【推荐1】It was a February morning 13 years ago. We ______ into the driveway, excited and proud, and ______ up our kids for photos. It was a big day, but back then we had no idea how it would ______ our lives.

We tried to fight it. We knew it marked us as uncool. But we had ______ minivan people.

I don’t care. That van is linked to so many great ______ — soccer games, camping trips, and a gang of 10-year-old boys ______ in for a big day at Canada’s Wonderland theme park.

That 24-hour journey to Florida to visit grandparents and a three-week holiday to the east coast, full of long conversations and classic rock ______ on cassette tapes.

In that van, I ______ my head off while going out with friends, and cried my heart out at the death of a ______ one.

I’ve dreamed and planned and moved homes while traveling on those four ______       wheels.

I know it’s just a ______. But the first time I watched my teenagers drive off in it ______, I realized they were growing up.

There were days when it drove me ______, too. On cold winter mornings, the sliding doors would freeze ______. Anyone who wanted to sit in the back seats had to climb in through the front. Still, we’ve ______ to our van for as long as possible. It never ever let us down, even as the repair bills got a little bigger each year and we faithfully ______ whatever was needed to keep it on the road safely.

Yesterday we finally made the _____. It was time to find a newer, smaller, more energy-efficient ______. The van was telling us it was time.

Saying goodbye is never ______. As we close the minivan chapter of our lives, my heart is a little sad — the days, months and years that passed by so quickly.

The story of our minivan is the story of our ______.

【推荐2】As a young man, Alan was a skilled artist, a painter with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son_________a bad stomachache. Thinking it was only some_________intestinal (肠的) disorder, neither Alan nor his wife took the condition very________. But the boy died suddenly that night. Knowing the death could have been ________if he had only realized the seriousness of the _______, he always felt the loss of his son was due________ him. To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, _______ him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Alan could _______, and he turned to alcohol for help. _______ Alan became an alcoholic. ___________the alcoholism progressed, Alan began to lose everything he _________— his land, house, etc. Finally Alan died alone in a small bar. Hearing of Alan’s death, I thought, “What a totally wasted life! What a complete_________!” As time went by, I began to reconsider my earlier_________. I knew Alan’s now ________ son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most_________, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the love between Ernie and his children, thinking that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere. I hadn’t heard Ernie talked much about his_________. One day, I worked up my_________ to ask him what on earth his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said __, “As a child until I left home at 18, Alan came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘love you, son.’” Tears came to my eyes as I realized what I had been a fool to_________ Alan as a failure. He had not left any ________ belongings behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.

【推荐3】Since I was a child I always knew my dream was being a famous singer even though I didn't know how to get there. Though I have read The Magic and Hero multiple times _______ I was 12 years old，it was _______ a couple of years ago that I really started taking it seriously.

Since then，everything has _______ in front of my eyes. With complete faith I moved to London to study _______ and it was one of the most amazing years of my life. I began to make friends for life and I became the happy _______ person. And my dream was more _______ than ever. And I didn't want to be just a _______ ，but the one that inspires people and _______ a message of love and happiness.

A year later I figured out it was time for a change and to _______ my professional music career. So I ________   a music business degree in a music university. Although some people said it didn't ________ , I knew it was the right way. In one of the university seminars, a creative director talked about their acts and how they ________   young artists and introduce them to successful record labels.

From that moment I knew I wanted to be ________ with them. It felt like it was a good ________ even though few artists per year could succeed. Sometimes I had ________ and   set backs. Then in a series of events I met a girl in a management company. But I was ________ since the company only has 20 employees. What are the chances? Anyway I     ________ to her a demo of one of my songs.

I didn't hear from her for two weeks but I still imagined the ________ of me signing the contract. Then out of the blue, I got a call ________   they were really interested in me. I'm so happy because I know I'm one step ________ to my dream. Fast forward one month, I finally got to sign with them!

【推荐1】Eleven years ago, it seemed as if the world came to an end. My husband of 19 years, the father of my two sons, was diagnosed with terminal cancer (癌症晚期). Over the______of seven months, Bill went from______me easily at tennis to needing my help to go to the bathroom.

It was the best seven months of my life. Maybe I don't actually______that. But it was certainly the time when I felt most______. During those seven months, I came to______that whatever else I did in my life, nothing would_______more than taking care of my husband. I discovered that the minor complaint of an annoying coworker, or a flat tire pales (失色) in______with the beauty of sincere laughter, or the______of a bakery. There were moments of______, laughter, and tenderness in every day. I found I could train myself to see beauty______bother.

