1 . The Martin County High School boys’ basketball team was in the final quarter of a nail-biter of a game at a regional tournament in Pikeville, Ky., when live music ______ started playing for them.

They knew it wasn’t their school’s ______ 23-member band —which was unable to ______ the game because of a bus driver shortage. The music was coming from the nearly 100-member band of a rival (对手的) school, Pike County Central High School. The score was ______ in the tough game when the music filled the air.

Jason Johnson, Pike Central Band director, said some audience members and cheerleaders started encouraging his band to ______ the playing field and perform for Martin County Cardinals. “I was ______, well, what should I do?” Johnson recalled. The score was 64-64.

The band members, though, seemed ______ to replace Martin County’s band. “It was the students who really stepped up and ______, “said Johnson, who ultimately ______ his concerns and decided, “Let’s just do it.”

As they started their first song, the Cardinals’ ______ skyrocketed (飞涨，猛涨). “We just wanted to ______ them in a time when they needed encouragement most.” said one band member.

______ the Cardinals secured a ______ in overtime. Players said the ______ from the band helped them come out on top. Now, the team is ______ for the state tournament, marking the school’s first time competing at that level in 40 years.

2 . I had been swimming for years but was ready to quit. My _________ reason was that I kept receiving “Honorable Mentions”, just because I showed up.

One day before a big swim meet, I decided to _________ the news to my grandma that I was _________ the swim team. When I told her, she said, “Baby, remember: Quitters never win and winners never quit.” I was _______   to say anything but “Yes, ma’am.”

The next day we arrived at the swim meet late, _________ my group. My coach _________ I swim with the older group. I knew she was _________ me in the race so our journey to the meet would not be wasted, and she had no expectations that I would _________ anything but eighth place as there weren’t nine _________.

As I was __________ the board, my grandmas words rang in my head. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

SPLASH! I swam harder than ever. After a little while, I was __________ to find that I had a half-body length ________ over others. However, they soon __________ the gap. Halfway through the race, the girl to my left almost ________ me. Right then, the powerful words __________ again in my ears. I __________ my arms and legs and used every last bit of __________ to swim the last 50 meters.

I made it! Narrow victory as it was, I did win my first real __________ that day. Everything felt like a dream as I stood on the winner’s __________. Back at home, I __________ replaced all the “Honorable Mentions” on my shelf.

3 . Donna Urquhart is an experienced runner. She ran 1,402 kilometers over the course of 28 days in Antarctica (南极洲), _______ the record for the longest-ever run in a polar region.

Urquhart spent 10 months training for the _______, turning to some unusual training methods. A company allowed her to run in a _______ storage unit where she ran in temperatures below zero. Besides, she ran along the beaches with uneven (凹凸不平的) surfaces that are like the _______ grounds in Antarctica. All those proved useful _______.

The difficulties that Urquhart faced in Antarctica were _______: taking in about 5,000 calories each day, _______ in a tent. Combined with the sound of _______ winds and the continent’s 24 hours of sunlight in the summer months, these were _______ favorable to a good night’s sleep. Urquhart would usually wear four layers of coats and keep ________ her own body temperature while running.

Urquhart launched the Run Antarctica aiming to encourage more women to ________ sport. Though still unsure about what her next running challenge will have, she has set a ________ of raising $1.5 million for charity.

“Confidence is a real issue for females,” says Urquhart. “And a sporting environment provides them with a great opportunity to ________ themselves.” This served as a huge ________ for her to take on a challenge that no other woman had attempted before. “It was actually showing that we can push our ________, and explore what seems impossible,” says Urquhart.

4 . “Have you ever considered giving up during a race?” a runner asked me during the Geneva Marathon. We’d _________ and keeping going felt like walking through a marsh (沼泽). Even the appealing scenery along the way wasn’t enough to _________ our spirits.

“I can’t think of a single race when I haven’t!” I answered _________. The runner beside me looked a little relived. Encouraged, I went on to _________ a few of the weak moments I’d overcome to persuade her to _________. My biggest _________ came during the first half of the 56-mile Marathon in South Africa, I told her. Running it was a _________ dream, but when I found myself on a steep hill with painful blisters (水疱) between my toes after a(n) _________ decision to wear no socks.

