【推荐1】It was a cold winter's night when I stopped for gas on my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight________. I worked in a________doctor's office and this was one of those days when the unexpected happened, making the schedule run________than usual. It seemed I was going to be late________home and my husband, being the________person, would be ready to pronounce（宣告）me late once again. Maybe________I hurried, I could still make it home on time.

I was heading inside to________for my gas when I noticed an old couple at the counter. I heard them asking for the________to the local hospital. It was the same hospital that I had just________a few minutes ago.

The young man at the counter was trying to be________in explaining how to get there, with two other people making________. One of them was________trying to give them a whole different route back. It was then that I walked over to the couple and said, "Would you like to follow me to the________?"

A look of________crossed the woman's face.

"I'm going right by there," I said, which wasn't a________since I had just made up my mind to do________that.

I got in my car and began the journey back. I was trying to watch to be sure they were right________me. It took only fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour traffic was beginning to________. I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly gone.

Later, as I arrived home, my husband________, "So you aren't ever late any more."

I said, "Sometimes it's________to be late."

【推荐2】Misty didn’t always feel so confident in herself. The challenges she has _______ over almost 20 years of dancing have made her strong.

At the young age, Misty was a shy child and _______ the spotlight (聚光灯). But she loved _______ and movement. When she was 13, her coach _______ she attend a free ballet class at the Boys & Girls Club. At first, Misty was _______ to join in and felt out of place in the class. _______, she discovered that her body—especially her long legs and flexible _______—was just right for ballet, which _______ her up. However, at the age of 19, she suddenly gain _______.“My body changed ________ over the course of several months,” she says. Misty had always been long and ________, which was considered “perfect” for a ballet dancer’s body. But now, she says, “I was being told that my proportions (比例) just weren’t right any more.” ________, Misty was the ________ African American in a company of 80 dancers. So she sometimes felt as if she didn’t fit in. Misty says this time was “one of the ________ moments of my life.” Even though Misty felt discouraged, she didn’t break ________.She talked with others who had struggled with similar problems. With the support of these friends, things slowly ________.

Today, Misty says, “I’ve learned to accept my appearance, skin color, and figure.” She wants to help other dancers ________ themselves, too. In her own book, Firebird, Misty tells readers to ________ their dreams: “No matter what that dream is,” she writes, “you have the ________ to make it come true with hard work and ________.”

【推荐3】When I was young at school, I loved to talk, a characteristic not always appreciated by Miss Jordan, my tenth-grade English teacher.

She was a teacher no one wanted because she was so ______. She stood about five-foot-five, was very thin and wore her hair pulled back in a way that gave her a horsy ______. She wore those half-circular reading glasses. Whenever she got upset, she would lower her head and look at you over the top of her glasses.

One day in her class I was busy talking. I didn’t ______ she had stopped teaching and was ______ straight at me. “Young lady, I would like to see you after school.”

Later Miss Jordan ______ in a low, but very firm voice that showed she expected me to listen when she was talking. For ______ she told me to write a thousand-word essay on education and its effect on the economy. She wanted it in by the following Wednesday.

Well, I met my deadline. I was ______. It was a good paper. And I expected a sign of ______ from her. The next day in class,______, she was looking at me over her glasses. She called me forward and ______ my paper. “Go back and rewrite,” she said. “Remember, each paragraph is supposed to begin with a topic sentence.” When she gave my paper back a second time, she ______ the grammar. The third time, the spelling. The fourth time, it was punctuation. The fifth, it wasn’t neat enough. I was ______!

The sixth time, I rewrote the whole paper ______, in ink, leaving generous space. When she saw it, she removed her glasses and smiled She finally ______ the paper. After that, I put the whole thing out of my ______.

Two or three months passed. One day Miss Jordan came into the class and said to us: Class, do you still ______ an essay contest held citywide? They’ve announced the ______. I am happy to inform you that Mary has won third prize in the essay contest ‘On the Impact of Education on the Economy’.”

I was amazed and ______. It was the first time I had ever won a prize. Years later, I told a reporter that story, and my comments — including my unfriendly ______ of Miss Jordan’s appearance. Miss Jordan wrote me, and said that her appearance wasn’t what was important. What was important was the ______ I had learnt. When I wrote and rewrote that paper for her, I began to learn how to discipline myself.

【推荐1】I was riding the train home from a downtown Chicago courtroom (法庭). I was sitting in my seat, in tears (眼泪), looking out of the window, hoping no one would _______. My husband and I had just ended our marriage, and my heart was filled with _______. I had never felt so frightened and alone.

_______, a hand appeared — the tiny beautiful hand of a woman. She _______ me a small envelope (信封), then smiled and disappeared before I could even look into her eyes and express my _______. On the outside of the envelope were a rainbow (彩虹) and a sun, drawn _______ in pen. Inside it were the _______ words I had ever read:

I know you don’t _______ me, but I was watching you there _______, and my heart goes out to you. Know that __________ I am only a stranger to you, I feel your pain and I __________. It may not seem that way, but the sun will __________ again and you will see the rainbow.

Love,

Someone who cares

I never saw the __________ again. But sill, this mysterious __________ has remained deep inside my heart. It always tells me that we are never __________. In reaching out to me in my __________, this woman filled me with a __________ love. It makes me realize that no matter how sad my life seems there is always __________. And more important, her act of __________ woke me up to the amazing connection between human beings. I know now if I take one minute, one second, to stop and show love and care to others who may be hurting, I can make a(n) __________.

【推荐2】About a year ago, I had to spend a week in a hospital, because of the deadly food poisoning. There I met an elderly woman, who   _____     to be a professional musician. That time when I met her, the idea of learning to sing didn't       _____       my mind. I thought it was something     _____     and not meant for me, like being an airplane pilot.

And only recently, I suddenly decided to learn singing. I was     _____       my dog early in the morning. I sang     _____       to myself and it made me feel so wonderful.   At that moment I     _____       I had known more good songs and how to control my     _____     better. And then I thought, why didn't I take any singing lessons? Of course, it was not a practical skill that I could use at work, but not everything in this life is about actual _____   and income.

It was easy to find that woman.   I remembered her name and there was only one   _____   college in our city.   I was afraid she would reject me because I was a terrible amateur.   But she took my request very     ______. She understood how important music was     ______       one's soul.   In my first lesson, she sat at the gorgeous big piano and       ______       some rising notes that I had to repeat.   At first I was terrified to make a sound because I feared being judged and criticized. But my teacher was kind and professional. However， she was strict when she knew I could do better.

Learning to sing was like learning to walk.   It was like       ______ that all your life you had some superpower but were not aware of its   ______. Singing taught me more than just being able to take some high or low     ______.   Most importantly, it taught me to be braver about expressing myself and my opinions.