1 . Get up at 6 a.m., arrive at the hospital one hour earlier to help patients check in, and accompany patients during consultations... In recent years, the patient escort has emerged as a new occupation, and those who have taken on this career are known as “people who sell time”. 26-year-old Zhang Tian is one of them.

September 4, 2022 was a lucky day for Zhang Tian. On this day, Zhang Tian saw a video about patient escorts on a short video platform. The daily routine of patient escorts shown in the video fascinated her and inspired her to take this on as a business. She browsed through many platforms and searched for information and found there indeed exists a certain demand for patient escorts, especially for the elderly, children and pregnant women. Since she had never engaged in this kind of work before, she spent two days in major hospitals in Wuhan, in order to familiarize herself with all the departments on different floors, as well as the processes of medical consultations and preparations for surgery.

After the preparations, Zhang Tian posted a video of self-introduction on major social media sites, talking about the help and services a patient escort provides, as well as some tips for a quick and convenient medical consultation. At first, she was a little worried that her video would go unnoticed. However, after she uploaded the video, it got over 100 likes and she received her first offer as a patient escort.

The memory of her first task is still vivid in her mind. She received a phone call on September 9 from a man whose father was seriously ill and might need surgery. He wanted Zhang Tian to accompany his father through his consultation and treatment. Zhang Tian made all the preparations before meeting her first client and did a very good job despite her nervousness.

“Later, the family expressed their gratitude to me over and over again, which warmed my heart and gave me a sense of achievement,” Zhang Tian said.

2 . Few 17-year-old girls know how to weld (焊接)two metal pipes together. I have learned this skill in the past five years as a(n) ________ for my father’s personal plumbing (管道装置) business. This summer job often needs to deal with the mess that causes physical and mental ________ , and, to some extent,   ________ a tough and elegant attitude. It is often difficult to cope with. But I ________

Every morning, I have to put on a pair of men’s jeans. Most of my peers are ________ to wear it in public. I ________ tied my hair when I rushed out of the house, and ________ into the front passenger seat of the plumber’s construction vehicle.

When my peers were part-time babysitters or lifeguards, I was helping my father in the dirty bathroom or the ________ basement. Thick dust   ________ my nose and mouth, and my hands became black. There is nothing beautiful and neat; everything in front of you is ________ .

Honestly speaking, I felt ________, discouraged and unable to think hard. Pipe work is a tough job, and I sometimes hate it. I asked myself why I had to ________these dust and sweat. I can even find another job, a ________ job more like my peers. ________ , just like I hate messy pipes, I also hate being affected by these little ________   emotions. After all, the world is built by people who are willing to get their hands________ . Life is a process of ________ chaos and learning to clean up, and pipeline work is no ________.

My dad and I not only create chaos, we also create ________. When customers are ________for our work, I understand that we have brought order to their lives in small places. The physical and mental discomfort of plumbing work is worth it.

Kyrgyzstan(吉尔吉斯斯坦) is a mountainous country where nearly two thirds of the people live in rural areas. The UN notes that the local economy depends     1    (heavy)on farming. So it is rare for any Kyrgyz to choose technology     2     a career path.

The UN Development Programme studied records about the country’s college     3    (graduate)in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, construction and manufacturing. It found that women make up less than 10 percent of those graduates.

Nineteen-year-old Alina Anisimova,     4     is a computer programmer, says some girls don’t have the courage to take on such studies because it is not common in their country. And, she also says a majority of parents discourage their daughters from     5    (study)these subjects. Girls in her country are expected     6     (marry) instead of having careers. Nearly one in 10 girls in Kyrgyzstan is married before the age of 18, notes the international aid group Girls Not Brides. She wishes that in the future people will not consider it so     7    (surprise)to see young women get involved in engineering and metal working.

Actually, the number of women in science, technology, engineering and math areas     8     (increase)in recent years. For example, in the US, there has been a push to get more girls interested in such subjects at     9     early age. Still, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO notes that only about 30 percent of the world’s researchers     10     (be)women.

6 . My father always told me: "All work is noble." He wasn't ________ , but he earned a reasonable living. Thanks to his ________ , I was able to go to Art College. I, however, wanted to do something ________ , something more interesting-I was special！

After graduation, I moved to New York in search of a graphic designer job. It was winter and, ever the optimist, I'd only brought enough money to ________ myself for about a month. I wasn't ________ -I was sure I'd find a fantastic job immediately.

Within a few weeks, though, I found myself wandering around the streets having been ________ by every design office in town. My hostel ________ was almost gone and I hadn't eaten in days. “How had I reached this point？""I wondered as I ________ in my thin jacket.

I was just about to ________ when my dad called. He suggested that I get a job in a ________ until something else came along. At first, pride made me _________. But I was cold, hungry, and unwilling to go home feeling ________ and defeated.

I entered an expensive-looking cafe near one of the design offices that had turned me away and asked the manager if they were ________. She said they were ________, and offered me a job right away.

________ , I found that I really enjoyed serving people. I started making big ________ right away. Later, the manager learned that I had a design ________ and asked me to design the cafe menus. That led to a part-time job at an advertising company.

Previously, I'd have never considered being a _________, but there I was. I ________ got my dream design job, but that winter I learned not to make ________ about work.

7 . “Daily Star, sir,” called Jason, carrying some news-papers under his arm. The little boy had been running up and down the street, but there were still twenty ____ left. His voice was almost gone and his heart was ____. The shops would soon close, and all the people would go home. He would have to go home too, carrying the papers ____ money. He had hoped to sell more papers tonight to make more money to buy a ____ for his mother and some seeds for his bird. That was why he had bought the papers with all his money. He ____ as he thought of his failure to sell all his papers.

“You don’t know the ____ of selling papers. You must shout, ‘Hot news! Bomb bursting!’” another newsboy Chad told Jason. “____ it’s not in the paper at all,” replied Jason. “Just run away quickly ____ they have time to see, and you’ll ____ out and get your money,” Chad said.

It was a new ____ to Jason. He thought of his bird with no ____ and the cake he wanted to buy for his mother, but was ____ that he would not tell a lie. Though he was ____ a poor newsboy, he had been ____ some good things.

The next afternoon Jason went to the office for his papers ____. Several boys were crowding around Chad, who declared with a ____ smile that he sold six dozen the day before. He added that Jason ____ money because he would not tell a lie. The boys ____ at Jason. “You wouldn’t tell a lie yesterday, my boy?” A gentleman at the office came up and patted Jason’s shoulder ____, “You’re just the boy I am looking for.” A week later Jason started his new ____. He lost the sale of twenty papers because he would not tell a lie, but got a well-paid job because he told the truth.