1 . When Chris Smith was a high school student, by all ________, life for Chris was the same as it was for a hundred other boys in the small town where he grew up, except for the fact that he was ________. Unfortunately, his father went to jail and his mother left without telling him.

He did the best he could, ________ on his newly-married sister’s couch. “They didn’t have much money, and I know it was a ________ to take me. I was just hoping to graduate from high school and ________it on my own.”

But Chris’ history teacher had ________ ideas. When Chris began not to take his assignments ________, she cornered him. “You’re the ________ kid in the class,” she told him. “If you don’t have a further study, you’re going to ________ it.” A good teacher makes all the ________. After the talk, Chris ________ himself together, determined to ________ all the difficulties.

When graduation came, Chris was ________ to a medical school. When it was time to ________ for medical residencies (高级专科住院医生实习期), Chris set his sights ________. He app lied to the No.1 program in the nation: Johns Hopkins.

“I didn’t really think I had a ________. But I had learned to give everything your best ________.”

And then the letter came. Chris was in.

They say dreams are made of ________ efforts. Chris had to work harder than most. And now, as a practicing radiologist (放射科医生), he often speaks to students about what it ________ to make it. “You can do it,” he says, ________ the words of his history teacher. “You are the smartest kids in the world.”

4 . Eighteen years ago, Adam Kaye was hosting a family barbecue at his home, enjoying the togetherness. His mother, Martha Kaye, ________ the news. At 71 years old, she realized that she was becoming ________. She started calling everyone “Darling” ________ names had begun to slip her mind.

Adam had ________ something was wrong. So when Martha told him she had Alzheimer’s disease, it didn’t come as a (n) ________. Adam, well ________ that Alzheimer’s is an irreversible (无法治愈的) disease, didn’t feel the need to ________ himself in research.

As a lifelong ________, Adam decided to play for Martha to make her feel better. So every Sunday for the past eight years, Adam has ________ his guitar and made the short drive to ________ his mother. When he plays for her, he catches a ________ of the woman he has known in his entire life.

Back in 2019, Adam ________ a video to his band’s social media account of him playing Blue Bossa, for Martha. ________ their performances since then has made their time together more fun, he says, and the videos give him something he can ________. They also seemed to strike a chord (心弦) with his followers, ________ those with a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Some of them comment about how these videos ________ tears to their eyes and make them think of their own loved ones and what they ________.

“That is why I feel it really ________ to do this. I know that Martha, with her forever kind heart, would be ________ to do anything to help others.” He has since posted more than 100 recordings of him and Martha ________ together.

6 . My family lived in a small community. As the economy was in _______ , I lost my job again. Having only one income supporting our household for months, we had been _______ to make ends meet.

One day, I took all the cash I had-$ 60 for the next week and went to buy_______ , as the fridge and cabinets (储物柜) were empty. I kept a running _______in my head of everything I was to purchase, even rounding up to the nearest dollar to make sure I didn’t go over what I could _______ .Once the food and basic items we needed _______$60, I went to checkout but _______ the total came to $65. On the off chance that I had room on a credit card, I tried using two of them…, both _______.

Getting very _______ , I asked the clerk what I could take away that was about $5. Everything in my basket was important and it scared me that money was so ________ . I didn’t know how to decide.

Suddenly, the woman behind me said. “Don’t do that. Here, what do you need? $5…$10?” “Thank you so much. “ I said in a( n)________voice. ”You’re welcome. I’ve been in that terrible ________ myself before. And a stranger offered to help me out of it as well. I am still grateful to him for that even today. Glad I could help you this time... ________. “It doesn’t matter how it comes back around… in little increments (增值), or all at once. Everything good we do ________us why it’s so important to take care of each other. We all may have our individual bodies and labels, but we all ________much to one positive energy.

7 . I have fibromyalgia, a little-understood disease causing never-ending pain. There’s no cure, just pain pills. For 28 years, I soldiered through the pain as best I could. Our three kids kept me going. I had to be there for them.

Then one by one the kids left home for college. Now I was a homemaker with no children to look after. I often collapsed on the sofa and went entire days with no reason to get up.

John, my husband, always advised we take bicycle rides together. “Charlene, the doctor said exercise will help you,” John reminded me. “Why don’t we train in the hills nearby? When you get strong, we’ll ride across Europe. It’ll be like second honeymoon. ”How I wished I could. It sounded so romantic. And impossible. John shook his head and left the room.

One morning I heard John getting ready for another ride. This time he didn’t bother asking me to join him. I felt pain consuming me. It was the pain of growing apart from my husband, of losing my sense of who I was. An answer came immediately clear to me. God would pour down his love on me. But I would have to move off this sofa myself. I would have to find a reason to go on. For John and for me. “I want to go riding with you, ”I told John when he returned home.

