【推荐2】Usually, my friend, eighty-four-year-old Mollie, is full of confidence and energy. Three years ago, Mollie decided to do something she had always ________ to do but never had the time or the ________ to be a ballet dancer.

In the beginning of her eighty-first year, she ________ her classes with my encouragement. Every Tuesday night for two years, she was to learn to dance. “There is no one ________ than me in the class,” she told us after her first session. “It’s too ________. Sometimes I think I will never learn ballet.

Though Mollie ________ and worried that she wasn’t good enough, we could see her excitement and ________ in learning about her religion. And we knew that once Mollie decided to do something, she would get ________.

Finally on one recent Saturday, we ________ at a local theater to enjoy Mollie’s ballet performance. When Mollie finished her dance ________ she looked at all of us, smiling, and the audience stood and applauded. As I stood, crying and clapping, I ________ all the things that Mollie had taught me during her time of ________ and study. She showed that to truly live your faith, you have to stumble (跌跌撞撞地走), to ________, to try again, to win. You have to let go of some of your deepest ________ and see what is beyond them.

Mollie taught me that it is never too late to ________ your heart.

【推荐1】“How many blankets do you have ready?” my husband asked. As a retired teacher, he didn’t work and stayed at home. He also saw it as a(n) _______ to drive to a hospital about seventy miles away where I’d regularly donated baby blankets for those families _______. “Twelve,” I replied. “How soon can you _______ the road?”

About two hours later, we arrived and handed the bags of blankets to a nurse who was _______.

“I was down to my _______ blanket,” she said, “and I didn’t know how I would get more.” Then she opened the bags and admired every blanket. We were pleased with the _______ of the delivery.

A decade earlier, I’d started donating home-sewn baby blankets. So far I have donated more than 1,200 blankets to several local hospitals. Creating something pretty and being in touch with _______ people also became “good medicine” at a time when I felt _______.

After hearing about my donation, more and more friends and strangers began _______ their sewing supplies. At a yard sale, a seller with cancer said she had more __________ cloth but needed time to collect it. When she called a week later. I __________ just a small bag of waste cloth. Instead, she brought several big bags containing large pieces of waste cloth. She seemed unwell and told me to sew these as __________ as possible. Within a few weeks, I sent her a thank-you note with a photo of fifteen baby blankets made from her cloth. A week later, she __________.

As I made more and more baby blankets, I was so tired that I fell ill. But I was __________ by what I had done. Because it helps me confirm that I am a(n) __________. person and that what I do in my free time is positive.

【推荐2】It was like finding a needle in a haystack. Shelly Romo surveyed what was ________ of her home in Maui, which was hit by a deadly wildfire, hoping to find her wedding ring, expecting to leave ________. But luckily, after three hours’ ________ with volunteers, it finally appeared, the diamond ________ but the band completely damaged. Romo and her husband went straight to No Ka’ Oi Jewelers — a local business that has been ________ fire-damaged jewelry free of charge.

No Ka’ Oi owner Omi Chamdi said he was one of the ________ ones — the fires had avoided his home and storefront. That’s why, in its aftermath, he immediately sprang into action and advertised ________ restorations. “When the fires here on Maui occurred, pretty ________ I decided this is something I can do and I really want to do for the ________ community.”

However, Chamdi doesn’t restore the jewelry himself; ________ he has been paying for the restoration services. When asked if he ever ________ that, he shook his head. “These are not just ordinary items, these are the most ________ possessions that people go back and dig through the ________ to find.”

________, Romo was not ready to say goodbye when the fires destroyed her home. But finding her wedding ring and getting it restored gave Romo some peace about ________.

【推荐1】Manuel Teixeira has reunited with the rescue crews who helped save his life after a big tree fell on him while he was working in Massachusetts on March 9,2024.

Officers Kenneth Almeida and Aaron Swartz _________ responded to the scene in Dighton, and found Teixeira, whose leg was pinned below a tree, _________.

Teixeira, 67, _________ life-threatening head and leg injuries while cutting down a tree on Oak Street. Almeida and Swartz quickly _________ the tree was unstable and dangerous to both the _________ and personnel on scene. They were _________ to take immediate action before the paramedics (医护人员) _________.

Then, Almeida and Swartz _________ to provide life-saving medical aid for Teixeira, "which _________ the use of multiple tourniquets (止血带)." __________, they were able to safely remove the tree from Teixeira,__________ technical lifting equipment. The tough __________ lasted 15 minutes. Teixeira was transported to the hospital nearby quickly, where his injured __________ had to be removed surgically, causing him to use a wheelchair.

Almeida and Swartz were honored for their __________. From the government, they received letters of __________ for their response to the __________, which saved Teixeira's life. They also had the opportunity to reunite with Teixeira, who is still __________ in the hospital.

"These officers saved this man's life by relying on the __________ training they've acquired throughout their years of wholehearted service and their __________ action," Dighton Fire Chief George Nichols said.

Meanwhile, Teixeira is __________. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here today," Teixeira said.

【推荐2】On a business travel, I received the most unexpected phone call from my wife. She suddenly burst out crying because she was having a baby on the way. Immediately, I________a smile, showing my unwillingness since we already had three kids.

Later on, we were both ________ , speechless and hopeless. We were frightened of the________challenges ahead. This was completely out of ________. A storm of ________ flooded into my mind, “How can we ever raise four kids? How am I going to manage the financial stress? We must ________ all the baby stuff again!” I complained daily. “This is unfair! I don’t deserve this ________! I cannot handle so much pressure!” Ten months passing, ________, a baby came!

I was in complete shock in front of a perfectly beautiful and ________ baby boy. Emotions were in control of me. I was full of ________trying to overcome the uncertainty of how I was going to deal with this brand new ________ in my life. This is how the best days of my life started!

Unbelievably, what makes all of us ________at home every day is my little “nightmare (噩梦)”. Over the past four years, my baby has been the No.1 ________of smiles at home. No words could fully ________ my contained joy. Everyone in my family has been ________ by what such a wonderful “gift” has brought to us.