1 . When I was little, my mom put her love into making traditional Chinese soups for me. I’m talking Ching bo leung (清凉补), with a lot of herbal(中草药的) ingredients that give the soup a _______ taste.

As a kid, I never _______ drinking them because the taste made me sick. But my mom would try her best to _______ me to drink her soup.

First, she would state all the health benefits that the soup has.

“How can this strange water improve my _______?” I’d roll my eyes.

Then, she’d tell me it tasted _______ this time because she added chicken to make it taste more restaurant-style.

Lastly, she’d bribe (贿赂) me with a piece of candy.

And somehow that would _______. I’d take a deep breath and drink it without stopping. After I finished, my mom would _______ eating the Chinese soup ingredients (Tang Zha in Chinese).

I _______ why she did this. I could just _______ the soup but how could she eat the soup ingredients?

She’d always say, “I ________ eating them.”

When I was young, I ________ believed her.

But as I got older, I ________ she was only saying this because she wanted the best for her daughter.

Recently, I recalled (回忆起) this ________ while feeding my daughter a mango (芒果). I cut the mango into two halves and then ________ the seed (果核).

My daughter was ________ and asked me why I ate the seed.

I told her, “Because I love eating them.”

2 . Our family moved to Texas in 1996, when my husband Jerry got a job in a factory as a pipe-fitter. We lived in a small mobile home. When the job in Texas ended, he was out of _________. Months went by. Rent was _________ on the mobile home.

“At least we would have a nice _________,” I thought as I drove the girls to the supermarket on Christmas Eve to buy some food. Amanda was two years old and Kimberly was five years old. In the supermarket, I was _________ by different items. The _________ wrapped with shiny paper looked especially beautiful. I wished the girls weren’t _________ by them. Kimberly _________ alongside the cart with excitement. “Maybe she forgets this Christmas,” I thought.

_________, we got to the checkout counter. When we wheeled the cart out, we saw a wall of Christmas trees, each waiting to be _________ so its branches could __________ in a special spot at home. “Look, Mom!” said Kimberly. “Sweetie, we can’t get a tree this year,” I replied. Amanda was too young to have any __________, and Kimberly seemed to be calm, but I felt terrible. We pushed our cart through the parking lot. Halfway to the car, Kimberly stopped and pointed, “Look, Mom! That can be our tree!” At first, I wasn’t sure what she was pointing at. Then I saw a pine __________ lying on the ground. I couldn’t say no again. “Okay.”

I said. “We will bring it home.”

Back home, I found a coffee can to __________ it in. Kimberly collected some rocks and filled the can. While I made dinner, the girls colored some stars and bells. Jerry __________ their artwork for the tree. We set the display on the table in our tiny kitchen. “That branch was a lucky find,” Jerry said when we sat down for dinner.

__________, it was luck. My family and I celebrated many other Christmas holidays with real trees later, but it is the Christmas in the mobile home that we all remember most.

3 . It was a warm March evening, and I’d just taken a seat on the bus. A woman took a seat opposite me. Not speaking to anyone________, she tearfully________her story.

A thief had________one of her bags. It had contained half of the money she’d brought. The other half was rolled in a hankie and hidden under her blouse, so she________still had some money.

After a few minutes, an old man in ragged clothes got on the bus. The bus conductor started to collected ________. When he came to the old man’s seat, he became _______ and asked whether he had any money. The old man ________ that he had spent all his money this morning when he’d accidentally got on the wrong bus.

Upon hearing this, the bus conductor and the driver ________ the old man to get off the bus. The old man ________ them to let him take that bus.

The woman was observing the ________. When the bus driver and conductor raised their voices at the old man, she ________.

”Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home?“

”He doesn’t have any money!“ the driver shouted.

”Well, that’s no reason to throw him off the bus, she ________.

She reached inside her blouse, took out her ________ money. “Here’s his fare and mine.”