The next morning, I rode two miles along a flat bike path with John. Everything seemed so new and wonderful. I even slept better. The next day I did three miles. The day after, four. I started to ride on my own. John suggested a 10-mile ride one day. Off we went. Pretty soon I found a rhythm (节奏). What beautiful country! How could I have ever wanted to stay on that sofa? Yes, I’d been a prisoner, but I’d held the key to my freedom all along. When we arrived at the finish point, John hugged me, tears in his eyes, “You’re a real cyclist now, ” he said. “What do you say we bicycle across Europe in the fall?”

That September we cycled 900 miles, from the Black Forest to Budapest. “I never thought we’d be this happy again, ” said John. “I’m in heaven. ”I leaned over and took his hand.

8 . Harry, an emergency physician, had never become aware of the meaning of his work. He told a story about ______ it.

One evening on his shift in a busy emergency room, a woman was brought in about to ______. When he examined her, Harry immediately ______ that her obstetrician (产科医生) would not be able to get there ______ and he was going to deliver this baby himself. The team took ______ quickly. The baby was ______ almost immediately.

Harry laid the baby along his left   forearm (前背). ______, the baby opened her eyes and looked directly at him. In that moment, Harry noticed a very ______ thing that he was the first ______ this baby girl had ever seen. He felt his heart go out to her in ______ from all people everywhere, and tears came to his eyes.

In that flash of recognition, he felt tiredness fall away and remembered ______ he had chosen this work in the first place. All his hard work and personal sacrifice suddenly seemed to him to be ______ it.

In the past, Harry had focused on his expertise, assessing and responding to needs and ______ He had been there many times as a (n) ______, but never before as a human being. He ______ how many other such moments of connection to life he has missed. He doubts there have been many.

Mrs. Johnson lost her husband to cancer after months of failed treatment. She spent every penny she had saved working as a teacher, hoping her husband’s illness wouldn’t return. She only had $5 left in her bank account and didn’t know how to survive. She was just living on leftovers and junk. What’s worse, she hadn’t paid the house rent.

Standing before the ATM, Mrs. Johnson put in her card and entered her password. In no time, she saw a five-dollar bill slide out of the machine. The old lady was so focused on the dollar bill that she barely looked at the screen.

Holding a bag full of about-outdated food items, the old lady slowly walked towards her house. Upon reaching her apartment door, she saw an envelope with her name on it in the mailbox.

Once she entered the house and kept the grocery bag on the kitchen counter, she slid the envelope out and opened it. It was an invitation for reunion from the school where she had taught all her life, but she didn’t feel like going there.

After having dinner, the old lady picked up her phone, hoping to find a job. A message caught her attention, which was a notice from her bank regarding her cash withdrawal. She read the message and was about to exit it when the remaining account balance caught her attention. A hundred thousand dollars! ! !

The next day, Mrs. Johnson visited the bank, thinking this was a big mistake. After checking, the bank told her the records showed that Norma Tyler transferred the money to her account. There was no mistake.

However, Mrs. Johnson didn’t know any Norma Tyler! After thinking about all her friends, relatives and acquaintances, Mrs. Johnson could only think of one Norma— one of the students who never performed well in class. Mrs. Johnson thought of how hard she worked with Norma. She wanted the girl to get good grades, but nothing worked. No matter how hard she tried to teach new concepts to the teenage girl, she would never understand a single word.

10 . A year ago, my wife and I sold one of our cars and replaced it with an e-bike. I knew that passenger vehicles are responsible for much of our greenhouse-gas emissions. I also knew that electric cars were an imperfect fix. Though they’re responsible for less carbon pollution than gas cars, their supply chain is carbon intensive. But an e-bike’s comparatively tiny battery means less electricity, fewer emissions and fewer resources. E-bikes are clearly better for the planet than cars of any kind.

But I also viewed getting rid of my car as a sacrifice. I live in Colorado; e-biking would mean freezing in winter and sweating in summer. It was the right thing to do, I thought, but it was not going to be fun.

I was very wrong. The first thing I noticed was the savings. Between car payments, insurance, maintenance (保养), and gas, a car-centered lifestyle is expensive. I predict that we’ll save about $50,000 over the next five years by selling our car.

The actual experience of riding to work each day over the past year has been equally surprising. In winter, I wear gloves, warm socks, a thick cap, and a ski jacket when I ride, and I am almost never too cold. In summer, I didn’t break a sweat. I just used the throttle (油门), sat back, and enjoyed my ride.

I arrived to work a little more lighthearted for having spent the morning in fresh air rather than traffic. I jumped on my bike after a stressful day at work and rode home down a street edged with changing fall leaves. I felt more connected to the physical environment around me than I had when I’d traveled the same route surrounded by metal and glass.