1 . The “Double Seven Festival” is a traditional Chinese festival. It has a longer history than the ______ of Valentine’s Day in the West.

The origin of this festival is related to a cowboy and a weaving girl, whose love story has become a part of the Chinese culture. ______ there are many different versions of the story, the most popular one begins with a poor cowboy. Living with his elder and ______ brother, who treated him badly, the cowboy looked after an old cow every day. Though life was tough and boring, he put up with it in silence, without complaining.

Unluckily, even such a hard life didn’t last long. His brother got rid of him and all he got was the old cow. Although they couldn’t talk to each other, they ______ on each other for company. One day, miracle happened. The old cow started talking and told him that there would be seven fairies coming down to the Earth to ______ in a pond. All he should do was to ______ the dress of one of the fairies. Then that fairy would be his wife. ______ but excited, the cowboy followed the cow’s advice.

Every day the cowboy went to work ______ the fairy wove cloth at home. However, their ______ life came to an end when the Heavenly Goddess learned about it. She took the weaving girl away and drew a line in the sky that turned into the Milky Way, which ______ the cowboy meeting her wife. Due to the strong reaction from the young ______, the Goddess finally allowed them to see each other only once a year. The day was on the seventh day of the seventh month. That is ______ the Double Seven Festival came into being.

Although the love story doesn’t end up with a happy ending, it is to be told from one ______ to another. It reminds people to cherish every moment ______ with their loved ones and not to regret until we ______ them.

3 . Mathea Allansmith isn’t your typical grandmother. She’s the oldest woman in the world to have completed a marathon. She was 92 years 194 days old when she crossed the finish line at the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, setting the record for the oldest female to complete a marathon.

Mathea, now 94, of Koloa, Hawaii, USA, stays in shape all year round by running seven days a week, no matter what the weather is. Come rain or shine, she covers 36 miles every week, even when she’s on holiday. The retired doctor didn’t take up running until she was 46 years old —after a friend suggested running two miles per day.

“The Honolulu Marathon is my favorite marathon mainly because it doesn’t close the gate at a certain time, which allows even the slowest runner to finish the race,” she said. “It’s one of the best races. Fantastic registration (注册), set-up and management make it a joy to run the race.”

Mathea, who doesn’t allow her age to slow her down, thinks she is the happiest person when she’s on the road. She enjoys running for miles and waving and saying hello to the people she passes. To stay in shape, Mathea keeps a steady training routine (惯例) . “I train all year round but increase the mileage 18 weeks before a marathon,” she said.

Mathea said it was her career as a doctor that allowed her to understand how her body and mind respond to diet and exercise. “I see the direct relation between moving and health,” she said. “It is important to reduce stress rather than ignoring it without a plan on how to do so. Of course, exercise of any kind is a natural stress reducer.”

Mathea thought getting through the finish line and winning a Guinness World Record title was the excitement of her life. “My family completely surprised me after the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, in which I achieved the world record, by wearing matching T-shirts stating my achievements,” she said.

4 . I was hurrying to our basketball game one morning when Hillary Barnes, the most popular girl, in school, stopped me. “Are you the twin who won the art competition?” she asked.

“No, that’s Christine. I’m Katie.” I said.

We were not identical twins; we looked quite different. She could defeat Snow White in a beauty contest! Compared to Christine, I felt like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters.

One Saturday Christine gave me a painting lesson because I was always attempting to be artistic too. But I knocked over the vase of flowers, spilling water onto Christine’s painting. Instead of becoming angry, though, she turned the whole mess into a dreamy masterpiece(杰作). You could look at it five different ways and see five different things. With this brilliant creation, she won First Prize in the art competition. I really envied her, but I knew it wasn’t her fault and I was the one with wild, unmanageable hair and no talent.

Joining Christine’s basketball team was my latest effort to be like her.

On the way to the gym, I’d made up my mind to give my best performance in that day’s game. I made preparations with great enthusiasm. “Christine, here!” I tossed her a ball. But it was too high, she leapt for it, it slipped through her fingers and crashed into the tape recorder that was used to play the national anthem before each game.

I muttered apologies as I picked up the broken pieces of the recorder. Coach looked at the mess and asked, “How are we going to play the song now?”

Christine suggested, “Let Katie sing it! She’s always singing at home.”

Coach asked. “Would you?” I found myself nodding.

Coach announced the national anthem and everyone stood. Standing before a microphone, I looked up to the flag. The notes seemed to flow from deep inside me, and my voice was steady and clear. When I finished, the gym was silent. Then it was filled with applause. As the game started, teammates patted my back and gave me the “thumbs up” sign. Laura Jamison said. “You should try out for the school musical!” I Nodded and said that I might.

The next morning Hillary Barnes stopped me in the hallway and asked, “Are you the twin who sings?”

“Yes, that’s me,” I answered, grinning(露齿笑) as I walked to class.

