1 . About three years ago, a tornado attacked our town. My father and I _________ to visit my grandparents to make sure they were okay. Upon arrival, I took my regular seat and _________ with Grandma about what was on our mind to pass the time. _________, the power was out and it got dark in what seemed like a matter of minutes.

Then, Grandma turned to me and asked with _________ eyes that stared right past me, “Now you’re graduating this year, aren’t you?” As a freshman, I was _________, about this strange question. Actually, Grandma could exactly _________ you when every one of her grandchildren was born. _________, I assured her that I was not yet a(n) _________, and still had a few years until graduation.

Soon, my father asked if I was ready to go home. I silently _________ my head—yes. Into the car, I __________ and couldn’t stop weeping. My father asked me what was wrong. “Is Grandma going to __________ my graduation?” I asked.

It took him a long time to respond, “Yes. She may not know where she is, but she will be there, no matter what.” The rest of the car ride home was __________. When we eventually arrived home, I rushed to my room and cried for hours. That night, I could picture that Grandma’s __________ would be changed from the care giver to care receiver.

Ever since that talk with my Grandma, I have matured and __________. Her Alzheimer (阿尔茨海默症) has progressed to about stage 3 now. At my graduation, I was sitting on the stage seeing Grandma there sitting with the rest of my family. “She may not know where she is, but she will be there”. My father’s words __________ in my ears.

Chess is a game of make-believe kings and queens, pawns (卒) and rooks (车). For 12-year-old Andre, chess is more    1    just a game.

He uses what he learned on the chessboard in real life, like, think before you move. He’s just one of the students from some of Los Angeles’s toughest neighborhoods    2     (learn) to play.

Damen Fletcher,     3    learned how to play chess at age 13, grew up in Compton. After leaving the city     4    (attend) college, he came home to find his     5    (child) friends struggling.

“Some of     6     (they) had even fallen into prison (牢狱). I just wondered, ‘Why did I have such a different result?’   And it was chess,” he said.

He started Train of Thought to help kids of all     7    (age) find their inner king or queen.

“Every game of chess is 75 to 100 moves, and every single move that your opponent (对手) make presents     8    new problem for you to solve,” he said.

So, how does Fletcher teach a 5-year-old how to play chess?

“We have a really    9     (interest) story that we use to help kids that age set up a chessboard for the first time,” Fletcher said. “It goes: the king and the queen got married. They     10    (ride) on horses to their castle (城堡) and had eight children.”

4 . Early reports on COVID-19 compared what was developing to the “Spanish Flu”, an influenza pandemic(流感大流行)just over 100 years earlier. And yet, I grew up never having heard my parents speak of it or their experiences!I had questions about it, but no answers since my parents are no longer with us.I thought to myself, “I don't want this kind of thing to happen to the younger generation in my family in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

One day in December 2020,I had an idea of a family quilt (被子)documenting our family's experience of the pandemic. The idea excited me because I've always loved quilting. Also,I really wanted something creative to do during lockdown.   

I ran the idea by my family members-my four adult children and their spouses(配偶) (with invitations also to my eight grandchildren).They all gave it some thought and said “Go for it!”

So,I asked each person to create a square to express their views on and experiences of the pandemic.We did some brainstorming together.I ordered the cloth and quilting supplies we needed. And we found a good local shop that did a great job printing photos and other designs onto cloth. Each family unit contributed a few completed squares for a total of 20 squares.The quilt covers three generations: the youngest family member is 17 this year, and I'm the oldest at 83. It took us almost four months from the time I imagined it to the day I finished sewing (缝）it up.   

Once the pandemic has ended, I will sew the end date and any other key information onto the inside of the quilt. It may not be as skilled as some of my earlier work-I hadn't made a quilt in a long time!-but it's certainly one of the most creative and exciting things I've done, already serving the cause of bringing our family closer together.

5 . A few years back, I planned to build a networked digital library where theses (论文) from African universities could be stored. I wanted to find a way to make these great _______ visible to the whole world. It took me months and even years to _______ build it to my taste. But finally, it went nowhere.

The other day, I was at a rest area. I observed that when one ant found food, others immediately _______ to help pull the food to their storage. I tried to _______ the pattern, which unfortunately resulted in _______ one. Quickly, they came together to rescue it. Then they reorganized and _______ in the line they had created. I saw no _______ of supervision (监督), yet they were moving pieces of food that were about 30 times their individual sizes, which is a _______ task.

As I watched them, the library plan _______ in my mind. Wouldn’t it be ________ to trust others to help you? Right there, I made the following ________. The ants cooperated with each other: I will form a(n)________, bringing professionals together. The ants trusted one another: I must ________ the notion (观念) that only by working alone can I ensure quality. The ants were ________: I will share my ideas with like-minded people.

It is about a month later now and the project is progressing well. It’s true that by ________ everyone in the organization and trusting people, we will achieve success.

My husband and I were watering     1     (flower) in the yard when an old man passing by     2     (stop) to talk with us. He asked us to guess his age and I thought he was 75 years old. However, that was     3     (obvious) wrong. He was actually 94! He said he couldn’t find people to talk to. I invited him to sit on our bench. I asked him     4     was the secret to his longevity (长寿). He told me that he had been a rich lawyer before retirement but he wanted a     5     (peace) mind. Then someone advised him that he should try to help others to have peace of mind.

Then, the new friend made a     6     (contribute) to charity. He gave away all his pension (退休金). He said he lived with his son and didn’t need the money. He enjoyed     7     (talk) and accepted my offer of some desserts (甜点). After a few minutes, the desserts for his son     8     (pack) too and he gave me a silk scarf as     9     gift. I am grateful for this chance, which makes me know that if you want peace of mind, do be helpful to others. This chance also reminded me     10     a valuable idea: To practice peace!