The snowstorm was supposed to hit the evening of Monday. I was driving from the city center back home. All of a sudden, the snow started and within minutes I was in a whiteout, totally losing sight. Soon I had to stop because I didn’t know where I was. I kept the car running to keep warm and called 911. But no rescue would come until the next morning. I searched around in a whiteout but nobody or no car was nearby. I felt a deep sense of loss.

Taking a deep breath, I told myself that being afraid won’t help.

My kids! It was the first time that they had spent a night without me at home. I called and   told them what was happening, forcing myself to sound calm. I didn’t tell them I was frightened. But I, a problem-solver all my life, couldn’t figure out what to do.

Suddenly, a colleague texted me and I joked about my driving home ending in disaster. But he had an idea. “Share your location (位置) on Google Maps and send it to me,” he said.

I did, and a few minutes later he texted me back a screenshot (屏幕截图) of the satellite view of where I was. We figured out that I was on a road called Bouvier Lane, in between two farms. I posted this new information to my Facebook community group, hoping to find anyone who lived on the farms to help me get rescued.

After that, all I could do was sit in the car and try to stay warm. I’d done all I could, and no matter what happened, I had to be at peace with that. But even if someone did figure out where I was, would help be able to come through the heavy snow and high winds?

Soon enough, though, people started commenting on my post. They knew a family who lived there! I got a message from someone who was going to put me in touch with them.

At 8 pm, my cellphone rang.

When Andrew and I reached the house, his wife treated me to hot drinks.

5 . “You don’t want that one,” the shelter volunteer said. “He’s broken.”

Had I heard her correctly? I looked down at the _________ cat sitting on my foot. The volunteer said the cat had been moving around since birth and that he didn’t like anyone. “He seems _________, but I still want to adopt (领养) him,” I said. “Because he needs a home, and because I’m _________ too.”

It was in 2021. I’d been in a _________ for a while. I had what the professionals called development trauma (精神创伤), which caused me to have serious attachment issues. But recently my doctor _________ I get an animal companion. He said it would be good for me and could help me form _________ with people.

It took me a week to _________ a name for him. I finally settled on Mr Bo, after the song about a homeless man who, even after great _________ , remained happy. At home I watched as the dark little thing smelled every corner of the house. _________, his curiosity satisfied, he settled in my lap. By the time a year passed, we’d developed a __________. When I woke up in the morning, Bo would demand that I hold him, so he could __________ my face. Then it was breakfast for us both before I __________ to work. When I got home in the evenings, Bo would make a crying sound until I __________ him up.

Bo was great __________. He’d made my life better. __________ having been abandoned (遗弃), he wasn’t afraid to love and be loved.

6 . Born with hearing loss, Emily Jensen faced difficulties while pursuing (追求) a career she truly felt passionate about. As others doubted her abilities, all she hoped for was a chance to unlock her true potential (潜能) and feel a sense of belonging in the workplace. Jensen’s chance finally materialized when Cornell offered her an opportunity she had been seeking for nearly a decade.

Jensen first applied to the university for a job opening as a human resources (HR) assistant at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) . Although she didn’t make it to the final round of interviews, a worker approached Jensen and suggested she connect with Larry, the head for human resources at the ILR School.

“They saw something in me,” Jensen said. “So, I met with Larry and his team. They were looking to develop their department and decided to bring me on board as an HR assistant.”

When Jensen first came on board at ILR, she needed special technology for her computer. Because of her hearing loss, additional equipment, such as a soundbar, is necessary to hear. “My team provided this from day one,” Jensen said. “It feels really good to be able to come into an environment that was already set up for my success from the very beginning.”

For many, disclosing a disability is not an easy thing to do, especially in the workplace. Fortunately, the ILR School and Jensen’s new HR team have created an environment where she not only feels comfortable doing so but is also valued for the role she plays.

“It’s a testament (证明) to my team and Larry, who is my biggest cheerleader,” Jensen said. “It was he who brought me on and saw what I was capable of, which led me to develop so much trust in myself.”

8 . Three days ago, I was walking in a park. ________, a gentleman called me, “Sir, can you help me with this?” I ________ and asked, “What please?” He showed me a print, asking me if I could explain it. After ________ it, I knew it was his health diagnosis report. I told him I wasn’t a ________ but could help him. I added, “Sir, the report is called HbAlc; it is about your average glucose (血糖) levels in your ________ over the past 3 months; your reading shows 7.6, which shows you are diabetic (患糖尿病的).” He said, “Sir, my doctor has given me ________ and I have taken it for one month. But this report from yesterday still shows I am diabetic.” I said, “Your report says you are 53 years old. Your being in the ________ means you probably walk regularly, which is a ________ sign. Please follow the diet given by your doctor and ________ regularly. Be positive; stay patient and you will be better soon.”

The gentleman said, “Thank you.” As I was about to ________, his friend next to him stopped me, saying, “Sir, he ________ to tell you be likes sweet food very much. Only recently, he has reduced the ________ of sweet food.” Smiling, I ________ told the gentleman, “It is ________ that you have reduced your sweet food. I believe you can give up sweet food.” He smiled, “Thank you for your confidence, sir.” May he get the courage to overcome his ________ to sweet food and be healthier!

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was the city’s Lower Ninth Ward that was hit the hardest. “I remember coming back home, that was the first time I cried,” Lower Ninth Ward resident Mark told his mother, Gloria. “And we lost everything,” Gloria says.

Recovery was especially slow to come to that part of town. Mark, a father and a son himself, says that for three years he had to live out of a trailer (拖车) set up by an emergency management agency. The residents in the area went six years after the storm without a grocery store (杂货店).

“We had no stores, no barbershops, no laundry rooms,” Mark says. “You have to catch three buses to get to a store. And I always was taught if there’s a problem, somebody’s got to make a move.”

Mark decided to open up that grocery store himself. Using money he’d saved up while working at fast-food restaurants, Mark bought an old building on an empty block and got to work—all in the middle of a fair bit of doubts.

“I remember when I first bought the building, everybody thought that I was crazy,” Mark says. Even his mother had her doubts and told him to stop. “I mean, it was full of trash on the floor that you had to crawl (爬) over and—how can my son make anything out of this?” Gloria remembers thinking.

Clearing the mess wasn’t an easy thing for Mark by himself at all, but he still kept his hands and eyes on the work. “Those eight-hour days turning into 15hours a day really requires more energy and physical strength,” Mark says, “but what motivated (激励) me the most to hold on was to see the people that would walk by with the groceries and get off the bus with all of those bags in the future. That made me work harder.”

Mark’s grocery store finally opened and were full of crowds of residents. The very first customer, Jessica, even cried because she said she had never thought the Lower Ninth Ward could come back.

“How did you possibly do that by yourself, Mark?” Jessica asked.

Mark’s grocery store became more than just a place for the residents to buy their daily necessities.