1 . When Beverley Burdeyney turned seventy four last year, she started having problems with her _______ , notably dryness and discomfort.

"I was simply _______ a terrible experience, " Ms. Burdeyney said at her home in Toronto. "I felt so helpless and insecure because the quality of my _______ was affected. "

Ms. Burdeyney talked to some friends who had _______ problems and discovered that they were largely suffering in _______. " Nobody chooses to talk about it because it seems so _______ she said. " But more and more are suffering and lives are being _______.

Eventually, Ms. Burdeyney learned about plans for an eye research, _______ at Tel Aviv University in Israel. The research team _______ Canadian doctor Allan Slomovic, who has done__________ work on eye care using stem cells. Seeing a ray of hope, Ms. Burdeyney began raising __________ for the project with a friend, Toronto businessman Meyer Zeifman. __________ she has raised $ 110, 000 with another $40, 000 __________ .

"I'm trying to get more and more people to __________ that there are solutions（解决办法）said Ms. Burdeyney, a trained nurse who is still working as a personal trainer after __________ . "I say there is no old __________ , there's only neglect （忽视）. Don't stand __________ , do something about it. "

Ms. Burdeyney __________ that she is hoping to do more for the research project. "I just want to bring __________ into people eyes and this is just the __________. There is still a long way to go"

2 . When I got my first smartphone, I loved it.It gave me instant ______ to my music, thousands of photos and videos and a(n) ______ of information. But over time, my feelings became controversial. I would repeatedly ______ my email, shop online for stuff I didn’t need and ______ click on links to websites. I’d often ______ to my husband and to my seven-year-old son, Louis, that I felt trapped by it.

So I began to research studies on the mental health effects of smartphone use. I ______ that smartphones are linked with anxiety, depression and poor sleep quality. Unsurprisingly, they also impact your ability to ______ and to remain in the present moment with your kids.

______, one day last summer, while I was playing with Louis, I was once again distracted (分心) by dings and pings. He finally related to my complaints about my smartphone: “Mommy, just ______, please!”

I decided to try. Instead of going cold turkey — no ______at all — I bought a flip phone (翻盖手机) and cell plan for $30 a month. With no touch screen, texting is ______. I can’t access email, music or social media and don’t even try browsing the web without a touch screen. While the adjustment hasn’t always been smooth sailing, it’s ______ than I thought it would be and the benefits are worth it. Now when I’m playing with my son, I can see the positive effect ______ his smiles. And after he’s gone to bed, instead of fixing my eyes on the ______, I light candles, grab a book and ______ the atmosphere of the room I’m in.

3 . I was once a painfully insecure teenage girl. I felt ________ all day, and rejected by my classmates. My ________ comfort was to be the stage assistant at our school’s theater.

One day, to my ________, actors from the great Oregon Shakespeare Festival came to perform for the school. One of them was Barry Kraft, who was a ________ leading actor. As I ran around backstage ________ him, he treated me with the casual ________ that he would show for friends in his living room. I ________ thought he was just making small talk to ________ the time before the performance.

That summer, I traveled to ________ Kraft’s performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. During one performance, I gathered my ________ and dropped him a note at intermission (中场休息), saying that if he ________ he could see me in the 15th row. Almost immediately I ________ sending the note, thinking he was too busy to see me.

After the ________, surprisingly, he was waiting for me! He smiled broadly, saying, “Would you like to visit backstage?” And off we went. Every time we ________ someone, he introduced me and said, “She helped me a lot.” I found him ________ sincere with people. It was then that I ________ I’d been wrong about him that day.

My ________ just increased 800%. After all, a well-known man like Kraft was willing to take the ________ to communicate with me, which ________ I mustn’t be so bad. From then on, I felt like a different person. ________, I successfully entered my dream university.

Aram and Rossi’s Bakery

Walking along the narrow brick sidewalk, Aram took a deep breath. The air smelled of lemons and baked bread and coffee, coming from Rossi’s Italian Bakery. He was almost there.

Aram still couldn’t believe his luck. All his friends were working boring summer jobs—waiting tables and babysitting. And here he was, about to start as an actual baker’s assistant, doing what he loved. It was all thanks to his Aunt Rita. She knew Mrs Rossi and had arranged everything. It was the perfect experience for his future career. Rossi’s Bakery, he was sure, would one day be known as the place where he got his start.

Ah, here he was—the bakery. A faded wooden sign over the door read “Rossi’s Bakery.” Aram straightened his shoulders and entered. Mrs Rossi was sitting at the counter, looking old and wise. Aram greeted her and stuck out his hand. Mrs Rossi looked at it for a second before turning around and waving him inside. “I’m ready to learn everything,” Aram said.

“Great. Let’s start with the cash register,” Mrs Rossi said, “because that’s what you’ll be doing.” She showed him how to use the cash register. It wasn’t hard. The pastry trays were all marked by price, and there weren’t that many choices anyway. “That’s it?” Aram said, his heart sinking. “But when do we bake?”

