1 . According to family legend, I started reading tomato soup labels when I was two. But my earliest _________ are of The poky Little puppy, comics I found in the attic (阁楼). I quickly moved on to the library. I _________ Little House on the Prairie and absolutely anything by Judy Blume.

I don’t know whether I read because I was curious or I was curious because I read. Probably _________ . I do know, _________ ,that books were my shelter, they gave me safety and _________ when life was confusing or uncertain. They were a (n) _________ and a peaceful oasis. Books transported me to places I never imagined I’d visit and _________ me to ideas I had never considered. I preferred Watership Down to hide-and-go-seek with the neighbor _________ . My father worried that I was turning into a recluse (隐士),but I was _________ . Maybe they made me smarter. I know they provided me with __________ .

So, when I had my son, it surprised no one that I filled his room with __________ . With a certainty I didn’t know, I read to him for hours, hoping that the magic I experienced would __________ him. It did. Now he writes disjointed __________ about fire engines, policemen and flying birds. He is becoming a(n) __________ storyteller—just like his parents. I __________ to him through stories in a way I didn’t imagine.

2 . “A good book is easy to find.” That is the _______ on a sign at Hernando Guanlao’s home in the Makati area of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Guanlao has _______ his home into a free public library. Visitors can borrow the books inside for free. Guanlao says he hopes his library will inspire people to read, _______ the young. The 72-year-old said that his library _______ books that all students can enjoy — from young children in kindergarten to _______ students in grade 12. He calls his library Reading Club 2000, which includes many different kinds of books.

He _______ his library more than 20 years ago when he set 50 books beside the walkway in front of his home. Guanlao’s _______ have grown greatly over the years — thanks to a continuous supply of books from donors.

Speaking of donors, he said, “They just _______ boxes of books outside my house.” He has also begun _______ books himself by sending reading materials to public schools in faraway communities.

Guanlao's ________ make a difference at a time when reading ability among students in the Philippines remains ________ . Some students in the Philippines are also facing learning delays（延迟）in math and science. He hopes to help more students ________ these problems.

Guanlao is ________ to stick to his goals. “My mission（使命） is to ________ used and donated books to others at no cost,” he said, “and to promote ________ through literature.”

3 . Growing up, Mychal Threets fell in love with reading at Fairfield Civic Center Library (FCCL) in California. Now, at age 33, he is the supervising librarian of FCCL and has gained a _________ of more than 650,000 people who _________ watching the videos he posts about libraries on social media.

Threets was mostly home schooled by his mother. They spent hours at FCCL each day, so it became a _________ to him, he said. But he didn’t see many people who looked like him employed there and didn’t consider _________ a librarian until age 23, when he was hired to shelve _________ at a different Fairfield library. That’s when “my librarian _________ began,” he said. Threets took librarian education courses and worked his way up to the _________ he now holds.

About two years ago, he began _________ what he calls his “library joy” on TikTok and Instagram. He posts videos about being a librarian as well as _________ on using a library card, book recommendations, and stories about children who have discovered their love of __________ at the library.

Although the attention he receives for his posts can feel __________ at times, Threets is mostly encouraged that he has been accomplishing his goal. “I ought to __________ people how cool libraries are and how much library workers __________ their communities,” he said.

The __________ he has for young people is to remember to visit their own local library. When life gets tough, Threets said, you can always find a __________ in there.

4 . Most parents, I suppose, have had the experience of reading a bedtime story _________ their children. And they must have realized how difficult it is to write a _________ children’s book. Either the author has aimed too _________, so that children can’t follow what is in his ( or more often, her ) story, _________ the story seems to be talking to the readers.

The best children’s books are _________ very difficult nor very simple, and satisfy the _________ who hears the story and the adult who _________ it. Unfortunately, there are in fact few books like this, _________ the problem of finding the right bedtime story is not _________ to solve. This may be why many of the books regarded as __________ of children’s literature were in fact written for __________.“Alice in Wonderland” is perhaps the most obvious of this.

Children, left for themselves, often __________ the worst possible interest in literature. Just leave a child in a bookshop or a __________ and he will more willingly choose the books written in an unimaginative (并非想象的) way, or have a look at the most children’s comics(连环图书), full of the stories and jokes which are the rejections of teachers and righting­thinking parents.

Perhaps we parents should stop __________ to brainwash (洗脑) children into accepting our taste in literature. After all, children and adults are so __________ that we parents should not expect that they will enjoy the same books. So I suppose we’ll just have to compromise(妥协)over the bedtime story.

5 . Hannah, an adventurous girl, lived in a small village on a land far away. All of the villagers were used to their ________ tasks and very few had the will to try something new. Unlike them, Hannah loved to ________ and would spend hours in the woods looking for new things.

One afternoon, she ________ an abandoned cottage. With curiosity she slowly opened the door and was left ________. In front of her was a room full of books glittering in the dust! She gasped as she ________ that she had found a hidden treasure. Before leaving, she ________ two books and decided to read them at her home.

From that day on, Hannah ________ read the books, which took her to a world of talking animals, mystical creatures, and daring knights. She read about characters who faced ________ with their determination and characters who ________ for good. She learned the power of love and friendship, and that the true strength lies within one’s own ________!

With the good in heart, Hannah started to ________ the gold from the tales with the people of her village. Soon, the ________ of Hannah’s storytelling spread. People traveled from different places to listen to her stories. ________, Hannah started writing stories of her own too!

Hannah’s passion and ________ blew life into the tales and her words breathed new life into countless souls. She became a beacon (灯塔) of ________, a reminder for everyone that even in the dustiest corners, there can be a hidden treasure.

6 . When I learned that our community library was hosting a Book Nerd Challenge, I got excited. My granddaughter and I needed a little _______   to increase the quality of the books we read, so I suggested we _______ .

The goal was to read fifty books in a year. I’m an English teacher. This didn’t seem like much of a _______ . Then, I read the small _______   that there were fifty different categories ranging from historical non-fiction to a book with a red cover. Not so _______ after all.

The experience created a _______ between my granddaughter and me. We read a couple of the _______ novels, but we mostly read different titles. However, we had interesting _______ based on the similar themes in our books and we _______ the authors’ styles, different genres, and our favorites. With fifty categories to choose from, I ________ my all-time favorite I read once and several classics.

________ , inspired by a stubborn need to meet the goal, I ________ myself to make time to visit the worlds and characters of the novels. During the Book Nerd Challenge, sometimes I made excuses for ________ when I was unwilling to continue. But after a year, reading became a ________ I desired. My life became more ________ as I grew intellectually. Reading made me uninterested in TV programs. The realistic stories of life ________ the unrealistic dramas on the screen.

Now I find books can provide a better ________ . Perhaps the greatest benefit I ________ through my increased reading is the ________ it has on my writing. Reading improves my vocabulary, models unique styles, provides new insights, inspires new ideas, and stimulates a desire to ________ other authors’ successes.