【推荐2】The wisdom my 77-year-old father has passed on to me came more through osmosis (潜移默化) than lectures. My dad's ______shines through all my life.

Old age hasn't ______him, mainly because he doesn't think almost-80 is old. He had ever trained for a charity (慈善) ______across the Hudson River in New York. He wore his custom-fitted diving suit, but he still got so ______. We warmed him and wrapped him in a sleeping bag. "Oh,______, it isn't that bad," he'd say, "I am fine. " He always is. He did______the Hudson swim a month later.

If you ask my father whether or not his life has been hard, he will say he is______. He means the kind of happiness that comes from ______a well-cooked family meal, taking a good long run or growing a perfect tomato. Did I mention that he used to run marathons before his knee replacement surgery? He's the one who______me I could do it, too. "______can run a marathon," he said, "as long as you keep training. "

My father was born in 1933. His childhood took a ______at the beginning of World War Ⅱ : His father joined the French Army and was______by the Germans and spent the war in a prison camp. My dad and his mother and sister were shipped off to New Jersey to live with relatives. His mother______from depression, and Dad went to boarding school in New England from the sixth grade on. Yet in all Dad's dinner table ______, there have been many times when he turned them into______stories.

After a family dinner the other night, Papa Bob advised us to try the skydiving ______ "Sixty-five seconds of free falling," he said. "I______it. I should have been a paratrooper”

He loves getting cards in the mail, and usually I'm______, so instead I call him on Father's Day. But this year I've______ to be early for once. I want to let him know how much he ______ to me. Dad, thank you--for all of it and mostly for your enduring faith that everything will be OK.

【推荐3】He met her at a party. She was outstanding; many guys were after her, but nobody paid any attention to him. After the party, he invited her for coffee She was surprised, but she went along.

As they sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too _________ to say anything and she felt uncomfortable. _________ he asked the waiter, “Could you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee.” Everyone tuned to him and he turned red. _________, she asked, “Why put salt in the coffee?” He _________, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I could feel its taste salty like salty coffee. Now every time I drink it, I think of my childhood and my hometown. I miss it and my parents, who are _________ there.”

She was deeply touched. A man who can _________ that he’s homesick must love his home and _________ his family. She talked too, about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family. That was the star to their love story. They continued to _________. She found that he met all her _________. He was tolerant, kind, warm and careful. She would have missed the catch if not for the salty coffee!

So they married and lived happily together. And every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt, the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he __________ and left her a letter which said: My dearest, please __________ my life-long lie. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous that I asked for salt instead of sugar. It was hard for me to ask for a(n) __________ so just went ahead. I never thought that we would be a perfect match. Many times, I tried to tell you the truth, but I was afraid that it would __________ everything.

Sweetheart, I don’t really like salty coffee. But as it __________ so much to you, I’ve learnt to enjoy it. Having you with me was my greatest happiness. If I could live a second time, I hope we can be together again, even if it __________ that I have to drink salty coffee for the rest of my life.

【推荐1】When I was a child my father taught me five words that I've used all my life- in my acting career,as a mother,in my business activities.If I _______ that I was afraid of the dark,or if I seemed worried about meeting new people,Dad would say, ＂Stand porter to your_______."

A porter is a gatekeeper,who stands at a door _______ people in or out.Dad would get me to _______myself stopping destructive things--such as fear-at the door,_______ saying“Come in"to faith,love and self-assurance.

As an actress,before I went on camera,I'd make sure anxiety_______ and confidence in my ability came in.As a mother,when I was _______about my children, I would try not to let worry in but would _______my mind with trust in them.

Of course,there were always times I'd_______ those words.

In 1972 my husband,Fillmore Crank,and I opened the doors to our own ________in North Hollywood.This was a new business venture for us,and it was a lot more ________and complicated than we had ________.

We were on call 24 hours a day.Something was always going ________. Electricity went on the blink,food wasn't delivered,employees called in sick.Once, a flu epidemic ________ left us with no maids.Fillmore gave me a ________:scrub floors or do the laundry.For 10 days I folded enough king-size sheets to________ the whole state of California.

Then there was the________ crisis.The price of gasoline doubled,and tourism in California ________.How could we fill our beds?What if we kept losing money? What if we failed?Fear and worry were sneaking in.But I caught them just ________.I stood porter.

I stood in the door of my mind and sent fear packing.

These days at the hotel,whenever fear tries to________,I just smile and point to the sign that reads No Vacancy.

【推荐2】This is really simple but I was caught off guard (措手不及). As my son and I were _______a restaurant today, I _______the door for several older couples going in and out. Just as I was about to let it go, I saw someone coming around the corner so I _______. She saw my little boy and told me to go first. I told her to _______because I wasn’t in any _______— we’re still technically on vacation.  _______, we’d had our lunch.

I’ve held doors _______I was a kid because that’s what my mother _______me in and now I just do it out of _______. Maybe people will say thanks, but most of them ________blow past like the world ________them something or whatever excuse they make for ignoring that ________.

This girl, however, ________a big smile, saying "Thank you". It’s a tiny thing and she probably didn’t even ________its effect.   But I could suppose she ________appreciated it. It wasn’t until she was in the ________and walking past that I found she was a beautiful girl, so I’m not the first person to open a door for her. I just got back from Florida, was dirty and ________and hadn’t even showered yet. I am 99% sure it had nothing to do with my ________. I can only assume she was actually ________.

Anyway, this probably wouldn’t mean anything to most people but I valued her sincere________.

I was driving home in a rainstorm on a cold March morning in the mountains of my home. Part of me was _______ the rain thinking that it would clean the mud, salt, and dirt that covered my_______ from weeks of winter driving and _______ me a trip to the car wash. Another _______ of me was keeping a watchful eye on the streams and rivers hoping that the_______ snow and freshly falling rain wouldn’t lead to any flooding.

A deeper part of me, however, was quietly dreaming of the _______ weather and strengthening sunshine to come in the weeks _______. I knew that they would stop with this nourishing (滋润的) rain to turn the yellow grass _______, to bring new buds and leaves to the trees, and to cause the million flowers _______ underground to push their heads ________ the soil and start the Spring. It would be that glorious time when the whole world comes back to ________ again and it was all starting with this steady, March ________.

The rains in our own lives can bring ________ blessings. Storms of problems and troubles can ________ us with stress and pain. They can make our days seem ________ and boring. They can make our hearts feel heavy and sad. ________, these same storms can also________our spirits.

They can help our souls to ________. They can lead us to learning and ________. They can cause our hearts to________to God and to each other.

【推荐1】I have received many gifts in my life. I’ve never been the kind of person to say “it’s the thought that _______” when it comes to gifts. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when my kids gave me a present that _______ me away.

For years, I’ve been wanting to _______ our house, the place where my husband and I raised our kids. But to me, this house is much _______ just a building. In the front room, there’s a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines, marking the _______ of my children’s growth. Every growth stage is marked in grey, with each child’s name and the date when they were _______. Over the years, I’ve talked about how much I would hate leaving that wall behind when I moved, even though the _______ marks were made 10 years ago when my kids stopped growing.

So one day, while I was at work, my children _______ a professional photographer whose work is about _______ the beautiful things in life, from clear lakes and skies to diamonds and ball gowns. She came to our house and over several hours, took photos of the hundreds of drawings, ________ and little grey fingerprints. Somehow, she managed to photograph all those years of memories ________. Afterwards, she put all the ________ together into one image, transforming them into a beautiful ________ of my family.

Three weeks later, my children’s ________ gift made its way to me — a life­size photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that represents the lifetime of all my family members, especially of my children’s love and ________.