1 . During the lockdown, my husband, Bob, and I were offered a pingpong table. I am a non-athlete but Bob does well in pingpong.

“What are we going to do with that pingpong table?” Bob asked me.

“The two of us will _______ ,” I replied. Bob looked doubtful.

I lost every game and I told myself that it didn’t _______ that I always lost. I was playing for _______ and to provide a positive experience in a difficult time. But there were days when I _______ losing. Once I threw my paddle(球拍) across the yard angrily. Then Bob _______ I play with a handicap(让分) of 12 points. That _______ a lot—I sometimes won! I’d never been interested in any kind of sport. But pingpong became the _______ of my day. I began to get better and won more games. My handicap _______ to 8.

My husband and I _______ the worst of the lockdowns through pingpong. It ________ me that even a self-described bookworm can learn a new sport. The ________ was my husband’s suggestion that I play with a handicap so I’d have an equal ________ to win. He doesn’t like to lose either, but it’s more fun for him if I actually want to participate and ________ it. It takes two willing partners to play table tennis, after all, and two people with an equal chance in each other’s ________ to make a marriage. Simply put, when it comes to table tennis—or any other ________ —there is no ping without a pong.

2 . When I retired, my wife Peg said “Great! You’ll have time to clean the garage!” 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. 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 this old can still ________ for its purpose and be pretty cool. Just like your grand- papa!”

4 . It was midnight, and I was on my knees, burying head in my hands. I struggled to________the sobs that threatened to wake my two tiny children. The call came just hours ago—I got the job. After five interviews and three presentations, I received a generous ________, one that needed my answer by tomorrow.

To others, the decision was ________—live the dream, with its security. But to me, taking the job would_______ compromise my heart.

Exhausted, I rose to my feet, and made my way upstairs to check on my children, finding each curled up in a________sleep. I heard their breathing, soft and even I became one with the moment. And in that breathtaking silence, I heard a voice:________your heart. The words echoed through my soul.

The decision, indeed, was simple. I would ________ somebody else's dream job and keep my own. I felt a great ________ lift off my shoulders. I pursued my options for working for myself. I started to write and edit, ________pages of scripts. I stretched myself and discovered that I could learn anything if I ________ some time to it.

To be sure, I lost a number of business opportunities. But I was available to ________the simple moments with my children. On sunny days, we'd ________ to the zoo with my backpack of work projects. Each night, when I tucked my kids into bed, my ________ was full. Over time, as my kids grew, my business did, too.

Now I have no regrets. I am ________ for the life that I have, a cherished closeness with my now adult children and a variety of fulfilling, passion-filled work. I'm glad I trusted my inner ________.

5 . During a period of two months, the east coast of Florida was hit by three major hurricanes!

When we ________ on the morning of September 5, my husband and I stood on the balcony (阳台）and watched the still-powerful winds break huge trees. ________, in the midst of these destructive winds, we spotted a flash of color in our ________. No more than ten feet from where we stood, a hummingbird (蜂鸟) ________ and flew in front of us.

This was the first time we had ever ________ a hummingbird in our yard — or in Florida! Because they are rare, the ________ of a hummingbird in Brevard County, Florida, is almost a ________ in itself.

Although I had been trying to plant all the right plants to ________ them, it took a hurricane for me to ________ attract them to my yard and to really observe them closely. Almost every day since the hurricanes, I have had the ________ of observing the visiting hummingbirds. With a feeder right outside my office window, I get a daily bird’s ________.

The hurricane season affected me in a very ________ way. Every time I see the hummingbirds, I am ________ of the many blessings that nature holds for us: messages of beauty, strength, and determination. But perhaps the greatest ________ is that wonders are out there waiting to pay us a visit. We just need to keep ________ seeds of beauty and faith, and we need to keep an eye out for the wonders!

6 . For many years, I was so wrapped up in my kids and my family that I ignored how I looked. The words “________maintenance” described my approach to beauty perfectly.

It wasn’t until recently, when I had my picture taken for a work ID, that I ________ the “Youth Train” had left the station, and I was no longer on it. The woman in the ID picture looked ________ and definitely middle-aged.

For a few days, I was a little ________ by the fact that I was no longer the sweet, young thing I thought I was. For those few days, I tried a little harder to ________ younger, brighter and tighter. I ________ with my hair and added extra eyeliner.

I thought I was ________ in my seeking for a youthful glow until one of my new co-workers ________ asked me a question that told me I was ________ only myself. “I don’t suppose you know what beauty is, do you?” she asked.

