【简答题】

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16～25的相应位置上。
    I was feeling sad because my mother was out of job. It left me wondering  16
was going to happen to us.
    I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. Then I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked much  17  (slow) so I could find out where it was coming  18  . Through the crowd I saw  19  young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her. She was singing songs with love and keeping on trying. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there  20  (watch) her play for about fifteen minutes, thinking that  21  must take courage to perform  22  her own in the middle of a crowd.
    She must have felt my presence because she would often look in my direction. By now I was telling myself that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people  23 she didn’t know, I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked over, put some money in her carriage and  24  (say), “Thank you. I have been going through a hard time  25  (late), but you’ve made me hopeful again.”