“If I give up now, I’ll _________ myself six hours of pain,” I continued. In that moment, 1,000 km of __________ training and the thousands of pounds I’d spent on flights and accommodation didn’t __________ at all.

__________, someone at my running club had laughed at the idea of a slow runner like me entering the marathon like this, and recalling this inspired me to keep moving.

“I may not finish this race before the 12-hour __________, but I’m not going to give that man the chance to say, “I told you so”, I said. Soon afterwards, I buddied up with another __________, a six-hour chat __________ and we got each other to the finish with 17 minutes to spare.

5 . Photographers from China were among the top prize winners at the 14th Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in London.

Chinese photographers featured significantly and won _________ in three categories and one of the individual awards, with the most remarkable _________ being the young photographer award, jointly won by Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen, both aged 14, for their _________: Andromeda Galaxy: The Neighbor.

The official awards news release described their picture as “a _________ photograph of one of the Milky Way’s closest and largest neighbors” that showed the lively _________ of a nearby galaxy, stars piercing (穿透) through the _________ and emphasized the wonder of the magnificent sight.

The image was _________ by Laszlo Francsics, one of this year’s judges. “It is an excellent sight _________   by young Chinese teenagers, who also demonstrate their extraordinary talent in _________ a deep-sky photo,” says Francsics.

Hanwen, one of the two Chinese winners, says, “I think this photo shows how __________ our nearest neighbor is.” “One of the main functions (功能) of the competition is to __________ more people to fall in love with astronomy by showing the beauty of the __________,” says Zezhen, the other teenager who won the award.

“The __________ for the competition is incredibly high,” says Ed Bloomer, an astronomer. “It was really satisfying to see how many competitors __________ themselves to capture unusual, rarely imaged or __________ events: There are some things you won’t have seen before, and even some things that won’t be seen again.”

6 . British rower Helen Glover is preparing for her fourth Olympic Games, pushing herself to the limit. Despite enduring bloodied and blistered hands and pale skin, Glover knows that physical ________ are just one aspect of the intense training required for the Olympics.

For Glover, the real challenge ________ the day-to-day exhaustion and the constant ________ of waking up and training. With two gold medals from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, her fourth-place finish in Tokyo was remarkable considering her ________ preparation. Just a year after giving birth to twins and four years after ________, Glover made the bold decision to ________ in the Olympics with only six months of serious training. Juggling (尽量兼顾) childcare with her ________ schedule, she managed to reach the starting line and ________ miss out on a medal.

After Tokyo, Glover initially ________ her retirement but later changed her mind and decided to compete in the coxless four (四人单桨无舵手艇) at Paris 2024. This time, her preparation is more straightforward, and her racing experience gives her an ________.

________ on her journey, Glover acknowledges that in the past, her happiness seemed dependent on results and success. However, becoming a ________ has shifted her perspective. Now, even on ________ training days, as long as her children are happy, she finds contentment.

Glover understands that her decision to continue rowing is a personal ________. Her growing success does not ________ her whole life, but she is determined to excel in the sport she loves and give her best.

7 . A woman about 100 years old just proved that age means nothing by breaking three amateur(业余的) swimming world records.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, Betty Brussels _________ the Victoria Masters Swim Club Meet and beat the rivals in the 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle in the 100- to 104-year-old age _________.

Betty Brussel didn’t get into _________ swimming until she was in her 60s, and this was the first time she had been able to _________ such an achievement. She was able to break the records despite _________ a pacemaker(心脏起搏器) she received after suffering a heart attack in her 70s.

Betty finished her 50m backstroke in 1:24.91, which was almost five _________ faster than the previous record. She surpassed(超过) the _________ standing 400m freestyle record of 16:36.80 by _________ hers in 12:50.03. Betty set the first record for the 50m breaststroke with a time of 1:56.22.

“I was surprised by my own _________ yesterday,” said Betty. “I gave it my all; I never give up. It was wonderful. I was totally __________ by everybody’s support. I like to win, but __________ have never been the most important thing to me. If somebody else wins, I am __________ for them.”

