【推荐1】When I asked my mom for piano lessons in 2010, we were in the fallout of the recession (经济衰退). She said a polite “No”.

That didn’t stop me. I searched for the ________ for a keyboard, drew the keys on a piece of paper and ________ it on my desk. I would click notes on an online ________ and “play” them back on my paper one — keeping the ________ they made on the computer in my head. Once my mom saw that I was ________, she borrowed money and bought me 10 lessons.

I still remember the first one. I was ________ by how real the sound of the piano was. I ________ my grade one test after eight lessons. But when I started secondary school, we couldn’t ________ lessons again. I passed grade five, practicing only on my piece of paper.

When I was about 13, my mom said she had a ________ for me; it was an electronic keyboard, bought with more ________ money. Later I found the Purcell School for young musicians. The tryouts (选拔赛) were ________. Some of the questions ________ an assessment of the composer or when the piece of music was written. I felt stressed out. To my amazement, I was offered a ________, At Purcell, I saved enough to buy my first piano.

I am now at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, one of the world’s leading schools. I feel proud: it’s been over 10 years ________ I drew my paper piano. I continue to do a lot of my practice away from the piano: what we call ________ practice. The paper piano helped motivate my curiosity about how music works.

【推荐2】My name is Jane Eyre and my parents died when I was a baby. For ten years I lived a(n) _______ life with my aunt and cousins who treated me unfairly. My cousins laughed at me and my aunt never showed me any _______ . The only person who cared about me was the maid, Bessie. One day my cousin John shouted at me: “You should go and beg, not live with _______ folks like us!” After fighting with him I was locked in a room, where I _______ for hours crying.

Things _______ the same until a tall gentleman called Mr. Brockchurst came to visit. My aunt told me that I was going to a school owned by the gentleman. “Train her to be _______ and humble(谦卑的),” said Aunt. Two days later I _______ my home.

At first my _______ at Lowood School was hard. The food was bad and I was often cold but I made _______ and enjoyed studying. But after an illness killed several students, new owners ________ the school and my life improved. Six years later I ________ a teacher and was very happy. But eventually I felt that I should explore more of the world and found a job as a private teacher in a ________ .

Before I left Lowood, I was ________ by Bessie, who told me that seven years ago my father’s brother had come looking for me but left again to go abroad. “He looked like quite a gentleman,” said Bessie. I ________ if he would ever look for me again.

My new life ________ at Thornfield Hall, a large country house, ________ a little girl called Adele. She was the adopted daughter of the owner of the house, Mr. Rochester. He ________ stayed at Thornfield, ________ my time was mainly spent with Adele and the servants. My life was quite ________ now although there was something ________ about my new home. Often I heard odd sounds come from the top floor of the house.

【推荐3】"Everything happens for the best, "my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that _________ disappointment.

Mother was _________. As I discovered after graduating from college in 1932, I had decided to hunt for a job in _________, then work my way up to sports announcer. I went to Chicago and _________ on the door of every station--but got _________ every time. In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't _________ hiring a(n) _________ person. "Go out in the suburbs and find a _________ station that'll give you a chance, "she said. I turned to Dixon. Illinois.

While there were no radios announcing jobs in Dixon, they had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to _________ its sports department. The job __________ just right for me. But I wasn't hired. My __________ must have shown. "Everything happens for the best, " my mother reminded me. Dad offered me the car to __________ job. As I left his office, my frustration __________. I asked aloud, "How can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was __________ the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, " What do you say about sports? Do you know anything about __________ ?"Then he let me stand before a __________ and asked me to broadcast a(n) __________ game. I did a 15-minute football occasional commentary（实况报道）, and Peter told me I would be __________ Saturday's game! On my way home, as I have many times, I __________ my mother's words: If you carry on, one day something good will happen.

I often wonder what __________ my life might have taken if I'd not gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.

【推荐1】My grandpa Joe is 85 and has been faithfully married to my grandma for 60 years. But now his memory is ________ and he’s really starting to slow down.

Yesterday, he asked me to take him to the ________ because he wanted to get out of the house. I was ________ that he asked me to do so because he shouldn’t be driving by himself. It would also ________ grandma to have the ________ to herself for a while, not having to worry about grandpa for a few hours.

I watched him, walking stick in hand, taking the tiniest ________ all around, searching through the shelves. I had no idea what he was ________; but, as I observed each item he put in the cart, I noticed a(n)________. They were some of my grandma’s ________ things.

He got the type of soda she liked. He ________ picked out a bag of seedless grapes she had talked about several days ago. He even ________ her a small lemon pie! And then, ________ filled my eyes as I watched him walking slowly to the fresh ________ and pick her the bunch of flowers that had the most purple, her favorite color.

On our way home, he ________ we stop and grab a sandwich to take home for grandma’s lunch. May we all take a lesson from Papa Joe: Never stop ________ for our loved ones.

【推荐1】When my son joined the high-school wrestling team last fall during COVID-19, my 83-year-old dad asked me to inquire if they needed an assistant coach. “He wrestled in university, ” I told the coach. I left out his _________.

A few days before the first practice, I e-mailed the coach to tell him my son’s _________ was 83, and in good health. I was _________. What if he didn’t_________ the team? I also pointed out that his hearing aids had sat _________ for five years. He just didn’t like wearing them.

At the first practice, Dad met the coach and told him he would do anything he was needed, even _________ the mats(垫子). When he and my son returned, they were both overjoyed. Dad made the team, but “God, I_________ I could hear the coach!” he said. One day, he realized he forgot his hearing aids as I dropped him and my son _________ for their practice. So we _________ for them.

In his free time, Dad borrowed Wrestling for Dummies from the library. He read up on different__________ and the scoring system. “They are a lot different from my __________ days. I must update them. ” he told me. He thought the coach and the kids in the club were __________ and kind. One of the__________ after each practice approached him and said, “Thank you for being here.”

COVID-19 has not allowed me to watch any of the __________. I relied on my father to give me the play-by-play of what is __________ in the wrestling room. I’m proud to be a wrestling daughter.

【推荐2】Heimaey is a small island off the southern coast of Iceland. But with its neighbouring islands, there ________ the world’s largest puffin colony (海鹦群). Each spring, puffins go to the islands to breed (繁殖). Around August, baby puffins ________ their way to the ocean. That’s when the ________ begins.

Baby puffins leave at night by instinct (本能) and follow the light of the ________ to the sea. But they are ________ by bright lights. Every year, a large number of baby puffins ________ lost. Worse still, the lost birds are ________ hit by cars or eaten by cats.

Each breeding season, the ________ of Heimaey start their own midnight adventure, which is called the Puffling Patrol. They formed search parties. ” When you see a bird, you try to ________ it and guide it into the box, “ Eldur Hansen, a 14-year -old boy says.

The next morning, they take the birds to the beach for release(释放). Over the years, kids have even developed a ________ method. ”You do not throw them like a baseball,“ Eldur says. ”You hold them in both hands. Then spread your arms out in front of you and let go. “ Before being set free, the birds are ________ and tagged(打标签) for tracking purposes.

“ Thanks to kids’ help, we scientists have learned that baby puffins now weigh less. That means they have a ________ chance of survival , ”says Erpur Hansen, Eldur’s dad, a researcher in the Southeast Iceland Nature Research Center.

Scientists worry puffins will ________ completely. But the kids give ________ to Erpur Hansen. “The story is that people can make a(n) ________”he says.     Each time these kids help a bird get back to the ocean, they show us that.