1 . In a heartwarming incident that highlights the power of human connection, a woman’s act of kindness saved the life of a struggling homeless man.

During a _________ between classes, Casey Fischer made a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. It was there that she _________ a homeless man collecting change by the roadside. _________, she watched him walk into Dunkin, counting his change to see what he could _________.

Casey went over to engage him in _________ and learned that he had only about $1 in change. _________ by his difficult situation, she bought him a _________ and bagel, inviting him to sit with her. He told her that he lost his family in an accident and how people are usually _________ to him because he’s homeless. They _________ for about an hour, drinking their coffees.

After __________ that Casey needed to return to class, the man, named Chris, asked her to __________ so he could write something down for her. Handing Casey a crumpled-up receipt with a(an)__________ for his shaky handwriting, he smiled and left.

Upon opening the __________, Casey read his heartfelt message: “I wanted to end my life today, but because of you, I now have __________. Thank you, beautiful person.”

Casey posted on social media later that day that “this lovely man’s name was Chris, and Chris was one of the most __________ people I’ve ever met”.

2 . While in middle school, students seem to have one goal: to be popular. Like most thirteen-year-olds, I gave in to this need to ________.

One afternoon, I told my father that I wanted to be popular. He looked at me and asked me why I felt that way. I ________ my shoulders and looked back into my drink. I had never stopped to think about why I felt the need to settle in.... I ________ did.

My father ________ to tell me a story from his college days. His mother had made him several sweater vests to wear at school. These sweater vests were ________, but hardly “in style.” Nevertheless, they became a ________ in my father’s closet. He didn’t care that he wasn’t_________ the latest fashion. In fact, he didn’t care what everyone thought of him, either. I was ________. What was even more surprising was that by breaking with convention, my father started a ________. What he wore became fashionable because the other students saw the ________ with which he dressed.

As the days passed and I thought about it, I realized there might be some ________ to what my father said after all. I tried to make a change from just ________ the audience to focusing on the behavior that I really enjoyed. From then on, I found myself ________ less and less about what other people thought of me. It was a wonderful ________! I learned a valuable lesson in the process: ________ against the current can only make me stronger.

3 . When my mom passed away only a few years after we’d lost Dad, the wound of my grief was ________ and deep. To save myself from ________, I play a game I call “It’s 1980”. Best done during a walk in the woods, always done alone, the rules are simple: Think of every single ________ of the year 1980, which was a very happy year for my family.

As I walk along the path through the park, I ________ each family member and picture what they might have been doing. Dad is in the garage, working on a car ________. I can smell fresh paint. Mom is in the kitchen, with another delicious supper in the slow cooker. On and on I go, letting this daydream become my ________ reality, feeling myself ________ the scent of what Mom’s cooking, the ________ of the breeze blowing in the open kitchen window.

________, on my walk, I come to the end and need to ________ the present. Having had my ________ vacation in the past, this is easy because I’ve realized that the girl who knew such happiness and love is still here, in the woman I am today. And I long to share the game with those struggling over the ________. It’s true that ________ have changed for me. ________, with “It’s 1980”, my loving memories can serve as a ________ that all is not lost, has never been lost.

4 . Even with the heated water splashing on my shoulders, a chill (寒意) still ran through me. My son was swimming _______ along the bottom of the pool. He surfaced and said, “I’ll show you how to swim underwater.”Usually I was a(n) _______ student, but not this time.

I just couldn’t trust my body to _______.My anxious mind would not let go. Over the years, I had learned not to sink, but I had never found the _______ of swimming that came easily to my friends. Self-doubt hardened into a _______:I couldn’t swim underwater.

But my son George wouldn’t _______ this. “Can you try?” His waiting face was open with possibility. I thought of the_______ things we had asked of him. The days I left him at preschool, he wept bitterly as I _______.The times he bared his arm for shots from the doctor. Earlier times in pools when he, too, _______ deep water.

I couldn’t say no. “Try to swim to me. It’s not very far.” he said, ________ above the water.His voice,calm and encouraging,   ________ me. “When I count to three, you start, OK?” I didn’t move. “Let’s try again,” he said in his teacher voice. “One, two, three!”

After more false starts, I knew I must ________.I sucked in air, squeezed my eyes shut, and aimed like a torpedo (鱼雷) into the dark. I traveled ________ in this liquid world, just pushing forward. I ________ my breath until I couldn’t anymore. I burst up into cool air. “I did it!” I said, tears of ________ streaming down my smiling face.George smiled too. “Now,” he continued, “try to go a little farther.”

I swam farther.I swam.

5 . Bryan was driving home one evening. It was starting to get dark and cold. Ever since the factory closed, he’d been unemployed. Suddenly, he saw an old lady ________ standing beside a car on the side of the road. So he ________ in front of her and said, “I’m here to help you ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s ________? By the way, my name is Bryan.”

All she had was a ________ tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car and soon he changed it. The lady asked him how much she ________ him. Bryan never thought twice about the ________ and told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give the ________, and Bryan added “... and think of me”. She started her car and drove off.

A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small cafe and went in. She ________ that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but never let the strain and aches change her attitude. Then she remembered Bryan. As the waitress went to get the ________ for her hundred-dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. ________, the waitress noticed something written on the napkin under which were four more $100 bills. There were ________ in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote. It ________ : “Somebody once helped me out the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, do not let this chain of love ________ with you.”

That night when she got home from work, she was thinking about the lady. With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how ________ her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and ________, “Everything’s gonna be all right; I love you, Bryan.”

