【推荐1】Forty years ago, Mrs. Austen was my first-grade teacher, an old lady with salt-and-pepper hair, firm but kind, patient and _________. She let us bake gingerbread men in the school cafeteria — a delightful _________ that amazed me. And whenever we read the “Jack and Janet” books, she wouldn’t let the other kids _________ my classmate Jack or me.

But I came to truly _________ Mrs. Austen when a dress-up day was _________. On that day, we were encouraged to wear clothes in the _________ of the mid-1800s. My mother, a superb tailor, made a pioneer-style dress for me. I was so proud _________ it as I walked to school that day. When I got there, however, I was the only one in my class who had dressed up, feeling kind of _________. Mrs. Austen oohed and aahed over my _________ and then went to her office. It didn’t take long before she __________ in a frontier-style dress! She explained that she had asked her husband to bring the costume.

We moved away two years later, and I still __________ that I never told Mrs. Austen how __________ I was to her, a teacher who went out of her way, and even __________ her husband’s help, to keep a little girl from feeling __________. I had many wonderful teachers throughout the years, but Mrs. Austen has always held a(n) __________ place in my heart.

【推荐2】Several months ago, a powerful tornado hit our city without any signs before. We hadn’t_______ for it in advance, so we were just forced to go into our emergency action. I _______ not to be in the classroom when it struck. Hearing the sound of alarm, I rushed_______as fast as I could back to the classroom.

Never did I imagine that we would put our regular_______ to use. Never did I imagine that my students had _______against the wall and crouched down on their knees. Their eyes were obviously filled with _______ as they asked if their parents, pets, and friends would be okay. I, along with other teachers, tried our best to comfort them, though we actually didn’t know what the _______would be.

I couldn’t _______ the tornado more. However, I’m very proud of my students who behaved so well. In such a scary and_______ situation, they behaved beyond their ages. Never in my life had I seen them ________ instructions so quickly, without any hesitation. Though some tears were dropping and some hearts were beating fast, the kids were unbelievably ________. I’m extremely proud that they made an effort to calm down because of their ________in me.

Because of the tornado, I ________ that my job as a teacher meant a lot. Behind every well-behaved student is a long line of teachers who have made it their life’s ________ to educate them with safety, courage, calmness and trust. Though the tornado has presented ________, I’m sure we can deal with them one by one.

【推荐3】I'm standing in a class of wild 14－year－old girls as they throw paper and howl with laughter. They won't _______to me.

I was 22 and I didn't know what I was doing. I never wanted to teach. I wanted to be a _________. But when I arrived in London, they were short of teachers. My_________ at teaching were hopeless. When the bell finally rang, I rushed to the _________ room, red _________anger. The other teachers weren't surprised. "That's 4B, the worst class in school," one said.

I was afraid of our next meeting, but I couldn't give up, because I needed the job. Therefore, I _________formal lessons._________, I brought topics for class discussions. One of the liveliest talks was about the arguments they had with their _________. They paid attention and shared about their families. Then I had them write about themselves. As time went on, their essays became a _________ between us. I think they __________ my interest in their lives.

The musical My Fair Lady was playing in the West End, but they had never seen a(n)__________ stage performance. I asked if they would like to see the musical. They thought I was __________. No teacher had ever ________ taking them out. A few weeks later, 4B and I were __________ in a theatre. They loved the music and the characters. It was the __________ of their year, and they talked about it for days.

Near the end of the semester, someone__________ on the door of the staff room. The two girls most unwilling to________ rules in 4B were there—with flowers. I was __________to know I had touched their lives, but they had also touched mine. When I returned to Australia several years later, I still wanted to be a writer. For the first time in my life, I stopped __________and started writing. My first story was __________, My Fair Ladies. Teaching wasn't the end of my writing career; it was the beginning.

【推荐1】Christmas was always a very special time because I could receive many wonderful gifts. There was one particular Christmas _________ all I wanted was a pink car for my Barbie doll. I had _________ all of the commercials (广告) and seen how cool Barbie could look in that car. _________ that time, I had known that Santa Claus was really my parents, so no surprise there. I didn’t _________ who bought me the car as long as I got it.

Finally, Christmas Eve arrived. I could not fall asleep that night, just _________ for it to get late enough for me to slip downstairs and open my gifts. Well, I must have fallen asleep at some point, _________ when I awoke it was Christmas morning. I ran _________ to a ton of gifts, but I didn’t see the Barbie doll car. I was very _________ for what I had received, but I was still wondering where my car was. After a while, my father _________ what looked like a garbage bag and handed it to me.

