1 . My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse(松鸡). It’s ________for a grouse to have any contact(接触)with people. In fact, they’re hard to see, because they usually ________ when they hear humans walking nearer.

This grouse came into our lives in ________. Tom was working out in the field when he ________ her walking around at the edge of the field. She was ________ unafraid and seemed to be ________ about what he was doing.

Tom saw the________ bird several times, and she got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew. ________ of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom________ he didn’t see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

Apparently, she didn’t like to be ________. She’d run up and peck (啄) at Tom’s hands, then ________ off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the ________ and left.

As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to ________ more and more often. ________ Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom’s leg and stay long enough for me to get a________ of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt ________ not just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

When hunting season opened, we put a________ at the end of our driveway(车道) asking ________ not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road, also ________ people not to shoot her. ________, hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

2 . Lighting flashed through the darkness over Sibson’s bedroom skylight (天窗). Sibson was shaken by a clap of thunder _________ he knew what was happening. The storm had moved directly over his two-story wooden house. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping.

Sibson rushed down the stairs barefoot to _________; he opened the door to the basement (地下室), and flames _________ out. Sibson ran back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom. “I felt safe because the room had a separate outdoor stairway,” he explains.

But the phone didn’t work, and when he tried to go down the outdoor stairway, he was _________ by a wall of flames. Sibson realized he was trapped.

Sibson’s house was three kilometers _________ the main road and was so well hidden by trees that he knew calling for help would be _________.

Up a hill nearby lived Sibson’s neighbor, Huggons. He was lying in bed when something like a smoke alarm _________ his ears. He jumped out of bed, took his phone and flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the _________. That was when he saw the rolling heavy smoke.

Huggons dialed 911，and the operator warned him not to _________ the house. But Huggons said, “There is no way I am going to listen to Sibson __________ and die in that fire.”

“Anyone, there?” Huggons called out. Then he heard “Help! I’m trapped!” coming from the second-floor balcony (阳台). He entered the house, but soon had to run back to catch his breath.

After one more __________ inside the house, Huggons gave up and __________ around back.

The wind parted the smoke just __________ for him to catch sight of Sibson. But there was no way to get to him. He shone the flashlight into the woods and noticed a ladder. He took it over to the balcony and __________ Sibson down just as the second floor of the house fell off.

Sibson is still __________ when he tells the story. “I was alone that night,” he says. “Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Huggons.”

3 . Last Saturday evening, Mike, who has autism (自闭症), attended a concert with his grandfather, Stephen Mattin at Boston Symphony Hall. As the orchestra (交响乐队) _________ playing, they expected to hear polite applause after a brief _________.

The music was over and there was no sound, but it suddenly was _________ by the “Wow!” heard around the hall. A child’s _________ expressed simple, refreshing amazement at the performance. The elder Mattin felt _________ and turned to people around them, _________ that Mike actually did not _________ to make noise and that he has autism and often expresses himself _________ from other people.

The moment _________ the orchestra so that they released the audio recording of the “Wow!” moment, hoping to __________ the child. Not long after the audio clip (片段) hit the Internet, it became extremely __________, getting thousands of shares across several platforms. Later, David Snead, the president and CEO of the orchestra, gave out his email address, wishing to get a (n) __________ from the parents of the child and __________ them to meet the musician Harry Christophers. It took less than a week for the kid to come forward. His family and the orchestra planned to __________ a date for him to meet the musician.

Mattin expressed his __________ that the society has become more tolerant and understanding of the differences between people.

4 . Since the age of three, Chelsie Hill had dreamed of becoming a dancer. That ______ nearly ended one night in 2010, when a car accident paralyzed (瘫痪) her from the waist down. For most people, that would have ______ any hope of a dancing career. For Hill, it was the beginning.

Far from being an obstacle, her wheelchair ______ her. “I wanted to prove to my community and to myself that I was still ‘______,’” she told CBS News. Whatever normal meant, normal for her meant dancing. “Half of my body was ______ from me, and I have to practice moving it slowly with my ______.” Hill told CBS News. “It definitely took a lot of learning and ______.”

After graduation, Hill wanted to ______ her dance network to include women like her. She ______ women who had suffered the same ______ to join her. In disabled dance competitions, all dancers from her team gave great ______ and the audience’s applause suggested that the fun was ______. The dancers aren’t the only ones feeling inspired. One woman saw a YouTube video of the team and ______, “To be in a wheelchair and still be so beautiful makes me know I can be beautiful too!”

Hill has ______ what many of us never will: her childhood dream. “My injury doesn’t ______, so I can live my life, so why am I going to stop living my life because of my injury?”

