【推荐1】I was cycling and noticed a person in front of me, about 1/4 of km. I could tell he was cycling a little_______than me and decided to try to catch him. I had about a km to go on the road_______turning off.

So I_____cycling faster and faster and every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. In a ________ I was only about 100 yards behind him, so I really_______ the pace and pushed myself. You would have thought I was cycling in the last leg of London Olympic triathlon(铁人三项).

____, I caught up with him and passed him by. On the inside I felt so good. “I beat him" of course, but he didn’t_________ know we were racing.

After I passed him, I realized that I had been so______ on competing against him that I had _______ my turn, had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to________and go all back.

Isn’t that what ______in life when we focus on______ with co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we are more _______or more important? We ______our time and energy running after them and we miss out on our own ________to our destinies(命运).

The________with unhealthy competitions is that it’s a never ending cycle. There will always be somebody ______you, someone with better job, nicer car, more money in the bank, more education, a prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, etc.____what life has given you, the height, weight & personality. Dress well & wear it ______. You’ll be blessed by it. Stay focused and live a(n)________life. There’s no competition in destiny. Run your own race and wish others well!

【推荐2】Between flights, as I sat in the Denver airport, a young man approached me. He sat beside me _________ my suitcase blocked the chair next to mine. There are many open seats. Why did he _________ this one? I thought. When he sat, I noticed the markings on his bag and his _________ camouflage (迷彩服) uniform.

He told me he had just come from Afghanistan. He was going home for a few days of leave. He said it was almost _________ to leave the war than to stay, leaving others _________. But he had to go back and this might be his _________ chance to see his mom.

I remembered how he scanned the room _________ as he talked and when he looked at me, his eyes kept no distance from me. He seemed to _________ something from me. I could not tell what it was. He said it was hard to stop scanning for _________. The day before, he’d been in the desert. Fellow soldiers, men under his command, had been blown into pieces around him. This day, he was in an airport trying to __________ the anger over flight delays, and the __________ for coffee. He didn’t know how to be, here in this place.

I thought maybe I understood. Only weeks before, my friend’s teenage son had dies suddenly. One evening, after spending __________ hours with a broken mother, I went to my daughter’s theater performance. In the crowded lobby before the show, mothers __________ about their seats and other small slights (怠慢). I felt confused and distant. I told the solider about this. He breathed deeply and showed a small smile. I had given him a little __________.

He’d seen something __________ during his military service. He knew what was real and what __________ in life. When he returned, he found it was hard for him to experience the __________. I realized this was what he wanted from me. He did not want the seat beside mine. He wanted to sit with me. He wanted to feel __________ and understood for a while between here and there.

I did not know his name, and how long his tour of duty would last. I hoped his mother had a __________ heart. We sat together until our flights were called and then said goodbye as the two __________ heading home.

【推荐3】That holiday morning I didn’t have to attend school. Usually, on holidays, Mother_______me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it. On this particular morning,  _________,I felt like getting up early.

I stood by my window overlooking the _________, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something _________ in life.

As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and go off, I _________ an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its _________ and a basket rags and bottles on its back-carriage. He _________ from one car to another, washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already _________ washing and cleaning about a dozen or more cars. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.

Several thoughts _________my mind as I watched him work. He wasn’t well-dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a(n) __________ T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern __________would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed__________ with life. There he was, working hard at his small business, __________ at passers-by and stopping to chat now and then __________ elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby.

There was a noticeable touch of__________ in the way he seemed to be doing things— __________the windscreen, then standing back to admire it; scrubbing the wheels and __________, standing back to see what they look like after the scrub.

It was a __________ to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a __________if one has good health and is willing to work hard. For a while I felt ________ of myself. Young as I am—just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the sun appeared above the horizon.

【推荐1】Running for a Dream

I will never forget that November day. It was hotter than normal. This was the _______ my father and I had waited so long for, because we had been working towards this race for three years. Dozens of familiar faces from church and school flashed across my view. They had come for me. I saw worry and excitement on my father’s face. Then the race began!

For the first two and a half miles， I felt _______ . I had never before been so ready for something. The weeks leading up to the race were filled with controlled _______and a strict diet. My friends hadn’t seen me in weeks, but they understood the _______ required to make my dream a reality. As in all of my races, I didn’t _______ out in the front, I loved the pleasure of passing people as my strength overtook their premature speed.

Then without warning, my strength began to decrease. Neck and neck with one of my greatest competitors, I could see the finish line. I had begun the final dash into _______ when my knees became weak and my legs gave way. Nothing I could do would make them _______ weight.

I watched as runners rushed by me. Although I knew my dreams of victory were destroyed, I had to finish the race. However, my legs hurt badly. With all of the _______ left in me, I got on my hands and knees and crawled(爬), inch by inch，across the finish line. Voices, both _______ and familiar, cheered me on. They gave me the courage to keep __________ until the very end.

The doctors were there in seconds, but my eyes searched the crowd for him. There was only one person I wanted to __________ to. I whispered, “I’m so sorry, Dad, I’m so sorry I __________ you.” He looked at me, saying, “You could never disappoint me. Sometimes these things just happen . All that matters is that you did your best.”

