In the dining room of my grandfather’s house stood a large clock. When I was a child, the old clock interested me very much. I was surprised at how the clock would chime (敲响) three times, six times or more, with a wonderful _______sound. I often _______ it instead of the _______ when I had meals. And always the clock stood like an old family _______, watching the family. I found the clock comforting and _________. Year after year, the clock became a part of my _______.

It was even more wonderful to me when my grandfather carefully wound that clock with a special key each day. The key was magic to me. It kept the clock running. It kept the clock chiming. How did it do that? I watched as my grandfather took the key from his pocket and opened the door in the old clock and used the key to wind it. He never let that clock wind down and stop. When I got a little older, he _______me how to open the door, and let me wind the clock myself. I remember the first time I did, I felt so _______.

After my grandfather passed away, every time I saw the clock, I couldn’t help _______. Never could I see ________again. The hands on the clock were ________. It stopped. I took the key with my shaking hand and opened the door. All of a sudden, I was a child again, ________my grandfather. He was there,________me. I stood there, lost in the memories. Then ________ and carefully, I wound the clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock… The dining room and the ________ seemed to be filled with life. In the image of the clock, my grandfather also lived again.

There was a boy who was sent by his parents to a boarding school.________going there, the boy was the brightest student in his class. He was at the top in every________always with high marks.

But the boy changed after________home and attending the boarding school. His grades started________. He was lonely all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like giving up school. He felt worthless and no one loved him.

His parents started________about the boy. But they even didn’t know what was________with him. So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him some questions about his classes, teachers and________. His dad asked, “Do you know, son, why I am here today?”

The boy answered back, “To________my grades?”

“No, no,” his dad replied. “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person________me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about________. I care about you. I care about your happiness. You are my life.”

These words touched him________. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time. He just________his dad.

Now the boy had________he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He________the world someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him________!

Five years ago, I got an email from a well-known professor in my field in March. He invited me to________ for a position in his lab. Things went well and all I needed to do was finish up my thesis (毕业论文) and I decided to ________ it in the following months.

One night, my mother came up to my room, asking softly, “Have you ________ your thesis yet?” “Not yet, Mom,” I ________ , even too busy to look up at her. Then she mentioned that she had some ________ symptoms (症状) in her body that had never been seen before. She wanted to say something more, but my academic (学业的)________ made me hardly take her words to heart.

However, two months later, the doctor announced my mother might ________for less than a year ________cancer (癌症). It was then that I was ________that things became more serious than I had imagined. Before it was too late, I was________to stop my thesis and be there with my mother for her rest life. ________ , my mother failed in the battle and passed away at the end of the year. The next July, I finished my scientific thesis and got the________from the lab.

When looking back today, I feel ________for losing precious time with my mother. The ________ of my mother gave me a new way to think about life: If your loved ones need you, be there for them. Sometimes, just being a listening ear to them can really ________.