【推荐1】“Just sign here, sir,” the deliveryman said as he handed Oscar Reyna a package.

The package is made up of a long, narrow box _________ wrapped in brown paper. _________ the box, Oscar saw an umbrella inside — a very old one with a beautifully carved wooden handle. _________ he had not seen it in over 20 years, he recognized it _________.

Oscar was 16 when he first saw the _________ umbrella. He had gone to a concert with his grandparents. As they were leaving, he noticed an umbrella on an empty seat. Impressed by its _________, Oscar felt a strong desire to find its _________.

Oscar _________ the manager to look in the record of advance ticket sales. Just as he thought, a name matched the seat _________ Oscar had found the umbrella. The name was Mrs. Katie O’Brien.

Oscar talked his grandparents into going by Mrs. O’Brien’s __________ on their way home. He rang the bell, the door opened, and an elderly woman appeared. “May I __________ you?” she asked.

“I’d like to return it if it’s yours,” Oscar said, __________ the umbrella as if presenting a __________ that had long been wished for.

“Why, yes! It’s mine,” replied Mrs. O’Brien with a __________ smile and shining eyes. “It was given to me by my father years ago. Thank you so much for returning it. May I offer you a reward for your __________?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, “My grandmother says that a good deed is its own reward.”

“Well, that’s __________ what my father used to say. What is your name, young man?”

Years later Oscar was staring at the finely carved handle of the umbrella as he remembered Mrs. O’Brien. It was in perfect condition, considering how __________ it was. Why had it arrived here today?

As if __________, a note fell from the paper. It reads: Mrs. O’Brien wanted you to __________ this umbrella as a present for a kind, __________ act long ago.

【推荐2】In February last year,my wife lost her job.Just as suddenly,the owner of the Green House,where I worked as a manager,____a heart attack.His family announced that they were going to____the business because no one in the family wanted to run it.Things looked pretty____.My wife and I read the____in the newspaper each day.

Then one morning,as I was____a going-out-of-business sign at the Green House,the door opened and____ walked a customer.She was an office manager____company had just moved into the____office park on the edge of the town.She was____some potted flowers to place in the reception areas in offices."I don't know anything about ____,"she said,"I am sure in a few weeks,they'll all be____."While I was helping her____her goods,my mind was racing and an idea____me.Perhaps as many as a dozen firms had recently opened offices in the new office park and there were several hundred more acres with construction（建造）work____.

I drove up to the office park____the woman left.By 6 o'clock that evening,I had signed agreements with seven companies,which would____plants at the Green House and____me a fee to look after them.

Within a week,I worked out an agreement to buy the Green House from the owner's family.____,business increased rapidly____our efforts.

Now we are proud to be the____of the Green House.

【推荐3】“The way we choose to respond to others can cause them to feel ashamed ______can allow them to remember our kindness and _______our stories with the future generations.” when I read this________, I thought of Doris, a very ______person. All around her room were dolls she had made: they were the most interesting dolls I’d ever seen.

One day _____I was in her room, she took one of her dolls out of the case to______ me, saying it was the_______doll she had ever made. The doll was very unusual with fine artistic work. I was amazed that anyone could crate something so ______ .

Doris held the dolls very carefully. Then she slowly ______the doll in such a way that I could see a _______crack(裂缝)on the skirt. Doris said that on the way to class she bumped(撞击)the side of the skirt. She expressed how she was ______. When it was her turn to show the doll to the teacher, she pointed out the crack. Doris felt________that the doll would be_______. Much to her surprise, the teacher told her she was just going to ignore the crack and     ______the doll on the other good ______it had. Doris said this remark and_______changed her life. She knew_______the teacher hadn’t overlooked the crack, she ______had made the rest of the dolls.

The teacher could have made Doris feel ashamed about the crack. But because of her _______to ignore the crack, Doris was sharing her ______to the next generation.

【推荐1】Isabella winked (眨眼) as she placed a warm blanket in my arms. It was a particularly ______ evening in this little Italian mountain village.

Her ______ was the first knock on the door of my temporary home in Campania, from my closest ______, a housedress-wearing woman in her 80s with a lovable smile. But there was one ______: Isabella spoke little English and my Italian was very ______.

I tried very hard to ______ my Italian, but my long hours of studying ______ produced less than 60 seconds of results in Isabella's living room. In ______ sentences we talked about the weather and how I liked the village. She also

Although Isabella and I speak ______ languages, we found ways to ______. One afternoon when she saw me ______ laundry she shook her finger at me, pointed at the sun, and put her hand to her forehead. I was ______ until the sun went down and I got wet clothes back into the house. After that, every time we hung laundry, one finger shake and I never again got ______ clothes at the end of the day.

When it was time to ______ , I woke early to take the train. The village was ______. But Isabella broke the silence, calling out from her balcony. I couldn't ______ every word, but I got the main idea: Italiano, Italiano!

When I next ______ , she wondered if I had improved my Italian. I didn't yet have the words to give a (n) ______, so when she blew me a kiss, I blew two back.

【推荐2】In the summer of 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife, had just moved to California. Outside the couple’s apartment, a homeless man often yelled on the street corner. One day, Peterson was reading the book Love Does, when his quiet was _________ by the homeless man. Inspired by the book’s_________message, Peterson then decided to go out and _________ himself.

In that first conversation, Peterson learned that the man’s name was Matt Faris. He’d moved to California to pursue a career in_________, but he soon fell on_______ difficulties and ended up living on the street. The story touched Peterson, a_________of the Cleveland College of Art, who hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in eight years._________, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris’s portrait. Faris said yes.

This_________sparked Peterson to found Faces of Mankind, a nonprofit organization that focused on painting and_________portraits of those who are unhoused. Peterson put half the money into a “love account” to help his__________get back on their feet. Many people use the funds for__________— medical care, clothes or food, but Faris chose to__________his musical dream. When the album was delivered to Faris, the man finally couldn’t contain his emotions and__________in Peterson’s arms.

Over the years, Peterson has discovered that the buyers begin to see the homeless__________. They mention that they tend to connect and develop friendship with someone they might have otherwise__________.

【推荐3】When I entered Berkeley, I hoped to earn a scholarship. Having been a Straight-A student, I believed I could _____ tough subjects and really learn something. One such course was World Literature given by Professor Jayne. I was really interested in the ideas he _____ in class.

When I took the first exam, I was _____ to find a 77, C-plus, on my test paper, _____ English was my best subject.I went to Professor Jayne, who listened to my _____ but remained unmoved.

I decided to try harder, although I didn’t know what that _____ because school had always been easy for me. I read the books more carefully, but got another 77 again, I reasoned with Professor Jayne. Again, he listened_____ but wouldn’t change his mind.

One more test before the final exam. One more_____ to improve my grade. So I redoubled my efforts and, for the first time, _____ the meaning of the word “thorough (深入细致的)”. But my _____ did no good and everything went as before.

The last hurdle was the final. No matter what grade I got, it wouldn’t cancelC-pluses. I might as well kiss the _____   goodbye.

I stopped working hard. I felt I knew the course material as well as I ever would. The night before the final,I even _____ myself to a movie. The next day I decided for once I’d have fun with a test.

A week later, I was surprised to find I got an A. I hurried into Professor Jayne’s office. He_____ to be expecting me. “If I gave you the A-plus as you expected, you wouldn't continue to work as hard.”

I stared at him, _____ that his analysis and strategy were correct. I had worked my head off, as I had never done before.

I was speechless when my course grade arrived: A-plus. It was the only A-plus given. The next year I _____ my scholarship (奖学金). I’ve always remembered Professor Jayne’s lesson: you alone must set your own standard of excellence.