My dad is a busy engineer. Every Saturday he puts on his apron and makes very delicious bread. I think he bakes to _______.

These days I feel stressed out because I failed in the test of our school swimming team. That means I have to wait for a whole year to try out again. Maybe my dad knew how I _______, so this Saturday he invited me to help him bake.

He took out all the things needed and told me to _______ the ingredients (配料) with a spoon. Then he showed me how to knead the dough (揉面团). It took only ten minutes but a(n) _______ large amount of energy to complete. Next came the _______ part—doing nothing. We waited for the dough to become _______, then pouched (锤打) it down and wait for it to rise again. Dad said _______ is always the hardest part as you have to refuse the thought of putting the dough directly into the oven.

While we waited, we sat and talked._______ is like the dough that rises and fills a room with emptiness unless you pouch it down with words. It felt good to listen and share our thoughts. A dough always rises at its own pace and we could do nothing to make it _______ faster.

I learned how to bake, and I also learned to ________ the slowly ticking rhythm of time, to relax and let the bread rise.

For most people, the longest relationship they will have is with their siblings (兄弟姐妹). As children, my younger sister and I were always ______ with each other. I was jealous (妒忌的) of her look and she felt stressed by my school success. But our rivalry (竞争) was ______ compared to that of some famous siblings.

Take the movie stars Olivia and Joan as an example. “If I die first, she’ll certainly be ______ because I beat her at it,” Joan once said. Their rivalry became very public when Olivia won an Oscar. Joan was asked to ______ the award but Olivia refused to even shake her hand.

But it’s not just in ______ business where siblings fall out. Sports shoe producers Rudolf and Dassler Adolf became very successful but they were always very ______. Adolf was a quiet craftsman while Rudolfy was a loud-mouthed salesman. ______ in 1948, the brother fell out forever. Rudolf ______   a sports-shoe company called Puma. In response, Adolf created Adidas. The brothers’ rivalry even ______ the town. People wore either Adidas or Puma and would sometimes refuse to ______ each other. It became a place where you always looked at the ______ someone was wearing before starting a conversation.

But not all successful siblings ______ each other. Top tennis players Serena and Venus Williams have always remained as the best friends. “We ______ everything on the court (运动场). We are friends out of it.” Serena once said.

My sister and I are more like the Williams, yet I still hate seeing ______ of us together because I was jealous. But our rivalry is not as ______ as it used to be.

“Dana, how are you feeling today?” I ask, noticing her dirty uniform, and the _________ circles under her eyes.

“OK,” Dana mumbles (嘟嚷).

“Have you eaten today?”

She nods. Another _________.

“Can I get you anything?” But what could I _________ get her? A bedroom of her own? A family with love?

“No, thanks.”

Repeated absence from school recently. She has worn out teachers’ _________. But I don’t want to send her back to class. What _________ is it knowing all the square numbers and all the grammatical rules when she has to work out how to wash, cook and decide between feeding herself or her younger sister?

“A biscuit?” I offer. It _________ and Dana takes the biscuits I hand her.

I remember the first time I met Dana, the day after she _________ herself in the house when her mom left the family. I remember thinking how _________ she was to have built such a high wall around herself and how on earth I could break through. As a social worker, it is my _________ to knock down such walls no matter how.

I know it would __________ more than a biscuit to move away one of her bricks. But I will try.

“How are you feeling?” I push slightly, __________ the biscuit might have softened her.

“OK,” she shrugs. I’m about to change __________ when her eyes rest on my arm.

“How does that feel, Mia?” Dana stares at me. The sleeve (袖子) of my blouse has rolled up, evidence of how deep I had put it into the biscuit can. A scar along my __________ is obvious against my fair skin.

I roll my sleeve back down, “It’s from a fire. It __________. But everything will be OK when you think it’s OK.”

Dana pauses and __________ another biscuit. At that moment, I know something has changed in the room and we might actually be OK.