1 . 23-year-old Ganesh Baraiya is living proof that nothing is impossible. Despite facing _________ because of his short stature, he managed to become the world’s shortest doctor.

Ganesh Baraiya was born in the Talaia Thaluka area of Gujarat, India, and faced adversity (逆境) from a very young age. He was born normal. _________, at the age of four, his parents noticed that his head was _________ his body, so they took him to a doctor. They learned that the boy suffered from an _________ condition and there was nothing anyone could do. Wanting to help her son, Ganesh’s mother put a tub-like helmet on his head to prevent it from growing and give his body a chance to _________. In school, he was often _________ because of his large head and short stature, but he also had friends who _________ him and he was able to focus on his studies.

Despite his physical limitations, Ganesh Baraya was always very _________. He knew he wanted to be a doctor from a very young age, and put all his energy into his studies, working hard to get high grades. When the time came, he applied for a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree (MBBS), only to be _________ because of his dwarfism (侏儒症). Despite his good test results, the Medical Council of India rejected his application because of his height (only three feet), __________ that he wouldn’t be able to perform his duties in emergency cases.

Ganesh was shocked by the rejection, but he wasn’t about to give up on his dream. With the help of his school principal, he __________ the District Collector, then the state Education Minister, and __________ knocked on the doors of the Gujarat High Court. __________ of his efforts were successful, but he refused to give up. His case reached India’s Supreme Court, and justice was __________ done. In 2018, India’s top court of law awarded Ganesh the right to enroll in an MBBS, and he did just that the following year.

“I was very disappointed three years ago, but I refused to accept their refusal. Now I am very happy that I got justice from the Supreme Court,” Ganesh said. “Now I am on the way to fulfill the dream I’ve __________ since childhood. I know I’m different, but I want to live a good life like other people and make my parents proud.”

2 . A pencil drawing of a broken old man, head in hands, looking extremely exhausted, has been identified as a newly-discovered work by Vincent Van Gogh.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said yesterday that it had _______ the authenticity (真实性) of the drawing. Senior researcher Teio Meedendorp described it as a(an) “_______” discovery, shining light on van Gogh’s early career as an artist in the Hague, a time less well-known than his years in Paris or the south of France.

The drawing has been titled Study for _______. It was drawn in late 1882s when the 29-year-old van Gogh was two years into his career as an artist. He was drawing as many studies of _______ as he could. He often recruited models from an almshouse for the elderly run by the Dutch Reformed church, _______ them a modest fee and gave them coffee.

He called these models his “orphan men” and “orphan women”. A favourite was the man in the newly discovered drawing, Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, the only one of these models whose name is known.

Van Gogh used a thick carpenter’s pencil on rough watercolour paper. The sheet _______ 48.8 cm by 30 cm.

Experts have _______ the drawing back to the end of November 1882, linking it to several other works made at the time.

Van Gogh talked about the two drawings in a letter to his brother, Theo. “Today and yesterday I drew two _______ of an old man with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.... Perhaps I’ll do a lithograph (平版印刷画) of it. What a fine _______ an old working man makes, in his patched bombazine (斜纹布) suit with his bald head.”

At the time Van Gogh was ________ to work as a magazine illustrator, so he could earn money in his own right and be less dependent on his brother.

The drawing, which has been in a ________ collection in the Netherlands since about 1910, goes on display at the Amsterdam museum from 17 September, 2021, until 2 January, 2022, after which it will be returned to the owner.

Meedendorp recalled his ________ on making the discovery: “I’ve worked with Van Gogh for a substantial part of my life, especially the drawings, and it is always a delight to have them in your hand and looking at them up close. These drawings from the Hague are ________ delightful to look at — you can follow the working process of Vincent so well... the way he ________ the pencil.”

“Whenever you have a ________ at drawings like this, you want to pick up a pencil yourself and start drawing.”

3 . Einstein took a job as a clerk in the Swiss patent office. While working there, out of a strong ______ for knowledge, he continued to study, ______ a doctorate in physics in 1905. That same year, which was later ______ as a miracle year in science, he ______ four extraordinary physics papers. Following this, he gradually became famous ______ the world as the new Isaac Newton. After four years, he was able to ______ his job at the patent office and enter ______ full-time at a university. In 1922, he was ______ the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his ______ of the photoelectric effect.

Circumstances ______ in 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany. Einstein, who was Jewish, found the doors of ______ institutions closed to him. ______, he had to flee Germany. After spending time in Europe, he finally ______ a job at the institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA. ______ that, he continued to make great ______ in physics and mathematics.

