2 . Years of living with a lisp (口齿不清) had taught me it was better not to say anything than to speak and risk embarrassment. As a result of my ________, I felt distanced from most of my peer. “ Kathy? Oh, she’s quiet.” That’s what most people would say when they talked of me, as if “ Quiet” were part of my name. I was okay with that. I didn’t need to be ________.

Last September, however, that all ________. I started my creative writing class with Ms. Haist. Every day we would be given a different writing task and, if we wished, we could share what we had written. I remember listening to others read their work and thinking: “ That will never be me. I’ ll never have the ________ to do that.”

One day, I was really pleased with what I had written and wanted to share. My heart was beating wildly as I raised my hand. Those ________ little voices were ringing in my ear, “ You have a lisp, remember? Besides, your writing isn’t that good. Be quiet.” I was about to ________ my hand when I met Ms. Haist’s encouraging eyes.

I swallowed the voices down and let my real voice ________. I could hear it ________ as I read, and I could hear every stutter (结巴) and mistake. I finished reading, waiting to be laughed at. Unexpectedly, I heard claps from the class and praise from Ms. Haist.

The next day, I did it again. Soon I was reading out loud nearly every day. Gradually I realized that ________ my lisp, the class and the teacher always appreciated my writing. Now I may still not be the most outgoing, social person, but I’ve become better at oral presentations. I even read my poetry out loud at a reading club.

Every time those little voices try to tell me to be quiet, I think of all the encouragement I received in class and I know that I ________ to be heard.

3 . Bill Sumiel was having a tough Friday. It was October 2020,and the 71-year-old,who was dealing with kidney failure and had been on dialysis (透析) for a few years, found himself away from home.

He’d been diagnosed with diabetes (糖尿病) over 20 years before, which led to his kidney problems. He was on the transplant list, but no matches had yet appeared. So he continued with his treatments periodically. Without a ride lined up for Friday’s do-over, Sumiel took Ubers to and from his appointment.

Timothy Letts, 31, was driving to visit a friend when his phone received the request for Sumiel’s ride home. When Sumiel got into his car, Letts could see that the older man was unenergetic but in good spirits. And as they set out to Sumiel’s home, the pair got to chatting. During conversation, Sumiel revealed that he was searching for a kidney donor. Letts joked that he’d be a good donor candidate, given that he didn’t drink or smoke.

Sumiel agreed, though he didn’t think much of it. Letts, however, couldn’t stop thinking about it and it was always on his mind. So, Letts said: “I’d like to see if I could be a match to give you a kidney.”

“I was shocked,” Sumiel recalls. He was shaking so hard that he could barely write his name when they exchanged contact information

After the initial excitement, Sumiel started feeling less optimistic. He was touched by Letts’s offer, but he wondered if it had just been an emotional moment. Would he hear from him? And what was the likelihood of a match?

But Letts was true to his word. He got in touch with Sumiel just a few hours later, and by the next week, Letts had contacted the kidney transplant program. After a series of testing, the results were in: Letts was an ideal donor, and he and Sumiel were a perfect match.

In December 2021,14 months after their chance encounter, Sumiel and Letts had their surgeries. It was a success. Today they live respectively and healthily and anticipate the day they can reunite.

4 . I entered this world with Poland syndrome, a disease that prevented the formation of my right arm and muscles. My parents believed playing with Lego could enhance my _______ and gifted me my first kit when I was five. Initially I _______ to piece the components together but finally I crafted my first Lego work — a car. By the age of nine, I had fashioned my first prosthetic arm (义肢) using Lego — a simple box that perfectly accommodated my right arm.

This early creation sparked my drive for further _______. Years later, I developed another prosthetic arm called the MK-1, which had fingers, a motor, a pressure sensor, and a grabber capable of _______ things. Before constructing it, I was against traditional prosthetics as they were too _______. My parents had looked into getting one years earlier, only to be discouraged by the prohibitive price. So, I concluded that I might not need one because I was managing well without.

As the years passed, my creations evolved from MK-1 to the more advanced and comfortable MK-V. One day, a couple with their eight-year-old son, who lost both arms in an accident, reached out to me after learning about my story. Short of money, they couldn’t afford well-functioning prosthetics. “Daniel,” the father _______ asked, “we were wondering if you could help build a set of prosthetics for our son.”

It would be a challenging task, but I responded with a “yes”. Without any delay, I _______ the task. The subsequent days witnessed how I carefully selected the Lego piece and intricately integrated practical components to enhance its dexterity (灵巧). Days turned into weeks, and the boy-customized prosthetics finally took shape. It’s time for them to fulfill their intended purpose.

I rushed to the boy’s home and _______ the prosthetics onto him. They worked! The room erupted with cheers! The boy expressed his gratitude and sprinted to his parents to _______ them in the biggest hug. Never had I imagined that my creations, born out of mere __________, would someday make such a difference.

7 . Pearl Moss looked out her front window in Bethel Park, Pennsyvania. She was instantly _________. A major snowstorm over the weekend had dropped_________ a foot of snow in her driveway, and there was more on the way. She was recovering from shoulder surgery and didn’t have family members nearby who could _________ to dig her out.

A few hours later, there was a _________ on her door. Moss looked out and was surprised to see two teenage boys with shovels (铁铲). David Shelpman and Aidan Campbell _________ in the same neighborhood as Moss and are on the football team at Bethel Park High School. Head Coach Brian DeLallo had emailed his team members on Sunday to _________ them that their Monday’s workout in the school gym wasn’t going to _________. DeLallo also instructed them to find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel their driveway. Shelpman and about 40 other team members took their _________ seriously.

Helping elderly and disabled residents to dig out after snowstorms is a Bethel Park _________ that goes back two decades. In Bethel Park, community support of the football team is strong. “Our games are always well __________ so giving back is the right response,” DeLallo said.

Pearl Moss said she’s grateful for the teens adding that if they hadn’t shown up, she probably would have been stuck in her house for a while.

8 . Sarah came running in. “Look what I found.” Over the top of the paper I was reading came a crispy long object that caused me to jump. It was a snake skin that had been shed by one of our many garden snakes.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” said my wide-eyed seven-year-old.

I stared at the organic wrapper and thought to myself that it really wasn’t that beautiful, but I have learned never to appear uninterested with children. They see only good quality and excellence in the world until educated otherwise.

“Why does it do this?” Sarah asked.

“Snakes shed their skin because they need to renew themselves,” I explained. “Why do they need to renew themselves?“ Sarah asked.

I suddenly remembered an article on this page many years ago where the writer was expressing her concept of renewal. She used layers of paper over a wall to describe how we hide our original selves, and said that by peeling away those layers one by one, we see the original beneath. “We often need to shed our skins and those coatings that we cover ourselves with,” I said to my now absorbed daughter. “We outgrow some things and find other ones unwanted or unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too crinkly (起皱的) for him, and he probably doesn’t think he looks as smart in it as he once did.”

Sarah was getting the point. As we talked, I knew that she began to understand, although slightly, that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, our rooms, schoolwork and creativity, and see what we need to keep and what we need to cast off. I was careful to point out that this is a natural consequence of their growth.

“I see, Dad,” said Sarah and jumped off my lap and ran off.

I hoped she would remember this. That often, in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture with which we cover ourselves year after year, we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away, as we recognize them to be worthless or unnecessary; or at best, store the ones thrown away as mementoes of our promotion to a better vitality or spirit.