1 . The summer after my freshman year college, I had to get my first job. This was probably one of the _________ tasks I have ever had to do. I had never held a job when I was in high school because my parents wanted me to put all my _________ into my studies.

At first, it was very hard. I filled out dozens of _________ but got no calls back in the first two weeks. It made sense because I had _________ no job experience. All I could _________ was that being a high school graduate and a year of college.

However, halfway through the third week, I finally got a call back from one of the places I _________. We had set up a meeting time, and after my _________, I was more than ready to start working the following Monday. I was _________ at the chance of working for my wages.

When I started, it was very clear that I was not _________. I made mistakes with orders and often __________ sales promotions (推销). My parents made a bet I would not __________ the first two weeks, and I would be back looking for more __________. However, I stuck with it.

After working a while, I got better at orders, and always __________ the cheaper options for customers. A couple of weeks later, I had been told by the manager that I had __________ the award of the best employee of the month. It taught me a lot about responsibility and gave me the __________ of working.

2 . I had been invited to go to my friend’s birthday party. I was excited because I liked to go to parties. Although Tori was not my best friend, I _______ to be there.

Two days later, my best friend asked me to go to Disneyland. I really wanted to go. That’s when my mom _______ me that Tori’s party was on the same day. She said I couldn’t change my mind just because something better came along.

My_______ about going to the birthday party was _______. Tori’s party would be okay but not as _______ as a whole day at Disneyland. _______, Tori wasn’t even my best friend. I begged my mom but she _______. She asked me to think about how I would feel if someone did that to me. I had to _______ that it would _______ my feelings. My mom was _______.

So my mom dropped me off at Tori’s party. Something _______ happened after I got there. We did stuff that was fun and different. We watched a movie that hadn’t come out in theaters yet and that was pretty _______. There was also a make-your-own pizza contest. We gave presents to Tori and her parents had a special present to give to each of us _______! That was so cool.

When my mom came to _______ me up, she was glad that I’d had a good time. Not only did I _______ the party, but I learned an important lesson. My mom was right…as usual.

3 . A woman about 100 years old just proved that age means nothing by breaking three amateur(业余的) swimming world records.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, Betty Brussels _________ the Victoria Masters Swim Club Meet and beat the rivals in the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle in the 100- to 104-year-old age _________.

Betty Brussel didn’t get into _________ swimming until she was in her 60s, and this was the first time she had been able to _________ such an achievement. She was able to break the records despite _________ a pacemaker(心脏起搏器) she received after suffering a heart attack in her 70s.

Betty finished her 50m backstroke in 1:24.91, which was almost five _________ faster than the previous record. She surpassed(超过) the _________ standing 400m freestyle record of 16:36.80 by _________ hers in 12:50.03. Betty set the first record for the 50m breaststroke with a time of 1:56.22.

“I was surprised by my own _________ yesterday,” said Betty. “I gave it my all; I never give up. It was wonderful. I was totally __________ by everybody’s support. I like to win, but __________ have never been the most important thing to me. If somebody else wins, I am __________ for them.”

Even though Betty Brussels only just __________ her own achievements, award-winning filmmakers Hannah Walsh and Emma Puchniak are already talking about a possible __________ that could be released in about a year.

“I live life every day and __________ it,” Betty told the publication. “I feel very fortunate to do what I do.”

4 . Felicia Grimmenhag of Sweden doesn’t let anything get in her way — even a life-changing injury. After surviving a serious car accident, Felicia had to _________ getting around in a wheelchair. But it didn’t stop her from _________ her dream as a champion horseback rider and Paralympic (残奥会) hopeful.

Felicia was 17 when she was _________ by a car while riding her motorbike. Despite being legally dead for 15 minutes, she _________ pulled through. When she finally _________ three days later, she discovered her legs had disappeared. While this new reality would be a(n) _________ pill for anyone to take, Felicia focused all her energy on getting back on the horse! She’d _________ as a little girl and decided to try again. And shockingly, about 10 weeks after the _________, she was riding once again! “Horses have meant a lot to me, both _________ and also physically,” she told Great Big Story. “When I sit on a horse, I don’t feel like the __________ Felicia, but the horse-riding Felicia.”

Felicia has since taken part in competitions around the world, proving she doesn’t need __________ to win. In 2020, the 25-year-old won the silver at the Swedish Championships. Now she __________ to compete at the Paralympics! “What I have learned from all this is that you should dare to __________ yourself, and remember that it’s only you who sets your own __________,” she said.

It’s true that when you want something, all you need is the __________ and drive to achieve it.

5 . Whenever I visited my grandfather Jack, he burst with questions. Each time I _______, however, his face would settle into a puzzled expression. He’d leaned closer. My _______ grew louder and louder until I was practically shouting at him. Then he raised his hands, and _______ me away with a resigned sigh.

Jack loved company, and loved having long _______. But by the time he turned 80, more than 70% of his _______ was gone. Jack spent thousands on medical-grade hearing aids. They were functional, but made all noises loud. The devices became even less _______ as his ears got worse and worse. Simple conversations were _______ in shouting matches and frustration. Phone calls were impossible, either.

