【推荐1】I was five foot ten and weighed between 340 and 360 pounds；the exact number depended on whether it was before or after one of my big meals. I knew that I needed to _______.

"At every _______, just make sure that at least half of your plate is full of fruit and _______." And my doctor suggested I start with 20 minutes of easy exercise twice a day. "Something you can enjoy, like taking a walk. And I suggest that you go to _______ a dog."

"A dog is a good partner," she said. "Plus, you live in an apartment, which means the dog has to be walked. So you walk your dog twice a day, and that will be your _______."

"I've never owned a dog. What about a cat?" I asked.

"Have you ever seen anyone _______ a cat?"

My friend Casaundra said she had the _______ dog for me. There he was; a large black-and-white dog with a big round body. He looked up at me and then _______ his head with a clear look of _______. It was like, "Really? This loser?" I suppose I looked at him the same way.

I named him Peety, and we took it ________, just as my doctor had suggested. Peety weighed 75 pounds when a healthy ________ for him was more like 50 pounds. But on our first walk together, Peety took the lead. We made it halfway down the ________ and then came back. Luckily for me, he didn't walk very fast. You could ________ hear my footsteps on the sidewalk as I ________ each leg forward—thump, thump, thump, like the giant from "Jack and the Bean Stalk". The next day we made it to the ________ of the block. Soon he would ________ me around the block.

Over the next weeks, Peety kept ________ harder and harder on the leash(绳子). There were times when I couldn't ________, even though I'd dropped five pounds a week ________ I started the plant-based eating and walking.

We walked together for nearly five years, until Peety died of cancer. He'd come into my life, and simply by being here, he ________ me. And at that moment, I felt like the two of us could have done anything.

【推荐2】My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were______, and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.

One agent______a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was______our range, so we refused. But she kept urging us to have a look______. We finally did and it was______at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and______of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was , the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of______it would be like to live there.

Days later, we made a(n)______far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn’t______ us. They renewed their offer______. It was also much more than we could afford, but far______than the original asking price.

The next day, we got a______message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so , we decided to talk with the______directly. We made our final offer, which______was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer’s bid. We knew it,______we had to try.

【推荐1】Yesterday, a salesman called me to sell his phone plans. I was at work and I usually don’t like spending time on those things, so I _______ myself that I couldn’t talk yet and _______ that he call me back at 6 p.m.

That’s what he did. So we talked about 20 minutes. He _______ to me his different phone plans. While listening to him, sometimes I was _______ in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _______ that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit _______. But I stayed calm and _______ until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he said the following to me: “Thank you, Olivia. You are the first person in a long time with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. _______, people shout at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 a.m., I hadn’t had a phone _______ without an offense (冒犯), I know you had a long day at work and you could have________ in front of your TV. But you listened so carefully to me. I am ________ and I sincerely thank you.

It set me thinking. He had been the ________ of verbal (语言的) violence all through his working day. Physical ________ do not exist in this situation but dehumanization (非人性) seems to happen. ________, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of ________ that I hadn’t treated him so rudely.

【推荐2】A policeman moved along the street. Near the door of a dark shop a man was_______. “It’s all right, officer,” he said. “I’m Bryan and waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we agreed to_________ here tonight.”

Bryan appeared wealthy with a large_________ jewel in his necktie(领结). “Jimmy Wells and I _________together here in New York, like two_________. The next morning I was to start for the West. I was going to find a _________ and make a great success. We agreed that night that we would see each other here again in twenty years.” “I hope your friend comes all right.” the policeman said to Bryan and then_________.

About twenty-minutes he_________, and then a tall man in a long coat came across the street .He went _________ to the waiting man. “Is that you, Bryan?” he asked, uncertainly. “Is that you, Jimmy Wells?” cried Bryan at the door. The new man took Bryan’s__________ in his. “It’s Bryan!”

The two men started walking along the street, arm in arm. Bryan stopped suddenly at a shop bright with lights and __________his arm away. “You’re not Jimmy Wells,” he said.

“You’ve been under arrest for ten minutes, Bryan. Are you__________ with me quietly? That is __________. But first here is something I was asked to__________ you. You may read it here at the window. It’s from a__________ named Wells.”

Bryan opened the little piece of paper. He began to__________ as he read.

“Bryan: I was at the place__________. I saw the face of the man wanted as a(n)__________ by Chicago policemen. I didn’t want to__________ you myself. So I went and got another policeman and__________ him to do the job. JIMMY.”