1 . Egyptian table tennis player Ibrahim Hamadtou didn’t win a medal, or even score a victory. But he has become one of the most_________stories at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Hamadtou lost his_________ in a train accident when he was just 10 years old. But that did not_________his love of sports. He used to play both football and table tennis. After the accident, he felt lost and stayed _________at home for three years. Then he went back to football, but football was too_________ for him. With no arms, he couldn’t protect himself when he fell!

After several _________, he found that he could play table tennis with his mouth. It took him nearly a year of_________to hold the racket (球拍) with his mouth and make the _________with his feet.

He first competed at the Rio Paralympics, and was finally able to fulfill his lifelong _________of competing in Paralympics. He lost his first two matches, but did _________ the respect of other players like David Wetherill. “He’s a legend in table tennis,” said Wetherill. “I know I won today but I think he has_________ far more skills than I have.

In Tokyo, he lost to a Chinese player and a player from South Korea,_________all the competitions at his second Paralympics. However, he has a(n)_________ for the world about what disability really means, in his eyes.

“I want to tell everybody that nothing is _________, and everybody should work hard for what you love and what you think is good for yourself,” he said. “The _________ is not in arms or legs; it is not to stick to whatever you would like to do.”

2 . The Language of Flowers

Ding dong! I looked up from the couch. Who in the world could that be? My body was troubled with illness, so I’d ________myself away. Friends telephoned, texted, emailed and sent cards. I didn’t ________, thinking that I had nothing to offer anyone in the miserable condition I was in.

I ________got up and opened the door to a flower delivery. As I put the flowers on my dining table, I was struck by its ________. It was comprised of solitary blossoms of many varieties that shouldn’t really ________yet somehow did. The mystery flowers had come in a blue jar, without a card.

Instead of returning to the couch, I ________ the florist. He told me some of my friends were behind the ________, secretly. “They wanted to get a ________to you, ” he said, “through the language of flowers.”

The group had followed him and picked very ________stems after consulting an old book. “I learned some things,” the florist said, then ________: “The red carnation (康乃馨) meant ‘Our hearts ache for you’. The yellow tulip (郁金香) wanted to see ________in my smile again. The pink carnation had a few ________words to say about never forgetting me.”

The more I understood what the flowers were ________, the more I started to remember the woman who might have ________them before I separated myself from everyone and everything. My friends knew I was still that woman, with ________beyond my health.

3 . Students at an elementary school in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline that people can call to get _________ advice from kids during difficult times. In just days, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour.

Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California, _________ her students just might have the magic words needed to bring _________ to people in these difficult times. “To hear the pure _________ from kids is extremely comforting,” she says.

The project was called “PepToc”. Actually, they called it “Pep Talk” (鼓励话语) first.. But when Ms. Martin’s 6-year-old son drew an advertisement for the hotline and _________ it “PepToc”, they _________ they liked that even better.

The hotline is _________ in English and Spanish. It offers the happy voices of _________ of different ages sharing positive messages. For example, by pressing 3, you can _________ a group of kindergartners saying together, “You can do it! Keep trying! Don’t give up!” Pressing 4 __________ the sounds of children giggling and laughing—a sound certain to bring a __________ to anyone’s face. Pressing 1 __________ ideas for people who are “feeling mad, frustrated, or __________ ” Helpful suggestions include “punch your pillow”, or “go get a cookie”. Pressing2 results in “words of __________ and life advice”. This includes messages like “The __________ is a better place with you in it.”

4 . One day, rain was falling. I saw an old, wet dog walking to my house. The leather collar around his neck was _______and faded. I could see the ribs (肋骨) sticking out of his sides and knew he hadn’t had a (n) _______ meal in many days. My heart _______! I ran into my kitchen, _______ an old bowl, filled it with some food and went outside.

