1 . Compassion (同情) literally means “suffering together”. Among many emotion researchers, it is __________ as the feeling that arises when you encounter a person’s suffering and feel motivated to __________ his or her suffering.

Compassion is not the same as empathy (共鸣), though the two concepts are __________. Empathy refers more generally to our ability to feel the __________ of another person, while compassion goes a step beyond and appears when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to __________.

When we feel compassion, our heart rate slows down. Then a chemical is produced in our body and _________ regions of the brain linked to empathy and caregiving light up, which often results in our wanting to __________ other people and offer assistance.

Compassion often comes in two forms, which vary __________ where these feelings are directed. Your experience of compassion may focus on other people, or it may inwardly focus on yourself.

When we __________ compassion, we can start by __________ another person’s situation. We look at what they are __________ without passing judgment on their behavior and put ourselves in their shoes. And then we’ll find ourselves filled with compassion.

Compassion tends to have a __________ impact on our life, ranging from improving our relationships to boosting our psychological __________. One study found that people who volunteer out of concern for others can be as __________ as the receivers. The finding suggests that compassion itself can be a __________ to the givers.

2 . A hero isn’t just a superman that flies around saving people. A hero can be a volunteer worker, a teacher, or even a _________ member. My hero just so happens to be my dad, which may sound like something _________ to you. You would also say your mom or dad is your hero because they raised you, or you’re always able to _________ them. My _________ are like that as well. _________, I still consider my dad a hero above everybody else and he _________ deserves it.

My dad has always been caring and loving. When I was young, he was the one that stayed at home with me, taking _________ of me and loving me wholeheartedly. He also helped me with my _________ so I could do well in my schoolwork. I couldn’t ask for a _________ dad. I love how my dad __________ my mom as well. He is a fantastic __________, so my mom is willing to share her sorrows and joys with him. Besides, my dad is always __________ to offer a helping hand, sharing housework and solving her problems at work. He has also shown others his good __________ by serving our country and helping the community.

My dad isn’t a great person who changes the world, but he has __________ my little world. He is a great __________ for me and I’d like to be an ordinary hero like him.

3 . Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was _________to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always _________— it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just _________in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.

But I never stopped _________who the giver might be. My mother _________to these imaginations. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing _________. I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had a _________on me even though I didn’t know him.

One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings _________from sorrow to fear and anger: my dad was _________some of the most important events in my life. I became completely __________in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball. But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the __________size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.

The day before my ball, I found that dress — in the right size — hanging over the living room sofa. It was __________to me so lovingly. I didn’t __________if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel __________, filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of __________.

My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.