“Bake? I order wholesale now. No more baking. I’m too old.” Then Mrs Rossi silently held up her hands. Aram took in her knotted, swollen fingers, and he understood. A wave of disappointment struck him. Sadness overwhelmed him so suddenly that he couldn’t think of a word to say.

He sighed, and Mrs Rossi sighed, too. “I used to bake it all. Bread and cakes. And no one did it better than me. But that was when these things worked,” said Mrs Rossi holding up her hands once more and glancing across the shelves filled with empty bottles labelled with names of the various ingredients (配料) she once used. Suddenly she came alive, waving her arthritic (关节炎的) hands. “People used to line up around the corner. Everyone wanted my baked bread.”

Then a thought occurred to Aram that he could ask Mrs Rossi to teach him.

Mrs Rossi finally said, “Let’s buy the ingredients first.”

5 . Having grown up in northern Arizona with the immortal Grand Canyon and the iron red plateaus of Sedona in my backyard, I believed that the southwestern state is home to the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Towering mountain titans, a cozy valley and an infinite blue sky promised fantastic potential for exploration. For me, no newly discovered sights or foreign landscapes can compare with its beauty.

That is, until I was invited to explore Guizhou province by the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour. Had someone vividly described how beautiful Guizhou can be in poetic detail, they would not have done it exactly. There is no substitute for seeing with one’s own eyes. I will attempt to do so.

During my trip around the city of Xingyi, in Guizhou, I saw the artwork of the Bouyei ethnic group. They use dyes produced from local plants to make clothing of striking blues and greens. Local elders still practice weaving with artful wooden machines and pass that tradition on to their grandchildren.

My father used to drag my brothers and me on yearly fishing trips around Arizona. We would compete to catch the largest fish, and in the mornings, Dad would cook us a basic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. I sat in a small boat in the middle of the lake, with fishing pole moving slowly in my impatient hands, and held my bored tongue while my father attempted to share with me the whispers of the wind, a fish dancing on the surface of the lake or the majesty of a hawk hunting for prey overhead. On my trip to Guizhou I had the opportunity to paddle on Wanfeng lake. At one point I rested, floating at the center of the lake, listening to the spaces between silence and taking in the surrounding karst (喀斯特) mountains. I thought about my childhood, and wished I had listened more closely to my father while fishing.

I’ve lived away from Arizona for 10 long years, carving my own destiny in China. I’ve managed to build myself a family, a career, a livelihood, and various projects. I feel as though I have everything that I need. For a moment, in Guizhou, I felt home.

7 . A preschool teacher decided to add a very special person to her list of students: Her beloved dad!

When teaching kids how to read and write, Lucy Floreshas has given more _______ about the fact that her dad never even had the _______ to learn how to write his own name. For this reason, she decided she could be the _______ teacher for him!

Lucy says her Spanish-speaking dad, Luciano, was a little _______ at first. His desire to learn, _______, was greater than anything and so the _______ began! Lucy posted a TikTok video of her dad where he was _______ how to write his name, which now has more than two million _______-and counting! She also posted a video where she _______ a little bit about her father’s background.

Her dad was born in Mexico and had a ________ childhood. Because of poverty, he had to drop out of school after first grade so that he could work to help ________ his family. At 15, he moved to the States. Ever since then, he’s been working in ________. Because it’s not something where he has to write frequently.

“Overall, I’m so excited that he chose to ________ to learn.” said Lucy.

Lucy gives her dad writing lessons three days a week for two hours, and the hard work has ________ Luciano can now write his name and is even starting to read books! His story has ________ touched thousands of hearts and proves that it is never too late to learn.

10 . Fritz Sam was driving his Uber car when he picked up Jemimah Wei, who was on her way to LaGuardia Airport. ____Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, Fritz saw a building on fire.

He asked Jemimah if she’d mind him pulling over to check it out. With Jemimah’s____, he went out to help.

Outside of the building a crowd had ____, and Fritz joined them in calling for the people inside to come out. And when someone said two people were ____inside, he was faced with the ____ of   staying safe out on the sidewalk or running into the ____ building to help those that remained.

Fritz chose the latter. He ____entered the smoke-filled building and went up the stairs. Then, he met one man who said he would ____the instant he picked up something ____ . So Fritz made a mental note that he’d ____the man before heading out of the building. Going up another set of stairs, he ____a woman who was too____ to move. He hurried forward to ____her and headed downstairs. Before heading out himself, Fritz listened for the man he’d ____seen. When he heard movement down the stairs, he ran back and rushed the man to the ____Back inside the car, Fritz got Jemimah to the ____ , and all in time to catch her flight. When landing, she ____photos of the burning building on a social networking website to ____her Uber hero. Jemimah’s thread caught the ____ of millions, making him so popular. Because of his ____Uber has decided to cover his vehicle rental fees for a year.