【推荐1】One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Colorful ________ of various shapes and sizes filled the sky like beautiful birds. As the strong winds blew against the kites, a string kept them ________.

________ blowing away with the wind, the kites arose against it to fly higher. They shook and pulled, but the string ________ them facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, ”Let me go! Let me go! I want to be ________!“They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites ________ to break loose. “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly with the wind. ”

Yet freedom from being ________ simply put it at the mercy of an unfriendly breeze. It fell ________ to the ground and landed in a mass of weeds.

How much like ________ we sometimes are. The heaven gives us rules to ________. We can grow and gain ________ from them. Some of us go against the rules so ________ that we never succeeded reaching the heights. We keep part of the rules and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each try our best to reach the ________. We should recognize some of the rules that we may be ________ at are actually a steady force. It helps us achieve a higher ________.

【推荐2】No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own _______ .

I learned this lesson from a(n) _______ many years ago. I took the head _______ job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the _______ team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to _______ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t _______ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to _______ that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were _______ me. I had to change my _______ about their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little __________ . Most importantly, I began to treat them like __________ . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their __________ , we met every day and __________ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our __________ on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to __________ . Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a __________ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest __________ of my life!

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can __________ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and __________ them. I helped them to see themselves __________ , and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, but not born.

【推荐3】The park bench was deserted as I sat down beneath an old tree. I was feeling ________ for the world was trying to drag me down. And if that weren’t enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath ________me, all tired from play. He stood right before me and said with great ________, “Look what I found!”

In his hand was a flower, and what a________sight, with its petals (花瓣) all worn.________him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I forced a________smile and then turned away. But instead of leaving, he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his ________and declared with overacted (夸张的) surprise, “ It sure smells pretty and it’s ________ , too. That’s why I picked it; here, it’s for you.”

The flower before me was dying or dead. But I knew I________take it, or he might never leave. So I________for the flower, and replied, “Just what I need.” But________ placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then that I ________for the very first time that the boy could not ________.

At that moment I heard my voice trembling; tears shone in the sun ________I thanked him for ________ a very best one. “You’re welcome,” he smiled, and then ran off to play, unaware of the________he’d had on my day.

I sat there and wondered ________he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old tree. Perhaps he’d been blessed with true ________from his heart. Through the eyes of a blind child, I________ could see the problem was not with the world; it was me. And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I________ to see the beauty in life and appreciate every second that’s mine.

【推荐1】I always think how lucky I am that my work as a travel writer introduces me to extraordinary locations, experiences and people. However, my recent hot air balloon _______ over the breathtaking ancient temples of Bagan has proved the most impressive. Without _______ it will stay with me forever, and years later I can still smile at the fond _______.

There are over 2200 temples and pagodas (宝塔) on the plains of Bagan, _______ the 11th and13th century. For me, Bagan is the place where one makes the travel _______ a reality.

The sunrise hot air balloon experiences are popular so it’s best to book _______. My husband Ryan Wright and I were picked up at 5:10 am. After picking up some additional guests, we made our way to the _______ field. The pilots (飞行员) introduced themselves and _______ the basics of ballooning. They were warm, friendly and funny and set my nerves _______.

Then, before I even realized what had happened, we were ________ the ground. The earth just seemed to drop away from the hot air balloon. ________, I felt nothing when the ropes were ________ and we started to fly into the sky. Graeme suggested some of the best sights and photo ________ , starting with the sunrise.

Once the sun was up, the temples and pagodas were even more beautiful. Ranging from ________ groups of buildings to tiny structures, Graeme was keen to point out some of his personal favorites, as well as those buildings ________ restoration (修复) work. Who knew that bamboo scaffolding (脚手架) could be so beautiful ________ the sunrise?

With the end of our flight approaching, Graeme ________ us of safe landing procedures. I really ________ that he was so clear and focused on ________! We were soon back on solid land. A circle of chairs had been ________ for us to enjoy a light breakfast.

This hot air balloon journey was the most wonderful travel experience of my life.

