2 . On the morning of Jan. 21st, 2023, I was taking the subway to work as usual. A quiet subway ride felt like a mini ________ from my busy life. Yet I found myself spending that ________ time browsing my endless messages on the phone.

One day, I put down my phone and started writing ________ notes to people who had contributed to a donation activity I had ________. When I got off the train, I was in a noticeably ________ mood. Then an idea struck me that I could write one for every day of that year. As an organizer and consultant, I had no ________ of people I could write to, so I picked out a different ________ for each month to keep on task. January was “charity”, February was …, and I thought of ________ names right away.

In July, my “________” month, I had become good at getting my memories back and ________ people to send my notes to. On the top of the list was Jenny, a(n) ________ chef. She had cooked at my favorite restaurant (It is now closed down). I thanked her and specially mentioned her biscuits ________ into the Roman number Ⅵ for our sixth wedding anniversary.

________, I received a note back from her, ________ “I have never received such a touching letter before. It was ________ expectation and unbelievably thoughtful. And so needed at a time when I’m ________ professionally. Your letter was a fantastic reminder that ________ back is a good motivation for moving forward.”

Part of the ________ of what I did was ________ with people like Jenny — people, who weren’t ________visitors in my life but made a lasting impact. And I wouldn’t have known if I had not reached out.

3 . He is better at words. She is better at sentences. Games they like to play involve the former, and he wins the vast majority of them the vast majority of the time. Debates they find themselves in involve the latter, and there hasn’t been an occasion (on record) of him winning one for many, many years.

Crosswords, Scrabble, that new game with green and yellow squares, he excels at. Given six tries to guess a five-letter word, he is quicker to recall words without real vowels (she doesn’t support the idea that “Y” is a vowel), and he has the nerve to guess words with triple letters, like “fluff,” on the second try. Of course, she knows what fluff is. It’s either ________ or the stuffing that comes out of cheap toys. But it’s not a word she would have guessed.

In defense of “Y” ‘s vowelness, he asks, What about “lynx”?

Lynx? she replies, incredulous. When have you ever used that aloud? Oh, look, over there, that lynx is about to pounce and ________ out my heart! She is certain that any per-son in such a scenario would use the word “bobcat.”

What most infuriates her is the presumption that she must be a whiz at words given her ________ as a writer of books. She is gifted calendar crossword puzzles (yes, three hundred and sixty-five tiny crosswords, one sheet for each day) every December, and is often dragged into long bouts of Words with Friends. In one game, he scores more than seventy points with a well-placed “Q.” She loses that game soon enough and texts him, You’re always doing stuff like that,________ the value of each word. But that’s how you play—those are the rules, he replies. She calls into question these rules: is the point system for letters really based on frequency, or is it some larger institutional ________ of mind control? He repeats, but those are the rules. On her darkest of writing days, she takes the last sentence she wrote and ________ it up for points. She is immensely disappointed. Then she stares at those cross-word calendars, and they stare back. The five she was gifted this holiday season, plus several from last year. They sit all over her desk like blind cats. Hundreds if not thousands of empty ________.

She often finds herself ________ whether her writing skills actually translate to success in games that demand lexical agility. Despite her ________ , she finds these games frustrating and ________. It’s not just about knowing words, she thinks, but about using them ________. Her brother, on the other hand, seems to ________ these nuances naturally, picking the perfect moments to drop his triple-letter bombs.

One evening, she decides to challenge him to a game of ________, determined to prove that her skills can extend beyond the page. The game starts off well for her, with each player trading clever, high-scoring words. But soon, he begins to pull ahead,________ advantage of every double word score space, while she struggles to make the most of her ________.

4 . About four weeks ago, our dear little Persian cat Ashleigh Faith died at the age of 16, for which we felt sad. We _________ her when she was five weeks old and bottle-fed her until she was able to _________ on her own. She was _________, weighing only six pounds at her heaviest weight. She was our baby, _________ all over the USA with us in our motorhome, then _________ at our home in Custer. She left a huge hole in our _________, and she had been my constant companion during the _________months of my stay in hospital.

Recently, our neighbor called and _________ asked if we knew anyone who did cat-sitting, as her mother was ill and she had to _________ her. She couldn’t __________ her cat Bella with her. My husband __________ said, “We’d love to take care of Bella.” We visit Bella each morning and afternoon, and she has been so __________ for us after our loss. Bella is ten months old, and very __________. We take Ashleigh’s laser light toy and Bella loves chasing(追逐)the red dot all over the house. She now __________ us at the window, and then races to the door to __________ us. Spending time with Bella is just what we need, and it helps our neighbor know that we take good care of her cat.

5 . Khanna, a chef and humanitarian (慈善家), but most popularly known as the judge of MasterChef India, has a huge fanbase.

Eleven years back in 2013, Khanna was on a flight to New York. On the _________, an air hostess came up _________ him to meet a woman for a few minutes, who was _________ to speak to him.

Khanna _________ agreed, and a woman in her 60s came to see him. He respectfully _________ and said, “pairi painna,” a practice to touch the feet of your _________ as a sign of respect.

The woman said she saw him _________ the plane and so wanted to see him. Khanna asked her where she came from, and she replied that he might not have _________ the place as it’s a tiny village in Kolhapur. But Khanna’s instant _________ was, “It’s one of my __________ cities.”

