1 . At 111, Dr Edith Kaufmann was the second oldest person in the UK. I met her when I ________ at a care home for the elderly in London six years ago. I didn’t realize it would be the start of a close ________, where the age gap spanned eight decades.

At first sight, I was ________ by her self-confidence. Her doctorate (博士学位) told me she was intelligent and ________. From the beginning, I never felt as if Edith and I ________ conversation. Edith could have a full conversation with me about anything, and that her memory stretched back so easily, ________ even small things which took place 100 years ago.

She was also________ . She loved dancing as a child and I recall, only a few weeks before her death,________she smiled when I played the waltz and we________ hands and danced along to the music. Although towards her later years she was________to a wheelchair, she still participated in the exercise classes.

As I________Edith each week, I realized that I was going as much for me as I was for her. I learnt to take the words of________when I could get them. When I have failed over the years, and small decisions have ________on my mind, I have ________nothing more than the opportunity to regain my perspective (视角) on life and what actually________.

3 . Hansen and his 10-year-old son Chase search the streets of Salt Lake City every weekend for the homeless to take to lunch. They started Project Empathy(共情)four years ago to ________a meal, listen to their stories and figured out how they could ________ help.

“Just start with a smile, a hello. It really just starts with that. If you do it, you can make a connection. A small gesture can have a ________ impact on others less fortunate,” Hansen ________ in an interview.

Some of these shared meals have turned into stronger ________ .Ward, a homeless, was ________ in a flat. He credited the Hansens with helping him ________the difficult process of moving off the streets. “It is great to have friends who make us feel ________ and I’m impressed with the pair,” Ward said.

Father and son’s ________have developed into a passion project that ________ faith and community, which emphasizes the ________ community members can have in uplifting the homeless. They know they can’t settle the homeless ________ alone. They’re hoping empathy will ________.

“My hope for the future is to ________ more connection across our country. We could and we will succeed ________ we have other people join in and help the homeless,” Chase said.

6 . My job is to provide at-home services for the elderly and those who are disabled. My client (客户) was an 86-year-old woman who had been _______ cancer for the past four years. The last few months of her life took all her _______ but none of her joy in life.

Each day I appeared at her _______, she would ask, “Have you heard any good _______ lately?” I’m not good at remembering jokes and _______ had a funny story to tell her, besides it always seemed that the only joke that would come to my mind sound _______ to her.

Then, I got the bright idea to copy Grace’s Kid Stories that I _______ on my bookshelf at home. Every day I would have one more _______ thing to tell my wonderful friend. She would _______ quietly to herself, and my heart was________.

Today, her daughter told me she had ________ on Sunday. One of the things the daughter told me was that one of her mother’s last ________ was “Have you heard any good jokes lately?”

The daughter told her mother that she couldn’t ________ anything funny. Her mother replied that I always ________ with a joke and that she had ________ wailing for me to arrive with each new “joke”.

We ________ for a few minutes together, then I got on with my ________, but I couldn’t seem to down to work. Finally, I ________ the daughter and asked, “Would you like to hear today’s joke?”

I am grateful (感激的) to the stories for ________ me to make an old woman’s last days a little more ________. Goodbye, my old friend, I hope you continue to get a joke every day in heaven!

7 . I often remember those good old days when life was relatively simpler, and people were much more humane (有人情味的) and _________. Recently, to my surprise, I got the   _________ to experience that same _________ that I thought had disappeared from the world.

I was out shopping the other day with my husband, two daughters and one granddaughter. It was very hot, and we were all obviously _________ and hungry. We entered a restaurant, looking for some _________ and comfort.

To our _________, all the tables were occupied and no one seemed in a hurry to get up. We waited, tired, hungry and _________. After quite some time, one table was vacated (腾出), but that could only _________ two of us. My daughter made me sit along with her father, _________ she and my other daughter stood alongside.