Even though Betty Brussels only just __________ her own achievements, award-winning filmmakers Hannah Walsh and Emma Puchniak are already talking about a possible __________ that could be released in about a year.

“I live life every day and __________ it,” Betty told the publication. “I feel very fortunate to do what I do.”

8 . This was the big game. The boys were _________ and excited. It was a clear night, and my son, Andy’s baseball team, which had _________ all year, had shocked the better teams by making it to this championship game. The atmosphere was _________: the other team’s slugger (强击手), a big kid, was like a snake, dangerous and ready to _________.

Nervously, I looked out Andy’s way. I was _________ to see Andy looking straight up at the night sky! Obviously he wasn’t _________ on the game. I was horrified that he wouldn’t even know the ball was coming.

“Come on, Andy. _________ out there,” I said to myself.

Thank goodness, a big kid in the other team made a mistake. Andy and I had been _________ and our team still led by one run.

Andy ran up to me at the _________. I was about to ____________ him when he said loudly, “Did you see that shooting star?”

Andy’s eyes were glowing (发光) with ____________. I paused.

“Yes,” I said. “Well, one inning (局) to go. Hit a home run (全垒打)!”

“Okay!” said Andy, and he ran back to his ____________.

I suddenly realized it was nice that my son would take time out to ____________ the wonder and beauty in life. You might be surprised by the beauty you can find when you least ____________ it. Andy hit a triple (三垒打) in that last inning. But I still wish I had ____________ that shooting star, too.

9 . In late 2021, I began to have a little bit of a midlife crisis. When my father was 48 years old, he had a heart attack that nearly ended his life. As I _________ my mid-forties, I knew that I needed to make a change in my life. I wanted to do something _________ to prove to myself and everyone else around me that I wasn’t going to have the same fate.

As I was trying to determine what kind of _________ that I wanted to set, I found a _________ called The Rut. The Rut is a series of races that are _________ in Big Sky, Montana every September. There’s multiple distances, but the 28 Kilometer _________ is the most popular, as well as the most _________ of the entire series. This race is regularly listed in the top ten most difficult races in the world. It involves almost 8,000 feet of elevation (海拔)_________ . This was the type of race I was _________ .

I also did a detailed training __________ . Even if I was traveling for business, I would stick to it and never __________ a workout (训练). And then came race day.

That day, Big Sky Montana, was unseasonably __________ , almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The race is going almost entirely above tree line, which means that you just are __________ to the elements (恶劣天气) nearly the entire time. Many people __________ out of the race halfway. But I finished it. When I reached the finish line, I was greeted by my wife and children, also friends that had traveled with us to Big Sky that day. This was the biggest challenge I had made for myself, but I __________ it.

10 . Courtney Rich is a mother of two, whose journey through the Big Cottonwood Marathon was a familiar marathoner’s battle. Her _____ was tested with each pace towards the uphill finish. The 1.7-mile race was a hard dance of patience and will, a dance Courtney knew well. Her legs, heavy with effort, threatened to betray (背叛) her ______.

Then, from the sidelines ______ the 10-year-old “dynamo” (发电机), Avery. Her sudden appearance put a burst of energy and emotion into the scene. Full of determination, her thin figure ran ______ towards her mother, who was visibly ______ from the marathon. The crowd watched in awe as this young dynamo took charge.

As Avery ______ Courtney, their hands held tightly and the marathon’s final act was suddenly rewritten. Avery, a burst of energy personified, became her mother’s anchor (精神支柱), and her small act of support was ______ in its impact. With a determined look, Avery grasped her mother’s hand. She didn’t say a word, but her actions ______ a lot. They started running together towards the finish line, their hands firmly held together.

The onlookers ______ them, inspired by the ______ of love and support between mother and daughter. It was a heartwarming moment, making everyone ______ that sometimes, unexpected ______ from the ones we love can ______ the strength to overcome even the most discouraging challenges.

As they approached the finish line, the crowd’s applause grew louder, and Avery’s mother’s tiredness began to ______, replaced by a renewed sense of determination. Together, they crossed the finish line hand in hand, sharing a ______ moment that they would remember forever.