2 . Larry and I have always had our basic values in common, but our interests are as far apart as opera and basketball. I love art, and he is a huge sports fan. His big passion is seeing basketball games. He has been sharing season tickets with his friends for years. I must admit I’ve been always invited to see the games together.

This morning, I called my brother, Larry, and said, “I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” “Good news first,” Larry answered. “You can go to sleep early tonight,” I said. “Okay. What’s the bad one?” he asked. “We’re going to the opera!” I answered, laughing loudly.

There was a reason for the joke. Last time I invited him to go to the opera, he fell asleep in the theater. I had to admit it was always boring for him, but when I gave him a ticket for my favorite opera, I really thought he might enjoy it. I woke him up, but soon he fell asleep again. When Larry found I was joking, he breathed a sigh of relief on the other end. He said, “But I want you to go to see the last basketball game this autumn with me.” I promised and complained, “Not again!” Actually, most of the time, when the game was on, I’d be texting or daydreaming. Sometimes, my telephone messages would be interrupted when the home team scored. I knew they scored because everyone jumped up and exchanged high-fives and fist bumps.

However, today, as I looked around at thousands of people cheering and getting increasingly excited, I decided to at least give it a try—for my brother’s sake, if not for my own. The game was in-tense, and I was hooked soon. When the other team scored, I eventually felt a bit disappointed with the rest of my crowd. My brother was surprised to see me getting involved. I was astonished myself! I didn’t keep glancing at the clock, counting the minutes until we got out. Time flew. The game was over before I knew it.

3 . When I retired, my wife Peg said “Great! You’ll have time to clean the garage (车库)!” After 30 years’ ________ as director of a radio station, I would finally have more time for housework, but I worried I’d lose the sense of ________ I had felt in my profession．

I pushed at the garage’s wooden doors, but they were as ________ as I felt in this new stage of my life．I finally got the doors open and started to empty the shelves．Then my hand hit something ________．It was a common old metal can (金属罐)．I _______ the cover and found a ________ envelope with a postmark of May 13, 1940 inside．________, I opened it and found some flower seeds in it, “Eighty years old! I wonder if they’ll still grow.”

I ________ the seeds in a plastic pot. I checked it every day, but nothing happened．“I guess they’re just too ________ to be any good,” I told Peg in ________．I picked up the pot to get rid of it, but something made me ________. I changed my mind and set it aside．Meanwhile, I was keeping ________, buying some books to improve my photography skills and teaching my granddaughters everything I knew about gardening and dogs．

Six weeks later, I was out in the yard when I ________ to notice the pot．A new bit of green-a leaf had ________．I proudly showed it off to my granddaughters．“Look, girls, even something old can still ________ for its purpose and be pretty cool．Just like your grand-papa!”

4 . When I was eighteen, I couldn’t wait to get my first job, which meant I made the first step toward adulthood.

But it was difficult to get a work permit. One day I was dropped off by my parents at the ________, where applicants took their physical tests for work permits. Although I had night blindness, my vision was clearer during the day, which helped me walk easily by myself. Then the doctor began the ________. He looked into my eyes with a bright light. “I suggest your parents take you to an eye specialist,” he said, “I ________ you have a retinal (视网膜) disease. If you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. . . ”

My parents did take me to specialists. After much time and money spent seeking an ________ result, it was determined that I had an eye disease that slowly ________ a person of sight. But still, during daylight, I could walk without ________. I could read, but not for hours. My eyes began to ________ and words slipped off the page when I read more than a few pages. However, no matter how tired my eyes became, I never gave up reading. I knew the names of great writers as well as the most popular music stars. Their words were powerful, which ________ me to try writing. Soon writing brought me a lot of ________ each time I completed a paper.

Then an important phone call from an editor changed my life. An article I ________ appeared in a local newspaper. The newspaper, to my delight, continued to print my work. Next, a book series published several of my essays. I got interested in writing and ________ up with each acceptance. On the pages, readers never knew of my blindness ________ I chose to present it. For me, finding my voice through writing gave me the pride and satisfaction I ________ so many years ago. Now, I have numerous essays and articles in print.

