【推荐1】My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father, who________from Indian Government service, had never traveled by air before, so I just took this________to make his experience wonderful. In spite of being asked to________tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.

The moment I handed over the tickets to him, the________was very obvious on his face. Just like a schoolboy, he was________himself busily on that day. We all went to the airport together, asking for a window seat and waiting________for the security check-in to happen. He was completely________himself and I, too, was overcome with________watching him experience all these things.________my parents were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with________in his eyes and thanked me, saying the trip meant a great deal to him.

As a child, did we think about the________our parents had to make to satisfy many of our wishes? Did we________say thanks for all that they have done for us? Many times, when my parents asked me some questions, I would actually answer back without________. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very________in answering. Now I realize how they must have felt at those moments. Let us realize that old age is a second________and just as we take care of our children, the same________and same care need to be given to our parents and elders.

_____my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say I'm sorry for making him________so long for this small dream. I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their________. Being old does not mean that they have to________everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.

【推荐3】My mom is a great cook. Thinking about things she cooked made my mouth_________. But when putting a beef steak in her pan, she_________ into the anti-cook. She could turn the best beef into something with the flavor of shoe leather.

Yesterday my brother Bud took me out for lunch and _______ steaks. I wasn’t _______, but since he was paying I figured I could choke down a few _______. When the waitress served our steaks, I was _________ at how good they smelled. Mom’s steak never _____ like that. The first bite was a wonderful flavor. Suddenly I________ why others spoke of steak fondly.

“You know,” I said to Bud, patting my _______ contentedly(满足地). “I used to think Mom was a great cook. But it’s hard to believe her steak come from the same _______ as these steaks.”

“Mom is a great cook,” Bud said. “But think about it. She _______ during the Great Depression.” That’s when she learned to cook. How often do you think they had steak? ______ never. It’s only been recently that they could _____ to buy steak. That’s why she hasn’t had a lot of _______cooking steak.

It suddenly ______ to me that nobody was perfect. Sandy Koufax was a great pitcher(投手), but he still ______ 87 games. Luciano Pavarotti was a great singer, but he occasionally _______ with his lower register(音域). Our strengths have elements of weakness. That is why great athletes still __________ and great actors still rehearse(排练). Because when it comes to it, _____ isn’t something we are; It is something we become. And that process of becoming includes learning and growing through both _________ and failure.

【推荐1】Peggy Lewis lost her house in a brutal tornado, but the tornado couldn’t take the one thing that meant the most.

One _______, Peggy Lewis and her husband, Harris Lee, were ______ the trees blow in the wind outside their home in Eureka, Kansas. The next, they were surrounded by glass from the house’s _______ windows. The roof tore off. The walls caved in. After the tornado had _______, it took a team of neighbors to take them to the hospital. “I thought we were going to_______,” says Lewis.

When the pair ______ to their property three days after that awful night last June, it was _______ that what remained of the house would need to be torn down. But _______ Lewis would let that happen, she wanted one thing—her family Bible.

Lewis had bought the Bible 35 years earlier, at the start of her _______. Like many folks, she’d used it to hold and preserve her ________ history: decades-old photos, a lock of her daughter’s hair, ________ a piece of a scarf her uncle had brought back from the Korean War.

The Bible was the first thing Lewis _______ when she returned to the house. It wasn’t ________ she’d last seen it, _______ top of a dresser in her bedroom. In fact, the dresser wasn’t there at all.

When two volunteers ________ to help the couple dig out, Lewis had one mission for them: “If you can find anything,” she said, “please find my Bible.”

After an hour of _______, one of the volunteers ran up to her. Lewis had tears streaming down her cheeks and a book in her hands. Stunningly, while many books inside the home had been destroyed beyond________, the Bible was still intact(完好无损), even though it had sat in the rain for days. “I________broke down,” says Lewis.

“I thought it was gone forever. It was a(an) ________.”

She knows that while every good book tells stories of catastrophic(灾难性的) weather and unlikely survival, this one actually________it.

【推荐2】Earthquakes are common; thousands of them happen each day. But most are too _________ to feel. During a _________ earthquake, there is often a great noise first. Then the earth _________ terribly and many houses _________ down. Railway tracks break and trains go _________ lines; a great many factories are _________; thousands of deaths are caused, and many more lose homes… _________ the great damage and deaths caused by the earthquake _________, other disasters such as fires often _________. More buildings are destroyed and more __________ caused.

Man knows the __________ of a possible earthquake, and for centuries man has been making researches on earthquakes. More than 2, 000 years ago, __________, a Chinese scientist named Zhang Heng __________ a machine which could find out from which __________ the seismic waves had come, and this machine is still __________ by scientists today. Now we know much more about earthquakes and __________ they happen, but we still cannot __________ exactly when and where an earthquake will happen, and cannot __________ it from happening. So earthquakes are among the __________ disasters in the world.

No one can stop natural earthquakes. __________, scientists can help stop earthquakes destroying whole cities and causing too many deaths.

【推荐3】After the earthquake hit Japan on March 11, many touching stories happened around me.

I had to walk home since all the _______ had stopped after the quake. On my way home I _______ an old lady at the bakery shop, giving out free bread, which made my heart _______. A middle-aged man was holding a sign that said, “Please use our toilet.” He was _______ his house for people to go to the restroom.

My friend wanted to _______ others. He stood in the cold with a sign “If you are okay with a motorcycle, I will _______ you to your house.” Then I saw him take one gentleman far away home!

The next day I drove to fill my car with gas. There was a _______ of gas and many gasoline stations were either closed or had very _______ lines. I got worried, behind 15 cars. Finally, when it was my _______, the man smiled and said, “Due to this situation, we are only giving $ 30 worth of gas per person. Is that all right?” “Of course, I’m just glad that we are all able to ________,” I said.

I saw a man at the evacuation(疏散) centre ________ when people brought food to him, the first time in three days that food had been brought to their centre. However, after he wiped the tears, his next ________ surprised me. “I am very ________ that we are provided with food. But people in the city next to us haven’t ________ any food at all. Please go to that centre as well.” And when hearing that, I realised there is a bright future on the other side of this ________.

【推荐2】Jimmy, an automatic mechanic, lost his job a few months ago. He has a good heart, but always feared to apply for a new job.

One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job_________. His appointment was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an elderly man wildly_________the tyre of his car._________there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy_________went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished_________the car, the old man asked him how much he owed him. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone in need, and he had to_________for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It’s the least I could do. Please, I insist.” Jimmy agreed.

Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of_________waiting to be interviewed. Jimmy still had some grease(润滑油) on him after the car_________, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer’s office with_________looks on their faces. Finally his name was called. The____________was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked, “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy’s heart____________. “With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy’s____________, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It____________that he was the General Manager of the company.

The manager said, “Sorry, I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into this office. I just know you’d be a trust worthy worker. Congratulations !” Jimmy sat down and they____________a cup of well-deserved coffee as he____________a new job at last.