The year ending, it’s time to do my charity donations. I pick up my pen, but instead of writing the checks, I just hold it, _______.

Last week, two websites I wrote for said they decided to“_______cautiously for the gloomy market” . Yesterday I was e-mailed from the magazine I frequently _______, saying no more articles. Although my part-time teaching helps pay the _______, I haven’t got as many calls lately. To save money, the board is _______schools, meaning fewer teachers are needed.

So, can I really _______to give to charity? Doesn’t charity begin at home? My home. I could be tempted to _______ my check book by those thoughts, but I don’t.

My house is worth less now than it was for the _______market, but I still own it. Since I’m not looking to sell, I can wait until the economic _______ends. My fridge isn’t bursting with food, which I regularly donate, but some friends aren’t as ________. One lost six teenth because she couldn’t afford ________ care while I just had one repaired. Yes, the bill ________almost as much as the operation did, but the pain ________ soon.

Suddenly, I feel so lucky and rich that I hold my pen determinedly and write ________. Future is unpredictable, but now I can share my good ________ with others. Charity beginning at home shouldn’t stay there.

In ancient times the king of Greece was sick. The doctor came,________ him and said, “You will be well soon in a few days if you take a bull’s milk.” The king was _______, for he had never heard of a bull that gave milk. “How is it _______ ?” he asked.

“Order Gulbo to get it for you,” answered the doctor. “He can do anything.” Gulbo was a person with great knowledge and was a(n) _______ to the doctor. So the doctor thought this would be a way of making him_______. When the king told Gulbo what the doctor said and _______ him to get a bull’s milk, Gulbo _______ understood what the doctor was trying to do.

When he got home, he sat thinking how to get out of the _______ . His daughter, seeing him worried, asked what was the _______ . On hearing what the king had asked for, she said, “Don’t________ , Father, I will help you.”

The next day she took some old clothes, went to the bank of the river near the palace and chose a place ________ the king’s bedroom window. In the middle of the night, she started to do her washing. She made ________ much noise that the king could not sleep. The king got very angry and sent a guard to ________ what had happened. The soldier found the girl and led her to the king.

“Why do you wash your clothes here at night?” said the king. The girl ________ to be afraid and said, “I had to wash clothes at night. This afternoon my father ________ a baby. I was busy all day because of that. Then I found there were no clean ________ for the baby, so I had to come and wash them now.”

“What!” cried the king. “Are you trying to make a ________ of me?” I have never heard of a man having a baby.”

“Well, if the king himself orders someone to get a bull’s milk for him, ________ can’t a man have a baby?”

The king smiled and said, “You must be Gulbo’s ________ Go and tell your father that he may keep the bull’s milk to his ________

Arthur Muir, a 75-year-old retired lawyer from Chicago, became the oldest American to ever conquer Everest, the world's tallest mountain top. He _________ the record set by Bill Burke, who was 72 years old when climbing Everest. The most _________ thing is that he had only started mountaineering seven years ago.

Muir had been _________ with mountain climbing ever since his father gave him a book about the Himalayas when he was a child, and that fascination only _________ when Barry Bishop, a legendary climber of Everest, visited him in 1964. _________ he never followed his dream of picking up mountaineering until a friend _________ him to do so seven years ago. Once he did, he couldn't stop his steps of _________ his dream.

Muir cut his mountaineering teeth on mountains in South America and Alaska, before finally _________ the challenge he had been dreaming of his whole life.

In 2019, Arthur Muir set out to conquer Everest, but his attempt ended in _________ after he injured his ankle __________ falling down from a ladder during his climb. Last year, he made __________ attempt and got his name into the history books.

“By the time I got to the top, I was so __________ that I didn't really absorb what was happening around me. Frankly speaking, I was worrying about whether I had the energy to get down __________ ,” said Muir.

Though Muir currently has no idea how he'll top this __________, it's safe to say he hasn't decided to stop climbing yet. After all, nothing is impossible for a __________ heart.