1 . I was eleven years old standing outside in just my underwear (内衣) while I saw our house burnt to the ground. A few minutes earlier I had been sound asleep in my bed when a _________ woke me up. My nana’s _________ was just next to my brother’s and mine. A fire had broken out there and awakened her. Hearing her shouting, my older brother _________ quickly. While I was walking difficultly in the _________ and darkness, he ran from room to room _________ everyone in the house. The house, however, was over 50 years old and made of wood. Before we could _________ anything, the fire destroyed it.

I stood there _________ when the fire destroyed my books, clothes, and toys. I watched_________ while my mom cried and my dad sighed (叹息). I _________ what was going to happen to us since we had __________ all of our things. As I looked around, though, I __________ something for the first time: The things that __________ aren’t things. I saw my older brother running to get __________. I saw my nana and dad sitting together and my mom __________ our little dog. I realized at that moment that we were all__________. Everything that was essential (必要的) had survived the fire. Our __________ would continue. We were so __________. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come. And that was all that mattered.

I __________ think of that fire that helped me to become who I am today. It showed me for the very first time what is truly __________ in my life. It helped me to learn that the__________ we share is far more important than the things we own.

2 . John was repairing his motorcycle in the yard while his mom was cooking in the kitchen. Suddenly the motorcycle ran through the glass door while John was still ________ on it. So he was ________to the floor inside the house.

His mom, hearing the________, ran out and found John badly________ lying on the floor, the motorcycle lying next to him and the glass door________. The mom called an ambulance (救护车) quickly. After the ambulance arrived and took John to the________, the mom pushed the motorcycle outside. Seeing the ________on the floor, the mom got some paper towels to clean it, and threw the towels in the________.

After John’s wound was ________, he left the hospital. After arriving home, he ________at the broken door and the damage done to his motorcycle and felt very ________. So he went to the bathroom, sat on the toilet and ________a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, he threw it into the toilet bowl.

The ________in the kitchen heard a loud explosion (爆炸声). She ran into the bathroom and found John lying on the floor again and his clothes ________away. The fire was caused by the towels covered with gas in the toilet bowl. The mom had to call an ambulance again.

The ________ambulance crew (工作人员) came again. They were ________to see John was seriously hurt again. When they carried John to the ambulance, one of them ______the mom how John had burned himself. So she told them what ________to John after he was taken to the hospital last time. One of them couldn’t help laughing so ________that John fell to the ground. Then John got a(an) _______arm.

3 . Colorado’s grey peak rises 14,278 feet above sea level, high enough that trees can’t grow toward the top. It was in this unforgiving land of the mountain that Jane was ________ enough to break her left knee.

It was August 2018, and Jane, 56, was on her way back ________ the path with three friends. A storm was on the way, and they were ________ to get off the mountain. When they ________ a rocky drop of a couple of feet, Jane decided that instead of slipping down—the safe way to go—she would leap. She ________ on her left leg.

Then she heard the crack.

Every step after that was great ________. Before long, she had to stop. As one friend ran down to get ________, a number of other hikers, all strangers, attempted to help Jane down the narrow path by walking on either side of her to ________ her weight, but that proved slow and ________. One man “was so close to the edge I could see rocks ________ down from where he stepped on them,” Jane says.

________, one hiker, Matt, asked her, “How do you feel about a fireman’s carry?” ________ she knew it, he had lifted her over his shoulder. “Now, I’m not ________,” says Jane, a former college basketball star. Matt ________ couldn’t carry her all the way down by himself. So six hikers and one of her friends ________ carrying her while she tried to make light of a difficult ________: “I told them I wanted to meet a lot of guys, ________ this isn’t the way I wanted to do it.” Three hours later, this human conveyor belt finally met the medics (医学工作者), who took Jane to the hospital ________.

She has mostly recovered from her ill-fated ________, but knows she’ll never shake one thing from that day: the memory of the band of strangers who came to her ________. “I’m still in awe.”

4 . On September 11, 2001, I was in my fifth grade at Hutchinson Elementary School in New York. During the day, I ____ that something had happened at the Twin Towers. But nobody seemed to really ____ what was going on. It wasn’t until school let out that I realized something might be ____. My dad usually ____ me up, but he wasn’t there. My dad was a firefighter. His ____ was less than a mile from the Twin Towers.

When I got home, my mom told me that the Twin Towers had been attacked, and my dad had gone there to ____. Most of the rest of that day is unclear. I ____only bits and pieces, like my mom calling hospitals all over New York City, ____ to find my dad. Two days later, she told me that he was probably ____.

We didn’t learn exactly what had happened to my father until much later. We ____ that he had sent a radio message at 9:56 am, when he and hundreds of other ____firefighters were in the burning South Tower, trying to ____ as many people as possible. Just three minutes later, the tower ____. The other tower came crashing down about a half hour later.

