1 . I’d never been to the Day of the Dead before. As my dad and I looked around for seats, I _______ Marco, my best friend, hurrying toward us. “Hi, Mr. O’kane,” he _______ my dad. Then he turned to me and said, “Nate! Will you help me?” 

“Whatever you need,” I said.

Marco threw me parts of a _______: Mexican sandals (凉鞋), a straw hat, a cane (手杖), a gray wig, and an “old man” mask (面具). “My cousin couldn’t _______!” Marco’s voice rang with worry. 

“It’s part of a traditional dance,” he said,“and we should wear the costume.”

“You expect me to dance? ” I _______. “I don’t want to dance!” 

Marco smiled. “It’ll be fun. And hurry! We’re going to be _______.”  

“We’re going to do a lot of stomping (跺脚). Slow at first. Keep one hand _______ on your back, like an old man with an ache,” added Marco. 

The speakers _______: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for TheDanceoftheLittleOldMen!” 

“Be quick,” Marco _______ to me to follow his lead. 

We all began stomping slowly to music. I could only see ________ the small holes of the mask. I continued to stomp, trying to ________ what to do. I leaned on my cane and kept a hand low on my back. After a few minutes of dancing like that, my back ________ started to ache. 

The music ________. And we stomped quickly. Performing with Mexican sandals was ________ and inconvenient. People laughed as we hopped and kicked, but after a moment the laughter turned into cheers. 

Marco gave me a thumbs⁃up. As the audience clapped for our group, I said to him happily, “You were right. That was ________.”

2 . I met Daisy Banks on the way to Maghar. She was walking down the road with her white stick, and I saw her walking toward a muddy _______. If she continued, she might _______ into the water. Not wanting this to happen, I stopped my _______ and called out, “There’s a hole in front of you, Daisy. If it’s all right with you, I’ll _______ you to your place.”  

She happily _______. I took her bag so that she could climb on my motorbike. We talked about her_______and I discovered she was on the way to her school.  

Daisy had called me a couple of times since our chance _______. However, I had been unable to meet her _______ my busy schedules. Finally, we _______ at the Mahdu Mall. We talked about a range of issues, and I came to________ that Daisy possessed knowledge which would challenge that of many ________ fit people.  

Although she has a mother and three brothers, Daisy has been ________ on her own for the past years. She cooks for herself and washes her own clothes while ________ to teach every morning at Maghar Primary School. While doing her ________,she tries to remember people, places, and things in order to manage her daily life. She is a(n) ________ person, telling me that she made the decision to live alone after her brothers said they would take turns to look after her each month. Daisy felt this would hurt her. I really admire her confidence and the way she carries herself in her life.

3 . Several years ago I went on a trip alone to Mozambique. Our bus broke down by the side of the road. There was certainly nothing in the way of _________ or campsites or any kind of place to sleep. I _________ I’d just have to bed down on the roadside like others. But I was pretty _________ at the idea. Most everyone else was traveling with their families or other _________, and here I was, a very young woman, alone, with pale white skin that just screamed out “I’m a foreigner and do not _________ here.” Besides I spoke Portuguese reasonably _________ but not any of the local dialects, which _________ my difficulty.

I was trying to work out what to do when I _________ one of the women passengers I’d been chatting with _________ to me. “Come with me,” she said. I was then taken to the nearby village, where she lived. She and her large family __________ me that night. We had chips and matapa, a delicious Mozambican dish. Her kids laughed and circled around and were __________ to have a visit from a real white person. I couldn’t __________ a lot of the conversation, because only the woman spoke Portuguese, but I felt so __________ despite my foreignness.

This kind-hearted woman accommodated (提供住宿) a __________ a night spent shaking in __________ and hunger by the side of the road.

5 . A couple in Ohio accidentally dropped off a bag containing almost $100,000 at an Ohio charity shop. Thanks to _________ employees, they got money back. 

