The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall was the part of the Great Wall I liked to visit. _______, one day in May 2000, I chose something wilder, more _______: Simatai. This section of the Great Wall has far fewer visitors than most other sections of the wall.

At the entrance to Simatai was a group of vendors (小贩) trying to _______ postcards. One tiny old lady seemed to _______ me wherever I went, and I was becoming increasingly _______. “How many times does it take for ‘No!' to sink in?” I thought. I finally ended up running away just to   _______ this tiny woman.

Once I caught sight of the Great Wall, _______ overtook me, and the tiny old lady with the postcards _______ from my thoughts. I raced up the Great Wall _______. Then, halfway up, I stopped and suddenly realised I was rushing along a ________ “path” no wider than a meter. There were ________ “walls” — only steep drops on either side. I remembered then that ________ had fallen to their deaths in this section. I was so fearful that I ________ there completely stock-still.

Suddenly, I felt a small hand on my back and a ________ voice telling me, in Chinese, not to be   ________, that she would slowly lead me to the top. Half an hour later, we ________ a section that had a few remnants (剩余的小部分) of the wall. I was able to turn around to see who had given such ________ to me in my hour of greatest ________. It was the tiny old lady I'd told a dozen times — eventually shouting at her — that I didn't want any ________. I felt really ________ of myself. I gave her a big hug, and then later bought every one of her postcards.

From my childhood on, my mother didn’t have a job. If she was asked to _______ a personal questionnaire, she would leave the question “Employment” _______. She believed that her job was to be my mother—full time.

There is an old photograph of my mother and father, taken in 1942. In the photo my mother looks very beautiful, I think. When I look at the photo, I see a woman full of _______ in life. If she had put her mind to getting a career, the whole world would have been in her hands. The story of her youth fully _______ this. She got a brilliant exam in one of the finest schools in the country.

_______ she has always been a housewife and mother. Everyone in the town _______ her for her great effort into charity work, but if someone asked her what she did _______ she answered that she was Robert Greene’s wife, and Robert’s mother.

What I _______ best from my childhood is how it felt to get home from school. She was always there waiting for us. Today there are probably many women seeing what she did as a _______ of my mother’s good abilities. I don’t make ________ either. But so many years later, I still remember how it felt to rush home—and there was mum, waiting for us.

After the earthquake hit northeast Japan on March 11, 2011, many touching stories that I saw with my own eyes happened around me.          

I had to walk home since all the _______ had stopped after the quake. On my way home I _______an old Japanese lady at the bakery shop who was giving out free bread, which made my heart _______. A middle-aged Japanese man was holding a sign that said, “Please use our _______.” He was _______ his house for people to go to the restroom. My friend wanted to _______ others. He stood in the cold with a sign “If you are okay with a motorcycle, I will _______ you to your house.” And then I saw him take one gentleman home, all the way to faraway place! Then the next day I drove to _______ my car with gas. There was a _______of gas now and many gasoline stations were either closed or had very ________ lines. I got ________, since I was behind 15 cars. Finally, when it was my ________, the man smiled and said, “________this situation, we are only giving $ 30 worth gas per person. Is that alright?” “Of course, I’m just glad that we are all able to ________,” I said. His smile gave me so much ________.

I saw a man at the evacuation (疏散) center ________ when people brought food to him. It was the first time in three days that food has been brought to their center. However, after he wiped the tears, his next ________ surprised me. “I am very ________ that we are provided with food. But people in the city next to us haven’t ________ any food at all. Please go to that centre as well.” And when hearing that, I realized there is a bright future on the other side of this ________.