Before I could opened the bag completely, I saw the pink color. I jumped for __________ and Dad’s face lit up. Of course there was __________ what I wanted. Then I noticed a price tag (标签). I asked Dad why it was on my new toy. He sweetly said that Santa went to a special store for the gift and he was probably short on __________ and had forgotten to take the price tag off. Hearing this, I just smiled and said, “Oh, cool!” I was happy with my car and my father was happy knowing that I still __________ in Santa Claus.

To this day, that is my very favourite Christmas __________, because it was sweet that there was __________ who cared about a little kid and the joy and spirit of Christmas.

【推荐2】Last week I went to my son’s school and spoke about kindness to 60 kids and teachers and teacher assistants. After a small talk about the meaning of ________, I gave a ________ to the children—I told them to ________ a small story about an act of kindness that they had done and how that made them feel, or if they had ________ an act of kindness and how that made them feel. In what way had that act ________ them? Then I and the headmaster will choose the ________ ones, which will stand out for their feelings of sympathy and love toward others.

When I was waiting for my ________ I saw some teachers that were at the assembly (集会) passing by and I was ________ that they would tell me if they liked the ________ or not, but they didn’t say anything.

Then one little boy came to me and said: “You know, I enjoyed the ________ today.” “Okay then are you going to write a lovely ________?” I asked. “I’m not good at writing,” the boy responded. So I explained that I would be ________ if he could just write a phrase or two about an act of kindness.

He didn’t have time to talk to me because he was in a hurry to ________ his friends who were waiting for him, but in my heart that was a beautiful act of kindness. The fact that he was able to stop to ________ me for two minutes, to let me know that he had enjoyed the assembly was worth all the ________ I had put into preparing the talk for them.

【推荐3】My biggest survival story lasted for six months– six months of physical and mental struggle.

On the   ____to Altos, a town in California, Mom told me that the swimming coach she was   __ me to was an Olympian, and she hoped I would ___with the coach.30 minutes later, we drove through the gate of ___appeared to be an expensive club, and saw the coach waiting. Get into lane four, and do it quickly – you’re late.‖

That was the fastest I’d ever got into a pool, not knowingsomething worse was coming.Every day, the ____was so tiresome that I could   _____get myself out of the pool after the two-hour     ____. My coach ___shout at me whenever I did something ___. I was so nervous about this woman that even at school, I was     _____planning what to say and do at swim practice.

The only reason I   ____as long as I did was one girlI met there. People didn’t respond when I tried to   _____out to them.     _____this girl was an exception. I survived the training because I had someone who could ___me on. We ___for each other when the coach called us out. Sometimes, it seemedthat we were   _____the world when we were on that team. Finally,   ____this place just wasn’t for us, we ___left and I’ve never seen her ___. I obviously wouldn’t have died without her, but I definitely wouldn’t have improved so much as a   _____and just as a person.

【推荐3】I was sitting in a chair having coffee when a text message from a former colleague woke me from my daydreams.

“Do you want to______your rocking chair?”

I taught grades 1-2 for 17 years, and my dreams as a teacher were tied to that rocking chair. It was a ______ idea to have it in my class. Every day after break time, the class would ______ around it and listen to the story I was reading. When the students are close, they find the______ to share their stories, dreams and fears. The chair was part of my______, part of me.

______, I became unwell and couldn’t keep teaching. I experienced ______ anxiety and at last I was forced to ______ the job. With my life as a teacher ______ , I needed a new path. And I didn’t have to look far.

My husband and I adopted one of my former students in 2017. The complexity of______ a child who came to us at 9 years old changed our lives in ______ ways. But it inspired the part of me that enjoys being a parent. We spent countless hours staying with books—healing,______and solidifying (巩固) our family, which gave me a new purpose.

I joined a ______ group of local moms. For about a year, I met with them weekly for walks or coffee. We came together to share, and then I started giving and receiving help. I gave driving practice to a single mom with her learner’s license and received emotional support ______. I also took her son on hikes around the city. Another woman encouraged me to buy a stand-up paddleboard and gave me ______.

My family, my books, finding a new purpose and belonging in a(n)______—these are ______ the sense of self I used to prize as a teacher. I learned my ______ doesn’t need to change, I’m still honoring those core values ______ I am working as a teacher or not. What about that rocking chair? I______ at the text message, my answer was no, and I don’t need the chair. I’ll let it go to a new teacher!