1 . It's often said that you can judge a person by looking at what's on their bookshelves. Well, when I asked myself this question a few years ago, I made a(n) _______ discovery. Pretty much all the _______ on my bookshelves were written by British authors, and there was almost nothing in translation from other _______. What a shame! So, I decided to begin my _____________ reading project.

But how could I find books from much of the rest of the world? I had to ask for _______. So in October 2011, I started my blog, and I _______ a short appeal (呼吁) online. Within hours, people began to _______. At first, it was friends and colleagues. Then it was friends of friends. And soon, it was _______.

Four days later, I got a(n) _______ from a woman called Rafidah in Kuala Lumpur. She said she loved my project, ________ if she could go to her local English-language bookshop and choose my Malaysian book and post it to me. I ________ accepted, and a few weeks later, a package ________ containing nothing but two books — Rafidah's choice from Malaysia, and a book from Singapore that she had also ________ for me. At the time, I was ________ that a stranger more than 6,000 miles away would go to such lengths to help someone she would probably never ________.

But Rafidah's kindness ________ to be the pattern for that year. Time and again, people went out of their ________ to help me. And books often came from ________ sources. A writer even emailed me an unpublished translation of his novel to me, allowing me to become one of the ________ people ever to read that book in English.

That year, thanks to kind strangers from the four ________ of the world. I read books from over 100 countries.

2 . 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.

3 . One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to ___my strange problem—____to read.

In the library, I sat down on the floor and ___a few books off the shelf ____. The cover of a book caught my eye. It ___a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal ___I ever had as a child. ___, one morning, he was gone, ___to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

There on the book’s cover was a beagle which looked ___to my dog. I ___my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. ____, I read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it.

I started to read about Amos very slowly with ____. Though pages were ___slowly, I got the main idea of the story. At the end of the story, the final scene of ___lingered on my mind until my own lost dog and I were running together.

My mother’s call ___me to the real world. I never told her about my “ ____” experience, but she saw a slow, yet remarkable ___in my school performance. Years later, she was ___that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. Books could be ___wonderful and the ___of the words has held.

4 . As a child, I had library phobia (恐惧症). I associated going to the library with doing research for a school project. I regarded reading as work, so going to the library for fun was out of my realm (范围) of_________ .

Hard as they tried, my parents could not get me_______ reading. They purchased a few of the Hardy Boys books. The books collected_______ . The closest I came to_______ to read was “The Big Green Book” by Robert Graves. Its lead_______ , a boy of about 8, discovered a book of magic spells. I was_______by it. I read it again and again. Certainly there was no_______to go to the library._______ , I started reading novels in my 20s. To _______ going to the library, I joined the various________clubs. I didn’t mind having to buy a book a month________ I didn’t have to go to the library.

My library phobia was ________23 years ago when my family moved to Long Island. The East Meadow Library became a(n) ________ destination for my family. My children were________to books through the children’s section with free programs that even I enjoyed. My children made________, and I made friends with the parents.

5 . When I was young, my teacher gave a book Running on Faith written by Jason Lester as a gift. After I started reading, I really couldn’t keep my ______ off it. It is always inspiring to read a story of someone who has ______ obstacles（障碍）to reach his goals.

Jason Lester is a disabled extreme ______. When he was 12, a fast car ran a red light and ______ him. Then he was sent into the hospital with twenty ______ bones and a seriously injured arm. And his dream of becoming a famous baseball player was ______.

But as his body healed, Jason’s ______ began to heal. Jason ______ not to let his injury prevent his reaching his goal. He began ______ and taking part in Triathlon（铁人三项）in high school. Since then he has competed in many ______ races. In 2008, Jason became the first disabled athlete to ______ Ultraman (320 miles of biking, swimming and running), and in 2009, he won an ESPY award for the best Male Athlete with a(n)______.

But Jason didn’t only ______ sports. After becoming a famous athlete, he wanted to help others. ______, he founded the Never Stop Foundation to improve the lives of children and adults through ______.

If you are in ______ and don’t know what to do, Running on Faith is a good book for you. Jason believes that if someone ______ just one of the lessons in it, it will help them find their purpose. The path to achieve his goal hasn’t been ______. But he’s learned to view misfortune as a ______. Actually, you will get ______ after reading the book.

6 . “Hey, I’m Courtney. What’s your favorite book? Elephant and Piggy? Yeah, I got it.”

If you thought you’d walked into a(n)_______with a greeting like that, you wouldn’t be too _______. However, the truth is that you’ve_______ the workplace of Courtney Holmes, or the Storybook Barber.

Two years ago, Dubuque emailed on its citizens to offer _______ families free resources in the community. Holmes agreed to _______. He was holding down two jobs at the time — one as an insurance agent, the other as a _______ Saturday was his busiest day, but he chose to donate his _______ and give free haircuts to underprivileged kids so they’d look _______   on that first day of classes. But then he had a lightbulb moment: “The kids should _______ their free haircut by having to __________ a book to me,” Holmes said. The idea was so popular that he__________ it the first Tuesday of every month for the next two years.

