2 . Drew Bason thought he would be a medical technician. His mom was in medicine, and he always thought he would ______ in her footsteps. But life had a ______ plan for him.

“I always wanted to cook,” he admitted. “I had eleven uncles and they were always ______ with my father. I was around it a lot.” So, he decided not to pursue healthcare. ______, Drew signed in a community college culinary (烹饪的) program and got a ______ as a chef.

But not long after, the pandemic (疫情) began, and Drew ______ his job. Without a steady income, taking care of his 10-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son was a(n) ______. But one day, walking through the Brightmoor neighborhood in Detroit, he ______ the City Covenant Church, and soon found out about their meal program. “I knew I could come here to get a(n) ______,” he said “It took some of the ______ off.”

But Drew did not want to just ______ food home. He knew he could use his skills to help out. So, he started ______ at the church to cook meals. “It takes a lot of ______ to eat the food of someone that you don’t know,” he said. “So it’s an honor to give some of it back and help our community. I really ______ the opportunity.”

Now, Drew is working at a nearby restaurant, but he still volunteers at the church. “Food is ______ and I love cooking,” he said.

5 . In the United States, Christmas is a very important day. Many needy families are seeking assistance every year on the occasion of Christmas so they can get _________ toys and gifts for their children. And the charities and organizations come forward to _________ those poor families and bring joy to the poor children. Every year many free gifts and toys are indeed _________. This is very kind and _________ work for poor families as well as for children. Here is a family who have been _________ their love on this special day.

Three decades ago, Norah Wilkinson started a Christmas _________ that her family is keeping alive five years after her _________. It all came from the _________ grandmother’s simple motto(座右铭), “It’s nice to be nice.” Back in 1990, this _________ led her to start spending ￡10 a year on presents for children who’d __________ have nothing to open on Christmas day, according to The Mirror.

Although Norah passed away five years ago, at the great age of 92, her grandchildren wanted to __________ up the tradition. So Norah’s seven children and their children have managed to __________ an amazing ￡250,000 worth of gifts that will be handed out to more than 5,000 families for Christmas.

This year, more than ever, many families are __________ to put food on the table. Yet, thanks to the generous strangers and this hard-working and caring family, thousands of children will soon have a smile on their face.

The work of the grandchildren and their parents is totally __________ and it’s wonderful to see how much of an inspiration from a grandmother can be in life and death, and how a simple desire to be kind can snowball into a __________ to help thousands.

A city child’s summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacations I sat on the edge of the street and watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball. I was never asked to take part， even when one team had a member missing — not out of special cruelty, but because theytook it for granted I would be no good at it. They were right, of course.

I will never forget the wonderful evening when something changed. The baseball ended when it grew dark. Then it was the custom of the boys to retire to a little stoop (门廊) that stuck out (突出)from the candy store. There the boys would sit, mostly talking about the games played during the day and of the game to be played tomorrow. Suddenly, one of the boys raised a question to me. “What’s in those books you’re always reading?” he asked casually. “Stories,” I answered. “What kind?” asked somebody else without much interest.

Nor did I know what drove me to behave as I did, for usually I just sat there in silence;but this time I told them for two hours about the story Iwas reading at the moment. The book was Sister Carrie. They listened, bug-eyed and breathless. I must have told it well, but I thought there was another and deeper reason that made themkeep an audience. I was offering them a new and exciting experience, one that they didn’t know existed.

The books they themselves read were the ones I had long left behind. Being alone so much, I had become an enthusiastic reader and I had gone through the books-for-boys series. In those days there was no reading material between children’s and grownups’. I had gone right from Tom Swift and His FlyingLab to Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie. Dreiser had hit my young mind, and they listened to me tell the storywith some of the wonder that I had had in reading it.

The next night and many nights thereafter, a kind of unspoken ritual (仪式 ) took place. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I enjoyed the long summer evenings until school began in the fall.

Whether we notice it or not, our child is a little reflection of ourselves. They grow up looking more and more like us. They even have similar personalities and hobbies. And in some cases, the standard of choosing a good friend.

One day, my 10-year-old Jane said, “Mom, I made a new friend at school today. Can she come over tomorrow?” Her words made me extremely happy because Jane was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell.

“Sure, honey, that sounds great.” I said, thinking back to my own childhood best friend, Susan. We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights, New York. We met at the age of 10, too. Like my daughter.   I was shy and had trouble making friends. But Susan drew me out. She was one of the friendliest people in school, with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile. Thanks to Susan. I was happy every day.

In senior high school, Susan went on a trip to Florida. This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days. “I’ll be back soon and I will write to you as soon as I arrive.” she told me. But I didn’t get her phone call nor receive any mail from her. Soon, my family moved to New Jersey, making my hope of seeing Susan impossible.

Whenever I thought of him, tears came into my eyes.

The next day Jane brought her new friend home. “Hi, Mrs. Smith.” the little girl said. Her hair was so shiny and black and she gave me a big smile. “My name is Jo. My mom will pick me up 2 hours later.”

I was puzzled because my daughter’s new friend looked so familiar.

Two hours passed really quickly, and there was a knock on the door.

How to keep healthy

Ten years ago I used to be very healthy. I went to work by bike and I got a lot of exercise at the weekend. I played tennis a lot and went for long walks. In those days, I didn't earn very much. I had a job in an office, which wasn't very good, but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed.

Then, about 8 years ago, I got a much better job. The pay was better. But the hours were a lot longer. I bought a car and drove to work every day, and began to take people out to lunch. And I began to be overweight, too. I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at the weekend, because I just didn't have any time for things like that any more. There was a lot of stress in a job like mine; perhaps that was why I started drinking more than I used to. For example, I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, and then I started filling the glass to the top. Then I had another glass, and then another. I started smoking a lot, too. I never used to smoke at all.

Two months ago I had a heart attack. At first I just couldn't believe it. ''I'm too young and I want to keep healthier, I said. Luckily it wasn't very serious. I was in hospital for a few days and they did a lot of tests. The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. He told me to do a lot of other things. For example, he advised me to workless and get more exercise. But I just haven't any time! My job takes everything out of me!

Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. Perhaps I could do something that I used to do. But if I do that, I won't earn much. I have a family to support. I just don't know what I should do.

Later, I knew one person who really believed in keeping fit. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

But now her story has completely changed the way I live.

10 . Shortly after the war, my brother and I were invited to spend a few days with an uncle who had just returned from abroad. He had rented a cottage in the country, although he seldom spent much time there. We understood the reason for this after our arrival: the cottage had no comfortable furniture in it, many of the windows were broken and the roof leaked, making the whole house damp.

On our first evening, we sat around the fire after supper listening to the stories which our uncle had to tell of his many adventures in distant countries. I was so tired after the long train journey that I would have preferred to go to bed; but I could not bear to miss any of my uncle's exciting tales.

He was just in the middle of describing a rather terrifying experience he had once had when there was a loud crash from the bedroom above, the one where my brother and I were going to sleep.

''It sounds as if the roof has fallen in! '' cried out my uncle, with a loud laugh.

When we got to the top of the stairs and opened the bedroom door, we could see nothing at first because of the thick clouds of dust which filled the room. When the dust began to clear, a strange sight met our eyes. A large part of the ceiling had fallen down, falling right on to the pillow of my bed. I was glad that I had stayed up late to listen to my uncle's stories, otherwise I should certainly have been seriously injured,perhaps killed.

That night we all slept on the floor in the sitting room downstairs, not wishing to risk our lives by sleeping under a roof which might at any moment fall down on our heads. We left for London the very next morning and my uncle gave up his cottage in the country. This was not the kind of adventure he cared for either!