1 . Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket — anything with a round ball, I was _______,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always _______ in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.

It was a mountain _______ he received for his 15th birthday that _______ him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a _______ friend. _______, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and _______. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.

The _______ year, he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he _______ about Ridgway’s cold-water adventures. Greatly ________ , Saunders ________ that this would be his future.

In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders ________ his first long-distance expedition (探险) towards the North Pole. It took ________ energy. He ________ frostbite (冻疮), ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the ________, pulling his supply-load sled (雪橇) up and over rocky ice. Since then, Saunders has skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometre journey that has never been completed on skis.

3 . Nine years ago, I moved to an absolutely new town. Though I was _________, with various new things to explore, I was still lonely. I was eager to establish _________.

This could explain my enthusiastic “Count me in!” when _________ to participate in a half marathon. Considering my usual 3 miles, I must have been _________ — 13 miles seemed a(n) _________ task.

However, the original _________ gradually faded away. I found comfort in burying myself in training. Though taking it slow, one mile, and then two, I gradually made _________. Mile after mile, I managed to step beside my new friends. We talked about our favorite music and _________ funny stories about our children. At about mile 10, the conversations _________. We shared our past and hopes for our future, our fears and regrets. By the time we were finishing 12 miles, I was __________ that I’d made lifelong friends.

__________, the day of the race arrived. At the start line, armed with my friends, I already felt like a champion. My time training had __________. I managed to hold a steady pace and kept up with my __________. Finally, we crossed the finish line together.

Although it started as a __________ of building social ties, running not only provided me with friendship, but with a skill that would __________ me for the rest of my life.

4 . I was doing well as a department head in a Mumbai firm, but my relationship with the boss had become strained (紧张的). Not wanting to ________ this, I resigned rather impulsively (冲动地). But with no other job offer in hand, I soon became ________.

Then, one morning, a Situations Vacant ad I spotted ________ a person like me. So, carrying my ________ typed CV (简历) in an envelope on which I had written both “To and From” ________, I took a train on a Monday morning to get to the post office, where I could have it weighed, stamped and ________. Getting off the train, I ________ the crowd of office-goers out of the station and on to the street. Suddenly, I noticed my envelope was ________!

I rushed back to the ________. The train was still there. A ________ of the compartment in which I travelled ended up with nothing. I waited ________ for the train to pull away. It hadn’t fallen on the tracks either.

The ________ thing to do was to go home, sit at my typewriter, make a new CV and covering letter and mail it. But losing the envelope was like a bad ________, so I gave up.

Three weeks passed. I ________ a letter that referred to my “lost” job application and inviting me for a ________ with the company’s managing director, I was ________.

I soon got the job, and ________ there as deputy general manager until I took voluntary retirement.

I still think about my application ________ its addressee (收信人). I imagine someone found it. He or she might have asked others on the train. Realizing it would be ________ to a fellow citizen, the finder took it to a post office, stuck the stamps and mailed it. To that ________ friend, I want to say: Thank you for a little act that proved to be so big for me.

5 . I ran into a stranger as he passed by. “I’m so sorry” was my reply. Then he said, “Excuse me too. I wasn’t even watching for you.” We were very ______, this stranger and I. Then we went on our ______ after saying goodbye.

But at ______, a different story is told about how we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later in the kitchen, as I ______ the meal, my daughter walked to me, very still. When I turned, I ______ knocked her down. “Get out of the way!” I shouted with a frown (皱眉). She walked away silently, with her little heart ______ I didn’t realize how rudely I had spoken.

That night, when I lay ______ in bed, there was a quiet voice that spoke to me, “While ______ with a stranger, you are calm and polite, but with those you love, you are quick to get excited. Go to look around the ______, you’ll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers she brought for you. She ______ them herself — pink, yellow, and your favorite blue. She walked away quietly and you never saw the ______ in her eyes.”

By this time, I felt sad and small and my own tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt (跪) by her ______. “Wake up, my dear,” I said. “Are these the flowers you picked for me?” She smiled, “I found them out by the tree, and I______ them in a napkin (餐巾), just for you. I knew you’d like them, especially the ______ I said, “I am so sorry that I missed them today. And I shouldn’t have ______ you that way.”

And she whispered, “Mommy, that’s OK... I still love you anyway.” I ______ her and said, “I love you too, and I love the flowers.”

You should know that: if you die tomorrow, the ______ you are working for could have someone easily replace you in a matter of days. But the family you ______ behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into our ______ than into our families—a(n) ______ investment (投资) indeed.

Remember that FAMILY= (F) ATHER + (A) ND + (M) OTHER + (I) + (L) OVE + (Y) OU.