Should I be thanking that misguided doctor? By falsely predicting that I could never work a day, he fueled my ________ into success. He set the bar too ________ and focused on what I wouldn’t be able to do. Yet I proved what I could do.

7 . A cancer survivor has become the first woman to complete an exhausting “Sea to Summit” triathlon (三项全能运动), which saw her swim, cycle, and run over 330 miles in just five days. Andrea Mason was overjoyed when she crossed the finish line early Wednesday morning.

The race was set in the French Alps. Setting off at 6:15 am on Friday, 39-year-old Mason battled through severe pain, and hallucinations (幻觉), but she pushed on — managing to complete the race in an impressive four days, 23 hours, and 41 minutes. Andrea had been diagnosed with cancer and needed life-saving surgery. Following a successful operation, she is now hoping to raise awareness of women’s health. In the past year, Andrea set up her own charity, Lady Talk Matters, in order to improve surrounding females’ health.

Andrea, from Blackpool in Lancashire, England, said, “I am so happy all went according to the plan as there were so many things that could have gone wrong. I wanted to do it in five days and I did so, but it was very tough. I had some low moments, particularly when I couldn’t sleep in my limited rest periods, and when I couldn’t keep any food down as I was running. For sure, I had some doubts along the way as I was exploring the unknown with such a huge run, particularly as large parts of it were in the dark. It was bigger than I imagined. The impact on my body was huge. But every time I felt like giving up, I thought about all the women out there in pain or who still hadn’t been diagnosed. That is why I put myself through this.”

Andrea had to swim 23 miles around Lake Annecy, cycle 205 miles with 30,000 feet of vertical climbing around Mont Blanc, and run 105 miles with 4,000 feet of vertical climbing around The Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. You could say Andrea’s actually spent a lifetime training for an event like this. She completed her first three-mile race “powered by chocolate bars” when she was just four.

9 . A friend of mine was walking down a beach at sunset when he saw a figure in the distance. As the friend grew nearer, he ______ that it was a man who seemed to be picking something up and then throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept repeating the same ______.

When he walked closer to the man, my friend found out that the man was ______ starfish (海星) that had been washed up on the beach and, one ______, he was throwing them back into the water.

Much ______, my friend went up to the man and said, “Good evening, friend. I ______ why you are doing so.”

“I’m saving these lovely starfish. You see, it’s low tide right now and so many are ______ on the shore. If no one ______ them to go back into the sea, they’ll die up here from lack of oxygen.”

“I understand,” my friend replied, “______ there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You are not ______ to get to all of them. And don’t you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of ______ all up and down this coast? Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a ______?”

The man lowered himself, picked up another starfish, flew it back into the sea, and then ______, “Made a difference to that one!”

What we are ______ is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that ______ drop.

10 . Looking back, Geoff Banks of Devon, England can hardly even remember how he first started writing to his American friend, Celesta Byrne.

Geoff and Celesta were given each other’s names and addresses as part of a school pen pal program back in 1938. They’re both now 100 years old, and a lot has changed in the past 84 years: their age changed ;their appearance changed; but one thing has not—they still use the traditional way to contact.

“I honestly struggle to remember something, but I was talking to Celesta recently and I think it was something to do with an American school’s scheme,” Geoff said,” They matched us up with Americans for a pen pal relationship, and somehow I ended up with this letter from an American girl, and we’ve just kept corresponding (通信) ever since.”

Geoff and Celesta’s relationship never turned romantic, but they shared a lot over the decades. They kept up their correspondence through World War II, sending updates about their families, friends, and work. In 2002, they finally got a chance to meet in person during a trip to New York City. Two years later, they met up again, but ever since then they’ve gone back to pen and paper.

Recently, they’ve switched to digital forms of communication to stay in touch. Their children have helped them set up email accounts. “I’ve known this new thing called Zoom, I think, now to chat with her, but I leave all the technology to younger people. Deep down, I refuse to use Zoom. Writing to Celesta has been a source of great satisfaction for me over the years,” said Geoff.

Celesta says their relationship is “like people who live next door”. “You know how they’re doing, you say a few words, and then you both go to work,” she explained. “She’s always been there to write to, even if it was just birthday cards and Christmas cards.” Geoff added.