1 . At noon, I would race breathlessly home, a ten-minute walk from my school. My mother was waiting for me with pleasure to have lunch while I shared what happened at school.

I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed (排练) my lines so hard with me. But no matter how easily I acted at home, hardly had I stepped on stage when every word escaped me. Finally, my teacher asked me to change to a narrator’s (解说员) part. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell my mother what had happened that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.

Under the rose vine, we could see yellow dandelions (蒲公英), as if a painter had touched our landscape with shades of gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. “I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.”

“But I like dandelions,” I argued. “All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.”

My mother asked thoughtfully, “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” I nodded, pleased I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. I burst into tears, a mixture of relief and regret swelling up as I told her what had happened.

“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, encouraging me as she did. “The narrator’s part is important, too.” Composing myself gradually, I began to accept the narrator’s part. Then came the performance day. I was still nervous, but it was at that very moment that I found a dandelion in my pocket. It was obvious that my mom secretly put the flower there, which magically gave me confidence.

3 . Last May I bought some sweet potatoes for food. Several days later, a tuber (块茎) left in the kitchen was sprouting (发芽). Thinking it was a waste of money to throw it away, I_________ the tuber into a pot hoping it might take root and _________ something that could be put on the dinner table.

_________, the tuber did take root and began to grow. In the following months I _________ it when necessary and it grew very well. Seeing that it was autumn and that the plant would not grow any longer, I decided to _________ . I pulled out the plant, which took some_________ and began to dig with my fingers to see if there was any tuber in the pot. When my fingers could almost _________ the bottom of the pot, I took the root and pulled it carefully, for the potato could _________ easily. As almost no earth was left, I tried to pull again and again but I failed to lift it up. In _________, I pushed the pot over and found the root was outside the pot! It had grown through one of the holes in the bottom.

Then and there I changed my opinion of this plant, for the seemingly soft plant gained the__________ of me. Very carefully I __________ all the soil out of the pot, __________ the root might be harmed or broken. Holding the root, I was deep in thought. The root outside the pot looked like a __________ and strong finger of an old farmer who has __________ his life to make a living. The end of the root was dark grey and __________ Obviously, the peel (皮) must have been removed during its struggle with the __________ of the heavy pot. It struck me that the tuber, though seriously __________, had struggled hard and it seemed it had never__________.

Such is a sweet potato, an ordinary-looking plant with __________ characteristics. It managed to grow where I thought it was almost impossible to __________.

4 . At Bookmark, we want every child to read. According to a survey, 8 children in the average class in the UK are ________ to read well when they leave primary school. We need more reading volunteers to help us change this. Volunteering is a great outlet for self-improvement while ________ others, and with Bookmark, everyone can truly make a ________ to the futures of the primary school students.

Sally joined Bookmark as a volunteer in 2019. As a freelance writer and editor, she wanted to share her love of books with children who may have not discovered ________. Before volunteering with Bookmark, she had ________ worked with children, so beginning the sessions was truly a step out of her comfort zone. Sally began ________ with Zach in person at a local school. At the beginning of their program, Zach asked Sally about the ________ why people need to read. Seeing this as an opportunity, she highlighted to him that reading makes one’s life meaningful and interesting. She told Zach that there were books out there on all his favorite hobbies and encouraged him to see reading as ________.

As their ________ continued, Sally noticed a ________ on Zach. When packing up in their final session, Zach spotted a book that was a more ________ level than those he’d been reading, but he exclaimed that he was happy and confident to give it a go ________. At this moment, Sally felt a real connection to Bookmark’s mission and knew the challenge would ________.

Sally’s experience as a Bookmark volunteer taught her more than she had ________ “Volunteering has made me feel more content. I feel I am helpful. I get huge ________ from engaging with children via Bookmark and making them laugh as we read in funny voices and play games.” she said, “All the ________ I have read with so far have been eager to learn and their ________ has been contagious (有感染力的).”

As well as finding pleasure in her time as a reading volunteer, Sally tells us that through her experience she ________ the true extent of the importance of literacy-being able to read is a fundamental life ________ and not being able to read can have far reaching consequences. Literacy is important for everyone. Literacy can help ________ inequality and lead to empowerment.

6 . In 2006, Jackie Briggs was working 60 hours a week at a high-pressure IT job. One Saturday afternoon, she decided to take some time for herself and go to a women’s health conference. As she was walking around looking at different stands, someone approached her.

“This lovely dark-haired woman came up to me, ‘Excuse me, but I can’t help but notice your arm,’ and she said,” Briggs remembers. That day, Briggs had uncharacteristically decided to wear a sleeveless dress, leaving a rose-shaped birthmark on her upper arm exposed. The woman asked Briggs if she had seen a doctor about the birthmark, and when Briggs assured her that she had, the stranger persisted. “She pressed me and said, ‘When?’ I had to stop to think. I counted back…and it had been over three years.”

When the woman heard how long it had been, she urged Briggs to call her doctor. After explaining that she was a nurse at a plastic surgeon’s office, she gently reached out and touched Briggs’ arm. “Really, don’t wait,” she said.

When Briggs followed up with her doctor, she learned that the woman had saved her life. It turned out that the birthmark was actually a melanoma—one of the fastest-moving and deadliest types of skin cancers. “If I hadn’t listened to her, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Briggs said. Briggs underwent surgery and had the melanoma removed. She’s now happily retired and just finished writing her first novel. Her unsung hero, she said, saved her life. “My six-inch ragged scar that travels almost from the top of my shoulder down my arm is my everyday reminder of her…my guardian angel,” she said.

10 . When I was young, our family cat broke out in a rash (皮疹). But an examination at the vet’s revealed no answers. When asked, “Has anything ________ in your home?” my mom explained my leave for college, and the vet responded “That’s it!” He gave my cat medicine that she took in my ________, and curiously didn’t need when I was home.

Years later after marriage, I adopted a well behaved cat. Suddenly he decided to ________ all our house plants. As it could be a ________ of his not feeling well, I took him to the vet. When tests all came back ________, the familiar question was asked again, “Has anything changed in your home?” We thought hard but couldn’t get it until one day we ________ our cat unsuccessfully trying to get in the window. Ah-ha! We had replaced the old ________ with new wooden blinds. They clearly ________ him from sitting in his favorite spot. Then I ________ the blinds every morning. The digging stopped.

I had forgotten those two incidents. Until recently our dog started ________ not herself and became an absolute________ on our daily runs. It was right when I was taking her to the vet that I thought of the question I would most ________ be asked. After years of being at home, I had recently gone back to work. It was a difficult ________ for our family, but I never considered the ________ it would have on one particular member of the family. Suddenly, she was ________ all day long in a quiet house. Why hadn’t I realized it before?