1 . I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early _________ of gardening may not have originated from my love for nature. It was to _________ my parents.

At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with _________at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her, “something else to _________!” Seeing the neighbors busy with gardening, my father ever thought it a waste of time.

At that age, I always did something _________ to whatever my parents did! If gardening were something they found _________ , I would plant a garden!

I planted some lily (百合花) seeds in the yard. But they failed to _________ to sunflower seeds and roses. Wild _________ joy, I found the first rose bloom (开花). One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off. _________, I was touched by this land of wonder. I kept on planting my garden and continued to enjoy the pleasure gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they __________ to care and love.

Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, and now I could say it is my affection for nature that makes me a real gardener.

2 . Two weeks ago, a 5-year-old girl named Sunshine Oelfke emptied out her piggy bank (存钱罐) onto the living room floor and immediately started counting. Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, thought she was playing as she carefully lined up the coins, but then she saw the girl put the coins into a plastic bag and place it in her backpack.

“What are you doing with that money?” Jackie asked her granddaughter.

“I’m taking it to school,” Sunshine replied. “I’m going to take it for milk money. My friend Layla doesn’t get milk— her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”

Jackie’s heart melted at Sunshine’s words. Choked with strong feelings, Jackie held her sweet granddaughter tightly in her arms.

Last week, Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved. There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk. It costs $ 0.45 a carton (纸盒). The total adds up to about $180 a month for every child in the class to have milk every day.

After dropping Sunshine off at school, Jackie posted a tearful video on Facebook to explain her granddaughter’s plan. To her surprise, many people offered to donate toward the cause. Within a week, Jackie raised more than $1,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class can get free milk for the rest of the year.

Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends. “She doesn’t understand the effect she’s brought about,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”

3 . It all started with a(n) ________. I watched the baby take his first steps on TV, right before his family left for a trip to Disney World. An idea struck me: I wanted to go to Disney World as well. For most young kids, it’s a(n) ________ request, but for me, it is unique. I was born with cerebral palsy, a brain disease, which doesn’t allow me to walk on my own. Over the next three years or so, I worked with my physical doctor and practiced walking, standing, and balance — all ________ that I would need to turn my goal into a reality.

I remember the feeling when my legs would ________ doing any more work. Despite this, everyone else told me I could do it, so I persisted. I walked, stood, balanced, until the ________ came. I stood in one end of tunnel (隧道) leading to Main Street of Disney, looking around at my adoring fans — my ________.

My dad asked me if I wanted any help doing this thing. I promptly replied “NO!” and ________ the other end of the tunnel, feet ________ firmly. One step, two, three, four, bump! I realized quickly what had happened: I ________ my balance and my focus, crashing into something and falling down.

________, we had practiced this type of ________ many times. Holding fast onto the handlebars, I gathered all of my six-year-old strength and ________ up. I ________ my pace once again. It wasn’t too long before the ________ became louder because I had made it to the end, where my mom was waiting with tears in her eyes.

Looking back on that experience, I realize something thoughtful. Once in a while, life will ________ a few barriers in the road. Though they may set you back for a bit, don’t let them stop you from progressing.

4 . I was informed that my four-grade daughter was not going to make it to the fifth grade. The teacher said, “She may not be _________ what we’re trying to accomplish. “He was actually saying she didn’t have the _________. I got mad because I knew she was smart, just as my father had known I was smart when I was _________ in school. We had her tested and found that the trouble she was having was dyslexia-difficulty in reading, which was _________ what I had had. By then I was a successful television writer, and had _________ an Emmy Award for “The Rockford Files.”

Writing and writing, I worked so hard in my late 20s and early 30s, _________ to hear people praise me, because I did badly in all my courses. Eventually, I did become successful, and people now say to me, “So you’ve _________ dyslexia.”

No. I don’t overcome it, but just switch to something within my _________. Some easy things are very hard for me. Most people who go through college _________ twice as fast as I do. I avoid__________ a phone if I can, because I sometimes have to try three times to get the number right.

