4 . As a well-recognized chef, television star, and restaurant owner, Joyce Chen introduced Chinese food to America. She made such a(n) ________ impact on American culture that her photo was included on a US stamp.

Joyce Chen was born in a ________ family and discovered her enthusiasm for cooking at a very early age. Her father ________ a family chef that cooked all of their meals. Chen ________ Chinese cuisine simply by watching their chef cook in their home kitchen. By the time she was 18 years old, she organized and cooked her first ________ dinner. This was the beginning of her career in the ________ industry.

In 1949, Chen and her family moved to Massachusetts. While ________ near Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she frequently met Chinese students that ________ the food they’d grown up with. Chen’s children attended Buckingham School and she would often cook food to be served at ________ events. Her meals quickly became popular among the students. This ________ Chen to open her first restaurant in 1958. At this restaurant, she often served “buffet-style (自助式的)” meals, allowing customers to ________ samples of everything.

Chen rose to fame as a(n) ________ and began holding cooking classes. She released her first cookbook and ________ in “Joyce Chen Cooks”, her own cooking show that aired world wide. However, she began to ________ her brand by marketing various cooking items as well as ________ and selling Chinese sauces to supermarkets. In the early 1980s Chen began to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (阿尔茨海默病) and passed away in 1994.

6 . I cook because it brings me joy. My career at Ruth’s Chris began in 1994 in San Juan where I started out as a dishwasher. The ______ I worked on was given the nickname (绰号) FILO (first in, last out) because we came in ______ and stayed late each day. It was in these hours that I ______ the workings (工作方式) of the kitchen.

Our founder, Ruth Fertel, had a(n) ______ for everything. She also had successful methods for ______, treating everyone like a family. This was part of the ______ of Ruth’s Chris. It gave me a sense of ______ later in my career. Just after my mother had ______, I had to take some time off to go to her funeral (葬礼). During that time, I ______ a bouquet (花束) of beautiful flowers from my team at Ruth’s Chris and one from Ruth Fertel herself. This ______ act of kindness ______ me how important family was. And that was more than a ______; it was a place I could call home.

I am Executive Chef now. I love making a connection with our guests and serving dishes that leave a lasting ______ on them. For me, cooking is about families, friends, laughing and ______ together. That is how my love for cooking came to life and I am ______ to do this for a living.

8 . Ahmad was lying on his back under two coconut (椰子) trees. He was sleeping. “Boom!” A coconut fell onto his head, waking him up. As he felt pain on his head he heard his mother calling out to him to pick up something for dinner.

Suddenly, he had a good idea. He brought the coconut home with a plan to cut it open for all its flesh (果肉). Ahmad was cooking when he heard a stranger speaking outside. Ahmad went to check and saw an old gentleman, who greeted him and _______ he was passing by when it rained and that the only shelter (避雨处) in _______ was this house. After serving tea to the guest, Ahmad _______ his food was boiling and quickly rushed back.

Ahmad’s mom explained her son was preparing dinner and _______ cooking ever since young. The old guy was interested and asked to _______ what he was cooking. When they went to the kitchen, the old man was _______ by what Ahmad was doing. After a while, the dinner was ready, so Ahmad’s mom invited the man to enjoy it with them.

After _______, the old man said it was the most delicious food he’d eaten. He told them his name and _______. He was one of the famous cooks in Hong Kong and his _______ of visiting here was to ________ a person to help him win the ________ called Iron Cook. The old man said Ahmad was gifted and could cook ________ dishes.

Little did Ahmad know that would be the turning point in his ________. The dishes helped the old man ________ the competition. Ahmad is now an important ________ in the old man’s restaurant in Hong Kong.

9 . My mother used to say that when your mother was really good at something, you didn’t learn to do it. What she said was ________. My grandmother was skilled in baking and cooking, but my mother was a barely ________ cook for our family of seven. We didn’t ________; we had meat, potatoes and another vegetable at every meal out of a can.

Baking was not Mom’s ________, so on Saturday mornings, she would ________ us to the bakery for fresh cake. Mom did learn to make the ________ Dad loved — bacon and eggs, spare ribs (排骨) and, ________, potato salad. Potato salad was my mom’s major ________ to every summer, ________ eating such a dish on a hot July day wasn’t a good idea. Mayonnaise (蛋黄酱) in it could be difficult to ________ and you might have to go to the bathroom frequently.

Case in point: the time my uncle and aunt and their six kids ________ at the lake with us. The ________ included burgers, burnt or slightly raw, lots of pop, and Mom’s potato salad. We spent hours at the lake. Unfortunately, so did the salad.

________, I realize that polishing off Mom’s potato salad may have been the reason that Dad finally built us a second bathroom, which ________ that everything can have a bright side. My mother didn’t ________ in the kitchen, but I miss her cooking so much.

10 . We lived on a Kansas farm and had more than enough beef to feed our family. Mom always cooked enough meat to _______ a pot of leftover soup the next day. Tomatoes, green beans, corn and the vegetables cooked with the original roasted meat filled a large pot.

We _______ government-supplied foods in the 1950s, including blocks of cheese. We found inventive ways to _______ them up. Our vegetable beef soup, for example, was topped with a big piece of cheese. I _______ the combination and always topped off my soup with cheese when I _______ it to my family.

My cooking instructor in college said, “Recipes are only a jumping-off place. You should add your personal touches to the dishes you _______ .” That explains the _______ of my recipe for vegetable beef soup.

I married into a Southern family, and fresh okra(秋葵)soon found its way into the _______ . When we moved to Missouri, a new neighbor stopped by to _______ if I had any cabbage she could use to finish making supper.

“Vegetable beef soup just isn’t ________ without it,” she said. Once I ________ it, I knew what she meant. My soup grew ever ________ , and so did my soup pot.

A college friend lived in Spain when we lived in Germany for a few years, and she came for a(n) ________ . We were cooking dinner together, my soup of course, when she opened the refrigerator and ________ a bottle of soy sauce(酱油). “It improves the taste,” she said.

She ________ some in the soup and I knew I had a(n) ________ to my list of ingredients.

And that`s how the ________ of my soup has changed. It reflects a series of friends, ________ and places in my life. Each time I ________ it, I relive the memory of each ingredient, and how I was inspired to ________ my soup.