3 . At age eleven, I was in middle school. As the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my cool. But before Christmas, every chance I got, when I was _________, I checked each present under the tree quietly. I read every tag (标签) and _________ every package, telling which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.

It had been a (n) _________ year for my family. When my mom looked at the simple presents, she sighed and warned us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be _________.” Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil (溺爱) us. In years past, the presents would pile up and I would hear the phrase “giving is better than receiving”, but thought whoever had said that must have been out of their mind. Getting presents was the whole _________!

On that Christmas morning, we _________ waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly. We made weak   _________ to wait and watch other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our self-control.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she _________ me a package with my name written on the label in my mother’s handwriting. I looked at it, _________. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I __________ this one. It was my mom’s.

“Mom, I can’t...”

I was __________ by my mother’s eager, joyful look—a look I could not really understand. “Let’s see what it is, honey. Hurry and open it.” It was a blow dryer. Though it’s simple, to me it was so much more. Being a little girl, I was amazed. In my world, where receiving __________ giving, my mom’s act of selflessness was incomprehensible. Tears filled my eyes and I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to __________ her Christmas.

I have always remembered that Christmas full of deep __________. It had such an impact on me. As an adult, I can now __________ my mom’s actions—finding an even greater joy in her Christmas, because giving truly is better than receiving. My mom’s simple act meant the world to me.

5 . Jackson sat at his school desk and looked over at the new kid in class. His name was Billy and he just_______ here from Florida. So far, Jackson had not______ him. Today, at break, Jackson was going to try to make a new friend.

When the bell______for rest, Jackson hurried out of his seat and followed Billy outside. “Hi, Billy,” Jackson said as they walked outside. “Do you want to play basketball?” “No. I’m not very ______at basketball. “Jackson stood there and ______what to do next. Maybe he didn’t like Jackson. Maybe he didn’t want to be his______.Jackson thought about playing basketball with other ______. He looked over at Billy sitting on the rock alone by himself. He decided to give it one more try.

“Do you like cars?” Jackson asked Billy______he walked up to him. “Sure!” Billy said with a______. Jackson reached into his pocket and pull out two ______.”My brother gave me these.” He______one of the cars to Billy. “Awesome! I love Mustangs!” Billy rolled the car over the rock. “Me too!” Jackson said. “It’s my ______car!” Jackson sat on the ground and rolled his car across the rock, making a car noise as he did. “My Dad has a real Mustang! You should come over to my______ and see it!” “Great!” Jackson______said. He was so happy that he could______tell, they were going to be best friends.

7 . Robeson was born in a very poor family. At seven, he had to pick coal in a deserted mine near his home, and then he sold what he had picked and _________ a few coins to help his parents. He had little schooling, for being so poor, how could his parents _________ school fees?

When he was fifteen, he worked _________ a servant in a school. Seeing other children studying in the classroom, he felt sorry for himself. How he _________ to have the same chance! He decided to study by _________. In the daytime, after the sweeping and cleaning was over, he _________ stand by the window outside the classroom trying to catch what the teacher said. At night, he tried his best to remember what he had learned during the day. He worked _________ hard at his lessons that he sometimes had just three or four hours to sleep. The more he learned, the greater _________ he showed in his lessons. A maths teacher discovered him and came to like this diligent boy and _________ him to sit at the back of the class. In one exam, he was the __________ one in the whole school who reached the highest grade. He would have been given the scholarship if he had been a(n) __________ student of the school.

Robeson __________ through six long years with his study of maths and wrote several articles which captured the attention of some university professors. They admired his talent __________ his diligence. To give him a good chance, they hired him as a librarian and __________ him free guidance. Robeson felt happy, for he was sure that before him there was a broad road __________ success.

8 . Bingley, a Sayre School student from America, decided that he would devote himself to studying the environment to have a broad influence on the community.

To reduce the carbon footprint, Bingley planned to _________ enough solar energy to power the school’s science labs. Now his plan is set to happen. To fix 30 solar panels is _________ for late November.

As he began his research _________ solar energy, he discovered a useful phone app. By entering an address, he could find out how much sunlight the _________ receives each day. Based on the data, he found that his school building was the best position. At the suggestion of his science teacher, Debbie Wheeler, he first performed an energy _________ of the science lab to see how much energy a typical lab uses per day. Then, he started his research, _________ a local company of solar panels to do the job. He lacked money for starting the project, so he _________ Sayre’s head to support him after explaining the _________ of solar power for the school and community.

Since Sayre provided the _________ seed money to provide infrastructure and the purchase of one panel, the project has__________to include a total of 30 panels. They are expected to produce enough energy to __________ all the science labs on campus.

“It feels like a dream to think that an idea I had from my AP Environmental class would have this kind of __________,” said Bingley, expressing gratitude for Wheeler’s help. Wheeler said the success was due to Bingley’s efforts and __________ to follow through on the project from start to finish. “I’ve had other students talk about __________ initiatives (倡议) on campus, but Bingley had the persistence and courage to make it happen,” she said.

Bingley said that he would __________ like to study environmental engineering at university.

9 . When my first book was published, I couldn’t wait to make it to readers. The book signing was _____ in a beautiful bookstore. I had imagined hundreds of customers would _____ waiting for me to sign copies for them. _____, it didn’t happen like that. Despite the nice sign outside, not a single _____ entered. As the minutes passed, I was _____ anxious.

For the past four years, I had lived on a strict _____. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. every day and had two hours of writing before work. I often prayed (祈望) my readers would finally be _____. At this moment, sitting here alone, I _____ if my entire life was just a big joke. Just before the store’s closing time, _____, I began to get myself ready to leave.

Just when I couldn’t feel any ______, a middle-aged couple walked in. I managed to ______ my bad emotions and introduced myself and my book. While listening, they nodded in ______ from time to time. Then the wife told me, “We’ll take the book.” My heart beat fast with ______. “We lost our son five months ago,” she said with watery eyes. “Maybe your book will help us ______ it.”

Two weeks later, I received a thank-you letter from the couple. My prayer of my words touching just one person was ______. Thanks to them, I kept moving ahead to writing.

10 . My wife went out with a friend. I was busy in my study (书房) while my 3-year-old daughter ________ to be having a good time in the other room. No problem, I figured. But then it got too quiet and I shouted, “What are you doing?” I heard her say, “Oh… nothing.” Nothing? I ran out ________ the living room, where I saw her run across the hall and her little body made a quick ________ into the bathroom. I had her ________ but failed to make her turn around. I pulled out my big Daddy voice, “Young lady,” I said, “turn around!”

________, she turned toward me with my wife’s new lipstick (口红) in her hand. And every square inch of her face was ________ with bright red! As she looked up at me with fearful eyes, I heard ________ voice that had been shouted to me as a child. “How could you. You should know. How many times have you been ________. What a bad thing to.” It was just a matter of my picking out which old ________ I was going to use on her so that she would know what a bad girl she had been. But.________ I could shout to her, I looked down at the sweater on her. In big ________ it said, “I’M A PERFECT LITTLE ANGEL!” I looked back up into her tearful eyes and,________ seeing a bad girl who didn’t listen, I saw a little angel full of ________ that I would nearly ________ . “Sweetheart, let’s take a picture so Mommy can see how ________ you look.” I took the picture and thanked God that I didn’t miss the chance to prove what a perfect little angel he had given me.