2 . High school graduations are one of the most important moments in a teenager’s life. However, heading into the ______ on June 6th, David was stopped at the door by a gatekeeper. So you can imagine how ______ David was. Although his sneakers were not extremely unacceptable, David learned they were in ______ of the school’s dress code and he was ______ entry.

David was about to ______ his chance to walk across the stage with his classmate when he caught sight of a ______ face. Butler, a famous local educator, came to the graduation as a parent. Learning David’s unpleasant situation, he ______ the young man back to the entry to see if he could ______ the gatekeeper’s mind.

“I was hoping that she would let it go, but she ______ not letting this young man in, and I didn’t have time to ______ with her,” Butler said. “I wasn’t going to let him miss the most ______ moment in his life for anything.” Without missing a beat, Butler simply changed his ______ with David. Just as the ______ closed, David made it inside the hall. Eventually he ______ David from ruining his graduation day.

Although firstly ______ by the last-minute substitution, Butler’s family were thrilled that his quick thinking turned a very ______ situation into a joyful celebration. “I wasn’t ______ because Mr. Butler is always helpful,” a ______ parent of David’s said.

It’s said that a truly generous man will give the shirt off his back to someone ______. Now it seems, the saying also ______ to the shoes off his feet.

4 . Teaching is always a challenge. Each student has his own needs and difficulties. A student called Billy _______ me with his behavior. He struggled daily with his uncontrollable emotions and often became angry. To make _______ progress, his emotions needed controlling.

One _______ I tried to help Billy was to have him come directly into the classroom when he reached school. Billy’s mom would _______ me to inform me of a particularly emotional morning at home. Then, I would _______ calming him down.

One week our class was studying _______. I thought one way to bring learning into the classroom was to bring my dog Rocky to school.

That day I was preparing activities focusing on dog themes when I was told that Billy had a _______ morning at home and I might need to get him settled. As I was talking to his mom, Billy _______ into the classroom. To Billy’s surprise, Rocky immediately ran to his new _______ wagging his tail and rubbing against Billy’s leg. Billy was __________ by Rocky and began laughing.

Throughout the day, Billy never left Rocky’s side, being gentle with him and even __________ the other students while Rocky was sleeping.

Billy was known for doing anything he could to avoid __________, but on this day he found a story about dogs and read it to Rocky. How __________ I was at the sight of Billy reading happily! My little dog was able to change Billy’s day from one of anger to one of laughter, gentleness and __________.

That day Rocky more than helped me with my __________. He helped to change the life of a child!

5 . In 1945, Sergeant (中士) John Gonsalves was sent back to Germany soon after the Second World War ended. On the way back home he decided to send a letter to his ______, but the letter never arrived. ______ , it never arrived on time. Somehow, this lost letter from 1945 was ______ in 2021. ______ workers did everything they could to deliver it to the ______ of John’s family as soon as possible.

Although John ______ in 2015 at the age of 92, he was ______ by his wife, Angelina Gonsalves and their five sons.

“The mailman came and said, ‘Was your husband once in the ______ ?’ And I said, ‘Yes, he was,’ ‘Well, I think I have a letter for you,’” Angelina ______ . “I couldn’t believe it. And then I ______ that it was his ______ , you know? It was just so ______ .”

In the two-page letter, John gave his mom a(n) ______ on what life had been like at the station in Bad Orb, Germany. Most ______, John expressed his love for his ______ , wishing them well and letting them know he was looking forward to returning home. He ended the letter with, “Love and ______ , your son, John.”

Although the letter is 76 years late, it couldn’t have arrived at a ______ time. It reached John’s family during the Christmas season, one of his favorite holidays.

“It was a joy to see her ______ light up as she was reading his ______ ,” Brian Gonsalves, one of their sons, said. “He was a good man.” Angelina said, “Everybody loved him. That was ______ — It seemed that he came back to me.”

6 . Luke is a cute dog, living together with me for five years. We get lots of_______in our area during the summer season. Many forests are badly_________by fires each year. That hot summer, not far from our shelter, a forest______________fire. It was July, and there had been a heat wave going on for three days.