She smiled and asked him to __________, too, just like a mother making her child greet. Khanna smiled, and she looked at him with __________ eyes and then thanked him.

The woman then prepared to leave and told him that she __________ every episode of MasterChef India only to see him smile because it __________ her of her late son, and it feels like his smile brings her son to __________ again.

She gave him good wishes and then left. Khanna then __________ on social media that whenever he feels __________ or under pressure, he thinks of the woman’s words and smiles and feels better.

This is what __________ is all about. You don’t realize the __________ of doing something good for someone, but it __________ affects you too!

6 . Few dogs are as energetic as Sedze, a white Shih Tzu whose name means “my heart” in the Dogrib language. Last summer, the little dog went through a life _______.

On August 13, Louise, the owner of Sedze, was _______ the camping bag under an evacuation order. A(n) _______ wildfire was getting close and most residents were instructed to leave the city. Louise and her friends _______ into two cars with their pets. They made their way onto the highway, heading toward an evacuation centre in High Level. After driving all night, the _______ group set up camp to have a rest before _______ the road again. But 20 minutes into the second half of their journey, one of Louise’s worst _______came to life: Sedze was missing.

The group _______ back, believing they may have _______ left Sedze there. But there was no ________ of her. After searching for 30 minutes, Louise and the others had to continue the journey, ________ but still holding out hope for a miracle.

Later that evening, the group finally arrived. Louise called her daughter, Jilaine, who lived in Calgary, and ________ the news. Ten minutes later, Jilaine called back with a hopeful ________. A man named Ryan had posted about a dog that he found on the Facebook. The dog looked exactly like Sedze! Louise got on the phone with Ryan and ________ Sedze’s identity with a description of a flower attached to her collar.

Sedze was alive and well. And as it turned out, Ryan had also evacuated to High Level. While talking, they discovered that they were standing on opposite sides of a street. “It was the greatest feeling when he brought her over,” she said. Today, Louise still ________ at their luck that Ryan found Sedze.

8 . In 2012, Laura Eshelman man was in the middle of a mental unsettlement. She was having ________ in finding work. “I was leaving a downtown business where I had another job application ________. I was feeling pretty ________ and decided to go to the Whole Foods across the street,” Eshelman recalled.

As she crossed the street, Eshelman ________ a man asking tor money on the corner. But he was ________ by passersby. As Eshelman ________, he purmed to her, and asked if he could have a little bit of money. She was ________ and said: “Leave me alone. I don’t have anything to give you. Get away!”

Eshelman ________ into the grocery store. But suddenly she realized how ________ she bad been to the man. Eshelman rushed outside to find him. She apologized and ________ some coins from the bottom of her _________.

As she ________ him the change, the man said, “It’s OK. Everything ________ will disappear.” And all of a sudden, she felt like somebody was seeing her ________, and she started to cry.

“That moment on the street was one of the few ________ in that extremely dark period of my life,” Eshelman later said.

9 . Asli Samanci, a food scientist, was driven by her childhood dream of becoming a scientist, leading her to pursue a career in food science. “It ______ everything: biology, microbiology and chemistry all together,” Samancil said.

With this passion, she established a company that ______ health products made from propolis (蜂胶), a natural substance produced by bees. Samanci’s dedication to ______ is evident in every step. of her product development process. “All products are ______ by science,” Samanci said.

The ______ behind Samanci’s venture also lies in her son, who experienced frequent health issues during his early years. Upon a doctor’s recommendation, she ______ propolis as a means to help strengthen her son’s immune system. However, not ______ with the products on the market, Samanci worked ______ with a beekeeper to craft the ideal solution for her son’s needs. Gradually, Samanci has made her specialized products ______ to a broader range of consumers.

Meanwhile, Samanci and her beekeeping partners have witnessed a significant ______ in the bee population, Recognizing that 80% of all plants rely on bees for pollination (授粉), this development has proved to contribute to ______ nature. Samanci firmly believes in the concept of a win-win business model, where ______ can make a positive impact on the environment. And she urges all entrepreneurs and scientists to find that ______ . Samanci says, “To get something from nature in a(n) ______ way, we urge more food scientists and agricultural scientists to join us. ______ , nature will not give us anymore.”

10 . In 2015, Misty Copeland was named a principal dancer-a ballerina of the highest rank — at American Ballet Theatre. She is the first African American woman to ________ it.

In her childhood, Misty was shy and ________ the spotlight. But she loved music and ________. When she was 13, Misty’s teacher suggested she ________ a ballet class. For two weeks, Misty sat on the gym bleachers (露天看台) watching the class, ________ to join in. She felt ________ in the class. Over time, however, she began to enjoy the lessons. She discovered her ________ — especially her long legs and strong, flexible muscles — was just right for ballet. ________, ballet meant a lot to Misty. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged in ballet, she says.

Misty suddenly gained ________ and developed curves at 19. “I was being told that my weight and proportions just weren’t ________ anymore. ” This shook her ________. Even though Misty felt ________, she didn’t quit. She learned to eat healthier foods. She learned training techniques ________ to her body type. When she wasn’t performing, she was practicing. When she wasn’t practicing, she was stretching. As she did, she began to believe again that she ________ in.

“No matter what that dream is, ”she says, “you have the power to make it come true with hard work and ________. ”