1 . I was 68 when I first stepped on stage as a standup comedian in 2003. I’d never set foot in a comedy _______ before. I’ve always been a(n) _______ — I’ve worked as a singer, actor and musician — but all that came to an end after 9/11. I live in New York, and we watched the _______ towers fall from my apartment building. For a year afterwards, nobody wanted to go out or be _______.

It was then that I started to think about comedy. I realised people needed to laugh, to enjoy themselves again, and thought that with a little _______ I could do it. I took a few classes, tried to work out a routine, and finally _______ the courage to get up on stage. That first time was terrifying. I had no idea what the audience would _______ of me.

In New York, comedians are _______ young men with beards. It’s hard enough to _______ through as a woman, even harder as someone old enough to be their grandmother. As I stepped on stage that first time, people laughed nervously. They were clearly ________ to see me. I introduced myself, stated my age and tried my first joke. There was ________. But by the time I got to the third line, people were properly laughing. I was ________.

Now my sets differ. I might be on stage for 10 minutes in front of a dozen people, or my one-woman show is a full hour in front of a crowd of 100.

After a show, people young and old come up to me, saying what a(n) ________ I am. They say they want to be as active as me when they ________ my age. I’m pleased I can show that as an older person you don’t need to take a ________ seat in life.”

3 . What would you do if you won the lottery (中彩票)? For many, the first thing to do would be to quit their jobs and retire ______. But one Canadian man named Pierre Richer , who recently won $50 million, didn’t ______ doing that.

Pierre Richer works as a driver and head of shipping at a catering company. On October6, he ______ a lottery ticket for $10 while shopping with his daughter for Thanksgiving.Several days later, Richer’s wife and his daughter ______ he had won $50 million. His daughter ______ so loud that the family thought she had seen a spider (蜘蛛). When Richer ______ the room, he was told about the ______. To all the excitement his daughter and wife felt, he ______ reacted. “OK,” Richer said and then walked out, ______ his work routine. The winner appeared ______ to the sudden wealth.

Considering that he is already in his 60s, people thought he would resign and take______. But much to their ______, he showed up for work at 4:30 a. m. the Monday following his win as if nothing had ______ over the weekend. “I can’t leave them alone in the dark. The shipping department will ______ in my absence,” said Richer, whose ______ to work deeply touched his employer and colleagues.

5 . At age eleven, I was in middle school. As the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my cool. But before Christmas, every chance I got, when I was _________, I checked each present under the tree quietly. I read every tag (标签) and _________ every package, telling which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.

It had been a (n) _________ year for my family. When my mom looked at the simple presents, she sighed and warned us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be _________.” Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil (溺爱) us. In years past, the presents would pile up and I would hear the phrase “giving is better than receiving”, but thought whoever had said that must have been out of their mind. Getting presents was the whole _________!

On that Christmas morning, we _________ waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly. We made weak   _________ to wait and watch other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our self-control.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she _________ me a package with my name written on the label in my mother’s handwriting. I looked at it, _________. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I __________ this one. It was my mom’s.

“Mom, I can’t...”

I was __________ by my mother’s eager, joyful look—a look I could not really understand. “Let’s see what it is, honey. Hurry and open it.” It was a blow dryer. Though it’s simple, to me it was so much more. Being a little girl, I was amazed. In my world, where receiving __________ giving, my mom’s act of selflessness was incomprehensible. Tears filled my eyes and I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to __________ her Christmas.

I have always remembered that Christmas full of deep __________. It had such an impact on me. As an adult, I can now __________ my mom’s actions—finding an even greater joy in her Christmas, because giving truly is better than receiving. My mom’s simple act meant the world to me.

7 . Bingley, a Sayre School student from America, decided that he would devote himself to studying the environment to have a broad influence on the community.

To reduce the carbon footprint, Bingley planned to _________ enough solar energy to power the school’s science labs. Now his plan is set to happen. To fix 30 solar panels is _________ for late November.

As he began his research _________ solar energy, he discovered a useful phone app. By entering an address, he could find out how much sunlight the _________ receives each day. Based on the data, he found that his school building was the best position. At the suggestion of his science teacher, Debbie Wheeler, he first performed an energy _________ of the science lab to see how much energy a typical lab uses per day. Then, he started his research, _________ a local company of solar panels to do the job. He lacked money for starting the project, so he _________ Sayre’s head to support him after explaining the _________ of solar power for the school and community.

Since Sayre provided the _________ seed money to provide infrastructure and the purchase of one panel, the project has__________to include a total of 30 panels. They are expected to produce enough energy to __________ all the science labs on campus.

“It feels like a dream to think that an idea I had from my AP Environmental class would have this kind of __________,” said Bingley, expressing gratitude for Wheeler’s help. Wheeler said the success was due to Bingley’s efforts and __________ to follow through on the project from start to finish. “I’ve had other students talk about __________ initiatives (倡议) on campus, but Bingley had the persistence and courage to make it happen,” she said.

Bingley said that he would __________ like to study environmental engineering at university.

8 . Corion Evans, a 16-year-old boy was hanging out with friends in a parking area when a car with three teenage girls inside drove into the Pascagoula River. It came to rest some 20 feet ________ land, then sank. The driver had ________ followed incorrect directions from her GPS.

It was around 2:30 a.m. by the time Evans and his friends got to the ________ of the river. In the darkness, they could barely make out the girls clinging to the roof. But they could hear ________.

Evans ripped off his shirt and shoes, tossed his phone down, then dived into the________ water alligators called home. He helped the first girl he saw and, keeping her head above water, ________ her ashore.

Just then, a man ________. Police Officer Garry Mercer arrived and ________ into the river to help another of the girls. But halfway back to ________, she panicked and went underwater, pulling Mercer down with her.

Evans jumped back into the water and helped them until they could stand.

There was still one girl called Cora in the water. She was ________, struggling to stay afloat.

“I just knew my last ________ was coming,”   Cora said. “My mind said, you’re slowly losing yourself.” She began to go under. “Fortunately, Evans ________ me.”

The three girls and Officer Mercer were taken to the ________ and released. They’re ________because Evans risked his life to save them. Evans was honored for his ________ by Mayor Billy Knight.