1 . After their business trip, John and Mary returned, eager to see their lovely children. As they drove into their hometown feeling glad to be back, they noticed ________, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a ________ in flames. Mary said, “Oh, well, it isn’t our fire, let’s go home.”

But John ________ closer and screamed, “That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn’t be ________ work yet, maybe there is something we could do.” “It has nothing to do with us,” Mary ________.

But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror-stricken to see the whole house in ________. A woman on the lawn was screaming, “The children! Get the children!” John ________ her by the shoulder saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!” “In the ________,” cried the woman. “Down the hall and to the left.”

In spite of Mary’s disagreement, John ________ for the basement which was full of smoke and ________ hot. He found the door and two children. ________ he left he could hear some more sobbing. He ________ the two badly frightened children into ________ arms and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him ________ more and Mary grasped his arm and screamed, “John! Don’t go back! It’s ________! That house will fall down any second.”

________ he ran into the smoke-filled hallway and at last he found both children. As he climbed up the ________ stairs, the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely ________ about the little bodies next to him, and at last when they came out into the ________ and fresh air, he found that he had just ________ his own children.

The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.

2 . Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have ________ feelings about their parents, saying that it is not easy living with them. According to a recent research, the most common ________ between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks. On the one hand, parents go mad over ________ rooms, clothes thrown on the floor and their children’s refusal to help with the ________. On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for ________ the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room or refusing to do the shopping at the supermarket.

The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different ________ to these problems. However, some approaches are more ________ than others. For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but ________ clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s ________. On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the ________ of their actions can do better. For example, when teenagers who don’t help their parents with the shopping don’t find their favorite drink in the refrigerator, they are forced to ________ their actions.

Psychologists say that ________ is the most important thing in parent-child relationships. Parents should ________to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say. Parents may ________ their children when they are untidy but they should also understand that their room is their own private space. Communication is a two-way process. It is only by listening to and ________ each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.

4 . In colleges around the country, most students are also workers.

The reality of college can be pretty different from the _______ presented in movies and television. Instead of the students who wake up late, party all the time, and study only before exams, many colleges are full of students with _______ schedules of not just classes and activities, but real _______, too.

This isn’t a(n) _______ phenomenon. The share of working students has been on the rise since the 1970s, and one-fifth of students work year round. The _______ can help pay for tuition and living costs, obviously. And there’s value in it _______ the direct cause: such jobs can also be _______ for developing important professional and social skills that make it easier to _______ a job after graduation. With many employers _______ students with already-developed’ skill sets, on-the-job training while in college can be the best way to ________ a job later on.

But it’s not all upside. Even full-time work may not completely ________ the cost of tuition and living expenses at many colleges. That means that though they’re ________ time away from the classroom, many working students will still graduate with at least some ________. And working full-time cut into the time ________ for studying and attending classes. Students who ________ leaving school because of difficulty in managing work and class are likely to find themselves stuck in some of the same jobs they might have gotten if they hadn’t gone to college at all.

5 . What does it take to become famous? Talent in singing, dancing or acting? Or________ good looks? These days, it seems like a pretty________, and a lot of makeup can make anyone a popular star. But, occasionally, an honest smile and a hard-working attitude might take you quite________ .

Recently, an Tibetan young man named Tashi Dingzhen has gained a lot of online followers. Though his ________ to fame has been very much accidental, Dingzhen has since been ________ by both the local tourism department, and the online streaming platform Tencent Video. However, when________about his own dreams, the 20-year-old said that he wants to be a “horse-racing prince”, a decision which has been ________by many.

________can be fleeting (稍纵即逝的). Every day there are thousands of people on the Internet________the latest trends, behaving in very similar ways, and taking part in the same type of variety shows... all for the________to gain fame and fortune. A few________down the line, or perhaps even only a few months later, the majority of these individuals or groups will ________ from our memories in the end.

Everyone is born________. We like different things, have different personalities, and pursue different dreams. That is what makes life so dynamic (有活力的) and ________. Should Dingzhen choose to take Tencent Video’s________and try to become a celebrity, he might just end up________into the background under heavy makeup and uniform dance moves. Of course, it’s________that his fame will fade even faster if he stays home and continues to race horses. But at least then he will be able to follow his________to do what he wants________choosing to pursue fame and, in the end, ________ himself. If you were in his shoes, what would you do?

8 . A plane was flying somewhere to cut an abandoned oil pipeline. The pilot Downs ________ eight employees of the oil company and a man named Eliot on board.

Halfway, the plane was ________ by a sandstorm. It was ________ to successfully land. While the ten men were ________ for the survival, they found themselves in the depth of the desert. The plane was badly damaged and all the communication equipment didn’t ________. There were quarrels among the eight ________ for different escape plans. Soon, they ________ to fight against each other. Natural disasters had not killed them yet, but ________ disasters were about to destroy them ________.

At the moment, Eliot ________ shouted, “I’m an airplane designer. The main parts of the plane are not ________. As long as everyone works together, we can mend the plane.” People immediately stopped fighting and were ________ in their hearts. Under Eliot’s command, they began to be ________. Food and ________ could only last for ten days so they only ate two meals a day and ________ drinking water as planned. The repair work_________ in an orderly manner. Eight days later, the plane had not been ________ yet, but a camel team of businessmen passed by and ________ them.

Later, Downs knew that Eliot wasn’t an airplane designer at all and asked Eliot why he cheated them. Eliot said calmly, “If I hadn’t ________ then, could everyone live to this day?” Downs suddenly realized: being trapped in the ________ is terrible, but what is more terrible is that there is no hope for survival!