1 . In 1973, I was teaching in an elementary school. Each day, 27 kids _________ “The Thinking Laboratory”. That was the _________ students voted (投票) for after deciding that “Room 104” was too _________.

Freddy was an average _________, but not an average person. He had the rare balance of fun and compassion (同情). He would _________ the loudest over fun and be the saddest over anyone’s unhappiness.

Before the school year _________, I gave the kids a special _________, T-shirts with the words “Verbs Are Your _________” on them. I had advised the kids that while verbs (动词) may seem dull, most of the _________ things they do throughout their lives will be verbs.

Through the years, I’d run into former students who would provide information on old classmates. I learned that Freddy did several jobs after his __________ from high school and remained the same __________ person I met forty years before. Once, while working overnight at a store, he let a homeless man __________ in his truck. Another time, he lent a friend money to buy a house.

Just last year, I was conducting a workshop when someone knocked at the classroom door. A woman excused the interruption and handed me an envelope (信封). I stopped teaching and __________ it up. Inside were the “Verbs” shirt and a __________ from Freddy’s mother. “Freddy passed away on Thanksgiving. He wanted you to have this.”

I told the story to the class. As sad as it was, I couldn’t help smiling. Although Freddy was taken from us, we all __________ something from Freddy.

Asad was a 13-year-old boy who was very honest and hardworking. Recently, he had entered a new school, so he had no friends yet. On Monday morning, he was nearly late for school. The night before, his family attended his cousin’s wedding and reached home late, which was why he couldn’t get up on time as usual.

At school, Asad could not pay attention to anything and wanted the bell to ring so that he could buy something to eat. After a few hours, when the bell rang, Asad quickly opened his schoolbag to find his money, but just then he remembered that he had left for school in a hurry in the morning and forgotten to take money. He looked under his books, hoping to find some money but there was nothing.

Not knowing what to do, he walked out of the classroom and sat on a bench in front of the canteen. He saw a few of his classmates there, among them was Fahad. He was one of the richest kids in his class, but he was a very arrogant(傲慢的)boy who thought everyone else was a loser. But as Asad was new, he didn’t know much about Fahad.

When he went towards Fahad and asked if he could borrow some money for his lunch, Fahad laughed a lot and said, “I knew you were a loser, maybe a beggar?” Fahad laughed out so loud that other kids also heard and made fun of the situation. He didn’t answer Fahad, and slowly walked back towards an empty bench.

When he reached the bench, he noticed something lying near it. It was a wallet. He picked it up and recognized it as Fahad’s, as he remembered Fahad showing it to his friends and telling that his uncle bought it for him from the UK. There was quite a lot of money inside for a kid.

At first, Asad wanted to keep it a secret and punished Fahad.

Then Fahad said, “Why are you giving back?”

3 . “What’s it like to have a gap legwear your teeth?” a girl asked me one day.

Nobody had ever______before. My hand unconsciously rose to cover my mouth. But, as she looked at me, sincerely waiting for a(n)______, I realized she was not trying to be rude. I never think about it, ” I truthfully replied. She nodded and turned away. I was left wondering if people ______me and saw only gappy teeth.

Later that day at home, I began to______my teeth again. I felt______I thought my life would be somehow better if my teeth were not gappy. How I wanted the perfect teeth that everyone else seemed to have!

Of course, Mom______everything. She has lived her whole life with gappy teeth, and tried to______me that there was nothing to______.When I refused to listen, she told me. I could get the surgery to close the gap if it was that important. “Let’s be______though,” she said! “if everyone got surgeries to become attractive, everyone would be exactly the same. There is beauty in______.”

Her______made me consider my teeth seriously. The thought of losing my gap was more terrible than the reality that people were going to notice it. I realized how important it was to me.   It is part of my______

Nowadays many people do crazy things to realize their dream of “perfection”. The______is that no one is perfect. When all potential for ugliness is removed, so is all of the potential for______

So if that girl ever asked about my teeth______, I would truthfully answer, “You know? It’s really cute.”

4 . It was Christmas Eve when my elder sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. She usually came home about an hour after we got home from school, which we thought was plenty of time to sneak a look (偷看) at the gifts under the tree.

My elder sister opened present after present while I was ordered to stand guard at the big window in our front room. Finally, when my sister’s curiosity was satisfied, we changed places.

After opening a few presents, I found it faster to open one end of a present and look inside. “Cool! Mom and Dad got me headphones!” I pulled the headphones out of the box and was about to put them on when my sister shouted, “Quick! Wrap (包裹) it back up! Mom’s coming!”

I put the headphones back in the box but my hands were shaking. My heart beat faster as I tried to get the tape to stick. I had just finished burying the package with my headphones in it when my mother came into the front room. I jumped up and said, “Hi, Mom!” She smiled at me and said “Hi” back, but didn’t appear to suspect (怀疑) anything. My heart began to slow as I took a deep breath.

On Christmas morning, my sister and I smiled, and gave award-winning performances when we opened our presents—again. “Headphones!” I shouted. “Thanks, it’s just what I wanted.” After everything had been opened, my sister and I looked at each other, and our eyes met. Our secret was safe, but somehow Christmas morning didn’t feel the same.