Five-to-ten-year-old boys would grab a favorite book, __________ into the barber chair, and read aloud while Holmes was working. If they __________ over a word, Holmes was there to help. After the haircut, they’d __________ the book, from the language to the characters and to the __________— just like in school, more fun,__________.

Holmes and his family have recently__________ from Dubuque to a Chicago suburb. When they get settled, he plans to continue his __________ as the Story-book Barber. “With guns and __________       in the world today,” he says, “I want to create a safe __________ for the kids to come to and read in.”

7 . My brother Gene was four years older than me. By the time I turned four, I was upset that he could read but I couldn’t. I burned with ______ to read a book like my brother. I begged: “Teach me to read, Mom! Please, please?!” Finally, Mom set aside time after lunch ______ reading lessons, and soon after my fifth birthday, I was reading.

I longed for my father, who was a great storyteller, to read me the books that I couldn’t yet read on my own. But my father worked three jobs to feed the family. He didn’t have the time or ______ in the evening to read to me.       ____, every Sunday morning, my brother and I lay next to him in bed, waiting for him to tell stories about his   ____. I can still hear my father’s voice ______ the cold winters on the family farm in Poland. His family didn’t have enough money to burn wood in the fireplace all night. He told us that he always volunteered to help with ______. I can smell the soup made by my grandma and ______ my father cutting onions, carrots and tomatoes for salad, and when no one was looking, putting a piece into his mouth. “I was always ______,” he explained. Hearing my father’s stories   ______ me closer to the books and the stories they held.

One Saturday afternoon when I was seven, we walked two blocks to the small ______ in our neighborhood, and my dad filled out forms for a card. That Saturday ______ my life: I met Mrs. Schwartz, the librarian, and my dad said, “You’re ______ enough to walk to the library yourself.” And so I did—almost every afternoon.

In my mind, Mrs. Schwartz was “the keeper of books and the guardian of stories.” Some days she read aloud to a small group of us ______. Most of time, Mrs. Schwartz let me ______ myself with books I pulled from the shelves and look through them to see which ones I’d ______ out. I remember that sometimes she’d ______ a book and tell me a part of the story. But she always let me choose. Books became my ______ who were my comfort when I felt lonely.

Yes, reading changed me. It gave me the _____ to study hard so I could become a teacher, and share my _____   of reading with my students. And inside my head, I can still hear the voices of my mother, father, and Mrs. Schwartz, which are with me every time I open the first page of a new book.

8 . 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.

9 . In the 1950s, I was an only child of a single mother , living in a modest cottage in New Zealand. There was no TV and very little _______to spend on entertainment. _______we had our books and enjoyed _______better than reading aloud to each other. My mother read me The Faraway Tree Stories, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island and poetry as well. _______I turned seven, I was able to take my _______at the reading role, and we spent many pleasant evenings laughing over _______ characters.

In 1964, I was 18 and moved to Auckland, but we still phoned each other and talked about books. Years later, Mum’s eyesight began to _______. She found it _______difficult to read the small print of her beloved books. She enjoyed looking at magazines but missed _______up with the latest books by her favourite __________.

Later, I became a Special Needs library assistant and my __________was to select books for __________impaired（损伤的）people. In time, I introduced my mother to large-print novels and audio-books, which gave her a great deal of __________as her eyesight grew more dim(模糊的).

In her 70s, Mum’s choice of reading seemed to __________to mainly murder mystery stories. I was __________to see that, so I bought her a more “worthy” audio-book. The next day, I asked, “How are you getting on with that latest book?” “Oh, not so well,” she replied__________. I didn’t try to “improve” my mother’s literary __________after that.

A few years ago Mum __________away. There are still so many thing I’d like to tell her. I’d like to __________her for her early guidance in the __________world of books. And I’m happy to say that I’m also into audio-books now.

10 . Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life. It _______ our happiness when we are cheerful, and lessens our _______ when we are sad. A good book may absorb our attention so _______ that for the time being we forget our _______.

Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, good books should never fail to give us _______. With a good book in our hands we will never be _______. Whether the characters in the book are taken from real life or are purely _______, they may become our companions and make us laugh. The people we meet in books may _______ us either because they are similar to our close friends or because they present _______ types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances. Our human friends sometimes ________ us, but the friends we make in books are always respect us. By turning the pages we can ________ them without any fear of hurting their feelings, When our human friends ________ us, good books are always there to give us sympathy and encouragement.

One of the most valuable gifts from books is ________. Few of us can travel far from home. ________ all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of book. When we wish to ________ from the dull realities of everyday life, a book will help us when ________ else can. To travel by book we don’t have to ________ and save a lot of money. Through books we may gel the thrill of adventure without ________. We can climb high mountains or cross the hoi sands of the desert, ________, through books the whole world is ours for the asking. The ________ of our literary experiences are almost unlimited.