【推荐1】I was going to see my grandma Ruthy.

Approaching her apartment, I was suddenly seized with the _______ that I was going to die one day. I walked in to see my grandmother sitting on the sofa, _______ and pale. Once she would have _______ me in her huge bear hug, but now it seemed like the sofa was going to have her _______ alive.

I knew I was supposed to hug her but I wanted to _______ . I didn't want to even make eye contact with this woman that I had loved so _______ , because if I did, maybe death would _______ from over her shoulder and touch me too.

My grandmother, dying of cancer, _______ pulled herself to the edge of the sofa and _______ herself up and said, "So where are we going for dinner? '' I turned to my mom ________ I didn't know what food went with dying.

The next minute, we ended up ________her off the sofa, down the steps, into the car, and driving to the closest ________. She hadn't managed solid food in weeks, and could ________ do a sip(一小口) of water due to the pain. But she ordered a large cup of beer. We ate and she drank. ________ , there was no death. There was no cancer. There was a moment like that in every ________ .

Then we said ________ . I was waiting for the icy cold hand of ________on my heart.

But I didn't feel it, because she had ________ a shield(防护物)around me ---the meal.

The last ________ my grandma Ruthy taught me is that one day, I'm supposed to look over my shoulder and say, "Hello, Death. Before we go, I'm going to have one more ________.''

【推荐2】There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot (弹弓) to ________ out in the woods. He practiced over and over again, but he always ________ the target (靶子).

Getting a little ________, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back, he saw Grandma’s pet ________. Just out of impulse (冲动), he let the slingshot fly, hit it in the head and ________ it. He was shocked and upset.

In a panic, he ________ it in the wood pile (堆), only to see his ________watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After ________ the next day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said,   Grandma, Johnny told me that he wanted to ________ in the kitchen,” Then she whispered in his ear in a very low voice, “Remember, the ________?” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go ________, and Grandma said,”I am sorry but I need ________ to help me make supper.” Sally just ________ and said, “Well, that’s all right. But Johnny told me he wanted to help.” Then she whispered the same words in Johnny’s ear again. So Sally went to the lake with her grandpa with fishing poles (杆) and Johnny ________ to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t________ it any longer. He came to Grandma and ________ that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I saw the whole thing at the ________ while I was cooking in the Kitchen, but I ________ you because I love you. I was just ________ how long you would let your sister Sally make a(n) ________ of you.”

【推荐3】My father was a self-taught mandolin player. He could not ______ music, but if he heard a tune several times, he could play it.

Dad loved playing the mandolin for his family, because he knew we enjoyed his playing. He was like that. If he could give ______ to others, he would, especially for his family. He was always ______ his time and efforts to making sure his family had enough in their life. I loved to sing, but I never learned to play the man do lin. This is something I ______ to this day.

Nobody played the mandolin like Dad. He could ______ your soul with tunes coming out of that old man do lin. He seemed to ______ when playing, taking pride in his ability to play so well.

In 1977, Dad was involved in an ______ leaving his third finger of his left hand wounded seriously. ______ he didn't lose enough of the finger where it would stop him picking up anything, it did affect his ______ to play the mandolin. After the accident, he was ______ to play. Every time we asked him to play, he would make excuses. ______ we persuaded him and he would say “Okay. But I can't hold down on the strings and play as well as before.” For the family it didn't matter that Dad couldn't play ______ .We were just ______ that he could play. When he played the old mandolin, it would carry us back to a cheerful, happier time.

In August 1993, Dad was diagnosed with serious disease. He chose not to receive any chemotherapy (化疗) treatments ______ he could live out his rest life in dignity (尊严). A week before his death, we asked Dad if he would play the mandolin. First he made the usual ______ again but later said “Okay”, ______ it might be the last chance for us to hear him playing. He tuned up the old mandolin and played. Looking around, I found there was not a ______ eye in the family. We saw before us a quiet man with the ______ in his heart that lives with him all his life.

Dad would never play the mandolin for us again. We felt at the time that he wouldn't have enough strength to play, and that makes the ______ of that day even clearer. Dad was doing something he had done all his life, ______ . As sick as he was, he was still pleasing others. Dad sure could play that mandolin!