Somehow, Luke rushed towards the forest. There was no longer any hope at that moment to wait for Luke to come back to the____________. In fact, I was waiting for firefighters to tell me that he had____________in the forest. Suddenly, a fireman burst into my office and____________me that Luke had succeeded in saving four cats who had been__________by the flames (火焰). I____________accompanied (陪伴) the fireman to the forest to get him back.___________we got to the scene of the event, we didn’t see Luke. Then we heard the________of a dog barking (吠) in the forest. I______________the barks was Luke’s. The firemen______________the tracks of the dog until they found him barking loudly by the side of an injured________. Thanks to Luke, four cats and a fireman were saved. This true story shows us that pets are loving and caring. We should love and__________them. Little animals can do__________things for humans.

7 . Mom and I were putting the finishing touches on dinner, and my little niece Jessica came in to set the table. Instead of going to the dish cabinet, she went into the pantry where there was a stack of old, mismatched dinner plates on the bottom shelf.

When she had set all six plates, she stood back and sighed, “Oh, Grandma, your plates are so beautiful. Ours are all alike!” We had a good laugh at her innocent remark, but as I think back to all those years ago, I believe she was right. Those plates were beautiful.

Mom worked for the local Council on Aging as a housekeeper. She did many of the little things that allowed elderly people to stay in their own homes. Most of her clients got Meals on Wheels, a service in the 1970s. They received a hot lunch and a cold snack to have later in the evening. This is really not very much food. Every evening Mom would make to-go meals on these mismatched plates covered with aluminum foil, and then deliver them to the people who she knew didn’t get enough to eat.

This was about ten years before microwave ovens became common, so it was important that the food be on a plate that could be reheated in a regular oven. Instead of a cold sandwich and macaroni salad, Mom’s clients dined on Beef Manhattans, pan-fried chicken or meatloaf, along with veggies and a piece of pie or cake. Mom and Dad did this even after Mom left her job, and Mom continued after Dad’s death until all her former clients had either passed away or moved out.

When I was cleaning our Mom’s house after her death, I kept one as a souvenir. That plate is a sweet reminder of the lessons of generosity and caring for one’s neighbor that were modeled for me by my parents.

8 . It was 80 years ago when I wrote my first letter to Paul and Renee who lived in France. I was keen on learning languages, so I was ________ when my French teacher assigned us pen pals.

It was quite a thing to get a letter from a ________ country, so I looked forward to ________ their reply. They weren’t particularly good at English, so we were all writing in French, which helped me acquire a good ________ of the language.

I decided to go to France on holiday in 1949 to________ them, but Paul was called up by the army, and Renee was away skiing. The family ________ me warmly, and I visited several times in the years that followed. The first time I met Renee, she picked me up at the station, and we hit it off straight away.

I never got to meet Paul. Renee ________ to me and told me that he had died ________ after leaving the army. Renee and I continued writing to each other, and our ________ became deeper. We talked about our families, our favorite pastimes and our ________ in life. Renee never married and worked as a nurse for half her life. As I continued to visit, I got to know her whole family, ________ her aunts and uncles, and distant cousins all over France. I was so ________ into their home life that I never felt like a tourist.

I’m 93 now and I ________ write to Renee. She has difficulty writing now, so she phone me to reply. Most people don’t seem to have the time for letters anymore, but it gives me great________ to write. My correspondence (通信) with Renee has offered me a wider ________ of what’s happening outside the UK. More importantly, this is the most enduring friendship I have ever had.

The road to success isn’t so easy, and success rarely happens overnight.

Actually, a lot of highly successful writers have     1     (previous) faced rejection. Take J.K. Rowling     2     example. After a total of twelve rejections, Harry Potter became a global success, with over 400 million books     3     (sell) and translated into more than seventy different languages. Another example J.D. Salinger started writing short stories in high school. Even when     4     (serve) in the US Army during the Second World War, he carried six chapters of The Catcher in the Rye with him and worked on the novel throughout his war service. And although it was a time     5     women were not encouraged to become writers, all three Brontë sisters became famous writers.

Basketball player Stephen also got some doubts from many people. They thought he was too weak and short     6     (follow) in his father’s footsteps. But he didn’t give up because playing basketball was his dream. His creativity and perseverance made him the Davidson’s star player. He performed beyond everyone’s     7     (expect) with his accurate shooting and continuous efforts. After receiving the Most Valuable Player award, Stephen     8     (explain) his philosophy: What he wanted to do was just be himself. Inspiring others to believe in     9     (they), he showed that anything is possible.

So on the road to success, while hard work, self-belief and a touch of luck play     10     part, perseverance is the key.