The old man turned away sadly with his eyes filled with tears. Poor Mr. Dev! Indra thought sympathetically. Another day went past and there was still no sign of his family. Indra wondered how children could be so heartless as to abandon a parent like this.

Indra recalled the day when the old man was admitted to her ward (病房). He was thin and delicate. He could not produce his identity card but he could remember the number. The hospital tried to contact his family using the phone number he gave them but it was in vain. He was treated for a lung infection and was now recovering. Soon, it would be time for him to be discharged (出院). Where would he go then? He did not look strong enough to look after himself. Indra threw down the file she was holding as anger rose within her.

“What’s the matter?” asked Poh, Indra’s colleague.

“I’m just upset about old Mr. Dev,” she replied. Poh nodded with understanding. She had been a nurse much longer than Indra. She had seen many cases of abandoned old people and she had learned to control her feelings.

“Don’t worry too much. The hospital will contact the welfare department. Mr. Dev will be placed in an old folks’ home,” Poh said and patted Indra’s arm comfortingly.

Indra sighed. “I know. It’s just that the old man really longs for his family to visit him. He cleans and tidies himself every morning and sits up to wait expectantly. You can see the eagerness in his eyes whenever the door opens. At the end of the day, he goes to sleep with tears in his eyes. You can feel the disappointment as he does. It makes me cry inside. I just could not bear it.”

Poh shook her head sadly, “He needs a miracle (奇迹).”

6 . On my third birthday, we moved to this neighborhood. Arlene and her husband, Bill, lived next door, who had no children. There weren't any_______my age nearby, so I mostly played in the yard alone. Arlene and Bill spent a lot of time working in the _______, and I was always talking to them from our yard. They were never tired of listening to me. I think what _______ me to them is that I also think they saw a lot of themselves in me — we were all lonely kids. It was a wonderful _______.

When I was about five, I had an idea _______ I took Bill and Arlene into our family as my grandparents. My parents made the _______ that I should ask them directly and so I did. They started crying and _______ accepted. It is truly wonderful for a child _______ her love and adults being so overjoyed to accept it. Every child in this world _______ enthusiastically repaid love.

From the day I accepted them, I called Bill and Arlene Grandpa and Grandma and my parents called them Mom and Dad. Over the years, Bill and Arlene ________ me in all my dreams. They encouraged me to ________ college, even though I didn't have the money to go. And when I was ________ to a university, they presented me with their savings. They told me they’d been ________ money since the day I called them grandparents. Four years later, I ________ and now work as an official.

Arlene passed away in 2013. Bill told me that Arlene thought the greatest ________ of her life was me, her granddaughter.

The driver, Zhang Sai, hesitated outside     1     apartment building in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak. He     2     (order) not to take food to customers’ doors in order to minimize the risk of     3     (infect).

But the woman on the phone was begging, he recalled. The food was for her mother,     4     couldn’t go down to meet him. Mr. Zhang finally agreed. He would drop off the order and rush away.     5     he placed the bag on the floor, Mr. Zhang said, the door opened.     6     (Frighten), he rushed away. Without thinking, he pressed the elevator button with his finger, touching a surface he feared could transmit the virus.

That was how Mr. Zhang, 32, found     7     (he) speeding back to his delivery station with one finger     8     (hold) high in the air, careful not to touch the rest of his hand.

For many people in China, delivery drivers like Mr. Zhang     9     (be) the only connection to the outside world. Once a common but invisible presence on the streets of nearly every Chinese city, the drivers are now being praised     10     heroes.

8 . It was a painful time for me, for I suffered from an illness and might never be able to have a child. As my 40th birthday approached, I began, for the first time, to notice babies and their happy, smiling mothers wherever I went.

One night, I came to a cafe to kill the boring time. An elegantly dressed, sightly older woman was seated next to me.

“Would you like to see a picture of my daughter?” she asked me, handing me a photo of a smiling Chinese girl. The child was about seven years old and was wearing a Snow White costume. That's Melanie, now in the first grade," she said. I could hear the motherly pride in her voice. “She's pretty,” I said. "I love her costume." The woman explained that she felt strongly about teaching her daughter about Chinese customs and maintaining ties to her shoes. “What made you decide to adopt her?" I asked. "I didn't want work to be my whole life," she said.

I'm not sure if she saw the tears in my eyes as I replied, I don't either, but I'm afraid it's too late." I was 51 when I adopted Melanie, she said. "And it's the most rewarding, exciting thing I've ever done."

When my husband and I returned from China with our nine-month-old daughter, Madeline, in November 2017, Jill was one of the first people I e-mailed. I did it!" I wrote. “I’m a mother and she's beautiful"

“Congratulations,” she wrote back. We recently reconnected on Facebook, and I told her, “You changed my life.”

9 . “Oh, no! You’re moving?” Such was my neighbor’s ______ when she saw household items appearing on my lawn and ______ my driveway.

“Nope. Just cleaning house!” I called back, smiling.

This yard sale had been the result of six months of ______. I had searched every ______ and overflowing closet and cupboard—crazy about my seeking to find items to ______.

I met loads of ______ and friendly people. The Mirror Lady was ______ to buy the antique mirror from my first apartment for her daughter’s first apartment; and the Futon Girl, a college sophomore, said my futon (沙发床) and frame were ______ for her dorm room.

And how can I ______ the Camera Man? Bending absorbedly over the “technology” table, he spotted my husband’s faded ______ bag from the early 80s. Zippered compartments (隔包) ______ a broken camera and a few old lenses. “Wow!” he said, as he picked it up and made me a(n) ______. I asked what he was going to do with it. “It’s just cool—I have a shelf at home for cool ______ technology.” So apparently he ______ it just so he could look at it. As he walked down the driveway with the dusty bag ______ over his shoulder, for a second I ______ my journalist husband doing the same, heading out to ______ a story. That made me feel ______.

All yard sales lasted two days. As hard as it can be to let things ______, the true value of those things is to ______ you of a place you lived in, a special time in your life, or a loved one in your heart.

10 . I am a volunteer in the Friendly Visiting Program. I visit a(n)______ who does not seem ______ because her son and grandchildren live upstairs with her.______, she has a special disease and ______ this condition she cannot ______ the house alone. For whatever reasons, her family is too nervous or ______ to take her out of the house with her oxygen tank. I will admit at first I was ______ too! But she is a fiercely independent lady and can ______ it with ease.

Since her loneliness comes from staying ______ so long, we meet about every other week. We go to IHOP and I get to ______ her amazing stories such as when she first moved to Boston from Ireland,______ she first met her husband and about her large family. She often ______ at the end of our meetings, saying I had no ______ to cut in. I am a chatty person but with her all I want to do is ______. Often, her family members have heard these ______ and may take them for granted, but for me they are ______ and interesting. We often stay at IHOP for 2 hours ______ the free flowing coffee.

It is nice to know that when I drop her back off at home she is not ______ lonely. But I also see the real ______ our meetings make. There have been times when, because of her ______ issues, we have not seen one another for a month or two and we miss each other terribly. I feel very lucky to have a friend like her.