【推荐2】It was six years ago that something unforgettable happened. My wife and I celebrated our 40th wedding _______ that year. We drove from Ontario into Alberta, then southward into Glacier National Park in Montana, and _______ to Yellowstone National Park.

It was a _______ spring day, and the Beartooth Highway had opened for the season just days before. Alongside the road, there was still a great amount of snow there. The scenery was so impressive that we made lots of _______ to record memories with my camera. At the highest point of the highway, I stopped at a lookout to catch the _______ views, with my wife in the center of my camera lens.

There were not many cars on the road. Sometimes, cars with energetic young tourists _______. And then we heard a motorcycle in the distance. The driver of the motorcycle, who wore dirty clothes, _______ behind our cars. As he _______ us, his only words were, “Give me your camera and get over there with your wife.” I must _______ I felt nervous that we might be robbed where we just created some beautiful memories. ________, he just took a picture of us, handed back my camera and rode off ________we could express our ________. The photo he took is one of the most valuable and ________ of our trip.

I learned my lesson somewhere I ________ expected it. We should never judge a man by his ________. If the motorcycle driver reads this story and remembers the situation, we would like to say “Thank you” to him.

【推荐2】I love old people. Two of my best Mends are eighty-nine. I never understood it,______ for some reason I’ve always been ______ to older people much more than children. I have such fond ______ of sitting with my grandfather before he died. We used to ______ him once a week, talk to each other for an hour or so, and then I leave. At the ______ of a very good friend, I started going to see him ______ my own. I value that I was able to hear his stories and ______ mine. When I announced that I made a decision against our custom and my family was giving me a ______ time, the words of my grandfather helped to ______ me through. He said, “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I ______ you.” That’s really all I needed to hear.

Later on, I ______ in a hospital and in a number of retirement communities. I have seen it all. When you get old, you get real. Everything is ______ — roles, the health of the body, memory, the people you love, your home. Whatever we want to hold tightly, whatever we think we are …it all ______ goes. What are we left with? This is the basic question that old age invites us to ______.

Once a famous poet said, “Go gently into that good night.” I say it depends on ______ or not you want to suffer. You can be angry at the dying of the light, but nature is going to take its ______. Can you stop a river from flowing? Can you hold back a baby when it is ready to be born? The more we allow ourselves to ______ into the changes that are happening the ______ the journey will be.

These are ______ that anyone, at any age, can benefit from. I so ______ them now, and only wish I had known them earlier.

【推荐3】“Have you checked the oil in the car?” my father used to say to me, his version of “Hello, hope you are well.” Sometimes our phone calls would begin with an inquiry about the oil and end with one about the________

Fathers have a lot of love to give, ________ it’s often supplied through the medium of ________ advice. In my experience: It’s mostly about your motor vehicle.

My student car — an old green Toyota bought for $500 — was the vehicle________his paternal affections. I bet it’s ________ been so. Back in ancient Rome, the father would test the son on the state of his carriage.

Why can’t fathers just say “I love you” or “It’s great to see you”? The point is: You just have to_______from the language that is Fatherlish. Listen closely enough and the phrase “I love you” can be ________in the slightly lengthier “I could come around Saturday and_______ the seal (密封圈) around the basic of your toilet because I assume that thing is getting really smelly.

The affectionate phrase “You made my life ________from the moment you were born” may be rarely heard but there is the more________ “I’ll hold the ladder while you get the leaves off the roof.”

When I was 17, I went on my first road trip in that Toyota. My father stood on the corner. “Highways are________ ” he said “so don’t try overtaking anything faster than a horse and carriage. And take a break every two________. And every time you stop for gas, you really should ________the oil.” At the time we thought his speech was pretty funny and would repeat “ horse and carriage” every time I sped up to overtake some other speeding vehicle.

Dad’s long gone now. But after all these years, I ________that had I owned a copy of the Fatherlish to English dictionary. I’d have understood that the speech my friend and I so ________ was simply dad’s attempt at affection.