6 . My son had just got his driving license. On the way home, I pulled the car over and ________ seats with him, making him drive home. “No, I’m not ready,” he took a deep breath, and ________ my father’s words, “Don’t apologize for knowing your ________.” For a brief moment, time froze.

I ________ my family riding the highest roller coaster then at an amusement park one summer. I was secretly terrified of ________. Not wanting to be the only one to stay behind, I ________ to myself, you can do this, you can do this, trying to ________ my nerves.

It was time to step into the waiting area. My body was ________ with fear. At that moment I knew: I just couldn’t do it and finally ________ my fear. Too ________ to face my family, I simply called to Dad that I was leaving.

Soon they showed up. No one looked very thrilled about what they had just experienced. I began to feel ________ relieved when I looked up and ________ Dad’s inquiring eyes. “I was just too chicken. Sorry.” I murmured.

“Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits. Don’t ever let anyone ________ you do something you’re not comfortable with.” This was the exact ________ of what I expected him to say.

Instantly, I understood how my son felt. Knowing the limits isn’t a(n) ________ of weakness, but a sign of strength.

7 . My friend Megan texted about a puppy needing a home, attaching photos. As an animal shelter owner, I am always looking to _________ my family. After buying land in 2017, I opened Charlotte’s Freedom Farm, named after my first _________, a lamb with one ear. With the profits from my four pet supply stores, I have _________ up to 200 animals.

The puppy, Winnie, was deserted for its bad front legs, but instantly _________ my heart with his big brown eyes and floppy ears. His unique appearance _________ me of a kangaroo, so I started an Instagram page for him, @winnie_ theroo.

At Pawsability, Winnie received _________ wheels, allowing him to move freely and merrily. _________ by his journey, I wrote a book, “Winnie’s Warriors,” sharing his story and those of other _________ dogs at the farm. While some people initially _________ him, they quickly realize that Winnie and his friends are living their best lives on the farm. His Instagram following continues to __________, with fans finding inspiration in his __________. He brings joy and laughter into our lives every day.

As Winnie’s family member, I am incredibly __________ of him. He has __________ me so much about love, acceptance and resilience. Animals like Winnie __________ to be celebrated and cherished, as they have displayed the __________ that exists even in the face of hardships.

8 . On several occasions, I arrived at the Starbucks drive-through window only to find my bill already paid by a kind stranger. _________, I now keep an eye on my rearview mirror, looking for some one deserving of this _________.

One morning, I spotted a (n) _________ middle-aged woman in a shiny sports car behind me. I smiled to myself, “No way does she need me to buy her coffee!” But somehow a voice _________ inside that I should. And so I did. I knew I had trusted that little voice and that was all that really _________.

When I returned to my car, the lady was there. “Hi,” she said. “Thank you for the coffee. I never _________that.”

“You’re welcome. I was just ‘_________.’”

Surprisingly, she _________ to cry, revealing her struggle with _________ bankruptcy (破产) following a business crisis and the recent __________ of her son due to cancer. “I needed a __________ that everything would work out. When you bought my coffee this morning, I knew that was it.” Now I was the one who was choking back tears. I told her that I could __________ her suffering. I, too, had recently lost my son.

I sat in my car for a while, my heart kind of __________. I believe I gave her much more than a cup of coffee. Next time I am in the drive-through and feel the __________ to pay it forward — there will be no __________.

9 . None of my friends are going to the art camp. Despite my ______ for drawing, I decided not to go because I had a hard time jumping into something with no ______ faces around.

Sitting under the bright sun, I thought about the art camp and wished I felt a little braver. To distract myself, I started sketching a pine. ______ myself I was happy to skip the camp, I drew the pine’s strong trunk and ______ the graceful branches, making sure the upper ones ______ gently toward the sun, At this time, Mr. Weston, my neighbor ______, “You’ve done a great job capturing the strength of that tree on paper.” He added, “Actually, you have to spread out the ______ near the surface so the tree can get enough water and grow tall. If you ______ the root ball too deep, the tree withers (凋零). I learned that root grow out, not down from my experience of planting pine trees.” “That ______,” I said. I made adjustments to the root part and then added shading to the branches to give them depth. “You have a good ______,” Mr. Weston said, and then nodded goodbye.

I thought about what Mr. Weston told me as I ______ at the towering pine. I’d never realized how ______ a tree’s roots stretch outward. It made me think about art camp and my own roots. I wasn’t stretching them out at all. ______, I was planting myself into one deep spot because it felt safer. I ______ realized that if I wanted to grow, I had to start reaching out too. That night, I took a deep breath and filled in the ______ for art camp.

10 . My wife and I parked by a rough path the same time as a young man covered in tattoos (纹身). I ______ he was unfriendly，so we tried to ______ ourselves from him. But he struggled hard to ______ and wanted to talk some. We slowed down. He said he was recovering from a bad time in his life. We ______ left him in the dust，heading up the river.

Hours later we turned back ______ a flash flood had taken out the bridge. There he was again, following to ______ us. He shared a little more of his ______. He lost his mother and sister in a car accident and he was permanently ______ too. We slowed down to the pace he could ______ for the whole way back.

He continued, “During much surgery and ______ I came to hate life...” Then he pulled up his shirt to show us a ______ life size tattoo from neck to waist. It was two ladies in a ______ light waving to him. “This is my mom and this is my sister,” he pointed, “They told me to stop hating everything. They loved me just as they always had and ______ me to live in love too!” He explained the brightly colored tattoo was the exact dream he had that day.

My ______ went away. It had painted a wrong picture of this wonderful person with a beautiful ______ . I learned more than he hoped to tell.