【推荐1】Two years ago, my friend and I were at college. With his birthday approaching, he came to me with an unusual _______ : instead of receiving presents, he wanted to do some acts of kindness.

I was _______ for such an idea. Giving instead of receiving presents for the birthday was really difficult. I asked him how he could come up with such a _______ idea. He told me about a TED talk he had watched on generosity, which had inspired him. So we started to _______ creative things we could do.

Our university employed some security guards to _______ its students. They had to work _______ , keeping watch on every corner throughout the university. For the most part it’s a thankless job as most people get _______ to seeing the guards all around and eventually barely notice their _______ , let alone acknowledge their efforts. How could we show them our appreciation?

We decided to make a large pot of hot _______ . We hired an Uber and asked the driver to take us around the campus where we knew the ________ would be and we poured them each a cup of hot chocolate. The Uber driver was ________ a bit doubtful about the entire plan but after a while he was helping us ________ the guards and our lively spirit had ________ to him as well. We met with many ________ and appreciative words. It was amazing to see how a ________ act or even intention of generosity could lift everyone’s spirit.

【推荐3】One summer day, the bushes in our backyard began making all sorts of noise. Or rather, our dog, Bella, was in the bushes and made noise. Our 11-year-old daughter _________ Bella’s pawing(刨) at a branch, where there were several caterpillars(蝴蝶幼虫).

My husband and I _________ that our backyard-frequent hangout of birds-wasn’t the safest _________ for caterpillars. So we got a butterfly house where the caterpillars could _________ metamorphose(蜕变).

Each day, when we took the butterfly house to the _________, Bella followed. Each night, when we brought it back inside, Bella followed, and slept under the table on which it rested. We don’t know why Bella was so _________, but she was there for every step of the budding(萌芽的) butterflies’ _________.

Finally, the caterpillars _________ beautiful butterflies. It came as a _________ that Bella didn’t seem worried when our daughter __________ them. In fact, Bella seemed to understand that this was part of the life __________. It wasn’t until one last butterfly wouldn’t fly away that Bella expressed __________. She gently rested her head near the __________ butterfly, which flied onto her nose. Bella lifted her head, pointed her nose, and __________ one of those breathy dog sighs. With the sigh of Bella, the last butterfly flew off. It seemed a little __________ from a parent to begin one’s own migration.

【推荐1】I had moved to Arizona about two weeks before the start of my junior year of high school, so not only was this a(n) _______ new school for me, but also a new _______ and I did not know anyone. On the first day of school at lunch after getting my meal, I sat down at a(n) _______ table in the courtyard. As I began to eat, I _______ at the other tables and saw another girl sitting alone, so I decided why not go sit with her. Anyway there was no reason for me to have a whole table to myself, and who knew maybe I could make a friend. I walked to _______ and said, “Excuse me, do you mind if I sit with you?” She was _______ at first. But then smiled and said, “Sure!”

We _______ on well with each other and _______ close friends throughout the next two years. She _______ : on the first day of school when you sat down with me during lunch, I was ________ depressed that day. I had even made   ________ plans on how I was going to ________ suicide after I got home. I had been bullied(欺负) the whole first half of the day and it had just made me ________ . But when you ________ me from the other side of the courtyard in a ________ way, even though you didn't know me, it ________ me deeply.

It has been almost 15 years since this ________ , I still chat with her ________ on Facebook about our past and present life and I can't ________ but smile every time. It showed me that a simple kind act has the ________ ability to change lives.

【推荐3】Two weeks earlier, my husband, Russ, had got an early-morning call telling us to evacuate immediately. The wildfire tearing through Northern California had spread and _________ our way. We’d jumped in the car with our cats and a few belongings. For days, we’d moved from hotel to hotel, _________ for news. What finally came wasn’t good. Our house had been right in the fire’s _________.

Now we’d been given _________ to return. I wasn’t prepared for what awaited us. Our house was nothing but _________. Photos and my precious collection of inspirational books — all gone.

I wiped away tears as we dug through the ash and remains. “How will we _________ this? How will we go on?” It felt as if our lives had been _________.

Russ _________ what we’d found into the car. “Let’s go,” he said. I turned to get in the car. That’s when I noticed something stuck to my shoe. A piece of paper, dirty with _________. I picked it up. Its __________ were smoked, yet the words were surprisingly __________: “If life seems difficult, I pause and __________ the blessing sometimes hidden within every circumstance. With new __________, I begin again.”

Words that must have come from one of my books, a passage I couldn’t __________ but now said everything I needed to __________. Words that rose from the ashes. I framed that scrap of paper. It now sits in a place of honor in our new home, a reminder that we can begin again.

【推荐1】Have you ever travelled around by bike? This spring my older brother and I ______ the busy city and spent a long weekend ______ in the countryside. Our speed was only 14kph, but we didn’t ______. We hadn’t come to break any speed records, ______. All we wanted was some ______ air and a break from schoolwork.

We really ______ ourselves while cycling along traffic-free country paths. There was plenty of sunshine, ______ it was quite cold, ______ in the mornings. The good news was that soon we ______ as we rode along. Our only ______ was when my brakes (刹车) started making a terrible noise. But I didn’t care as it gave us a(n) ______ to visit a cafe while a bike mechanic (机修工) had a look at it.

Every few kilometers there was a ______ where we could talk with local people. One of the women was very ______ and showed us the way when we got lost. On Saturday night we were ______ at 2 a.m. by some young people. They kept singing loudly in the next room, which made us ______ all night. We felt very ______ when we got up the next morning. Soon we ______. We were more cheerful on the way when the sun came out. ______, things like that happened only once. Anyway, I still like traveling around by bike—it’s ______ and it’s fun. If you’re looking for a short break that’s active and cheap, then cycling is a great ______.

【推荐2】Over the weekend, a ______damaged houses, roads, and bridges, leaving many people nowhere to go. The powerful flood damaged Hagan’s bridge, leaving him and his wife______from the community (社区). He turned to social media but never______he would receive a call from his grandson’s coach Ryan Jesop. “The Hagans have done so much for this area, so it was a/an______decision to help,” Jesop said.

The Switzerland County football coach drew up a plan telling his team to build a new bridge ______the old broken one. Hagan received a(n)______that a team would be at his house Monday at 9 a.m. to work. “People I’d never seen before were walking down my driveway to help us,” Hagan said. “It was______and brought tears to my eyes.”

______, the steel frame base structure (钢架基础结构) of the bridge wasn’t damaged by the flooding. Dozens of people went to the bridge and______the old one plank (木板) by plank. Then the team built it back up by______an assembly line (流水线). “The______of our team is to help them through teamwork,” student Linebacker Gabriel Rose said. The team______the project in only a few hours. “They were here at nine o’clock, and I looked at my______when it was done and it was 11:45,” Hagan said. The Hagans now reconnected with their______thanks to their grandson’s football team. As for Coach Jesop, he is chalking it up as the biggest______of the season.