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.

On my first day in America, I was excited, but nervous as well. It was my dear neighbor Susan who helped me   _________ my new life far away from home.

There was a knock at the door. When I _________ it. Susan came in with a homemade apple ple. She hugged me and said, “Wow, you   _________ be the precious (珍贵的) Chinese dull (娃娃)!”

With a big smile, she   _________, “Alice, I am sure you have never tried a home-made apple pie before! You are going to _________ it so much!”

To be honest, I was greatly surprised by this welcome from a _________. And the apple pie made me _________.

Susan was very helpful to me.

When I was thinking about the clothes to wear on Halloween, she suggested I _________like a traditional Chinese girl. “I happen to have a traditional Chinese dress and guess _________, I’m a great make-up artist!” She said. Susan did not hide (隐藏) her excitement, when she pushed me to the __________ to examine our work after an hour of hard work. The clothes fit me perfectly! I am sure that I stood out from the crowd that Halloween, and I am __________ for her help.

My first Thanksgiving was another highlight (亮点). __________ the festival morning, I was surprised to find a gift box in my front yard. There was a note on it: “Hello Alice, I’m the Thanksgiving bunny (兔子)! Enjoy your __________!” I looked around and caught Susan looking at me from her porch (走廊). Seeing that she had been __________, she hurriedly picked up a newspaper and pretended (假装) to __________ it. I couldn’t help __________. When I walked up to her, she said, “ __________ was not me. It was the Thanksgiving bunny!” Susan is such a __________ person; She is the American above all others I need to thank.

I saw that the spirit of the Chinese saying, that “Neighbors carry more__________ than distant relatives”, is alive and well in America. Susan filled my heart with   __________ and joy, just as angels do.