1 . Years ago, when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children. We thought we’d find a hotel on the way without _________ ahead of time. As it was getting late, we started looking for a hotel, only to find that all the hotels were full.

_________, around 9 pm, we stopped at a gas station to fill up on gas. My husband told the woman at the counter that we were _________ to find a hotel. She told us it would be _________ at such a late time in a busy season. Noticing that we were worried, she said we could spend the night at her home nearby.

Though surprised at her _________, we gladly accepted it. She then called her son to come and lead the way, since she had to work until midnight. Soon a pickup truck arrived and we _________ it. When we reached their home, her husband _________ us. He invited us to have coffee and we chatted when _________ his wife. She came past 12. We asked if we could leave _________ in the morning so as not to disturb them. They said we were now guests and we’d have to have breakfast with them.

Next morning, around the table were many people and we were __________ that they would welcome total __________ from a different country. After breakfast, when we were __________, my husband asked if he could offer some __________. But they said no. Then we left. We kept in __________ for many years. Later we lost contact, but over the years we have never forgotten their __________.

5 . When I was in medical college, I went camping with some of my friends. The season was summer; therefore, we chose to go to the seaside. After arriving there, we rented a room and left our luggage there. We finished lunch and then decided to rent a boat because the sea and the weather were beautiful.

We started to row, but about one mile out, the weather seemed to change. But we didn’t want to give up. After a while, the weather changed a lot. The waves got very high, and the boat began to shake. One of my friends started to cry; another started to vomit (呕吐). My friends and I agreed that we should go back.

We tried to change the boat’s direction, but as soon as we changed it, the oarlock (桨架) suddenly broke. Therefore, we were unable to turn back. We had to wait for help because we couldn’t do anything. Three hours passed, but nobody came to help us.

We shouldn’t have continued to row when the weather began to change, but it was too late. The only thing we could do was just praying. Fortunately, after five long hours of waiting, two big boats came to rescue us and we escaped. If they hadn’t come to get us, we would have lost our lives.

This story is the most exciting story of my life because we could have died, but luck was with us and we escaped.

6 . I grew up in New Hampshire, a small town in South Canada, where in my father’s words for the seasons were “Spring, Summer, Fairtime and Winter!” At that time, a week-long fair (展销会) was held in the town every autumn. Thousands of people from other towns came to sell and buy things. It was the busiest time of the year.

When “Fairtime” came, my grandma became the most “useful” and busiest person of the family. Grandma was a kind, well-educated old lady. She was good at cooking. All her relatives liked the food she cooked. During “fairtime”, they would come to live in her house and have meals there. Grandma was always happy to look after them.

Year after year, many people moved to big cities. There was no longer “Fairtime”. Grandma became very old and was gradually going blind. My parents and I moved to live with Grandma in her house. We did our best to make her day-to-day life as comfortable as possible. I was at high school then. What I often did at home was to help Grandma with the daily newspaper’s crossword puzzle. However, she didn’t look happy. She often sat in her room for hours, without saying a word.

To attract people to move back, the Town Hall decided to reopen the Fair. One day, when I came back from school, I saw Grandma wearing her glasses, washing the dishes in the kitchen. With a big smile on her face, she looked a lot much younger. She told me that her two nieces would come. “They said the food I cooked was very delicious and they want to stay in my house again,” Grandma said happily. “They will stay here for one week and we can have a big party. That must be the busiest week I’ve had in years!”

I suddenly realized that Grandma didn’t want to be looked after. She wanted to be “useful”, appreciated and helpful.

7 . Today, caring people across the country are finding creative ways to improve the lives of the homeless.

The Nashville Street Barbers is a group of hairdressers who are “trying to make their community a _________ place one cut at a time.” The inspiring group was _________ in 2017 by hairdresser Caroline Lindner, who created the _________ to help the homeless.

Since then, the Nashville Street Barbers has _________, thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Hardee’s All Stars program and, most importantly, thanks to a growing group of _________ visitors. Linder _________ that the barbers have seen such a success because of the connections they’ve made with their visitors, who they treat just like paying (付费的) customers. “I know most people are particular about their _________ and our _________ are not different”, she told. “We had to prove and gain _________ which got people to come back every Monday __________.”

What started as a one-person effort has become a city-wide __________ that now provides up to 80 free haircuts a week. Lindner even has plans to __________ the program, bringing the Nashville Street Barbers to locations beyond the city. The team hopes to make a __________ through their __________ story. “Our final goal,” they say, “is to __________ others around the world to start their own barbering communities and help their communities.”

Peter woke up early in the morning. He went downstairs in a hurry and started to have hisbreakfast as quickly as possible.

“Why are you in such a hurry, early bird?" Mum asked him. “We will have an English spelling test today, Mum," Peter said. “Mr. White promised to offer prizes to those who get 100 scores. I've been studying the word list since last week. Although the words are difficult, I am well prepared for them.”

Peter reviewed the spelling of each word once more carefully when Dad drove down.

Thirty words later, the test papers were collected by Mr. White. “I am to mark your papers now," he told the class. After marking the test papers, Mr. White said, “Three of you won a prize today for excellent test scores. Peter. David and Mary got 100 percent on the spelling test!" Mr. White praised them. Meanwhile, he gave the three students each a dictionary. Peter's was an English-Chinese dictionary—the one he liked best. Peter was so excited that he held it high when his classmates cheered. "This is my happiest moment,” Peter thought.

After Mr. White gave the test paper back, Peter had a look at the words, feeling proud of his spelling. All of a sudden, the word “contribution" confused him. It didn't seem right. Peter began to compare them after taking out the wordlist. “C-o-n-t-r-i-b-u-s-i-o-n，”he whispered. He had spelledit wrong.

“What am I to do?” Peter said to himself. “I expect my classmates to think I'm a master in spelling. If I tell Mr. White one of my spelling words is wrong, I'll have to give my prize back, or I will become an example for telling a lie". Staring at the red sign “100%” which was written at his test paper, Peter was lost in thought. After a while, he remembered a lesson Mum used to teach him, “We ought to be an honest person.”

During lunchtime, Emma suggested going to the 200 to feed the animals and her mom agreed.

“We’ll stop by the bakery and pick some bread up. Now hurry and eat and then we'll go. It’s going to be a lovely day. Grandma is coming with us. She'll be here any minute,” Mom said.

Emma ate her lunch and then ran into her room to get her shoes. The problem was that she could only find one of them. She looked under her bed, but all she could see were dirty towels and pants. She moved some of her toys out of the way, but still couldn’t find her shoe. After she’d checked everywhere in her room, she ran into the kitchen. “Mom, I can’t find my shoe. Will you wait while I look for it?” she asked.

Her mom thought about how many times she’d told Emma to clean her room up. She whispered something to Emma’s grandma and then said to Emma, “You will have to stay at home. Your dad and I will take Ryan to the zoo. Grandma will stay here with you.”

“No! Please wait for me. I want to go to the zoo,” Emma cried. “I’m sorry, Emma. I’ve told you a dozen times to clean your room and you ignored me. You can’t find your shoe now. It’s your own fault for not doing as I asked. You will stay at home.”

Emma ran into her bedroom, crying. Her mom came to the door and said, “Emma, clean that room of yours before I get home. I’ve told grandma not to give you any sweets until you finish the work.” She went out to the car with Ryan and Emma’s dad and then they drove away.