【推荐3】After working for nearly a decade at the same dead-end job with no advancement and no pay increases, I was considering leaving the profession for good. One day I was offered the position of Office Manager for a _________ firm. My job would be to organize the office, hire and fire as needed, and help turn a losing operation into a profitable one. The owner offered me a salary I’d only dreamed of along with many other benefits, and it took me only two seconds to _________. With the owner’s _________, I hired my husband.

As our income increased, so did our _________. We moved from our small apartment to a large, beautiful home _________ with high-end furniture. We even had two cars. By all _________, we were living our dream life.

Unfortunately, months later my husband and I were _________ because of the reorganization of the firm. We found new but poorly-paid jobs. We had no other _________ but to move out of our house into a tiny apartment. The furniture and one of our cars were _________.

The sudden __________ was heartbreaking. But it turned out to be a __________. It forced us to __________ what we really wanted out of life and what we needed to do to get there.

It’s been years since we started our new __________. And our lives did __________ for the better. I can honestly say we’re truly living and __________ our dream life.

【推荐1】As far back as I can remember, the pickle jar sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents’ bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would _________ his pockets and put his coins into the jar. As a small boy, I was always attracted by the _________ the coins made as they were dropped into the jar.

I used to sit on the floor in front of the jar and _______ the silver circles that shone like a pirate’s treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window. When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the _________. Settled neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Every time Dad slid the box of _________ coins toward the cashier at the bank, he would smile _________. “These are for my son’s college _________. He’ll never work at the mill all his life like me.”

We would always _________ each deposit by stopping for an ice cream. I always got chocolate. Dad always got lemon. When the clerk at the ice cream store handed Dad his _________, he would show me the few coins in his hand. “When we get home, we’ll start __________ the jar again.” He always let me drop the first coin into the empty jar.

No matter how tough things got at home, Dad __________ to drop his coins into the jar. __________ the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill and Mama had to __________ dried beans several times a week, not a single coin was taken from the jar.

My dad was a man of few words and never __________ me on the values of determination and faith. The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more __________ than the most flowery of words could have done.

【推荐2】Neighborliness is part of Chinese culture. People who _________ in the same residential compound became good friends. My friend Lao Ma is one of these old friends and neighbors.

Lao Ma is a traditional Chinese guy who puts friendship and loyalty above his own _________. He has helped almost everyone in our group but has never _________ us for help. When he first started working, Lao Ma _________ about 1000 Yuan per month. But when he heard a friend of his _________ needed money, without _________ he borrowed here there and offered his friend 5000 Yuan.

Lao Ma got _________ on June 19 this year. Chinese people generally like to invite all their friends and relatives to a feast on the occasion. Lao Ma _________ chose to hold a _________ auction (拍卖) where he put presents from friends up for bid. When Lao Ma announced his intentions for the wedding, we were __________ astonished, but later __________ the idea. After all, it just underscores (强调) his penchant (嗜好；倾向) for putting others __________ himself.

More than 200 people were __________ at Lao Ma’s wedding. Perhaps because of the auction, many more people than __________ arrived to celebrate and bid. Ma and his wife gave the profits from the auction to a charity to help those in need.

Lao Ma is a model neighbor and many others have been __________ by his friendship and generosity. Lao Ma likes to say, “Love me, love my neighbor.”

【推荐3】Steven Chilvers and his wife Dawn, realised their two-year-old daughter Emily wasn’t hitting her milestones at the same pace as her twin sister._______, after a psychological assessment, Emily was diagnosed with autism (自闭症). But instead of feeling_______, Steven and Dawn were pleased they had a diagnosis, and they could _______ to find therapies to help their daughter.

As they noticed Emily _______ animals, especially big ones, the devoted parents considered how dogs could help ease her _______. After conducting some of their own research, they _______ a charity called Dogs for Good. It matches people living with_______with specially trained assistance dogs, which the couple thought it was a(n)_______ idea for their daughter.

After filling out the paperwork, they waited for a(n)_______ for their daughter with patience. __________, they were paired with Oslo, an 18-month-old black Labrador, who had been through a four month training programme to __________ things like socialization and how to __________ different situations.

Since Olso __________ the family, he has been critical in helping Emily __________. According to Steven. Emily was really __________ the day Oslo moved in. The family let him have a run around in the back garden and the girl couldn’t take her eyes off the __________. Since then. Emily has become less and less anxious. And now she is delighted to hold onto Oshamess (背带) and go for a walk with her parents.   

“She’s really __________being with him and once she even reached out her arms to __________ him. For a child with autism, that’s a __________ thing and clear evidence of her __________with him, ” Steven said.