A couple had been married since they were twenty-five. They     1     (usual)shared everything, talked about everything and kept no secrets from each other except that the woman had a box in a drawer     2     she didn't allow her husband to open or ask her about.

He'd never thought about it ever since. One day, the woman     3     (become)very sick and the doctor said her     4     (ill)was serious and she was going to die. The husband took down the box and brought it to     5     (he)wife's bedside. She agreed it was time that he should know what was in     6     box.

Opening it, he was surprised     7     (see)two small table mats(垫子)and a lot of money. He asked her about them. "When we were to be married," she said, "my grandma told me the secret of a happy marriage was never to argue, and I should just keep quiet and make a mat when I got angry with you.”

After     8     (hear)what the woman said, the man was so moved that he had to fight back his tears. She had only been angry with him twice in all those     9     (year)of living and loving! "Honey," he said, "that explains the mats, but what about the money? Where did it come     10     ?"

“Oh. " she said, "that's the money I made from selling them."

The most powerful cleaning monk

A short video showing a member of the cleaning staff at the Summer Palace in Beijing explaining Buddhist scenic spots drew a lot of traffic on different social media platforms recently, with netizens     1     (marvel) at his mastery of traditional Chinese culture.

He has been dubbed (戏称为) the most powerful cleaning monk by netizens,     2     (original) appearing in Chinese writer Louis Cha’s novel Tianlong Babu as     3     unknown martial art master who disguises himself as a cleaning monk in the Shaolin Temple in Henan province.

In the video, the worker, Zhang Xu,     4     (age) 40, shared the cultural connotations (含义) of the sites to several tourists,     5     were doing research. He spoke with such ease and confidence     6     it seemed he was doing a tongue twister (绕口令). People thought he must be a tour guide or expert, yet he     7     (wear) the uniform of a janitor and holding a broom. After his     8     (explain), Zhang smiled and returned to his work as though nothing had happened.

The video     9     (post) by the researchers on social media platforms and immediately became a trending topic online. Netizens expressed amazement     10     how ordinary people can become experts in certain areas.

The Yellow Crane Tower is one of the Four Great Towers of China.     1     (seat) at the top of Snake Hill, on the banks of the Yangtze River, this symbolic building is one of the     2     (great) landmarks in Wuhan. There are a number of legends which tell     3     the Yellow Crane Tower came into being. One of them is the story of a wine merchant named Xin. It is believed that one day,     4     immortal being (神仙) pretended he was a poor man and got into Xin’s wine store. Xin, showing no judgement,     5     (offer) the man some free wine. The poor man came back day after day for several years and Xin always welcomed him with the same     6     (warm). One day, as the poor man left the store, he took some orange peel and drew a picture of a crane upon the wall. He said if he clapped his hands, the crane would come down from the wall and dance for him.     7     (surprise), what the poor man said was true. The dancing crane brought     8     much business to Xin that he soon became a very wealthy man. About ten years     9     (late), the immortal being came back to Xin’s store, called out the crane and left with it.     10     (honor) him and the crane, Xin built the Yellow Crane Tower.

I was going to the train station, with a shopping bag in one hand, my laptop in the     1    , and a heavy bag on one shoulder. I thought to myself, “I am reaching home tonight.”

Suddenly, I was tripped(绊倒)by something and fell down to the ground. Unfortunately, I got bad cuts on my knee and arms, and they started bleeding. My laptop landed on the road, and a bottle in the shopping bag was broken, leaving the bag all wet. My first act was to pick up my laptop, but I couldn’t raise     2    (I). After a while, I     3    (realize)that probably I would miss the train. That might prevent me from     4    (get)home that night. That means I had no way to get home that night.

I thought nobody else was around and I could turn     5     nobody for help, so I was allowing myself     6    (cry)a little, when a young lady appeared. She checked me to make sure I had no serious injuries, and found my face was fine. After she told me about that, I breathed a sigh of relief. She asked the place     7     I was going. She was the woman to whom I told that I wanted to catch the last train to go home. “Your train has already left,” she said. Then a taxi happened to have pulled up, and the lady asked the driver to take me to my home. “I can’t afford it since it’ll be     8     long drive, can I?” I refused strongly. Thinking for a second     9    (calm), she gave me £30, which was more than I would spend on food every week. Suddenly, tears came to my eyes!

I wish I could have a chance to thank her personally one day. However, I even didn’t have a clear impression of her looks. And I didn’t know about her     10    (identify)at all. Finally, I decided to always get ready to lend a helping hand to strangers to repay all the kindness that I received from her.

The tables quickly turned for an 89-year-old pizza delivery driver     1     received a surprise delivery of his own from "regulars". It was     2     $12,000 tip. Derlin Newey was in disbelief. “I don't know what     3     (say), except thank you,” said Newey as he held back     4     (tear) of joy.

Newey delivers pizzas about 30 hours a week. He started the job after realizing he couldn't live just only     5    social security. In addition to being a delivery driver, Newey is also a rising TikTok star thanks to some regular customers inspired by his spirit. The Valdez family said they always asked for him when     6     (order) pizzas and started recording his deliveries. With more than 53,000 followers, they often got comments asking why Newey was delivering pizzas at his age. The family     7     (decide) to do some good.

Newey was     8     (complete) unprepared. He didn't even know what TikTok was     9     was grateful for the unexpected blessing. “I'm glad to help him,” said Valdez. “We just need to treat people with     10     (kind) and respect. He stole our hearts.”

Do you like trying different things? Are you afraid     1     things that you think you’re bad at?

Last year I started to learn Tai Chi (太极)in order to improve my health and reduce my stress. It was something new for me, and I found it to be quite difficult, very     2    (difference) from anything I’d ever learned before. Small     3    (move) are important in Tai Chi. I was used to being fast and active ,     4     to learn Tai Chi I had to learn patience. Now I’ve found that I’m a much more patient person than before, and Tai Chi isn’t nearly as difficult as it     5    (be ) before.

We tend     6    (like) things we are good at —— that’s normal. For example, I’m naturally very good at badminton and tennis, but I’m very bad at anything     7     involves keeping balance, such as skating, skiing and gymnastics. Tai Chi has     8    (great) improved my balance which has been a very good thing for me.

My point is that you can keep     9    (do) the things you know you’re good at and live in your comfort zone, or you can try something new. If you don’t try new things, you’ll never know what it would be like to try something new to challenge     10    (you). It will definitely pay off in the end.

Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process.     1     all too often as parents and teachers, we do not allow our children to have the same right. We convey either by words or by actions that failure is something to be ashamed     2    , and that nothing but top performance lives up to our expectations.

When I see a child subject to this kind of pressure, I think of Donnie. He was     3     shy and nervous perfectionist. His fear of failure     4     (keep) him from classroom games that other children played. He seldom answered questions for fear    5    he might be wrong. He seldom finished his work because he     6     (repeated) checked with me to be sure he hadn’t made a mistake. I tried my best to build up    7     self-confidence. And I frequently asked God for direction. But nothing changed until midterm,     8     Mary Anne, a student teacher, was appointed to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie    9     (include), adored her. With her frequent    10     (encourage), Donnie became confident.