1 . “Time flies. Youth fades; treasure each moment of your life,” accompanied by guitar and drums, the Band for One, made up of five people, sang the lyrics soulfully during a performance in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on November 7.

Behind the band, there was a picture of a young man named Philip Hancock shown on the screen. And he is the reason they were all there. Hancock was a 27-year-old Australian who taught English in Chongqing. When he died in 2018 due to complications from diabetes, his parents followed his wishes and donated his organs with the help of the Red Cross Society of China’s Chongqing branch.

“I’m Philip’s liver”; “I’m Philip’s kidney”; “I’m Philip’s eyes.” The five people — a real estate salesperson, a famer, a former truck driver and two doctors introduced themselves onstage. They are the ones who received Philip’s organs.

Last year, Chen Xianjun, former truck driver, knew from Red Cross officials that Philip loved music and dreamed of having his own band one day. Chen and the other four recipients instantly decided to form a band in memory of Philip.

Since they had no music experience, they had to start from scratch. From learning the guitar to mastering the maracas and taking on the drums, they took time out of their busy lives to rehearse over the past year, even during the pandemic.

“Picking up a new instrument is certainly difficult at my age, but we managed to achieve it,” said Mo Li, the 36-year- old real estate salesman. “I think Philip not only gave me a renewed life, but also some ‘musical cells’ that enable me to appreciate beautiful melodies.”

Organ donation is not only the best way to memorialize a loved one, but also a remarkable way to save the lives of others. But according to Xinhua, China faces a serious shortage of organs, with about 300,000 people waiting for organ transplant surgeries each year. But the good news is that more and more people are joining Philip.

2 . Many years ago, when we first went to America, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children, then aged 8 and 11. As it was getting _________ we started looking for a hotel, only to find out that it was _________ time in that part of the country, and all the hotels were _________.

Finally, around 9 o’clock in the evening, we _________ at a gas station to fill up the car. My husband asked for a _________ book and told the woman at the counter that we were trying to find a hotel. She told us it would be impossible. He tried for 15 more minutes. When he was _________, the woman, Linda, said she and her family _________ nearby and would be happy if we spent the night at her home.

My husband was _________ at her offer of generosity (慷慨). She called her son to direct us, since she had to _________ at the gas station till midnight.

When we reached their home, her husband __________ us. He invited us to have coffee and chat while we __________ his wife. She came past 12 am. We asked if we could slip away in the morning so as not to __________ them. They said we were now __________ and we would have to have breakfast with them.

Next morning, when we were __________, my husband asked if he could offer some __________. They would not hear of it and insisted we were their guests. We would never forget their kindness.

4 . An old woman has proved that it’s never too late to learn as she celebrated her college graduation nearly five decades after she first started her studies.

Fiona ________ from Southern New Hampshire University(SNHU)over the weekend after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in history. It was an exciting ________ that she waited nearly fifty years to accomplish. Having a family caused her to put her ________ journey on the back burner.

Fiona first ________ her college journey in SNHU in 1972, and then stopped schooling after getting married. Her two sons both went on to ________ their undergraduate and master’s degrees there. Her oldest son was in the master’s ________ and graduated in 2017. Around that time, she kept ________ SNHU’s ads on TV and thought that was her moment to make the call.

“I’m alone. I do work full time, but I made the call,” Fiona ________. “And once I made that call, I felt very ________. They made it very easy. That’s why I ________ choosing SNHU.” Those words only fueled Fiona’s ________ to earn her degree—and she ________ achieved her goal this weekend, with her loving family by her ________, and watching over her.

“I’m ________ because it’s been a long time,” she explained. “It’s something that my parents always wanted me to do. I think I’m ________ that.”

5 . I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid behind my older sister, whenever I had to speak to (an) ________ person—including the McDonald’s cashier, or even a distant relative.

________ asked to speak in class, I could hardly ________, much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (羞怯的) voice earned me jokes—about being a girl. Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I ________voice lessons. After a little bit of ________, I did—as long as it stayed a secret. I began a series of vocal (发声的) exercising. After exercising a lot, I finally gained ________ in my voice.

A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people. I thought I would do better than before ________ the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and nothing. I couldn’t remember the words of the song! My face turned hot. The ________ pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing. Then the thought ________ me: I’ve embarrassed myself enough in front of this ________. There’s really nothing else to lose. So in my second song, I just ________ and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.

After that, I started singing to myself as ________ as I could in my own room. That’s something I would never have done before. On a recent school trip, I was asked to sing again. It was ________ how much people liked my singing. One classmate: ________ said that I should be in the school’s talent show.

I am not a shy person any more. ________ has made me more outgoing. Today, I’m almost a loudmouth. I can meet people without being afraid. I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.

8 . About a month ago I noticed something really amazing, which I must call a garden ________. I opened the double doors of a small storage area in the back of my house where I ________ my garden supplies during the long New England winter, and there, on top of a tower of dirt-filled pots, was a flash of green, topped with two of the most unlikely frilly pink flowers you’ve ever seen.

A quick examination revealed that, in fact, this was a living, growing plant, with no explanation to ________ its existence. How was this ________? The unheated space had been closed all winter, and it was still cold outside. Once I caught my breath, I ________ and discovered something approaching a reasonable explanation —there was a small glass window at the top of the double doors, and it was possible that a ray of sun fell directly on that pot, giving the plant just enough light and warmth to ________ it to grow in its own personal greenhouse.

I can’t help feeling ________ at the lessons this wonderful plant has to teach. For one thing, I am moved by the coincidence of the whole thing. If I had put my pot six inches to the left or right of that spot, the plant might not have gotten that ________ ray of light. If I had pulled ________ the roots of the plant in late fall, there would have been   ________ but dirt that pot.

But there’s something else that ________ me about this — just how little light and ________ it took for this plant to grow and flower. I’m not ________ we should be stingy (吝啬的) with love and kindness and all the other warming things we do ________ others and ourselves. But isn’t it comforting to consider that just a drop of ________ can brighten a day, a place, a life?

When it comes to positivity, a little goes a long way. Just ask my little miracle plant.

9 . Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs in most any neighborhood, these two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their houses.

One evening, Brownie’s family noticed that Brownie hadn’t returned home. They went looking for him with no success. Brownie didn’t show up the next day, and, despite their efforts to find him, by the next week he was still missing.

For several days, Spotty showed up at Brownie’s house alone, barking, crying and generally pestering (纠缠) Brownie’s family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.

Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take “no” for an answer, keeping bothering Ted, Brownie’s owner. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then darting toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, “Follow me! It’s urgent!”

Eventually, Ted followed the anxious Spotty across the empty ground as Spotty stopped to run back and bark encouragingly. The little dog led the man under a tree, past clumps of trees, to a desert place a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, lying in the bottom of a deep hole with one of his hind leg injured. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable. Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie’s human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog. Ted found plenty of dog food and realized that Spotty had been feeding Brownie that week!

Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in a single minded quest to keep his friend alive by giving up his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from being killed, sleeping next to him at night to keep him warm and comforting him to keep his spirits up.