy because their loneliness has __________ them of the motivation to look after their health. It could work both ways.

9 . When it came to moral reasoning, we like to think our views on right and wrong are rational (理智的). But ultimately they are grounded in emotion. Philosophers have argued over this claim for a quarter of a millennium without _________. Times up! Now scientists armed with brain scanners are stepping in to settle the matter. Though reason can shape moral judgment, emotion is often _________.

Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene does brain scans of people as they study the so-called trolley problem. Suppose a trolley is rolling down the track toward five people who will _________ unless you pull a lever (杠杆) that pushes it onto another track— where, unfortunately, lies one person who will die instead. An easy call, most people say: _________ the loss of life — a “utillitarian” (功利主义的) goal as philosopher put it — is the thing to do.

But suppose the only way to save the five people is to push someone else onto the track — a _________ whose body will bring the trolley to a stop before it hits the others. It’s still a one-for-five _________ and you still initiate the action that dooms the one. _________, now you are more directly involved; most people say it would be wrong to do this trade off. Why? According to Greene’s brain scans, the second situation more thoroughly excites parts of the brain linked to _________ than does the leve-pulling situation. Apparently, the intuitive hesitation of giving someone a deadly push is more _________ than the hesitation to a deadly lever pull.

Further studies suggest that in both cases the emotional __________ compete for control with more rational parts of the brain. In the second situation the emotions are usually strong enough to win.

And when they lose, it is only after a tough __________ process. The few people who approve of pushing an innocent man onto the tracks take longer to reach their decision. So too with people who approve of smothering (死) a crying baby rather than catching the attention of enemy troops who would then kill the baby along with other __________.

Princeton philosopher Peter Singer argues that we should __________ our moral intutions (本能) and ask whether that logic deserves respect in the first place. Why obey moral impulses that evolved to serve the “__________” — such as sympathy that moves toward relatives and friends? Why not worry more about people an ocean away whose suffering we could cheaply relieve? Isn’t it better to save 10 starving African babies than to keep your 90-year-old father on life support? In the absence of a tough decision-making process, reason may indeed be a(n) “__________ of the passion.”

10 . At my daughter’s presentation ceremony, the principal reminded the kids of that now-familiar truth: they could have multiple careers in their lifetimes. As I lay in bed that evening, another truth ________ me that it is not just different careers that________each child.

I________my own life and how much it has ________. Five years age, I was in an unhappy marriage, living in a house that I felt wasn’t mine. I felt________most of the time and not________my own future. Now, I live in my own beautiful apartment. My family life is peaceful, filled with ________. My life is barely________. I created a whole new reality.

I have always________ that great change is possible. I am the great-grandchild of the immigrants who left their countries with few________. From the shtetls(犹太人小村庄) of Russia and Poland, they created their own communities.

My parents moved to a ________city with two small children and started a life different from that in their hometown. And my late grandmother lived two completely different lives. ________she was a widow at 43 after my grandfather died suddenly, she ________her daughters alone, cared for her elderly mother and ________travelled out of her hometown. At 68, after being single for 26 years, she ________us all by falling in love and remarrying. She and her husband, Harry, socialized   ________ , and travelled around the country.

Life is full of ________. We assume that our lives are linear(直线的), leading us from birth to death into a straight ________. But they can change and have sharp ________. They can double back and leap forward and begin another ________altogether.