On the road of life, the ________ and smiles of strangers can lighten our loads and ________ our spirits. How much sweeter the journey when we make it a little smoother and richer for others!

4 . Tim Gjoraas doesn’t have much time left. However, there’s no ________ of supportive people in his corner.

Last year, Tim found out he had cancer. In the following months, his health ________ and then he got the news that he likely only has months left to live. He quickly retired from the Washington High School and decided to devote every moment to spending with his ________.

After ________ that he may not have much time left, Tim began taking steps to ensure his loved ones will be ________ . While he was catching up with Doug Rinken, a friend and retired teacher, Tim asked him to ________ his house next summer. He ________ that his wife Lisa has always wanted blue walls. Little did he know that the job would be finished much ________! One Saturday in September, Tim opened his doors to a(n) ________ sight. Doug had shown up with paint tools and about a dozen of Tim’s fellow teachers and friends.

This wasn’t the first time they had ________ him. After they heard about his disease, they organized fundraisers to help with his medical ________ . The project took less than a day ________ their efforts. Of course, it left a ________ mark on Tim. What a powerful act of kindness! No matter what happens, Tim ________ knows he and his family members will always hold a place in their community’s ________.

5 . Gene Work and his brother-in-law, Mark Rouco, were putting sod (草皮) on Gene’s yard. In the burning heat of the sun, they were soon covered in sweat and feeling a strong sense of_________. Gene fell onto the ground with a(n) _________ expression on his face. His wife Melissa Work was worried sick and _________ to call 911.

Even though he was close to death, Gene still _________ he sod. If it wasn’t put down that day, it would die. “While he was_________pain, he kept _________ me to have it put down because he didn’t want it to be_________.” Melissa wrote in a Facebook post.

Rouco was left behind to deal with the yard. An hour passed and _________ he noticed those EMTs (急救人员) showed up again. Gene had told them how badly he’d wanted to get the sod down, so they_________. With their help, the work was finally __________in under two hours.

At the same time, Gene got the __________ in time thanks to those EMTs’ quick actions.

The Works are still __________that those EMTs went above and beyond their __________. “These men,” Melissa said, “saved Gene’s__________, and then came back to save his grass. That’s just so__________.”

6 . When I left my job as a psychologist and went on a round-the-world trip, I was hoping to become a different version of myself. But I was soon ______. Away from the familiar life, I felt lonely and miserable despite visiting ______ beautiful places. And somehow, in the quick ______ for the trip, I’d forgotten that the thing you don’t choose to bring, but can’t ______ , is yourself.

However, as the weeks went on, something started to ______. It was during a stay on an island in Thailand, when a woman I’d encountered previously approached me and asked if I was ______ to join them for dinner that evening. I ______. At the meal she told us six women that it was her birthday and, as she was travelling alone, she’d decided to celebrate by ______ a group of women she’d enjoyed meeting during the week. While listening to their stories, I felt genuinely ______ by the honesty of these ______ , and was surprised, too, by the ______ with which I felt able to share things about myself.

At the end of the evening, we ______. Till now, none of us have seen each other again. I don’t remember their names, but I do remember the magic of that ______. For all of us, the anonymity (匿名) was liberating; we had no ______ past or future and, as a consequence, we could talk freely without any ______.

7 . Triplets (三胞胎) Sierra, Kassidy, and Haley have faced a range of challenges throughout their lives. At just three months old, they _________ their mother, and their father was missing too, leaving them in the _________ of their grandmother, who didn’t prioritize education. _________, they didn’t attend school until they were eight.

The triplets’ lives took another _________ turn when their house was on fire early one morning. This _________ led them to move in with their grandparents on their mother’s side. There they faced further neglect, _________ adequate food, clothing, and other essentials.

Despite these _________, the sisters showed incredible resilience and determination. They _________ jobs, including babysitting and working at Albertson’s grocery store, to support themselves. Their daily _________ was a tiring cycle of walking to school, then to work, and back home, often late at night.