That simple question opened my weary eyes once and for all. My family ________ me not for my no-longer-shiny hair but because the ________ I’m playing, that is my husband’s wife and my kids’ mom.

Someone once said that ________ is the first gift given and the first one taken away. I agree but only when it comes to ________ beauty. When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift ________ a face-lift any day. The ________ beauty, the stuff inside that all of us have, lasts a lifetime.

7 . Volunteering has been a way of life for me for the past few years since I was fifteen. In 2020 I volunteered with a newly founded social enterprise, which _________ cooking lessons for visually impaired (视障) trainee _________ at the Enabling Village kitchen. I absolutely loved it as it involved meaningful _________ with people and I was fully _________ throughout the entire time I was there. This was unlike some other types of volunteering, which may involve mostly behind-the-scenes work that can get _________ after a while.

We called ourselves “sighted assistants” and each of us was _________ with a visually impaired trainee chef. As a volunteer, I would _________ with the trainee to the Enabling Village kitchen, and then ensure their _________ as they learned to cook a new dish. This included helping them _________ the position of the sink, ensuring eggshells were completely peeled off (剥掉), __________ boiling and hot objects, as well as being careful with knives among other things.

Being there with them made me truly __________ how difficult life can be when you are __________or completely blind. Every tiny task __________ massive effort.  There are so many people with disabilities, I realised. While medicine still does not have the power to __________ all of these conditions, we are never short of ways to empower these individuals by making life __________ and more meaningful for them.

8 . Hank, a two-year-old cat, is a homebody. But recently, he got _________ in a 60-tall tree for five days and four nights without food or water.

Hank’s big _________ started last weekend. He explored the neighborhood _________, and a dog came out, running after him and sending him flying up a tree.

When Hank’s owner, Delores Bushong, _________ him in the neighbor’s tree, she immediately called the Humane Rescue Alliance for help. _________, Hank was too high for any ladder (梯子) to reach and the tree branch wasn’t _________ enough to support the climb of the rescuer. Bushong felt extremely _________, but her neighbors showed her that she wasn’t alone.

The neighbor, whose tree Hank had climbed, let Bushong sit in his backyard and _________ Hank down. Another neighbor_________ a can of fish, hoping it might attract the __________ cat to come down.

By day five, they tried a new __________ and it worked! They __________ a pulley (滑轮) system by circling a rope around a tall branch, and __________ a basket with some of the owner’s personal items.

The cat, following the familiar scents, climbed into the basket and was __________ from the tree.

Bushong said the help of her community was __________, and Hank’s adventure taught her a lesson about neighbors helping neighbors!

9 . Columbia high school girls’ soccer team had lost every game in the season until a new ______stepped in two years ago.

Stuart Henley, a former soccer player and now a truck driver, ______the team and started training hard in February 2020. He ______the progress of the girls to team-building activities to help them bond on and off the field. He focused on the basics of football like passing, ______, and movement to try and bring the girls up to a good standard. His ______: coaches could give them guidelines, but girls ______what they felt they needed to work on.

Obviously, the girls were onto something big in the new season. They ______the skills they had learned and teamwork into their ______, which led them to an ______run of eight games, until they were sadly beaten 3-2 by Wyrley Pumas Team. Although this means they have been _____ the league title, the team have still exceeded (超出) expectation by earning the ______to the county’s top division.

“Whatever brings you down will ______make you stronger, especially for girls.” Captain Chelsea said, “Stuart has really ______our girls the philosophy of playing soccer. We’re going into next season full of confidence and ready to compete against tougher ______, but for now we’re still very much enjoying our ______.”

10 . When I was a boy, I spent much time playing alone. I didn’t _________ too much, though. I lived outside town, next to a forest where oaks (橡树) were my _________. I would sit in their shade and enjoy their peace.

Therefore it was so _________ for me when I was in _________ in a wood processing factory. It wasn’t just the back-breaking work, long _________, and low pay. It was also seeing trees being cut. The red oak tree were _________ affected because they made the prettiest hardwood flooring.

One afternoon after a long day’s work, I decide to take a walk in the _________. As I wandered, I was filled with _________ for childhood days. Feeling so down, I dropped my head and that was when I _________ it: a red oak acorn (橡子) that had somehow ______________ hungry animals all winter long. Something I’d read once ______________ me at that moment “An acorn ______________ a forest eventually if it wants!” I smiled, and carefully ______________ that little acorn. Then I headed home, no longer______________, for I also realized in our life we all ______________ as an acorn, but whether our future is a forest or not is up to us.