In the days after Bill's diagnosis and brain surgery, being his caregiver also meant being fully ______as much as possible. During his last weekend, we had dinner together. Later, a relative visited. I______that she’d changed her appearance, and not in a good way. It was the kind of______I’d usually keep to______. Just then, Bill voiced______what I’d been thinking, in that truthful way he had, and I found myself______out loud. I thought I could look after this man forever, but he ______in four days.

Eleven years later, I haven’t made much achievements.______every day, I try to be the person I became during those seven months. I try to be a little less judgmental, a little more generous, a little more______for the small moments in life.

I am a better person for having been Bill's caregiver. It was his last, best______to me.

【推荐3】“I have cancer,” Mom said and held me in a tight hug. I could feel her chest shaking as she tried not to _______ but failed.

For all of my twenty-four years, my mom had been _______. Strength and _______ had always flowed from her to me. Now I knew it would have to _______ the other way.

Mom didn’t stay down for long. After the shock of breast cancer, she armed herself with a notebook and a pen and a thousand questions for the _______. She took notes on white blood cell counts and medications(药物) with long names as though she was ___ for entrance exams into medical school. “The not-knowing is the _______,” she said.

The _______ was successful. The chemo(化疗) was the _______ part. I went with Mom to every chemo __________. She rarely complained, though her hair was __________ and her toenails and fingernails fell out one by one. She joked that she could __________ money on nail polish(指甲油) and put it toward the doctor bills, even though she never wore nail polish. “Cancer can take my __________, my nails, my health and my very life. But it __________ take my smile,” Mom said.

Mom learned to share her fears with me, and it __________ an even deeper bond(纽带) between us. Yet, I am certain there were fears she didn’t share because she was still protecting me—__________ she only shared with Dad. Even in the darkest hours, she would just __________ the cancer. Mom always said, “When you look your greatest fear in the eye and laugh at it, you __________ some of its power.”

Mom was one of the lucky ones. She did __________ her cancer, though not without scars(伤痕). From her, I’ve __________ I may not get to choose what I face, but I do get to choose how I face it.

【推荐2】I’m not a person who loves collecting, but the TV room of my house is full of things. In it are things that there’s no other place to put, and things I can’t decide ______ to throw away, such as a lot of old bottles and boxes, some books and out-of-date magazines and a wood stove (炉子) I ______ use. The TV itself could actually work, but I only turn it ______ every four years to watch the presidential election.

The other night, scratching (抓) sounds from the TV room ______ me up. Quietly, I entered the room, ______ the stove and opened its front door. There it was, a trembling squirrel, ______ me desperately.

I decided to give it a(n) ______ escape way. Therefore, I opened the outside door, stepped back and ______. The squirrel jumped out of the ______, but didn’t head outside. ______, it run through my magazine pile and then struggled among the bottles.

“Why didn’t it ______?” I wondered for a while until I ______ that I probably put _______ into that small squirrel’s heart. So I quickly ______ myself in the kitchen and watched the uninvited guest through the window. In my ______, the squirrel became _______ enough to look around and assess the situation. Suddenly, it ______ merrily.

The animal actually did a great ______: I couldn’t stand my ______ TV room for so long, so after the unexpected guest’s leaving I spent half a day cleaning and throwing. I eventually got a tidy TV room and some _______space.

【推荐3】I often remember those good old days when life was relatively simpler, and people were much more humane (有人情味的) and _________. Recently, to my surprise, I got the   _________ to experience that same _________ that I thought had disappeared from the world.

I was out shopping the other day with my husband, two daughters and one granddaughter. It was very hot, and we were all obviously _________ and hungry. We entered a restaurant, looking for some _________ and comfort.

To our _________, all the tables were occupied and no one seemed in a hurry to get up. We waited, tired, hungry and _________. After quite some time, one table was vacated (腾出), but that could only _________ two of us. My daughter made me sit along with her father, _________ she and my other daughter stood alongside.

My granddaughter sat on my lap as we __________ us, waiting for another table to be vacated soon. At the next table, two young girls were sitting at a table for four and __________ their meal. We decided to __________ to their table, once they __________ their meal.

Since the girls had just got their order, I knew it would be a __________ wait. As we were deciding on what to order, one of the girls got up and __________ their table to us. She said they would move to our table so that my family could sit __________.

We were very __________ of their kind gesture. We thanked them warmly and moved to their table. The girls quickly __________ their plates and glasses and went to sit at our table.

That day I thought to myself there still were some kind, __________ and helpful youngsters in this fast moving non-caring world; and my __________ in humanity was brought back once again.