Remarkably, all three girls maintained a 4.0 grade point average, __________ them full scholarships to the University of Las Vegas. Their __________ achievements are a testament to their perseverance and dedication, despite the overwhelming odds they faced.

The community recognized their efforts and __________ them with additional support on their graduation day. Each sister received a car, a year’s worth of free car insurance and gas, and $5,000 for books and other __________.

Throughout their journey, the triplets maintained a(n) __________ outlook, which they believe was crucial in __________ their challenges.

8 . It was a hot, sticky Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of us set together, side by side, in rows of wooden folding chairs on the main _________ lawn. We wore blue nylon robes (礼袍). We listened _________ to long speeches and some students almost stood up. When the _________ was over, we threw our caps in the air, and we were _________ graduated from college. For many of us, the curtain had just come down on _________.

Afterward, I found Morrie Schwartz, my _________ professor, and introduced him to my parents. He was a small man who took small steps, _________ a strong wind could, at any time, blow him up into the clouds. In his graduation day robe, he looked like a Christmas elf (精灵).

He told my parents how I took every class he taught, “You have a special boy here.” _________, I looked at my feet. Before we left, I _________ my professor a present, a brown __________ with his initials (首字母) on the front. I bought this the day before at the shopping mall. I didn’t want to forget him. Maybe I didn’t want him to forget __________.

“Mlitch, you are one of the good ones,” he said, __________ the briefcase. Then he __________ me. I felt his thin arms around my back. I was taller, and when he held me, I felt awkward, older, as if he were the __________.

He asked if I would __________, and without hesitation I replied “Of course.”

9 . Bella, a 14-year-old cat from Huntingdon, UK, has claimed the Guinness Record for the world’s loudest purr (猫叫声) by a domestic cat, with a noisy purr______at 54.59 decibels (分贝).

The Spink family has had Bella for almost 15 years, and they’ve always______that she might have the world’s loudest purr. Friends and family would always ______her loud purring, and Nicole Spink’s late husband would ______that she was louder than the TV.

One day, they decided to put Bella’s purring to the test―they ______a smartphone app to measure the cat’s purr and were blown away by the______. She was louder than the Guinness World record for the loudest purr by a domestic cat, so they applied for an official record______.

Measuring sound with a smartphone app and having it measured by a sound engineer can bring about totally______ results, but in this case, the Spinks were lucky to have their measurements______. After feasting on a bowl of her favorite food, Bella got to enjoy some much-needed petting by her owner and she produced some ______loud purring.

The standardized class-1 sound meter recorded Bella’s ______pur at 54.59 decibels. That was more than enough to beat the 50-decibel requirement to______the Guinness Record.

It’s important to note that while Bella has ______the record for the loudest purr by a living domestic cat, she doesn’t have the loudest purr in history. That ______belongs to the late Smokey and Merlin, two cats who purred at the ______noise level of 67.8 dB, a full 13.21 louder than Bella.

10 . A two-year-old girl in Newberry County had last been seen at about 3: 00 p. m., but she was missing later in the day. The situation took a _________ turn around 6: 00 p. m. when a hunter in the area heard the cries of the missing child. Reacting immediately, the hunter _________ an emergency call telling authorities the child’s location.

The operators _________ immediately, applying advanced mapping technology to locate the position. This crucial information was then _________ sent to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division(SLED)and the county’s first _________.

With the location data in hand, a search team was quickly _________ to the wooded area. The tireless efforts of these rescue workers ultimately _________ a heartwarming reunion. The missing two-year-old was found in the forest, safe and sound except some slight injuries. Despite her _______ experience, she was found to be in surprisingly good _______, except her understandable tiredness, thirst and fear.

The ________ rescue was the result of the _______ between different departments and the community as a whole. The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office expressed their ______ for the efforts of everyone involved, including citizens, and those ______ their thoughts and prayers during the search. And they showed their relief at the _______ of the little girl in the care of family. Their heroic actions will be ______ as a heartwarming success story in Newberry County for years to come.