6 . Obocho Peters may only be 11 years old, but he’s already a role model to his community.

The boy ________ giving low-income families a better life, especially when it comes to ________. And he’s making it happen through a ________ he started two years ago.

The wheels began turning in Obocho’s head after he saw “Avengers: Infinity War” in 2018. He ________ the movie and asked his mom Sasha to buy him toys of the ________, but as a single parent, she couldn’t ________ them. So Obocho decided to ________ his old clothes so he could buy the toys himself.

He also began ________ how he could make a difference in his community.

“When my mom ________ her hardship with me, I realized that other families must face the ________ problems when taking care of their ________,” Obocho wrote. “That idea turned into the ________ I have today — to help the community grow.”

He set up Obocho’s Closet, a shop that sells donated (捐赠的) pieces of clothing for $10 and under. It ________ as an online store, but after raising more than $10,000 on GoFundMe, Obocho opened a physical location this year on his birthday!

His main ________ is to provide families with affordable choices so they can ________ money for college funds (资金), but he also uses some money he has earned to ________ local financial literacy classes (金融知识课), where parents can ________ enough financial knowledge.

In June 2019, Obocho was presented with a “Heroes of the Month” award (奖) for his great ________ to his community. What a smart, ________ kid! He’s already made his mark on the world. Sasha must be so ________!

7 . The 65-year-old Steve Goodwin, suffering from early Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默症), was losing his memory.

As a keen lover of the piano, he was truly _______ to play music, _______ he had never performed outside the family.

Melissa, his daughter, insisted it’s _______ worthwhile to save his music. Steve _______, tears in eyes. _______, Naomi, Melissa’s best friend and a talented pianist, came and met Steve for the first time, showing willingness to help.

She told Steve she’d love to hear him play the _______. Steve moved and sat at the bench, hands _______ as he gently placed his fingers on the keys. Naomi put a small _______ near the piano. In great difficulty, Steve pressed on, playing for the first time in his life for a _______.

“It was amazingly ________, worth saving.” Naomi said after listening to the recording.

They met every other week. He’d move his fingers ________ on the piano due to the disease, and then she’d take his place. He ________ to explain what he heard in his head. He stood by the piano, his eyes closed, listening for the first time to his own work being played by someone else.

Steve and Naomi spoke in music. He heard it, all of it, but just couldn’t play it.

However, working with Naomi did ________ for Steve. It had completely excited within him the faith ________ he could write one last song. Steve called it “Melancholy Flower”.

Naomi managed to ________ 16 of Steve’s favorite, and most personal songs. The Goodwin family found a sound engineer to record Naomi playing Steve’s songs. They thought that would be the end. But it wasn’t.

In the months ________ the Christmas concert, Naomi told the director she had a special one in mind: “Melancholy Flower”. She believed that Steve’s music was beautiful and professional and needed to be shared to the ________. They were soon ________ to add it to the playing list. Steve considered it an honor, too.

By then, Steve was having a hard time remembering the names of his friends. He arrived and was________ in the front row, surrounded by his family. The house lights faded. Naomi took the stage. Her fingers. His ________.

10 . It was the last day of the final examination in a university. On the steps of one building, a group of students who majored in engineering were talking about the exam that was going to begin in a few_____.On their faces was confidence. This was their last exam—then they would face _____ and jobs.

Some talked of jobs they already had; others talked of jobs they would get. With the certainty of four years of college, they felt ready and able to take _____ of the world.

The coming exam, they knew, would be an easy task. The professor had said they could_____ any books or notes they wanted to take the exam, only requesting that they should not _____ each other during the test.

Joyfully they entered the examination room. The professor handed out the papers. And smiles _____ on the students’ faces as they noticed there were only five essay－type questions(问答题).

Three hours had passed_____ the professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer looked confident. On their faces were frightened expressions. No one spoke as the professor faced the class with papers in his hands.

He looked at the _____ faces before him, and then asked, “How many completed all five questions?”_____ a hand was raised.

“How many answered four?” Still no hands.

“Three? Two?” The students moved restlessly (不安地) in their seats.

“One, then? Certainly somebody finished _____.”But the class remained silent.

The professor put down the papers.“That is exactly what I _____，” he said.“I just want to impress upon you that，_____ you have completed four years of engineering, there are still many questions about the _____ you don’t know. These questions you couldn’t answer are relatively (相对地)valuable in everyday practice.” Then smiling, he added, “You will all _____ this course, but remember even though you are now college graduates, your education has just begun.”

The years have _____ the name of this professor, but not the lesson he taught.