2 . A little library was built in our neighborhood to encourage people to “take a book, leave a book”. While taking a walk, Ayla, my eight-year-old daughter, was _________ and asked many questions about it.

Long after we got home, I found her in her bedroom, seated on the floor, surrounded by her _________, all of them. She _________ expressed that she was trying to find a（n）_________ book for the tiny library. Not much later, I saw Ayla standing at the front door, holding a book in one hand and a little _________ in the other, which she _________ in the bathroom when she brushed her teeth. She needed it to look into the _________.

I was _________ to know what book Ayla had picked. When we reached the library, she carefully set down the chair and _________ up. She opened the glass door slowly, with too much __________. Then she paused（暂停）, looked down at the book in her hand, and slid it inside. It was her __________ book. The “take it” part took Ayla a long time to look through the children’s books one by one and carefully examined them, like a jeweler（宝石匠）__________ the perfect stone. At last, she found what she __________.

Once we got home, I asked Ayla why she put that book in the little library. She __________ if every kid left their favorite book, there would be plenty of favorite books to __________.

4 . My experience with reading, as a child, probably differs from most people in my position. Nearing 40 years of age, I am finally at a point in life when I can honestly say I _________reading.

Growing up in Anthony, I gave my mother and primary school teachers headaches because I had no _________to read. This was especially troubling to my mother, who was _________ a teacher. She was an eager reader._________, my lack of enthusiasm did not sit well with her.

Though I wasn't a fan of reading growing up, I was, and still am,_________with sports. My TV watching was almost only sports. On the ________ occasion I did read something, it was ________. My mom had a(n) ________. She began leaving the sports page from the morning paper out for me and buying sports magazines and books of my favorite players. ________, she met with my teachers and shared her“plan”with them. Before I knew it, I was reading regularly.

Looking back, I am _________that my mom persevered in _________me to my literary niche (归宿). Had she _________me to read selections I had no interest in, I may have never developed the love of reading I have today.

Fast forward to today and I ________myself principal (校长) of that elementary school I attended so many years ago in Anthony. My experience ________me to reach out to all of my students and provide them with every opportunity to ________.

5 . To beat the blues of staying at home all day, I _______ an ‘online book exchange’ on account of my friends. Details were _______ to understand, and I spent hours trying to make it clear.

I had my doubts, though. For one, it involved _______ a copy of your favorite book to a complete stranger, and then waiting for a series of people to _______ the chain, till you received some books _______, from complete strangers. A natural pessimist I am, I _______ if I would receive any books. But _______, I sent a copy of my favorite, Jeffrey Arche’s The Eleventh Commandment, to a stranger. Days later, I was _______ when the first book arrived! And soon followed another 10 books that I had never in my wildest dreams imagined I would receive. Over the next two weeks, books kept _______, ranging from Dr Abdul Kalam’s autobiography (自传) to Charlotte Jane Eyre and a bestselling Japanese thriller. I even ________ my afternoon nap (午觉), ready to open the door ________ another book was delivered.

There is something intimate (亲密的) about exchanging books with strangers. By ________ a book with someone, I believe we end up sharing a part of our soul with them.

The posting about the book exchange on social media brought me ________ to many old friends, with whom I had lost touch due to the ________ schedules we all had before COVID-19 ________ our plans. It fired long discussions about trying out wine in Vietnam.

7 . There are some books that I will never take off my daughter’s bookshelf. Most of those books are_________, books.

Picture books create concrete (具体的) images in readers’ minds. They come alive when they’re being_________. My daughter, 8 years old, is a_________reader. She can sit down with almost any book and read it all by herself for hours._________, I still read to her. When it’s bedtime, she asks me to_________her a picture book, which gives us lots of joy.

Picture books are the campfire (篝火) story of the reading world. Picture books are so_________that they are able to bring people together easily. They’re_________enough to be compelling (引人入胜的) or short enough to hold your interest. They’re better than other books when it comes to the_________of language. They can tell complete stories in thirty-two pages or less. Reading a thirty-two-page book is not a(n)_________for a girl who can read a 500-page book on her own. However, reading isn’t always about challenging oneself. Sometimes reading is about sharing a__________with a loved one.

Some picture books aren’t fit for my daughter as she__________. But the ones that really draw her in and need to be read aloud will always be__________for her. So this is why I’ll never stop reading picture books with my__________. We’re reading together because it__________us pleasure. That’s why I’ll always keep picture books on her__________.

8 . The British Cohort Study found that children reading for pleasure at a young age are not just better at language learning, they are better at other subjects. It can also________their growth greatly.

Reading for pleasure is________to problem solving. A fourteen—year—old boy who________the study said, “When big stuff happens in my life, I’ll think about what my favorite________would have done. They are the ones I________, who have different________to handling things. Then I try to________them to my life, to see which way works for me.” The situations children read in books give them________on how to react to________experiences in real life.

Besides, like any other hobbyist, readers often________with those who love reading. These interactions help children develop________skills at a young age. They learn how to________opinions as well as building their understanding of other cultures and perspectives.

Extending love of reading to the________is important. Have books________to be read at any place around the house. Instead of watching television, have a family reading night. Once your children are reading on their own, spend time________them by reading a book you like. It can________them to ask about your book and possibly introduce them to a whole different subject or series!

Reading for pleasure has benefits that go beyond students’________development at school. Reading for pleasure means giving students________about what they want to read, which helps create a lifelong________. Practice it and see where it________them!

9 . My grandmother has been gone for many years now and while she was alive, we were not particularly ________. I lived in suburban and only saw her once each year or so. My grandmother lived alone, far away in an apartment in a splendid building which my brother, sister and I ________ “the castle”. She was ________ educated as she could speak several foreign languages.

On each Christmas morning, my brother, sister and I would run down the stairs and see a beautiful tree ________ by brightly wrapped package. We would dive into the pile with great ________, ripping the paper and revealing all the latest toys. ________, I would see an odd-looking package deep under the tree that I knew could only be from grandmother. “Another ________, just like every year!”

Although I was not interested in school, I had enormous ________ with younger children. Slowly the idea of becoming a teacher ________ and I decided to give college a try. Having a ________ made things easier for me and I began to apply myself. One day, during my favorite class of Children’s Literature, my professor ________ a list of books on a projector (投影仪) that included ________ that had been awarded a Newbery Medal or were Caldecott winners. Suddenly, memories came flooding ________.

________ a handwritten copy of my teachers’ list of classics, I raced home and ran down to the ________. There in the corner on a ________ shelf sat the most amazing collection of children’s books any teacher could hope to have. As I ran my ________ across the covers of these books, I saw my grandmother’s ________ handwriting that read, “To Elizabeth Rose, with love, from Grandmother.” Now I saw how ________ she had been and how each book was so carefully ________ at different times of my life.