When I visited him in the fall of 2022, I_______ a pair of earphones. The earphones had a new _______ that lets a mobile phone transmit audio from the microphone directly to compatible (兼容的) hearing aids working with an app. I put them in my grandfather’s ears, ________ the app on my phone and spoke into it. Then I watched Jack nod his head in ________. He understood my words! And when he responded ________ and in complete sentences, it felt like a ________ had closed. Both of us were excited. For the first time in years, Jack and I talked clearly.

These days, Jack and his new earphones are ________. He’s far less lonely. He can finally meet people again and ________ entire conversations, as long as they speak into his phone. He is smiling the biggest smile I have seen on his face in years.

6 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

7 . I had spent some time in the morning talking to my granddaughter about being “generous”. She had a lot of chocolates. I asked her if she had thought about how she was going to ________ her good fortune with her sister? “No!” she said.

That’s why I ________ her to share, and why it’s good to be generous. Not sure if she was convinced, we then ________ out on the town, in Sydney. I wanted to show her Chinatown and shop at the markets.

After shopping I took her to a ________. She is a fussy (挑剔的) eater. She was having a good time and even tried some new ________ while I taught her how to ________ chopsticks.

I noticed a man sitting near me having lunch. Then he got up to ________ and upon leaving he paid for our ________. The shop owner checked with us if that was OK. I was so ________. Then he was gone before I really had ________ to thank him. My 9-year-old granddaughter was really ________ by this. We were then also gifted dessert by our waitress. Good ________ came in pairs.

Upon leaving I ________ them $5. Then I said to my granddaughter “we don’t really need a ________ lunch, do we? So now we have to pay our good fortune forward to someone else.” She got money ________ and was looking for a homeless person.

8 . Do you ever feel like an outsider? An outsider is not a strange person without friends. ________, they are someone who challenges accepted values and perspectives. The education system teaches you to think ________. However, brilliant work is always unconventional. The self-taught may produce fresh and ________ work.

Everything was against Eileen Gray. In the 1920s, you needed strict qualifications to become an architect. Men strictly ________ access to academic courses. Eileen Gray ________ to accept the conventional rules presented to her. No one in the system would help her, so she helped herself. Gray rolled up her sleeves, picked up a hammer and nails, and made her ________ a reality. She taught herself the ________ an architect needed from books and evening classes. Gray recognized that other architects work was predictable because they were insiders ________ the design rules of the profession. The famous architecture companies ________ the same old designs and practices. She realized if she did things ________ she would stand out.

Imagine someone without ________ to build a house from the very beginning: attracting the finance, producing detailed plans of electrical circuits, plumbing, and ________ form, and then making it. In 1926, Gray began building a house near Monaco. It was called E.-1027, a white beacon of enlightenment (启蒙灯塔) E.-1027 immediately ________ international recognition as a masterpiece, and lots of design tasks flooded in. Her ________ shocked architects who had spent years studying at university. Gray’s ________ to think and act independently contributed to her great success.

9 . Dillon Reeves is a student in Michigan. He was honored as a hero for preventing his school bus from _________ after the bus driver lost consciousness (知觉).

On April 26, 2023, the bus driver was taking students home from the school when she began to experience a faint (昏厥). She attempted to _________ but didn’t make it._________ she lost consciousness.

The bus began to turn to oncoming traffic._________, Dillon took action. Dillon, who was _________ about five rows back, got up from his seat, ran to the front of the bus,_________ the steering wheel (方向盘) and brought the bus to a stop in the middle of the road in _________.

In a video released by authorities at the news conference, Dillon was seen taking _________ of the steering wheel and then shouting at the other passengers to call 911.

The police and fire departments responded quickly to the scene to _________ to the driver and the students were loaded onto another bus to be __________ taken home. No injuries to the children on the bus were reported.

The city was very __________ of the hero! The little boy reacted quickly when his school bus driver experienced a __________ emergency, bringing the bus to a stop and __________ a very severe accident. Dillon has been a hero.

“Dillon has really been a __________ guy” , his mother said. “However, to do something like that really makes my heart stop __________.”

10 . I’m a young American woman, living in China and teaching English. It’s sometimes very ______ when I can’t speak Chinese well and don’t have any friends nearby.

One night, I was riding my bicycle home when I noticed that my key had ______ my keychain. I did my best to ______, but couldn’t see anything with nearly no light on the street. I ______ to ask anyone to help because I didn’t know how to communicate with them. So I just kept looking, but without ______.

At one point a man on a motorbike ______ when he saw me. I tried my best to say what I was kept looking for. But he just said something I didn’t understand and ______ away. I was a bit ______ but I just kept looking. About ten minutes later he came back,______ me a small flashlight, and waved goodbye. What a nice ______ to offer a stranger in the middle of the night! Although it didn’t give much light, it ______ helped me see where my key wasn’t. After a while, a car pulled up, and the same ______ to communicate took place. Then the man turned his lights on and stayed with me until we found it.

I learned from this experience that language does not have to be the ______ in communication. All one can do in an emergency is hope that someone else will come to your ______. I hope I will always try to shed (散发出光) a little light for someone else whenever the opportunity ______.