4 . As a physically fit 89-year-old big band singer, Tony Bennett performed timeless ballads (民歌，情歌) perfectly. He was an exception to the belief of aging and decline.

However, the trouble with his _______ concerned Bennett, especially since it might impact his ability to put on his signature fine-tuned show. Eventually, Bennett was _______ with Alzheimer’s disease in 2017.

After receiving the diagnosis, Bennett insisted on continuing to perform. “Tony has always had a very _______ attitude,” his wife Benedetto says. “He was going to keep going straight ahead _______ he always has.”

As one of only a few artists to produce chart-topping records every decade since the 1950s — _______ more than 60 albums — Bennett is an American icon (偶像). His _______ “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” and “Rags to Riches”, among many others — have earned him 19 Grammy Awards.

_______ the disease, Bennett’s desire to help others connect through music remained strong. He felt it _______ to make people feel good.

In February 2021, Bennett _______ shared that he was living with Alzheimer’s in an interview. Shortly after the news, the ________ from the public was overwhelmingly supportive. In October, Bennett and Lady Gaga released ________ is billed as Bennett’s final studio album, “Love for Sale.” Upon its release, Bennett earned the Guinness World Records ________ for the oldest artist to release an album of new material.

As the disease ________, music has a renewed importance in Bennett’s life. Over seven decades, Bennett’s brave and ________ voice is helping people find joy among life’s hardships. “He gives people courage and hope. And he is ________.”

5 . Do you enjoy the Olympics? I certainly do. Every four years we get to see the best of the best competing for the _______. But sometimes the best inspiration _______ those who don’t win.

In 1988, Eddie Edwards became the first athlete since 1928 to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping. He had no money, no equipment, no _______ — and some called him the great British loser.

“When you _______, it’s probably about 500 or 600 feet high. So you do have to be not a little _______ to go down, but probably a lot.” Eddie recalled, “I got out and the crowd started _______ ‘Eddie! Eddie!’. It’s the most _______ feeling in the world.”

How did Eddie do? Eddie’s British record of 71 meters _______ him in 58th place — 19 meters behind the competitor who placed 57th. But it didn’t _______. His fans loved him for other reasons. If you ask anyone in Britain, “Who won the Olympic ski jump in 1988?” Almost no one could tell you. ________, if you ask, “Who is Eddie Edwards?” They’ll tell you all about the crazy ski jump guy who they still remember and ________ to this day. The British people were proud of him for just trying, thus ________ didn’t matter a bit. He will be forever and ________ memorized by his country for doing what no one else had done in 60 years.

So what ________ thing are you afraid to do? Take Eddie’s example and just go for it. You might just become a ________.

6 . Nineteen-year-old Simone Biles is one of the best gymnasts (体操运动员) who have ever lived. She has ______ more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast. While she now makes new gymnastics look simply, her road to the top was anything but ________.

When she was young, Simone’s parents were not able to ______ her and her little sister. They were ______ by their grandparents.

Simone first ______ gymnastics at the age of six. The coaches were very ______ at her natural talents. Simone soon attended a gymnastics program. With passion and determination, Simone kept ______. She got better and better. At age 8, Simone start training with a(n) ______ named Aimee Boorman. A few years later she started ______ in national and international competitions.

______ her Olympic teammate Gabby Douglas once said, “Gold medals are made out of your ______, blood and tears, and efforts in the gym every day.”

Simone’s efforts ____. When she was 16, she became the first female African-American all-around world gold medalist! ______, she made it in the Rio Olympics along with her coach, Mrs Boorman. Simone won five medals in Rio and is now compared to the ______ gymnasts in history.

Even though Simone kept advancing in her sport, she never forgot her faith (信仰) and ______. She attends church and plans to go to college in California.

7 . Zhao Ming was acknowledged as one of the greatest doctors for his remarkable contributions to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). It was reported that he suffered from different ________ when he was young. His own sufferings inspired him to be a ________. Even in tough circumstances, he wasn’t ________ but became a doctor successfully in 1920, insisting on ________ poor ordinary people free of charge.

One day, he ________ a patient with little hair. Upon knowing his illness, he consulted ancient medical records and started to evaluate different plants for their medical properties to find a traditional ________ treatment. He bought medical devices which could boil distinct plants. He used the liquid ________ to treat his hair, which ________ a great success. Consequently, he inferred that a substance called Garden Balsam Stem (透骨草)________ worked.

