1 . Milo is a rescue dog, adopted by 20-year-old Makayla Swift. One morning in November 2021, Swift opened her front door and Milo ________ running. “I couldn’t catch him,” she said.

Milo ran to a house across the street. He seemed ________ with this house, so he ran to the one next door, Swift on his ________. When it started scratching (抓挠) on the front door, Swift was ________. Not everyone wants a ________ dog on their property. But as she tried to________ a Milo away, she could hear a sound coming through an open upstairs window. It was a voice crying “Help!”

Hours earlier, Sherry Starr, 85, had just ________ around 4 am. “All of a sudden, standing there between the toilet and the bathtub, I ________ ,” she said, “I went down hard on the floor.”

“I could not move at all,” said Starr, who was ________ between the toilet and the bathtub. Starr was feeling ________ all over, but more than anything, she was scared. “I’m thinking: I’m just going to die here.”

Her best ________ , she decided, was to listen for the letter carrier in the afternoon. For the next few hours, Starr ________ crying: “Help! Help! Help! ”

“Her voice was very ________ , ” said Swift. “You had to be right on the spot to hear Mrs. Starr cry for ________ unless you were Milo, who had ________ heard Starr the instant I had opened the own front door.” Swift called 911 and soon medical staff helped her out.

3 . In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare, who dropped out of school and was nearly _________, won a big ticket lottery prize, $31 million. However, he _________ bought himself a $1 million house, a Nissan Altima, and a Rolex watch.   _________, he ended up blowing most of his money on his relatives and friends. “I wish I’d been _________ broke... I thought these people were my friends, but contrary to my _________, all they want is just money.”

He suddenly disappeared. One year after his disappearance, his body was found- he was _________ by one of these people who _________ to be his friend, Dorice Moore. Moore had used various _________ to get Shakespeare to give her millions. She even carried out a(n) _________ with him that she was going to run.

In the period between his __________ and his body being discovered, his family had thought he’d just become fed up with the __________ stream of people begging for money and left to start a new life. Eventually, they grew __________ of Moore’s attempts to make everyone think Shakespeare was still around, such as __________ people from his phone, which was a major red flag __________ he was nearly unable to read or write, and __________ people to say they’d seen him, including offering $200,000 to Shakespeare’s son to __________ detectives he’d seen his father __________. Further investigation __________ the case. She even attempted to pay someone $50,000 to __________ that he murdered him. Shakespeare’s body was found after she attempted to pay someone to __________ it elsewhere, and she was finally arrested.

4 . Giorgio has just moved to London from Italy. In February, he was ________ by the wonderful sound of a piano coming from next door.

One day, on a whim (突发奇想) Giorgio wrote a note to his ________ asking him to play Celine Dion’s classic My Heart Will Go On. The next day, he was both touched and delighted when the familiar melody (旋律) ran through the ________. Immediately, he started playing River Flows In You, then stopped to ________ nervously for a response.

Giorgio was not ________: a few seconds later, the music came from the other side of the wall and ________ his melody. When Giorgio heard the notes coming, you can really ________ how moved he was. As a result, the video ________ to Tik Tok gained 1.7 million views.

They ________ doing their piano co-playing around 2 pm every weekend, until Giorgio finally got the chance to meet his ________ partner face-to-face.

“Well, today I have met my neighbor, and actually it was ________ than expected.” Giorgio wrote on Tik Tok. “His name is Emil. He is 78 years old; ________ from Poland.... He lost his wife in December due to COVID-19, and all she ________ is the piano.” Giorgio went on to ________ that Emil’s reason for playing at 2 pm every weekend is that his wife always loved it. Emil was quick to ________ Giorgio for giving him company, friendship, and the ________ to keep playing.

Emil’s house was sold. His time in this ________ was short, as it was just a(n)________ accommodation for him. The bond these ________ strangers created throughout their weekend meet-ups became a ________ to last a lifetime.

6 . I love and enjoy playing the piano. So when the recital (音乐演奏会) was ______, I was disappointed. I had expected it for long and already ______ my best songs.

However, Mom turned this ______ into something worthwhile. “You should ______ at Carriage House Manor. I’m sure the ______ there would really appreciate the music.” To me, this was a win-win situation because not only would I play more songs, but I have the chance to ______ the residents, some of whom tragically didn’t have families.

The much-anticipated day ______ arrived. Stepping into the dining area, I saw several gray-haired people seemingly enjoying a dinner and the ______. Despite on-going conversations at tables, ______ still hung like a dark cloud in the room. After introductions, I sat down in front of the piano, butterflies in my stomach. But my ______ melted away as I played on.

The dinner hour flew by. One woman got up and began to cheerfully ______ about the room to the beat of the ______ while others snapped their fingers (打响指). I was ______ to see how music brought big smiles to their faces.

Calling off the recital was a blessing because it led to us ______ the gift of music with those who needed it most. Go spread ______ whenever possible.

7 . Niu Yu looked remarkable on the catwalk at the concluded Shanghai Fashion Week. This was not just because of her beauty or the clothes she was wearing. She also seemed to show a(n)______strength. She did it with her artificial ______ in full view, and in that single action she ______ beauty with courage.

