1 . Emily Bhatnagar is a shy girl who has always loved reading. She says, “The books sort of became my best friends when I didn’t have one.”

When Bhatnagar was 16, her father was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. The news was________for the family. Books became an even bigger ________, and she started thinking about families in similar situations. When her father recovered, she ________a plan to help others. “The idea came from not just great thanks that the doctors were able to ________such a miracle (奇迹),”she said, “but also a little of ________ that there were kids who were ________ the same battle.”

Bhatnagar started a ________ in her hometown. The goal was to collect books and give them to kids being ________ for cancer in local hospitals. Since the start of the book drive, which she called For Love & Buttercup, Bhatnagar has ________ more than 10,000 books.

Bhatnagar had no idea how much ________ her work would get. She started by posting on social media, asking people in her area to donate. “I was expecting maybe two or three ________ from neighbors,” she said. But it ended up blowing up, ________ when news stations began reporting it. “The public response has been super great,” her father said.

Bhatnagar continues to run the book drive, with a little help from her parents. She hopes to expand the project to ________ more kids one day. The memory of the first time she visited those children who’d ________ her books sticks with her. “It was the best ________ of my life,” she said. “I realized I wanted to do this type of work forever.”

6 . When I was a little girl of seven years old, my mother enjoyed reading books. She asked my father to bring many _________ from the town library. My father usually brought as many books as the librarian _________ at a time. My mother would not like anyone to _________ her and liked finishing a story without any breaks.

One day, my father managed to get the best _________ that the librarian recommended. After my mother knew that, she _________ bought some hot dogs because she thought that it was great for us all to enjoy the _________, accompanied by some family chats. My mother could _________ wait to give out the hot dogs and she was lost in the new novel. My father felt it _________ for her not to join in the family chats.

Now it was time to _________ something in our family. On a festival season, some guests __________ us at our home. We had a great time enjoying the festival food and the great family __________, but something was bothering my father and that was the __________ of my mother’s reading the novel. She sat on a sofa and kept reading her new novel without __________ others. My aunt noticed the behavior of my mother and decided to solve the problem in her own way.

My aunt took my mother’s novel away and didn’t give it to her until she __________ that she would never get crazy for reading novels in her life. Now, my father is still active after his retirement and my mother is still __________ reading the book but when she is alone.

7 . The books in David’s schoolbag felt like bricks as he ran down the street. What he wanted to do was play basketball with Eric,_________ his mother told him he would have to return his sister’s books to the library first.

He went into the building; only a few minutes _________ closing time. He put the books into the return box. And after a brief _________ in the toilet, he would be on his way to the playground to _________ Eric.

David stepped out of the toilet and stopped in _________ — the library lights were off. The place was _________. The doors had been shut. They _________ be opened from the inside: he was trapped — in a library!

He tried to _________ a telephone call but was unable to _________. As the sun began to set, he searched for a light and found it.

__________ he could see. David wrote on a piece of paper: “__________! I’m TRAPPED inside!” and stuck it to the glass door. Surely, someone passing by would see it.

He was surprised to discover that this place was not so unpleasant, __________. Rows and rows of shelves held books, videos and music. He saw a book about Michael Jordan and took it off the shelf. He settled into a chair and started to __________.

He knew he had to__________, but now, that didn’t seem to be such a __________ thing.

8 . A few weeks ago, I surfed the Internet and came across a book called The Debt to pleasure. At first sight, I_________, immediately, to own it. Its structure was novel and it had won wide _________among readers.

But before I could_________ the Buy Now button, a tiny inner voice _________the library, the library, which was simply three blocks from my apartment. I searched the catalog （目录）of the library and sure enough, " _________" now. However, by the time the book was borrowed, I couldn't say with _________that I would love it. This worn, yellow-papered object was just so _________. However promising our first _________was, my initial desire _________sank. When the book was __________, I walked to the library and __________it into the Returns box. Once reshelved, it would __________for others. I sighed and walked off. It had never __________me from the very beginning.

One thing I should mention：I did end up loving The Debt to Pleasure, I loved it so much that I finally ordered a copy of my own. The library book does __________me the cost of a paperback, but it just delivers a __________satisfaction, one that can't promise permanent ownership. Live your life fully, for our lives are only lent to us and can't be owned forever.

9 . Hardship comes in different shapes and sizes. But few things in life are as _______ as feeling cut off from the people we love.

Recently, while _______ against the COVID-19, my grandkids and I have to stay indoors and started _______ via Wechat. Mostly, I read to them because I love doing it, but I also do it for their parents' mental health. Besides having to stay indoors, they are _______ to homeschool their kids, who can't go to school or play with their friends.

Reading to each other is an age-old practice to me. It has _______ and healing (治愈的) power especially in current situation. When we read, we see the words with our eyes. But hearing them read is a different _______, we just need to be quiet and listen. Sometimes, the voice and the love it_______ mean far more than the words. Today, I wechatted with my grandkids, Ran and Wey, and read them a book my kids loved long ago, and they thought it _______, frequently bursting out laughing.

Now more than ever, while keeping a safe distance, we all need to _______ each other. Sometimes the words we read are so powerful that they will never be ________.

10 . It was 1972，and I was in second grade.In the classroom the teacher，Ms.Boyette，was ____ aloud to us from Island of the Blue Dolphins.And we had just come to a part of the book where the main ____ was training a wild dog.I was listening，caught up in the ____     of all.

Not far away from me，there seated a boy who always frightened or ____ others，so I was ___ of this boy.While Ms.Boyette was reading，I looked over at him，for he was someone I was in the ____ of keeping an eye on.I ____ that he was listening too，that he was engaged by the ____ ，that he was leaning forward in his seat and listening with all his heart.I ____ at him，open-mouthed.I was ____ with a sudden knowledge that this boy was in fact just ____ me.He was a kid who liked a story.The boy must ____ my eyes on him，because he turned.Then something ____ happened.He smiled at me. ___ ，I smiled back，unafraid.We were two ____ smiling at each other.

Why have I never forgotten this ____ moment? Why do I still ____ every detail of it? I think it’s because that moment illustrates so beautifully the _____of reading out loud.

It shows us into a safe room，where everyone involved，the reader and the listener，can have that chance to ____ each other.We humans long not just for the story，not just for the flow of language，but for the ____ that comes when words are read aloud.