Joel Boyers and his wife, Melody Among, were heading home from the Nashville airport after she just earned her helicopter’s (直升飞机) pilot license when he received a _________ from a stranger in Pennsylvania. The person told him that many people were trapped in _________, 60 miles from Nashville.

Boyers, 41, looked west toward Waverly and saw the storm clouds. “No one will fly…” But even _________ he finished the sentence, Boyers knew they would go back up. Soon, they were in the air, _________ for what they were about to experience in Waverly.

As Boyers flew the helicopter, Among searched for people stuck atop roofs, bridges, anywhere Boyers could land his helicopter and get them onboard. Suddenly she _________ a girl grasping a tree which was barely out of the water. One hand holding a tree branch, the other held a dog she’d rescued earlier, she was completely wet and _________.

Since there was no place for Boyers to land, he _________ the helicopter until it was just above the water. With the rescue rope, Among helped the teen and dog aboard. Boyers _________ lifted off. Avoiding the tree and power lines, he _________ off the teen and the dog on a safe street, then back in the air. Their mission ended 90 minutes after it began, when professional rescue helicopters showed up.

Though the experience was ____________, Boyers did make this admission, “It was almost a little fun.”

I used to think my life was perfect. My mom had her dream job and a beautiful office and I had my own room with a computer and a garden to look after. But one Sunday, everything changed. A hurricane _______ our neighborhood while we were visiting my grandparents in Raleigh. Our kitchen was ________, and our clean and comfortable home was in ruins.

But something ________ happened. Our neighbors, the Flores family, came to our ________. They helped clear broken pieces and offered us a place to stay. Their ________ was most impressive. We had never ________ spoken to them before, but they ________ their home to us and made us feel like family.

We started a new ________ of having weekend dinner together. We invited other families from the neighborhood to join us, and our ________ were filled with laughter and delicious food. It was a beautiful thing to see our ________ come together in the wake of a disaster.

I ________ knew Rosica, their daughter, before the hurricane. But she quickly became my friend. She had a gift for ________ and our evenings together were filled with adventure and laughter.

Looking back, I realize that the hurricane ________ unexpected benefit. It brought us closer to our neighbors and ________ our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Sometimes, it takes a(n) ________ to bring out the best in people.

I found the bed shaking, gently at first. Because I was half asleep and not a native, I just thought it was nothing serious.

Sitting up, I turned on the bedside lamp. It was 3:34 a.m. _______, my 14th-floor Santiago Hotel room came alive, like a very angry animal shaking a smaller one in its teeth. Then the lights _______. The noise was more _______ in the dark. A strong feeling of _______ began to control me. As I pulled myself to standing, I couldn’t help _______ that I might not see my husband and sons again.

In a hurry I opened the door of my room and expected to find people. But_______, there was no one about. My mind was crying crazily, _______ I didn’t even call for help. Luckily, a middle-aged man came up. He just said, “We should go _______.” I said “Okay” and followed him to the stairs. On a lower floor I joined in a river of people and walked our way outside to the tennis courts, where a crowd of several hundred were _______. Some were crying, all were weak. Then I noticed that a woman was about to fall down and immediately I went to ______ her. When I looked around and saw frightened children in parents’ arms, my selfish thought was thank God that my _______ weren’t here.

Soon hotel staff were setting up chairs and passing around bottled water. They offered us tablecloths to wrap (包裹) around ourselves against the night _______ and shoes for people whose feet were bare. They seemed very _______ while in fact they too must be afraid.

I felt lucky to be alive, but as a _______, my relief was mixed with guilt for we soon learned that the earthquake had left many dead and others homeless and tsunamis (海啸) were _______ the way.