1 . It was early in 1981 when I first met George. I was in my early 30s，_____   a creative way to raise little children. At 65，George had recently retired and was looking for a rewarding _____   for his golden years. For both of us，____     was "it" and we met at a local training class. Thus began a friendship that was to   ____   for 25 years-until the day he died.

George took to painting with an inspiring level of ______ . His equipment was_______ -all tools for painting. Ever practical，George______   these painting things in a tool box-a red tool box. For about six years George and I______   together through various units until the________ of the course drew us apart.

Fast-forward some years and George was now 80. He rang one day and ______ me to come to his house. At the tea time, George said he was_______ with painting and determined to ____     all his "stuff". Everything-paints, boards and even the red tool box! And no_______ of talking could persuade him otherwise.

After considerable persuasion, I _____   this precious gift and I still use much of his____   today, more than 20 years later. As I paint I often_______ personality, generous spirit and unfailing encouragement.

The most ______   thing is the Red Tool Box, still in good   _____   and the original shop sticker is still _____   in place although the price has long since worn off. But that's all right because to my mind some things, like friendship, are beyond_____ .

2 . Lucy didn't have a lot of friends. She was a bit ____. She never really wanted to be popular, but did want to have someone to____ secrets and laughs with. All through high school, ____, she didn't find a lot of comfort or companionship.

When it came to going to college, Lucy still felt ____. She was going to be rooming with a ____ classmate and living in a town 300 miles away from home. There wouldn't be a single person she ____ in town. She had no idea how she was going to make______in this new environment.

The first week of classes, something happened that ____ Lucy's life forever. In her English Composition class, she was asked to share a little about herself. She ______ everyone where she came from and all of the other ____ details that students share in such ____. The final question for each student was always the same: “What is your ____ for this class？” Now, most of the students said it was to get a good____, pass the class or something similar, but for some ____, Lucy said something entirely ____. She said that her goal was to make just one good friend.

While most of the students sat in silence, one student came to Lucy and ____his hand and introduced himself. He asked if she would be his friend. The whole room was ____—all eyes focused on Lucy and the hand extended just in front of her. She ____ and reached out to take his hand and a friendship was formed. It was a friendship that ____all through college. Lucy learned the____of asking for what she wanted, being honest and taking action.

3 . I like travelling. In my younger years, my mother gave me some ________, “While you’re still young”, she said fondly, “________ as much as possible.” So whenever I have days off, I usually travel somewhere And ________ this habit, I met Taeko, a Japanese film producer, on the Isle of Skye in the UK.

I still remember the ________ Taeko and I first met. Skye is a mountainous island in Scotland ________ the transportation is inconvenient (不便的), I had to join a ________ tour, so did Taeko.

We didn’t meet ________ we had breakfast the next morning. It was very rare to see an ________ face on this far away and strange island, ________ we started to talk. I learned Taeko just took part in the 67th Cannes Film Festival.

After chatting for only 20 minutes, our friendship ________, We exchanged phone numbers and left for our separate bus journeys. ________, afterwards, we reunited again and again in different cities in the UK.

Taeko is a friendly and elegant (优雅的) lady who always speaks to people in a ________ voice. Although there’s a huge age difference ________ us, we understand each other. Taeko told me her husband was a professor in American literature. They all liked reading. It was the same love for ________ that brought them together.

But sadly, her husband ________ 18 years ago, and Taeko has remained single since then. She produces films, travels the world and makes friends. You can never ________ where she will be tomorrow.

When asked if she ever felt lonely, she said she never did. Instead, she feels________. She’s been doing exactly ________ she likes to do: be happy.

4 . When you think of friends, you often think of those who accompany you for a long time. But there is another kind of _______ —one that does not unfold over a _______period of time but springs entirely from a particular_______.

In my eighth grade，there was Jenny. I _______to stay at her farmhouse with cats and dogs. Eighth grade was a terrible year. We both_______ it，but we didn't talk about it. On cold winter days，she _______ me how she lied on her pony Redwing's back. Then we would _______on long journey，riding and walking. She left in ninth grade and I _______her. We had gotten each other through a _______time.

Anyone with children knows the rapid friendships formed with parallel parents. To Julie, I will be forever __________. We met on a __________in New Jersey. Her twin boys were about the same __________as my daughter. She lived in the beach town. I lived alone with my __________ a block away. My husband had left for North Dakota, leaving me to __________out what to do next. Now, __________, there was someone I could talk to. For the next weeks，we met at the beach，and I would go __________with her so that the __________could go on playing. The normal state of her little home__________my broken heart.

Such friends as these often __________when your own life is off balance；they __________you till the world settles on its axis(轴) once again.

5 . Two of my friends had financial problems and needed my help on two occasions.

The first guy _______ a sum of money for his tuition while he was at his final year of the university. He came to me and _______ to borrow some money for his school fees, _______ that he’d pay all of it back once he _______ a job after graduation. As a student, I didn’t have much _______ at that time. However, as his friend, out of _______, I decided to give him what he needed _______ the condition that he would pay back. After that I _______ bothered him. Never did I ask when he would pay back.

On another occasion, another friend told me his _______ dilemma. Being an orphan（孤儿）, he could hardly __________   himself. He delayed his rent for two months, and his __________ was threatening to throw his things out from the house the next day.

It was the day before __________ my father had given me some money for my monthly expense. And __________, it was the exact amount he needed－I gave it all to him. I felt like __________ a special act of kindness.

A few days later. __________ struck me that I could cancel my friend’s __________. After all, things were so difficult for an orphan.

So I called him up to cancel his debt. He couldn’t believe it and said “Seriously? __________!” He was so happy and later sent me a message of heart-felt __________.

In life, it is the __________ actions of love that matter. __________ unites us.

6 . Last weekend, one of my best friends, whom I’ve shared just about everything with since the first day of kindergarten, came to visit me.

Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, sharing _______ between us. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, who experimented with drugs and was into other _______ behavior. I was _______! She told me how she had been _______ to her parents about where she was going and even stealing out with a(n)_______ of seeing this guy because they didn’t want her around him. After my several tries to tell her that she _______ better, she still didn’t believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have _______.

I tried to _______ her that she was ruining her _______. But she refused to listen to me. I just couldn’t believe that she really thought it ________ to hang out with those ________, especially her boyfriend.

By the time she left, I was still ________ about her. I was so disappointed that I even ________ telling her that maybe we had just grown too far apart to ________ our friendship, but I didn’t. I put the power of friendship to the final ________. I had to hope that she ________ me enough to know that I was trying to save her from ________ herself.

A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long about our ________, and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just ________ with tears of joy running down my face. It was a truly rewarding ________ in my life.

7 . I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was rather organized. Each of her objects had its ___________, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签 ) everything. I always looked for everything. ___________time, Kate got neater and I got _________. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got ___________ of each other.

One evening war ___________ . Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her shouting, "Take your _________ away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I_______ to my feet and started shouting. She shouted back louder.

The room was filled with _________. We could not have stayed together for a single_________ but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could __________right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she __________, she quickly hid under her covers, sobbing(呜咽). __________, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden ,a ________ feeling of sympathy(同情) rose up in my heart,

Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, __________ my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, ________ on her side. I was so buried in my work __________ I even didn't notice Kate had sat up.

She was watching, her tears dried and her __________one of disbelief. Then, to my surprise, she __________ out her hands to catch mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks."

Kate and I stayed ____________for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to ________together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.