The old dog _______ me with alarm. I could see he didn’t completely trust strangers. I called him _______, put the bowl down and _______ a few steps back. I kneeled down in the wet grass and _______. Finally, the old boy smelt food and moved slowly forward. His own smell came before him. He hadn’t had a _______ in a long time either. I wondered if he was ________ or just lost. He bent down his head and rapidly ate the contents of the bowl ________. Then for just a moment he gave me a(n) ________ little smile. I hurried inside, refilled the bowl, and went backout but he was already gone. I had wanted to ________ him and give him a home. Instead we just shared a meal and a moment of love. I sent up a little ________ that his future would be better.

Every moment of love you create is a ________. But caring doesn't necessarily go the way we want it to.

7 . Getting birthday gifts as a dad can be a great time, especially if you can give ideas on what you want ahead of time. You may think I’m a bit _______, but I’m talking specifically about something that you as a dad will always _______. I have two teenagers and they both asked me what I wanted for my _______ this year. Well, I had just bought a DVD player, so I thought about some DVDs I might want, I also _______ some books I had been wanting to read and so on. But then I began to _______: what could they give me that would be a _______ we both would appreciate?

So I decided on photos and stories. I asked my son to _______ a collection of photos that he thought I would like. He did a great job and now I have a pleasant _______ of our time together when he was a toddler crawling around, an 8-year-old with a front tooth _______ and a few others when he was beyond cute! He had a good time picking them out and I have a good time looking at them. A ________ you could say for both of us! ________, it only cost him the price of a frame.

I then asked my daughter to write down a ________ of us and put some thought to it. It is a perfect gift as well. It will always make me feel ________ and it will last forever!

Both gifts were inexpensive but will lighten my heart any time I ________ them. Being a dad has many great ________   and making them easier to remember is priceless.

8 . Hank, a two-year-old cat, is a homebody. But recently, he got _________ in a 60-tall tree for five days and four nights without food or water.

Hank’s big _________ started last weekend. He explored the neighborhood _________, and a dog came out, running after him and sending him flying up a tree.

When Hank’s owner, Delores Bushong, _________ him in the neighbor’s tree, she immediately called the Humane Rescue Alliance for help. _________, Hank was too high for any ladder (梯子) to reach and the tree branch wasn’t _________ enough to support the climb of the rescuer. Bushong felt extremely _________, but her neighbors showed her that she wasn’t alone.

The neighbor, whose tree Hank had climbed, let Bushong sit in his backyard and _________ Hank down. Another neighbor_________ a can of fish, hoping it might attract the __________ cat to come down.

By day five, they tried a new __________ and it worked! They __________ a pulley (滑轮) system by circling a rope around a tall branch, and __________ a basket with some of the owner’s personal items.

The cat, following the familiar scents, climbed into the basket and was __________ from the tree.

Bushong said the help of her community was __________, and Hank’s adventure taught her a lesson about neighbors helping neighbors!

9 . Caring 17-year-old, Lauren Schroeder, was inspired to help bring healthy food to needy families in her community. When she was just 14, she volunteered at a local _________ to help fill boxes for people in need with canned and packaged food. She felt something was missing: fresh vegetables. “I thought it would be great to _________ that,” Lauren told the Washington Post about her motivation to grow and _________ homegrown produce.

This _________ teen then told her parents of her desire to start a garden on their family farm. Initially, while proud of her daughter’s _________, Lauren’s mother, Katie, admitted to some _________, wondering how much work this would mean.

Coming from a farming family, Lauren had some _________ with agriculture, but she had never tried growing _________ at scale (规模). She _________ plants online, checking the instructions on how to take care of each crop. She then secured a __________ from the National FFA Organization, which supports __________ education, to cover seeds (种子) and gardening supplies.

And importantly, Lauren didn’t __________ from hard work. During Iowa’s hot and dry summers, she had to __________ her crops for around three hour daily. She also __________ cheeked for harmful insects, and bent down to pick her green bean crop, the most challenging vegetable to harvest in her opinion.

With assistance from her family, Lauren has donated more than 7,000 pounds of homegrown produce in the past two years. She has also won the __________ of her community.