Marmi, my big sister, was eagerly looking for a pup (小狗) to look after and love all her life, so she would ask Mummy many times for a pup of her own, but the answer was always no. You see, my mum is not very fond of dogs, never has been, and always says they're too big a responsibility. She's just not a dog person. Well, that didn't stop my sister from looking or hoping for a dog. She used to search online for her favourite breed (品种). Until one day Marni found some Cavapoo pups advertised for sale. She immediately showed Mummy and begged to go and see them. Not sure how my sister persuaded her, but to our surprise, Mummy said we could go and have a look at them but not to get high hopes. Marni rushed everyone in the car before Mummy changed her mind. Off we sped to the advertised breeder's house which luckily wasn't too far. We got to the house and I bet I could hear my sister's heart dancing with excitement. As we rang the doorbell, we could hear cute little barks coming from inside. We went in and saw lots of little black pups excitedly jumping around. There were other people there too, so we needed to choose one fast if you know what I mean. It was rather crowded but the breeder let us hold and cuddle (搂抱) the pups. The breeder handed a little confident pup to Marni. The little pup seemed an old friend with my sister. But after a lot of cuddles, Mummy said we had to go and would have to think about it.

As we were walking towards the door, the little pup followed my sister.

The little pup made a mess (杂乱) of our home.

3 . Kim and I decided to go to see a new movie. We ___a little early and were talking about our day. Then came a young girl, followed by a man who we thought was her_____ They sat one row ahead and about two seats to the right. As they began to talk, it was ___that the man was her father, and that their family had been experiencing hard times.

The young girl seemed mature beyond her years. She ____ her father, saying that everything would be okay and that she loved him. As they spoke, Kim’s____ were filled with tears. He was thinking how fortunate this father was to have the love and ___ of his daughter. The young girl ___her dad of the past times when they used to go to the movies together, enjoying, talking, laughing and even crying. These were times she ___. She knew her dad missed ___, but he had devoted himself ___ to making money and supporting the family.

It became clear to us that they had ____ the early show because the tickets were ___. They had bought a small box of popcorn and were sharing it happily. This young girl had saved her money to enjoy this daddy-daughter “___.” The father felt grateful to his daughter, ___ that things would return to normal ____.

Mark Twain, like you know, was famous in his days as the public speaker. He always liked to play joke on his friends. One day, the one of his friends lost their wallet and asked him to buy a train ticket for him. “But I don’t have enough money to pay both your ticket and mine,” Mark Twain said. The friend didn’t know what to do. “Let’s do this,” Mark Twain saying, “You can get off the train and when the conductor comes to check the ticket you can hide under my seat.” Later, however, when the conductor comes to check the ticket, Mark Twain gave him two tickets— one for him and the other for his friend.

6 . Terasa Hill did not intend to do something unplanned. It began when Terasa was observing a horse auction (拍卖). A chestnut: racehorse was for sale? “She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, though it had an injured leg,” said Terasa.

When the bidding started, Terasa surprised herself by stepping in. Finally, Terasa became the new owner of Sierra, and Sierra, limping (跛) and hurt with pain from a broken knee, became a labour of love for Terasa. After three long months of nursing her under the guidance of a local animal doctor, the leg recovered.

It wasn’t only Sierra’s leg that needed to recover; Sierra needed to relearn how to trust people. Terasa thought the best way to win Sierra’s trust and fondness was to feed her treats. Terasa kept providing Sierra with many treats, but none passed the sniff (嗅) test. Desperate, Terasa experimented by making her own mixture of molasses and grains, which she baked in her own kitchen. The cookies were a hit with Sierra and other horses, sending Terasa’s life in a new direction.

Her treats, called “Barnies”, were sold to a local store and like hotcakes, within months local businessmen began demanding for more. Terasa’s kitchen was no longer big enough for the increased demand, moving her operation to an Oshawa company.

Then a serious health problem threatened to ruin her plans. Terasa called upon the same resolution that had helped her save Sierra to help her overcome her own illness. Family and friends came to her rescue and kept Barnies Ltd. going. Almost a year later, healthy and more resolute than ever, Terasa found a national distributor and Bainies began selling in 144 stores across Canada.

And what about Sierra, the inspiration for all this success and change? The horse has fully recovered and has become a wonderful riding horse.

7 . Just weeks after being named the Hero of the Year, Nelly Cheboi traveled more than 7,000 miles to bring her award home. Far from the lights, cameras, and celebrities who surrounded her at the gala (晚会) event in New York City, Cheboi was _________ by her own heroes: the students she serves in rural Mogotio, Kenya.

“I felt a lot of _________ just bringing the award to the kids,” Cheboi said. “For me, and for the community here, it really means a lot to be celebrated.”

Like many of her students, Cheboi lived in poverty (贫穷) from childhood, without _________ to education. Cheboi watched her mother work _________ so Cheboi and her sisters could _________ school. She saw education as an effective _________ to end her own poverty. In 2012, Cheboi _________ a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois and began her _________ in computer science. “The only tool I had at the time was education,” Cheboi said.

After graduation, she taught her students computer skills and helped them have Zoom calls with NASA. She’s found job opportunities abroad for them. She has brought professional, and _________ support to her community in Africa. “Digital skills provide __________ opportunities,” Cheboi said.

She owes her success to her mother, Christina. “I’m constantly __________ occasions to show people this is Christina Cheboi and she happened to have four daughters. She’s worked really hard to raise them.” When Cheboi’s name was __________ as the Hero of the Year, the first face she saw from the stage was that __________ one. “I looked at the audience, and saw my mom __________ at me,” Cheboi said. “This was someone who had no idea that all her hard work is going to __________ something.”

10 . Erjiu

A video of a 66-year-old man ______ Erjiu has gone viral (走红、火了) on Chinese social media after his nephew Tang Hao shared the man’s brief but ______ life story on short-video platform Bilibili on Monday.

In the video, Erjiu is shown as a “young ______” who always performed well academically at school during childhood. ______, while he was a teenager, a high fever was misdiagnosed (误诊的) and he ______the wrong medicine, _____ resulted in Erjiu losing the use of his left leg. Erjiu, who _____ in bed in low____ for one year afterward, then learned carpentry by watching a carpenter (木工、木匠) going about woodworking tasks _______ three days, and he later did woodworking in the village and the town.

According to Tang, it would be inaccurate to merely define Erjiu _____ a carpenter, since he demonstrated his _____ skills by fixing an electrical socket patch panel (插座接线板), a gas stove and a toy car during the three days the video was shot in the village. He also _____ erhu — a traditional Chinese musical instrument-with wood, using fishing line for strings _______ snakeskin as covering.

Erjiu, who said that he _____ felt sorry for himself despite his difficulties, now _____ his 88-year-old mother. At the end of the video, Tang shares a sentence that Erjiu found in a book decades ago: “Be _____ and not afraid of sacrifice to _____ all difficulties and win the final success.”

The man, who uses a cane (拐杖) due to a longtime ______, is portrayed as a common hero ______never bows to life’s difficulties, but struggles instead ______ a full and meaningful village life.