My granddaughter sat on my lap as we __________ us, waiting for another table to be vacated soon. At the next table, two young girls were sitting at a table for four and __________ their meal. We decided to __________ to their table, once they __________ their meal.

Since the girls had just got their order, I knew it would be a __________ wait. As we were deciding on what to order, one of the girls got up and __________ their table to us. She said they would move to our table so that my family could sit __________.

We were very __________ of their kind gesture. We thanked them warmly and moved to their table. The girls quickly __________ their plates and glasses and went to sit at our table.

That day I thought to myself there still were some kind, __________ and helpful youngsters in this fast moving non-caring world; and my __________ in humanity was brought back once again.

8 . Growing up in the 1960s, I was taught from an early age to send a handwritten thank-you note expressing ______ for kindness. My mother used to buy me a box of paper and ______ me in the art and value of saying “thank you”. She ______ to be right.

A study showed that it took most volunteers less than 5 minutes to write the thank-you notes. Just 5 minutes to make ______ person feel “overjoyed”! ______, in our “instant” world, the idea of getting an actual pen and writing an actual note seems to never come to mind. We tend to do what is ______ for us — a quick text or an email.

It’s easy to use the ______ of being busy, but even very busy and ______ businessmen find time to ______ thank-you notes. For example, when Doug Conant became CEO of Campbell’s Soup, the company had ______ half of its market value and morale(士气) was at an all-time low. He ______fixing that by doing some simple things that are probably not ______ in any MBA class. For one thing, Conant wrote to every ______. He gained their confidence and ______, turned the company ______.

In his ten years as CEO, Conant wrote over 30,000 notes to employees. It’s ______ not to ask how he did it. ______, he had many other things to do ______ writing a thank-you note. Conant made time for ______ because he knew the impact(影响) each one would have. An expression of ______ in this crazy world still makes a difference.

9 . While standing in an airport security line recently, I got to witness first-hand what being the parent of a young adult really means.

A young woman of college age was in the line before me with her____loaded heavily. She was talking to her father who was standing a few feet away. “Dad, I____I'll call as soon as I get to Rome,” she said. He nodded nervously, and like any dad about to send their little girl across the ocean, ____wanted reassurance. “OK,” he said. And rocking backwards and forwards anxiously he continued, “But don't____! And your phone should work as soon as you____,but if it doesn't...”

Before he could finish, she____, “Dad, it will work! And if it doesn't, I'll call you with Laura's phone. I'll be____!”

He____agreeably, and I knew that when he looked at her, he didn't see a____woman about to start a great adventure. He saw a little girl taking her first nervous____on the school bus. It was time to be just as brave with this____as it was when she started school.

“Well, Dad. I'm off!” she____proudly as she loaded her belongings onto the X-ray belt. Then she walked to____them from the other side. And she____looked back at her dad again. However, I did. There he stood with____eyes. “Be brave," he must have been telling himself, as his____bank replaced his grown daughter with his little girl for a few more seconds. Then he____and walked away.

I____that young lady to her gate, and then watched her____a seat and wait for her plane to Rome. What a lucky young woman to have such a____father!

10 . Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to _____ in his bed for an hour each afternoon for treatment. His _____ was next to the room's only window. The other man _____ spend all his time flat on his back. Every _____ when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he _____ pass the time by describing to his _____ all the things he could see outside the window. The window overlooked a _____ with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children _____ their model boats. Young lovers walked _____ among flowers. As the man by the window described all this beautifully, the other man would close his eyes and _____ the scene.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the _____ body of the man by the window, who had died _____ in his sleep. She was saddened and _____ the hospital attendants (服务员) to take the body away. _____ it seemed appropriate (合适的), the other man asked if he could _____ next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after _____ he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly and painfully, he sat up to take his _____ look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the _____ of seeing it for himself. He strained (紧张地) to slowly turn to _____ the window beside the bed. It faced a blank(空白的) wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have forced his dead roommate to _____ those wonderful things outside this window. The nurse answered that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”