During the day, I heard something happened at the Twin Towers. But nobody seemed to really _______       what was going on. Not until school let out did I realize something might be   _______ . My dad usually _______ me   up, but he wasn’t there. My   dad was a firefighter. His _______   was   less than a mile   from the Twin Towers.

The Twin Towers had been attacked, and my dad had gone there to _______ . I remember only bits     and pieces, like my mom calling hospitals all over New York City, _______   to find my dad. Hopelessly,     she told me that he was probably_______ .

We didn’t learn exactly what had happened to him until much later. We_______ that he had sent a radio message at 9:56 am when he and hundreds of other_______ firefighters were in the burning South Tower, saving as many people as possible. Just three minutes later, the tower________ .

Nineteen years later, I still________ my dad every day. He instilled( 灌 输 ) in me a________ for my community, and his________ encouraged me to volunteer.

Looking back, I don’t think only of the sad ________ . I also remember the great acts of people, ________     my dad, proud to call him my hero.

When I was little, I often helped my mother plant our family’s garden. In April, I would kneel by Mum’s side for hours, carefully digging holes and_______seeds into the earth.

When I grew up, I was unwilling to do any planting. _______, my mother never said much about my decision until two years ago. I was leaving home when Mum_______me.

“Would you please help me with the planting today?” she asked. I mumbled(咕哝) something along the_______of, “Uh, maybe ... I’ll see.” By the time I left the house, Mum was already in the garden. She_______for a moment as I walked past, and from the corner of my eye I saw a certain_______in her stare. A few hours later, I decided to head back home to help her and felt very_______for my selfless decision. But I was too late.

I_______little about that day until nearly a year later, Mum unexpectedly_______her friend Sara to cancer. She went to see how the two children were________the sudden loss. There Mum learned the answer. “Mummy made me my own garden,” Rachel said________, leading her outdoors to see the masterpiece. Sara had decided to plant her children something that would________long after she was gone.

As I listened to my mother tearfully tell Sara’s story, I realized the true________of a garden. Our annual planting was about kneeling together, planting potential life and creating the best________together.

I won’t ever________the planting day again.

A baby born before 28 weeks isn’t likely to survive. However, born at the 23rd week, Grandpa made it with the help of diligent doctors and _________ nurses. Without them, I probably wouldn’t be here.

Right after Grandpa was born, the doctors _________ him to Children’s Hospital. They were so _________ as if they were flying! When they got to the _________, doctors and nurses put Grandpa in one incubator (恒温箱). After that, the doctors ran some tests. When the tests were done, people knew that Grandpa would have to live in an incubator for 5 months, until he _________ enough to survive outside. One thing that helped Grandpa _________ was pure oxygen. All those months, Grandpa’s eyes were _________ to pure oxygen directly. As a _________, the pure oxygen damaged Grandpa’s eyes. When Grandpa was 2, he was found _________.

Grandpa didn’t let his blindness stop him from living a good life. He went to college, but __________ going there a year later because of family reasons. Then, he went to Lindenwood University. Because he couldn’t __________ by himself, the state provided him with a scanner. He put the __________ of a book in front of the scanner, which would read the page to him. If Grandpa maintained good grades, the state would __________ him to keep the scanner, or it would be taken away. Grandpa __________ graduated with good grades.

It’s a(n)__________ that Grandpa survived being born 17 weeks early. Also, he didn’t let his blindness get in his way. He kept on trying everything and now lives a good life