Despite my weaknesses I view dyslexia as a__________, not a misfortune. Many dyslexics are __________ at right-brain, abstract thought, and that’s what my kind of creative writing is. And I can write quickly, and can get up to 15 pages a day. Writing is my__________.

The real fear I have for dyslexic children is not that they __________ in school, but that they will quit on themselves before they get out of school. Parents have to create__________ for them, whether it’s in music, sports or art. You can make your dyslexic child able to say, “Yeah, reading is hard. But I have other things I can do.”

5 . I was busy preparing for supper one shiny afternoon, when I was on my day off from work. I told my two-year-old son to_______to the family room and turn off the TV and Andrew was now upstairs_______ that he should help fix supper.

I knew Andrew could follow simple_______.So I said very clearly and slowly, “Honey, go downstairs and_______the button “off’ on the TV and turn off the TV,” I repeated three times,_______the words: push, off and TV. I knew he’d _______ it out. He knew where the “off’ button was._______,he took pleasure in pushing it in every night during the climax(高潮)of every movie we watched.

So downstairs he went, to do a _______deed for Mommy. I went back to the sink to wash the carrots. Then it happened. The _______ crash ever heard in our house. I was so________ that I couldn’t move. I kept waiting for Andrew to scream. But the________ was more frightening than the crash.

I________down the steps, half expecting to find Andrew lying________,I stopped cold.

He was standing there behind the TV stand, smiling,“ Aren’t you________ of me, Mom?   Andrew pushed off the TV!”

There was the TV, face down on the ________.Two of the round handles were broken off. The screen was destroyed.

I pulled him into my arms and sat on the sofa rocking him back and forth. I thanked God that he wasn’t hurt.

6 . In my childhood, my mother spent her evening hours doing something for someone else. Sometimes she knitted(编织)hats for babies, and at other times, she cooked chicken soup for sick neighbors. Therefore, I wasn’t surprised when one evening my mother announced she had undertaken a new project.

“I am going to telephone seniors,” said my mother. “Every night? But you don’t even know these people.” “It doesn’t matter,” she said, “What’s important is that I listen.”

I was sixteen years old and couldn’t understand why my mother was willing to spend her evenings talking to strangers. She had friends and my two older sisters to call if she felt lonely. “They will talk your ear off. Some people didn’t even stop to catch breath.” I said.

My attitude didn’t stop my mother’s enthusiasm for the project. That evening, she settled on the sofa and dialed. When she finished the call, I said, “Why do you care whether she had cookies or rice pudding for dessert? ” My mother grasped one of my hands and said in a proud tune, “I’m the only person she talked to today.”

It took me more than thirty years to fully understand the meaning of that statement. Now, as my mother is near eighty, I find myself thinking about those nightly calls she used to make. I am often the only person who telephones my mother, and sometimes I’m the only person she speaks to all day. I ask her what she cooked for dinner, but mostly I just listen as she describes a walk she took, or how her dog Lucky stole foods from the refrigerator. I realize that my mother’s calls were life lines that ensured housebound seniors remained connected to the world. Without her, their world would have been empty.

10 . There is nothing more comforting than the sound of the Singer, a sewing (缝纫) machine. It ______so many memories of my grandmother and mother. The______of turning different materials into something fashionable always______me.

I began sewing as a child alongside my grandmother, a loving woman who taught me how to use a machine and how to sew my first______. It was a simple pullover blouse (衬衫) made from an old pink and white pillowcase. I wore that with such______because wearing something you______yourself just makes you smile. Then, one day I made a mistake, sewing the inside out, and had to start again. This taught me to be______and focused on details.

Later I received the old Singer from my mom, but it was left to gather dust in the corner.Once Covid-19______, I had too much time on my hands and in my head.I got the Singer ______ and began sewing again.

“Measure twice, cut once" is a Sewer’s proverb. We all hear it and I rarely use it, just like road maps, but it is______. It’s a way of life.

In a time when tomorrow is ______,I found a sense of hope and creativity through rediscovery. Relearning how to sew has______my boredom and made me more patient with myself. It also helps build an emotional______with my older generations through this one thing that we______.That brings me joy. And I’ll______that joy for as long as possible.