5 . Recently my wife and I were faced with a difficult situation while traveling by car in the mountains with our hired driver. It was going to be a long ride and we were ________. Just as we began to doze (打盹), the engine made a strange, loud noise and then stopped working.

The sun was just setting and the air was getting ________. We tried communicating with the driver but with little success. He told us he was going to get help and then left.

In a(n) ________ location with no houses in sight, we started to hear the cries of wild animals. We also didn’t have much food it was getting colder and darker. I began to ________ confidence. Should we leave the car and seek shelter? Would our driver ever ________? Was he a trustworthy man? We were very ________.

A couple of hours passed. ________, the headlights from another car could be seen in the ________. An unfamiliar man got out of the car. He looked ________ at first until his mouth opened with a big friendly smile. He asked us to get into the car with him. He had such a kind face, so we knew we could ________ him. We climbed into the car.

Before we left, he put a note on the windshield (挡风玻璃) of our car with his phone number on it. Then he drove us to a nearby village, and we ________  his family. They offered us tea and local foods, and everyone asked us questions and were thrilled to have ________ guests.

Later that evening, the phone rang. It was our ________. He had kept his word and ________ the car. We prepared to leave and thanked our new friends.

I will never forget the ________ and hospitality (好客) we received on that day because we relied on a stranger for help.

Once there was a little girl named Emily. Although her singing was very pleasant to hear, lacking of courage, she never dared to sing in front of strangers.

One summer, the neighborhood where she lived would hold a singing competition. Her best friend, Lucy, came to invite her to participate in the competition, but Emily said, “I’m afraid to take part in it.” Her mother said, “It’s okay; just do it bravely.” Emily followed her mama’s advice and decided to give herself a try. The day came. Emily and Lucy went to the competition site. But she was too timid (胆小的) to walk onto the stage. She had been waiting until others finished singing. She shakily (颤抖地) forced herself to stand on the stage. She started to sing, but her voice was so low. What’s worse, she was so nervous that she forgot the lyrics (歌词) after singing a few words. Being laughed at by others, embarrassed and shy, she ran away from the stage.

Some naughty boys ran after her and said, “Emily, coward (胆小鬼)! Emily, coward!” Emily didn’t argue with them. What she wanted was to go back home as quickly as she could.

8 . A Story on an Island

A ship was lost at sea and the only survivor was washed up on a small, inhabited(无人居住的) island. He prayed _________ for God to rescue him and for hours he just _________ at the horizon(地平线), waiting for a heaven-sent _________ but it never came.

Then he decided to do something. _________ tired and upset, he _________ some branches and dry grass. Hours of hard work paid off and a little shelter was built. The “Robinson Crusoe” began his life on the island. Believe it or not, a couple of days going by, he _________ and it seemed not that hard.

But then one day, after _________ for food, he arrived home to find his little shelter in flames and the _________ rolling up to the sky.

The _________ had happened: everything was lost.

“God, how could you do this to me!” he cried with __________ and anger.

Early the next day, __________, he was awakened by the __________ of a ship that was coming near to the island. It had come to rescue him!

“__________ did you know that I was here?” he asked one of his rescuers.

“We saw your smoke __________,” they replied.

It is easy to get __________, when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even when we are in pains and sufferings.

Remember, next time your little shelter is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that calls for the grace of God. For all the negative(消极的) things we have to say to ourselves, God has a/an positive answer for it.

9 . In 1990, Hal Donaldson was 23 years old, fresh out of college and found himself in Calcutta, India, where he was asked to interview Mother Teresa.

Donaldson says about the great woman famed for feeding the hungry, “She wasn’t wearing shoes and her ankles were swollen. She sat down with me and was very polite.” After the interview, Mother Teresa asked him, “What are you doing to help the poor?” Donaldson admitted that he was young and wasn’t focused on helping others. With a smile on her face, Mother Teresa said, “Everyone can do something.”

Those words deeply struck Donaldson and forced him to face hard truths about himself.

Hal Donaldson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When he was 12 years old, his parents were hit by a drunk driver; his father died, and his mother was seriously injured. To make ends meet, they went on welfare. Donaldson says, “I had holes in my shoes and clothes. When you’re teased at school for that, you just want to escape.”

He managed to do just that. Donaldson got into college and turned his focus to making money for himself. He says, “I was just trying to find my way out of insignificance.” However, it’s easy to overlook others along the way. I was the guy that would see a homeless person and cross the street, so I didn’t have to confront (面对) him. My focus was on climbing to the top instead of helping those trying to climb with me.

Donaldson returned home from India with a different thought. He traveled to eight cities in America and stayed on the streets and listened to stories of the homeless. “My heart broke,” he says. “I knew I could no longer just live for myself.”

Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words and the stories he’d heard across America, Donaldson loaded a pick up truck with $300 worth of groceries and handed them out to anyone who needed help. In 1994, Donaldson created the nonprofit organization, Convoy for Hope, which works with communities across America and around the world. Their work focuses on feeding children, women’s empowerment, helping farmers and disaster services.