My wife passed away a few years ago, and I went through the _______ time in my life. I even wanted to _______ myself. Just for my kids, I had to continue to live and work as a small town _______ at my medical clinic in Hawaii. My kids had gone to live on the mainland, and I was _______. Then they asked me to have a family trip.

On our trip, we turned on the TV at the motel and saw the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. Seeing it _______down, I said to my kids: “I'm going to Afghanistan.” And a few weeks later, International Medical Corps sent me to _______ 20 clinics in provinces where people had no health care. In these clinics _______by frightening shoots or deadly bombs, we were eventually serving 27,000 patients a month in a very busy schedule. Though tired and nervous, I gradually had a sense of _______, a sense of purpose, and my _______ went away.

In the years to follow, I went to Indonesia after the tsunami(海啸), Pakistan after the earthquakes, Sudan after the civil war, and Iraq after more and more ________. Each time after ________one after another, hundreds of people were________ or even killed, and many more had to ________. We once set up movable clinics in an area with 19,000 refugees(难民), and it was supposed to ________ 13,000 originally. Flu broke out, one of the biggest killers of kids in refugee camps, and it ________ like wildfire. Water and food were also serious problems. “________ or not?” I often asked myself.

When my wife passed away, I thought my life was ________. But ________, it was just getting started. At the end of her life, she went unconscious. I held her head in my hands and told her of all the places we would visit and the exciting adventures we would have. I think about the moment many times during my “adventures”. I didn't know how ________ those words would be. But I know that she is still ________ me.

Nick was troubled and aimless. Then one night, everything changed.

At first, it was just faint light as Nick drove past a two-story house. Then he realized the house was on fire. He immediately pulled up to investigate. _________ was climbing up the front porch. Hurrying out of the _________, he yelled, “Help, fire!” A car drove past and Nick tried to _________ it to stop, but in vain.

He ran to the back door, sure it would be _________. To his amazement, it swung open. Without _________, Nick ran inside, peering into rooms to see if anyone was home. He had just started climbing when he _________ and saw four faces emerge at the top of the stairs. After Nick’s warning, they came pouring down and rushed out.

“Anybody else in there?” Nick asked. When told a 6-year-old was still in, he ran back. By now, thewhole house was in flames. The smell was _________. The smoke was thick. He lifted his T-shirt to cover his mouth and nose. As he hesitated, he heard the kid crying _________. Nick stumbled into the blackness, _________ on smoke. His __________ stayed alert as he moved toward the sound. Then suddenly the kid was in front of him and Nick quickly grabbed her into his arms. The flames were __________ even closer. Nick took a few steps __________ and threw himself out of the window. Outside, the firefighters had arrived. He handed over the girl — crying, but miraculously uninjured __________ a cut on her arm — before collapsing on the sidewalk.

Nick’s burns have mostly healed, but other changes have been far greater. As news about his __________ spread, a GoFundMe account for his hospital bills exploded, reaching $600, 000. “It somehow feels like both a near-death experience and a __________.” Nick said.

I once was a young newspaper reporter. My first ______ was in Latin America. It was almost my last job.

I had not ______ to stay in the village of Zacate, ______ it had been raining hard for a whole day. So I had to stay there.

I found people there full of ______. This village was at the foot of a volcano. It was becoming more ______. Men, women and children came to the square. A few helped each other and went out of town to get as far away from the volcano as possible. Suddenly, I felt a strong ______. The villagers in the square ______ as soon as they felt the earthquake.

Suddenly, I saw black smoke rolling down the side of the mountain towards the village. The volcano was coming so ______ that in less than a minute the roads to the village were_______. All I could do was watch and wait. Suddenly, my landlord cried out, “Look!” He ______ to a small hill. The lava was not coming over it but flowing ______ each side of the village, leaving the village center ______. For a time, at least, we were ______, unless the lava grew much and bigger.

My landlord gave me a wet blanket to cover myself to avoid the ______ and we poured water over our heads to cool ourselves. We could hardly breathe because of the heat and the ______ of the burning houses. Thanks to my landlord, I survived the volcano.