“But we worked so __________ . What about our dream?” He reached over for my hand and said, “Don’t you know that you are my dream and it has come true?”

It wasn’t long before my running shoes were back on, marking a __________ path for my journey, I learned that all of the miles, the tears, the sweat, and the pain my dad and I experienced together were not for a __________ . What I realized, though, was that to him, I was the greatest prize he had ever won.

【推荐2】The annual marathon in my town usually occurs during a heat wave. My job was to _________ behind the runners in an ambulance in case any of them needed medical attention.

As the athletes began to _________themselves, the _________ runners started to disappear. It was then that my eyes were _________ the woman in blue silk running shorts and a baggy white T-shirt. Her feet were turned in, yet her left _________ was turned out. Her legs were so disabled that it seemed _________ for her to be able to walk, let alone run a marathon.

I watched in _________ as she slowly moved forward. I didn’t say a word. As I watched her _________ to put one foot in front of the other, I found myself breathing for her and _________ her forward.

__________, she was the only runner left in sight. Tears __________down my face as I sat on the edge of my__________and watched as she pushed forward with __________ determination through the last miles. When the __________ line came into sight, trash lay everywhere and the cheering __________ had long gone home.

I do not know this woman’s __________, but that day she became a part of my life---- a part I often depend on. For her, it wasn’t about __________ the other runners or winning the prize, it was about finishing what she had __________ to do, no matter what. When I think things are too __________ or too time-consuming, I think of the last runner. Then, I __________ how easy the task before me really is.

【推荐3】Even if you’re a couch potato like me, you’ll know the benefits of running. But if you’re a real fitness fan, the ____ running challenge is to participate in a marathon. While many runners’ ______ is to beat their personal best and cross the finishing line without ______ , they’re also doing it for a good cause – to generate funds for ______ .

But just like other ______ events, the marathon also ______ a massive carbon footprint. Thousands travel - some by plane - to the location, and ______ from food packaging and goody bags gets left behind by ____ and runners. For example, during the London Marathon in 2018, ______ 47,000 plastic bottles were collected. This is becoming a big issue for cities – how to ______ a worthwhile event, encouraging people to exercise and help charities, while ______ the environment?

Several cities have ______formal plans to reduce their environmental influence and ______ sustainable (可持续的) ideas. One event in Wales, for example, introduced the recycling of ______ running equipment. The London Marathon tried to deal with the environmental problem by ______ the number of drink stations on the running route, ______ water in paper cups and offering some drinks in edible (可食的) seaweed capsules. They also tried new bottle ______ made from recycled plastic so 700 runners could ______ water bottles with them during their run.

Dr Andrea Collins from Cardiff University told the BBC: "Training for a marathon makes you more sustainable in day-to-day activities. I started walking or running to work every day and _______ private cars altogether. Being environmentally friendly becomes a good ______ ." So while you not be an excellent runner in a marathon, let’s hope the event, in terms of sustainability, certainly is!

【推荐1】I grew up in a small town. There was a man named Joe, who was uneducated and couldn't talk _______. He was good -natured but not very smart, _______ every one teased him.

One day when I was sitting on the porch, he came walking by. I was about 12 and thought it would make me _______ grown-up to play a joke on him as some _______ did.

He asked what I was doing, and I told him that my father had _______his job and that we were short of money. I could see my friends nearby _______ so I went on with the _______ . From his _______ expression, I'm convinced that I had fooled him _______.

I knew he lived a __________ life with low income, so it was__________ when he asked whether we needed anything. I told him that we didn't know if we would have enough to ____________, and he replied, " You poor thing.”

That night I heard a soft   __________ on the door. I thought it was the wind whipping against the door, so I ____________ it. The next morning I found a small box of food outside my home. I knew it was from Joe. I looked into the box of canned food with __________   in my eyes. I felt ashamed of taking advantage of his __________ for me. Later I__________ the whole story to my father and said I wanted to return the box. My father scolded me and __________ that I keep the box; otherwise it would hurt Joe's feelings.

Although the food was not __________ , I knew Joe gave the best he had. I did not __________ the gift.

【推荐2】I was standing across the lady in the laundry (洗衣店). I got angry as I thought she had _______ my pants. The woman stated _______ that I hadn’t dropped my pants there.

“Can’t you just check to _______ if there are some blue pants lying around somewhere?” I asked. She said that I didn’t bring any pants _______ she always double checked people’s orders. She went to try one more time and I thought about the last time I had seen them. When she _______ empty-handed, I suddenly had a(n) _______. “Hold on a second,” I said nervously. “I need to _______ my wife.” I asked my wife to look in the drawer (抽屉) where I usually collect the dirty clothes. Then I _______ until my wife got back on the phone. “Yeah, you’ve got some blue pants in here,” she said.

It’s not the first time I’ve _______ made negative assumptions (假定). Once I got ________   with a waiter who ignored me when I spoke to him from behind. When he finally ________, I realized he was deaf.

I always give myself ________ to read people’s minds and make assumptions with very little ________. We apparently think we don’t need to check our assumptions. We’re always ________ to give the thing a little bit of ________, which people need regardless of whether our assumptions are right.