I’d been staying at home all week suffering from a severe case of flu. Early one morning, suddenly, a loud _________ awakened me. Looking through the window, I saw two young ladies in working clothes holding _________ . “This is the _________ thing I needed today,” I said to myself. With _________, I opened the door.

Coughing, I poked (伸出) my head out and _________ them that I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in any products on their leaflets and that I was feeling quite unwell. I breathed a sigh of _________ and then shut the door hard. The ladies _________ in silence.

A few hours later, another knock. There at the door were the same two ladies, back again. Extremely _________ this time, I opened the door ready to give them a piece of my mind. Before I could speak, with _________ looks on their faces, these women handed me what looked to be a dish and said, “We’re so sorry we __________ you earlier. We thought you may like this homemade chicken soup. __________ , it will make you feel a little better.”

Being new to the area, I didn’t know many people who could help, so I was all the more __________ that they came to my aid. I could only smile sheepishly (尴尬地) and sincerely thanked them. With that, they left.

These two ladies __________ my viewpoint on strangers .who came knocking to promote products. They truly __________ my appreciation for their __________ towards a stranger.

One day in 2020, after stocking up on some necessities at the shopping centre, my friend Carl was half a mile up Danbury Road, at the wine store he likes. When he ______ into his pocket, uh-oh, no wallet.

The stay-at-home order had just been issued for the ______ of COVID-19, and seldom did he go out. He went back to the parking lot. But the wallet wasn’t anywhere.

Driving home, Carl was ______. Suddenly his cell phone rang. “Is this John?” a man said.

Five minutes later, Carl and the man, David, met up at a local gas station. David stood next to his big truck and told Carl how he’d ______ the wallet and ______ in the middle of busy Danbury Road to get it back. ______, his son ______ to find out Carl’s cell number from social media with his extraordinary wisdom. Now David, grinning from ear to ear, ______ Carl his wallet.

Carl was surprised at their ______ to return the wallet. “Here, let me pay you.” he said, offering the $20 bill. No, said David; he needed nothing. Carl thanked him again, but before they were about to ______, Carl had another idea. “Hey, do you need toilet paper?” David looked shy. “Well, my wife has been looking ...” he ______. Carl gave him several rolls from his newly ______ goods.

“Thank you, thank you!” David exclaimed, as if Carl were the ______.

“He was just so ______.” Carl recalled.

We were brought low by this unexpected medical ______. The best way during the COVID-19 to fight back is to stay positive as we can.

I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. I had been always full of ________ about it before I saw The Revenge of Prince Zidan-the Peking Opera version of Hamlet. ________ an orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments, the opera brought a ________ new sound to my Western ears. At first, I thought what I ________ was a violin, ________ later I learnt that it was an instrument with two strings called jinghu. Then, I was ________ when the main characters came on ________. The costumes and masks were amazing. Although the performers sang in Chinese, the music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the ________ across to the audience. The voices sounded really ________. So ________ were some of the female voices that I was sure they could break glass! And the stage was really ________: a decorated whip represented a horse, and a screen with Chinese character, a study. Using such techniques, the opera had transformed a small stage into the whole universe. What I liked most was how the characters moved on stage. It was so dazzling and ________ that I wasn’t sure if the characters were performers or athletes! Everyone was ________. Feeling the strong emotions of love, anger, fear and grief in the ________, I could easily ________ the theme of Hamlet.