5 . Grandpa David lives in the same house he has lived in for over 60 years; he_______the company of his dog, Friday. The dog was a regular_______in his home and yard. During the time when Grandpa had Friday, he started having dementia (痴呆). My family came to visit him every day, working together to keep him living independently and_______.Three years ago, Friday_______. We thought of ways to let Grandpa know Friday was gone. We even had a burial service for Friday in the back yard with him. But on the_______visits, he still asked about Friday. And even he_______that the neighbors must have taken his dog somehow. Grandpa missed Friday so much, so we decided to do something for him. Months ago, Aunt Erin got a brilliant idea to handle Grandpa’s problem. She purchased a robotic dog for him. The dog has soft fur and can move around and bark. To our surprise, Grandpa quickly_______the dog as his new Friday. His dementia has led to his_______on his new “dog” very much. And he believes he is an animal_______a robot.

Grandpa takes good care of the dog. He always shares his________food with Friday, which happens to be eaten by the________cat at night. And throughout the day and often late at night, Friday is placed gently in the grass so he can do his own________. Life with Friday has been good for Grandpa though he still deals with________of dementia. Actually having the “dog” helps him________his attention and be happy. Our family is grateful that a robotic dog has brought Grandpa companionship and________.

6 . At the age of 13, Giorgia began to suffer a severe skin disorder, which started out on her arms and face and continued to _________. Soon the angry, red rash (皮疹) covered nearly 97% of her body at times and could be extremely uncomfortable.

But for Giorgia, the most pain was _________ she was treated by others simply because of her physical appearance. People would stop and stare at her in the street, because they thought she was _________. She knew the condition was _________ her life.

That seems not _________ enough on its own. Unexpectedly, Giorgia also lost her father. She felt like her world went to _________. They were so close when she was growing up, and she couldn’t _________ losing him.

Fortunately, Giorgia had a strong and beautiful spirit inside. She realized she had a(n) _________. She could shrink back from what she received or she could find the _________ to love herself and the way she was made. Giorgia __________ her body and decided she’d no longer try to __________ her skin. It was part of who she was. She started a photo series __________ displaying her natural self, hoping that others struggling with their body images will gain __________ and inspiration from the pictures she shares.

“We might have __________ that make us look different from other women, but we are still beautiful. I know my dad would be proud of me for my __________. Now I’ve come to terms with my disease, and I want to help others do the same,” says Giorgia.

8 . I’m not someone who likes to play games. But last April, I heard some of my classmates talking about the Rubik’s Cube (魔方). I saw a friend solve this puzzle very _______, which really surprised me. Before I had even made my first _______ , he had aligned (对齐)all the colors. At the time, I thought my classmate must be using some _______ technique. At home I searched online for _______. I found out about an Australian teenager who can _______ the third order cube in 4. 73 seconds. I was shocked. Fascinated (着迷) by his skill , I began to study the Rubik’s Cube myself. Without a teacher to help me, it was a big challenge. The first thing I did was to _______the formulas (公式)for the cube. _______, that turned out to be an ineffective way of solving the problem.

I began to take another approach to the cube, called "muscle memory”. It depends on practicing a specific mechanical movement into memory through _______. As time went on, I became more and more skillful. Meanwhile, I found that it was a _______way to improve my logical skills and memory. I’m so glad that I was ________to the Rubik’s Cube. All in all, to take on a new thing is always a good idea, a way into a new world.

9 . Ever since I was very young, afraid of making mistakes, I’ve asked countless times “What should I do?”

However, during my high school years, I _______. Maybe it was when I decided to try for the lead in Beauty and the Beast. I would have to memorize lines and movements, but I took the chance that I might fail. On the day of practice, my heart was pounding; my hands were _______ badly when I got up to sing. But when I opened my mouth, the sound was loud and _______. I reached for the high notes that sometimes were beyond my reach, which made me very _______. I was trying to do my best even though I might fail. I realised that if I wanted to live life to the fullest, I had to take _______.

Now, I do take these chances, with baby steps every day, voicing my opinions in class discussions or debates and riding my bike for exercise.

Three years ago, I broke my back when I fell from my bike. The _______ stopped me from trying out for basketball. But I didn’t give up. The first day my doctor _______ me to do any physical activity, I started running with my mom. No stop-watches. No cheering crowds. I didn’t make the basketball team, but I didn’t fail, either.

I have finally learned to _______ myself, like taking a tough science course. And I have come to realise that even though my parents, friends and teachers don’t always have the _______ to “What should I do?”, they will be there to ________ me when I try.