Marcus is a handsome and athletic kid. He plays tennis and _________ the state tournament every year. Marcus’s neighbor, Conrad, is also _________ to compete, but he has rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿性关节炎). Although it pains him just to walk, he _________ painful days at school walking to the sports field. He loves watching his school compete so he doesn’t _________ a game.

Marcus has known Conrad since primary school. They’ve always been _________. He sees Conrad in pain and his _________ at not being able to play sports. So, every day alter school, Marcus _________ his classmates to go to Conrad’s for a moment of discussion about the game competition. The discussion is as _________ as a real high school game, which makes Conrad forget the hurt.

Finally, the doctors found a new _________ to reduce the pain. Conrad walks without much pain, and then begins running, but he still has to learn the __________ of running. After a childhood of walking carefully and taking __________ steps, Conrad has to train his walking like a kid again and stay in shape. He pushes himself every day，building his lungs and doing leg lifts repeatedly for his leg __________. He knows what pain feels like, but running for Conrad is no longer __________.

To Conrad’s delight, he gets a chance to join the cross country team. Conrad doesn’t win, not once, but Marcus is there, __________ for him who always finishes in the middle of the competitors, breathing in wind and waving his hands __________.

Old friends

They finish your sentences, and they tell you the truth when you've had a bad haircut. But mostly, they are always there for you-whether it's in person or _____ late-night phone calls-in good and _____ times.

But as the years pass, it becomes increasingly _____ to see each other, to make new memories._____, my high school friends and I _____ to have reunions.

A few months ago, we met up for a two-day _____ in the American Southwest. We grew up together in Maine and have said for years that we should have a（n）_____ event, yet it was often put off or _____ due to schedule conflicts（冲突）.Not this year.

The weekend _____ long talks by the pool, wonderful meals, and a hike that brought the entire group to ______.Not tears of sadness or anger, but a close tie with such physical ______ between us. It's heartbreaking that we can't spend our days together in the same neighborhood. But that's ______.Grown-up life.

The most ______ is the group's adaptability to one another. The time we ______ apart is nonexistent. No need to get reacquainted, we jumped back in the saddle（车座）and it was as comfortable as ever. Old friends-friends with an ever-present ______ of support and sisterhood, friends that know each other—are hard to come by and yet we ______ today as we were years ago, laughing in the back row of Mr. McKechnie's 9th grade math class.

Life today, ______, is no math class. Our world is full of ______, full of fear. Yet it ______ me—now, more than ever -how important it is that we stay in touch. We may have questions about our future, but we have true faith in our past, and though this reunion of friends has come to a close we are already ______ our plans for the next one.