Afterwards it was indeed an honor for him to take up a position in the academic ________ of TCM. Out of passion for his job, he ________ his own clinic and gradually discovered new crucial ________ for different skin problems. In his later years, he wrote a book with many flow charts, which plays a ________ role in the development of modern TCM.

To sum up, Professor Zhao, ________ himself to doing extraordinary scientific research on TCM throughout his whole life, will be forever ________ by Chinese people.

8 . Wang Pufang is an inheritor of the technique for making handmade colorful lanterns. She has devoted her whole life to _________ the traditional craft. “I have made lanterns for the past 70 years to carry forward the _________ and relive my childhood memories,” Wang said. She explained that when she was a(n)_________, the older generations in her family _________ lanterns during the Spring Festival for children to play with. On the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which _________ the end of the Spring Festival, the children’s lanterns were eventually _________ symbolizing prosperity for the year ahead.

Wang also makes lanterns for new_________ in her village. She says that it is a best _________ that they will soon have a baby and live happily. The big smiles on their faces make Wang believe her devotion is _________.

Wang explained that lanterns represent her __________memories. “When many __________ people came to buy lanterns, they recall their childhood memories and share __________ stories with me about their childhood,” she added. For Wang, lanterns are like a pen that __________the customs and what life was like during her childhood.

In order to make more people __________ the craft, Wang continues to sell traditional handmade lanterns and teaches students in schools how to make them, allowing them to feel the unique __________ of the traditional craft.

9 . Recently, an article written by China’s first ______ , Yang Liwei, describing his one day in space, aroused numerous discussions on social media platforms, with many marveling at the country’s ______ advancement in space technology.

Entitled “One Day in Space”, Yang’s article was recently included in the seventh-grade textbook in Chinese middle schools, and it was ______ on Sina Weibo on Saturday, drawing tens of thousands of views within the first few hours. Many Weibo users were astonished at Yang’s ______ . “As the first person to go into space and live through so many unknowns, he must have a great will,” said one netizen.

Yang was 38 when he became the first Chinese person to go into space on the Shenzhou V, on October 15, 2003, making China the third country—after the US and Russia—to ______ manned space capabilities.

In his article, Yang ______ several breathtaking moments when he thought he would not make it back alive. “ ______ the rocket lifted to a height about 30-40 kilometers above the ground, I felt it begin to vibrate violently, and it was extremely ______ ,” he said. Vibrations in the spacecraft below 10 Hz can damage the internal organs, and even threaten a person’s life, Yang explained.

The near-deadly moment lasted for 26 seconds. When it was finally over, Yang felt like he had been reborn. When ground control finally saw Yang blink his eyes through the surveillance camera, his colleagues ______ crying, “He’s blinking! Yang is alive!”

In the article, Yang also described “ ______ knocking sounds” from outside the craft. He still does not know where they came from. He also described what the Earth, his country, and his city looked like ______ space.” I flew over Beijing and saw the mountains in daytime and sparkling lights at night. And there live my comrades and my loved ones.”

Yang shared another interesting experience in the ______ . After several ______ from his cabin, he could not see the Great Wall, which many believed was the only man-made structure on the Earth that could be seen from space. “The Shenzhou VI and VII astronauts couldn’t see it either,” Yang wrote.

Eighteen years after his ______ trip to space, Yang said with a smile that he “envied” a lot that his fellow spacemen who now have such ______ space accommodations, which shows how China’s space programme has grown.

10 . Short stories deserve popularity again. In recent years, there have been critically excellent collections of American writers such as Lydia Davis and Junot Diaz. But few other manage to _________ the bestseller lists, and they are too often _________ by novels. _________ their golden days in the early 20t century, short stories are mostly viewed as trials or experiments before an author works hard with the real thing.

John Burnside, a Scottish poet and novelists, _________, this fixed idea in his latest collection, Something Like Happy. Over 13 stories, Mr. Burnside shows the greatness of the concise _________. His stories take place mostly in Scotland, in flats “high up on the third floor of an apartment block in the middle of Dundee” or in the back room of a hardware shop, where men drink “sweet, milky coffee” _________ waiting for the results of races. His men carry knives; his women are often _________ housewives who drink, take up bell-ringing in their local church _________ a way of filling in time.

Happiness is the subject that _________ the collection together. In other hands, this could become emotional. __________ Mr. Burnside, with only a few __________, never allows that to happen. Instead, happiness __________ stays from these figures; so much so that they have almost stopped to __________ it. Rooted in the bleaker aspects of Scotland’s sceneries, it is something that his __________ constantly search for, in these concise and poetic tales—but __________ to find.