Years ago, my mother passed away from her illness. My father, having long been her only care-taker, was left with two options: give up on life or _________ himself. Worried how he would _________ without my mother, I wanted to make sure he picked the latter.

One thing could _________ my mind. In his teenage years, my father had been declared a(n) _________ by his art teacher. Some of his paintings, though lacking perfect skills, were exhibited and admired in galleries. However, his creative life was put _________ when my mother fell ill.

One time, during a visit to my doctor, I heard a patient _________ a nurse of “micromanaging” (微观管理) him. As a freelance writer (自由撰稿人), I had an odd thought: Do one-celled organisms under the microscope protest about being “micro micromanaged”? Drawing _________ from this, I decided to propose _________ to my father, asking if he would create a cartoon for my idea.

His _________ response was silence. I asked again the following day. Still no definite answer. Recognizing his emotional __________ of losing my mother, I had to drop the idea. A week later, however, my father emailed me the micro-micromanaging cartoon exactly as I had __________ it to him.

With his teenage __________ revived, our partnership has advanced up to now. Sometimes our creativity seems to __________ and we might quarrel over a bad cartoon, but our __________ has grown stronger because we need each other for this to work — live a __________ life in the absence of my mother.

It was dinnertime at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. It was a feast (盛宴) but without ________ occasion. We had chicken, potatoes, green salad, corn and fruit salad. We sat at the table. Grandma ________ the food to Grandpa and their girls. Grandpa said, “Looks delicious. I'm as ________ as a bear.”

As soon as Grandpa picked up his ________, they heard a car drive up. Grandma opened the door, and in came Aunt Maud. “Come in! You’re just in time,” Grandpa said. Then in came Aunt Dessie, Aunt Clara, friends, and their families. Grandma was a little ________, “I never expected so many guests to come, but I can ________ it.”

Grandpa sat in the doorway. There was little ________ in the kitchen behind his chair. So he got up and pulled his chair in so people could ________. But when he sat down again a strange thing happened: His plate had ________ before his eyes! He put his fork down, thinking to himself, “Well, there seems no ________ for my plate anymore.”

Grandma tried to serve the kids some water, but Aunt Dessie ________ her, “We’ll take care of ourselves.” Then everyone started ________ around the sink (水池) and cupboard to drink water. Kids were thirsty! There were lots of kids. Grandma had enough food for four, not twenty-four! ________, Aunt Dessie helped Grandma make more dishes. The girls ________ to help, but Aunt Dessie said they were too ________ and had better stay at the table so that they wouldn’t do more harm than good. Grandma added some more foods to everyone's plate. There was lots of laughter. No one doubted they had a good time.

They never found out who used Grandpa’s plate, but did know that he enjoyed the reunion and that was enough!

Whenever I visited my grandfather Jack, he burst with questions. Each time I _______, however, his face would settle into a puzzled expression. He’d leaned closer. My _______ grew louder and louder until I was practically shouting at him. Then he raised his hands, and _______ me away with a resigned sigh.

Jack loved company, and loved having long _______. But by the time he turned 80, more than 70% of his _______ was gone. Jack spent thousands on medical-grade hearing aids. They were functional, but made all noises loud. The devices became even less _______ as his ears got worse and worse. Simple conversations were _______ in shouting matches and frustration. Phone calls were impossible, either.

When I visited him in the fall of 2022, I_______ a pair of earphones. The earphones had a new _______ that lets a mobile phone transmit audio from the microphone directly to compatible (兼容的) hearing aids working with an app. I put them in my grandfather’s ears, ________ the app on my phone and spoke into it. Then I watched Jack nod his head in ________. He understood my words! And when he responded ________ and in complete sentences, it felt like a ________ had closed. Both of us were excited. For the first time in years, Jack and I talked clearly.

These days, Jack and his new earphones are ________. He’s far less lonely. He can finally meet people again and ________ entire conversations, as long as they speak into his phone. He is smiling the biggest smile I have seen on his face in years.