17 years later, I still ____ my dad every day. He instilled(灌输) in me a ____ for my community, and his ____ encouraged me to volunteer with the 9/11 Legacy Advocates, a group made up of people who ____ family members on 9/11 like me.

When I look back. I don’t think only of the sad ____. I also remember the great acts of so many people, ____ my dad. I’m really ____ to call him my hero.

5 . On Thursday morning, two teenage boys were rescued by a drone (无人机) in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the machine.

The ______, aged 15-17, got into difficulties about 700 feet off the coast of Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW). A passerby saw them ______ in dangerous waves. Lifesavers ______ sent the drone to drop a lifeboat, and the pair made their way safely to the ______.

The drone, known as “Little Pipper”, was actually not ______ to be saving anyone just yet---lifeguards were being trained to ______ the machine. When a call came about the swimmers ______, the drone happened to be nearby.

Jai Sheridan was the lifeguard who ______ the drone. He described the experience as ______. “The Little Ripper ______ proved itself today. It is a highly efficient (高效的) piece of lifesaving equipment. I was ______ the drone when the alarm was raised. I directed it towards the swimmers, and dropped the ______. With its support they made their way to safety. They were ______, but not hurt. The teens were rescued in just 70 seconds with the drone---while a lifeguard would have taken up to six minutes to ______ the rescue.”

John Barilaro, an official of the state, ______ the rescue as historic. “It was the world’s ______ rescue by the unmanned aircraft”, he said. “Never before has a drone been used to ______ swimmers like this.”

Last December, the NSW state government ______ some “Little Ripper” drones for 247,000 pounds. ______ some are designed to spot sharks, others are ______ with lifeboats, alarms and loudspeakers. “It was money well spent,” said John Barilaro.

6 . Frank was walking down the 6th Street on a hot sunny day when he saw smoke coming out of the street. He could _____ the smoke, and it was getting_____. Seeing the smoke coming out of a storm drain(雨水沟), Frank called the fire department _________. “The storm drain is _____ fire!” he said. The fire department asked for his whereabouts and he said he was near the 6th street. They said they would be right there to investigate the situation. Frank needn't to go anywhere, so he waited for the _____ to arrive. He was curious what could be burning beneath the street. As far as he knew, there wasn't anything beneath the street _____ concrete(混凝土). And everyone knows that concrete doesn't _____.

A fire truck arrived a few ____ later. “Are you the man who _____?” asked the driver. “Yes.” Frank answered. By now Frank could not only smell the _____ but also hear crackling sounds, just like wood burning. The firemen didn't seem to______ it an emergency. “What do you think it could be?” Frank asked the driver. “Oh, we know what it is. We have to ______ a problem like this every few months. It's the homeless people in their ‘______’.”

Homeless people have been living under the streets for years._____ their knowledge of the storm drain system, they ______ their own “houses” beneath the streets. These living areas have tables, mattresses, chairs, and sofas. The settlers often “borrow” electricity by connecting to a live wire above ground to ______ their own lights and even TVs underground. Either this ______ electricity or a cigarette can cause an occasional fire.

Frank watched ______   some firemen lifted a manhole cover (井盖) and went beneath the street with a fire hose (消防软管). Then a few minutes later, the ______ smoke turned white. Shortly afterward, the firemen reappeared with a ______ person who seemed to have just been woken up.

7 . The moon had gone behind a cloud and there weren’t many stars in the sky. As I took a glance(一瞥) at my neighbor’s house, I saw a flame (火焰) in his ______. I thought he was having a midnight fast food so I went back to my _______.

Soon, there was a ______ smell in the air and I guessed something was wrong. ______, I jumped out of bed and went downstairs to ______. I saw fire coming out of my neighbour’s kitchen. Right away, I __________ “Fire! Fire!” But there was no one nearby to ______ my shouts for help.

I _____ into my house, called the Fire Department and went back to my neighbour’s house. I rang the doorbell, hit on the door and ______ my neighbour’s name but there was no ______. I managed to _________the house and rescued a cat and a rabbit.

I tried to throw water through the kitchen window ______ it was no use; the fire was too strong. _______, a fire engine arrived and soon the firemen put out the fire. They arrived just ______ as the fire was going to ______ to the other rooms in the house.

When my neighbour came back, he was ______ because his kitchen was burnt down, but he thanked me for calling the Fire Department and for saving his ______. He wanted to give me some money in return but I did not ______ it.

Weeks later, my neighbour repaired and restored his kitchen. He ______ me to see his new kitchen and there he gave me a medal(奖章) that he had ______ ordered from a factory. It made me feel very happy.