My sister and I never opened our Christmas presents early again. I don’t know if it was that opening our gifts for the second time just wasn’t as much fun as the first time, or if we came too close to getting caught and didn’t want to think about what our mother would have done to us.

6 . I’m a seventeen-year-old boy preparing for my A Level exams at the end of the year. In the society where my peers and I live, we tend to accept the rat race values. As students, we want to get good grades so that we can get good jobs. I enjoy studying and have consistently received A’s in my classes. There was a year when I finished first in my class in the final exams. It was a great accomplishment.

Another one I am pleased with is that I managed to improve the relationship between Mum and Dad. Dad was a successful businessman who was rarely at home. Mum was a housewife who always felt bored and constantly nagged (唠叨) him to let her go to work. Their constant arguing bothered me, so I advised Dad that Mum would be better off with a part-time job. He agreed, and their relationship has improved since then.

My most proud achievement, however, is my successful work in the local old folks’ home. My grandparents had raised me since I was a child. I wept (哭泣) bitterly when they died. Unlike many of my classmates, I do not take part in my school’s community service to earn points. I enjoy my voluntary work and believe I’m contributing to a worthwhile cause. This is where I can help. I talk to the elderly, assist them with their daily life, and listen to their problems, glory days and the hardships they experienced.

Last year, I hosted a successful New Year party for the elderly and they enjoyed a great time. Many expressed a desire to attend another party the following year. When I reflect on my accomplishments, I’m especially proud of my service at the old folks’ home, so I hope to study social work at university and work as a social worker in the future. I wish to be more skilled in attending to the less fortunate as well as find great satisfaction in it.

9 . On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, I lost my job. When my daughter, Kristil, then 12, and I planned to get our Christmas tree, I listened to my voicemail: “We’re sorry but your work _______ has ended today. ”My heart sank. As a single parent, my anxiety _______.

The next day as we searched for the tree, I _______ to be cheerful as I eyed each price tag(标签).

“Is everything OK? ” Kristil asked. ”You seem worried. ”

“I got some bad news yesterday,” I told her. ”I lost my job.”

I eagerly _______ job as my bank account became smaller. I felt as if the world was closing in on me.

One afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a wealthy community for a birthday party. I watched as she went in, _______ with all the nice things we couldn’t afford. I drove home _______. Back at home, I glanced out the window. It had been snowing _______ all morning. I noticed a slim woman trying to open her car door _______ the wind. As she got out, I realized it was my old professor, Sister Esther Heffernan. I’d first met her 10 years earlier when I was her student at Edgewood College. Kristil was 3 at that time, and I sometimes took her to class. Such was Sister Esther, a(n) _______professor. When I was busy with lessons, she would ________ coloring books to occupy Kristil.

“Well, I called last week but couldn’t get through. ________, I thought I would come by.” Sister Esther said. “I have gifts for you and Kristil.”

I made her a cup of tea, and we talked. Being in Sister Esther’s ________ gave me hope that things would be all right. I opened her card as she ________. Hundred-dollar bills fell onto the table. I gasped ________, tears of gratitude streaming down my face. Sister Esther had given me $1, 000.

On Christmas Eve, I ________ watched as Kristil opened her gifts. In 2020, at age 91, Sister Esther died, but the love she gave during her life lives on in the hearts of many. I am lucky to be one of them.

My daughter Emily White grew up in a small town where the primary school was a 10-minute walk from my house. But she seldom walked to school without a wheel e hair, because she was born with so many birth problems. Some of her bones and muscles on her legs were out of shape.

One warm spring day, a little dog followed me home after work. It had short legs and long lovely ears, with a brown-colored coat. It was the cutest dog I had ever seen and the girl begged me to keep it. By the end of the week the dog was part of our family. He was very good with the girl, and the girl was very glad that we had such a lovely new member in our family. But for me, there was no ease.

The dog was barely five weeks old, with no identification marks, but I knew for sure, he belonged to someone who must be worried very much. I thought about running an advertisement but I really hesitated. It would break the kid’s heart if the owner should show up.

The following week I checked the lost-and-found part in the local newspaper. One advertisement jumped out at me and my heartbeat with fear for what I read. Someone was begging for the return of a lost dog in the neighborhood. They sounded anxious. Instead, I quickly put the paper away in the drawer, pretending I hadn’t seen the advertisement. In ever said a word about it to Emily or my husband.

By now we had named the dog Melon. He followed Emily everywhere, and with Melon’s help, Emily sometimes even walked to school slowly. She even built a doghouse for the puppy. But the problem was still bothering me. I knew in my heart I had to call that number and see if our Melon was the dog they were eagerly looking for. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

With nervousness, I dialed the telephone number in that advertisement and it was a woman. On hearing my description, she said with excitement that the dog was just like the one she had lost. Containing my nervousness, I invited her to come over and have a look.

The next day, someone knocked on the door.

They were about to leave when Emily just came back from school.