Thirteen years ago, in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that ______ Wenchuan then teenaged Niu______ her right leg as well as her young brother and nine close friends. It was a big _____ to her. However, Niu feels that she is ______. “At least, I ______ and I am surrounded by people who love me,” she says, smiling with tears ______ up in her eyes.

“Losing a leg doesn’t mean losing my ______ for life,” she says.

In 2018, at the 10^th ______ of the earthquake, she registered and finished the 21-kilometre marathon in 3 hours and 53 minutes, ______ almost walking.

She even went to remote Tibet Autonomous Region for a volunteer ______ program. Her students surrounded her, looking at her “iron leg”______. She knew it was her ______ to help others and pass on the love and confidence.

Now she works as a photographer in Chengdu. After her one-minute catwalk went ______ on the Internet, some social media users nicknamed her as “Iron Man’s sister”.

Her leg doesn’t discourage her.______, it serves as a reminder that it is not what she is missing that ______ her, but what she has got. She says, “When you accept your flaws, you become free and______.

Everyone has flaws that we want to hide away, whether they are visible or invisible. And we should learn to______our “imperfection” and embrace life with passion and confidence.

8 . Zachariah Fike has an unusual _______. He seeks old military medals for sale in antique stores and on the Internet. But _______ most collectors, Zac tracks down the medals’ rightful _______ , and returns them.

His effort to _______ families with lost medals began with a Christmas gift from his mother, a Purple Heart with the name Corrado A. G. Piccoli, found in an antique shop. Zac knows the _______ of a Purple Heart—he _______ one himself in a war as a soldier. So when his mother gave him the medal, he _______ right away what he had to do.

Through the Internet, Zac tracked down Corrado’s sister Adeline Rockko. But when he finally reached her, the woman _______   him with questions: “Who are you? What antique shop?” _______, when she hung up, she regretted the way she had handled the ________ . So she called Zac back and

________. Soon she drove to meet Zac in Watertown, N.Y. “At that point, I knew she meant ________ ,” Zac says. “To drive eight hours to come to see me.”

The Piccolis grew up the children of ________ immigrants in Watertown. Corrado, the older son of the family, was a translator for the Army during WWII against Nazi Germany, and was killed ________ in Europe.

Before hearing from Zac, Adeline hadn’t ________ realized the medal was missing. Like many ________ medals, the one Zac’s mother had ________ was a family treasure. “This medal was very precious to my parents.” Adeline says. As a child, Adeline couldn’t understand why the medal was so significant. “But as I grew older,” Adeline says, “and missed my ________ more and more, I realized that was the only thing we had ________ .” Corrado Piccoli’s Purple Heart medal now ________ at the Italian American Civic Association in Watertown.

9 . As you probably know by now, I have been in Boston helping my wife Kimberly through some difficult medical procedures. ________ my wife’s first 3 days after her delicate 6 hours surgery, in so much discomfort, pain and suffering, woke up my empathy beyond words to the point that I ________ wanted to be able to share some of that ________ if I couldn’t take it all myself.

Then after the first 3 days knowing that Kimberly’s ________ didn’t allow her to eat single morsel (少量) of food, it really ________ me just how long we can go without food and not damage our ________. I decided to give Kimberly some ________ support by not eating for 3 days. Not that she said one word of ________ in that time but I knew it would ________ her — and me—to be in this together. To be honest, I did ________ one small salad each of the 3 days. I did this because I had to ________ myself to some extent to continue to have ________ to be there for her.

The thing is, we’re here and ________ what we really can do for each other. The ________ we can take on for others has got me to ________ about how much we could take on for ourselves. We ________ to avoid pain, discomfort and difficult situations even when we know it would be ________ for us to go through the hard times to get to better place in our lives. So it got me thinking... if we will go through so much because of our love for another ________, couldn’t we do this for the ________ of ourselves?

It’s something to think about the next time you ________ to take on a difficult challenge. Do you love yourself enough to do this to make your life better?

10 . I just had two lovely conversations with my long-term friends. First, I was pleased to have an _________ meeting with Bryan. He’s CEO of a government agency and one of the first people I _________ when I moved to Medicine Hat. I _________ to work that morning sixteen years ago and he quickly began introducing me to other employees. His _________ was appreciated and we began a close friendship right then as he gave me a comfortable _________ in my new workplace.

Over the next few years Bryan would _________ me at the office. There were many times when we laughed _________ . We didn’t see each other very _________ after I moved on with other career paths. Later this afternoon, we unexpectedly met at a store and stood in the cold beside our _________ in the parking lot for an hour. We __________ memories and inspired each other with tales of our experiences.

One day I saw the light on my phone __________ and then heard the sweet message left for me by another __________ Chris, who has been in my life since 1973. He’s returned to retire and __________ in his hometown of Whitewood, where we first met. Though not having lived in the same town or __________ since then, we’ve held each other in our __________ for the past four decades. Even when we’re all __________ and don’t make contact with each other for months, it always feels like time hasn’t passed since our last __________ . We understand and care about each other and that’s all that __________

Most dictionaries __________ a friend is someone you “know, like and trust”. I’m grateful that many of my friendships go well __________   that.