The employees were going through _________ last week when they came across a _________.Inside was $97,004. “It was so much cash,” employee Kelsey Croy said. “I looked in the bag and we _________ it right there on the desk. And it was $97,004.” Thankfully, the owners _________ a receipt for tax purposes when they dropped off _________ that morning. The employees _________ called the couple but there was no _________. 

Not wanting to_________ that amount of cash in the store, they called in the Zanesville Police Department. __________ repeated calls, officers finally got a hold of the couple. The couple hadn’t realized the money was __________.They told police they withdrew all their money to another bank. On the way, they __________ at the charity shop to donate a bag of clothes. That’s __________ the money ended up there.“When we finally __________ them,they just asked if they could get it tomorrow,” the officer said. 

The couple has since made contact with the original __________ who found the money to thank them. “I’m just glad that I meet with a bunch of honest and loyal people,” Croy said.

8 . Years ago I was hiking in the Himalayas and had made the mistake of changing a large amount of money into the local currency (货币). As I walked through the villages of the Annapurna, it soon became________ that the people were too poor to________even the simplest goods. They had nothing. This meant that it was no use carrying the wad (捆) of________in my pack and I was a virtual (虚拟的) walking________compared to the local people. I grew to dislike the money and it was________to have it in my bag. This led to a remarkable experience that ________me deeply and its________has never left me.

On this particular day, I was left behind by my fellow hikers and found myself in a valley. As I made myself down, I noticed a young girl of around 13________some sheep. Like so many of the children of the amazing Nepalese people, she was very beautiful. I couldn’t help looking at her and she looked at me. As I approached her she suddenly rushed________to me, and without a

________, handed me a flower. She________at me for a tiny moment and then she ran away. The spirit in this lovely child had responded to something she saw in me and her first idea was to find something to________. Because of her________, there was nothing she had________a single flower. The weight of my bag was never heavier than at this moment and I had just received one of the most valuable________I had ever had in my life.

9 . As we all know, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I really didn’t know the meaning of this proverb until one day something _______ happened to me.  

That morning, I got up late and _______ to school without breakfast. While I was crossing a street, my bike _______ a stone and I fell on the ground, with my both knees badly hurt. I managed with the _______ and continued my riding. On my arrival at school, my teacher took us to the _______ for a basketball match. _______ I could hardly walk normally, I joined in the game. When I _______ to pass the ball, I was knocked down and fell down on my back. I could not _______ the terrible pain and cried. My classmates all started _______ at me and continued their match. ________ on the ground alone, hungry and painful, I couldn’t stop my crying. Just at that moment, Jack, one of my teammates, ________ towards me from the other end and helped me. He comforted me and tried all ________ to make me stand. He asked another classmate to take his ________ and kept sitting beside me. He kept me company the whole day and even ________ me home after school was over.  

It was on that day that I learned and believed the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” to be ________.

10 . When I was a teenager, I was invited to a formal dance party. I was _________, but also nervous about what to wear. Mom suggested I wear high heels (高跟鞋).

“Mom, I don’t know if I can wear these,” I said, feeling _________. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Just take small _________ and keep your weight centered,” she suggested.

As I arrived at the party, I tried to be _________ and act like everything was fine. But _________ struck when I stepped onto the dance floor. I _________ my own feet, falling to the ground in front of everyone.

I quickly got up and laughed it off, pretending like it was _________. But deep down, I felt like a tomato, wanting to _________.

My friend Lilly helped me _________ that incident and managed me another high heels as a support so that nobody would understand my hesitation. But a little bit __________ continued in my mind.

When I returned home, I told Mom I felt like a complete __________ at the party. “It’s okay. You tried something new, and it didn’t go as __________. But that’s how we learn and grow. Don’t be too __________ on yourself and wear what you feel __________ in,” Mom said, giving me a hug.

From that day forward, I stuck to flat shoes. I learned to __________ my true self and not worry about what others thought.