【推荐2】“You’re going to buy me a bicycle?” I asked in_________. “Have you forgotten how old I am?” “No, I haven’t, and what_________does it make? Everybody of our age who travels in a motorhome has bicycles,” my husband said. I could not believe my ears.

When I was six, a girl was hit by a car while riding a bike and_________instantly. My parents told me bicycling would kill me. So, I never_________to ride.

But after I had children, I satisfied their_________to own bicycles and taught them to ride at an early age. Of course, I never_________that I would buy one for myself.

_________, I didn’t want to mess up my first travel before it started and I knew I needed to face my_________, so I decided to go along with this. One is never too_________to learn a new skill, I told myself.

After buying a bike, we were on our way to my first__________. With sweaty hands and a flying heart, I__________held the handlebars(车把) and balanced on those two wheels. There were a few sudden stops and__________starts over the course of the next thirty minutes, but I did it. I learned how to ride a bike.

Since that day, I have__________throughout Texas, California and Virginia. Bicycling has truly__________my retirement years, given me more self-confidence and, more__________, taught me that a simple, courageous act knows no age.

【推荐3】When it comes to school and schoolwork, I prefer to be an engaged parent rather than an involved parent. “Engaged” means I ask if they have homework, and I _________ nearby, doing my own thing. When it gets completed, I _________ if the kids ask for help. Being “involved” _________ digging through their school bags, doing anything for them.

I am _________ familiar with a mother who still made haircut for her 20-something son. Loving? Perhaps. _________ it’s not helpful to independent development. When I draw a hard line on not bringing forgotten _________ to school, I’m not trying to be _________. And they know I am not saying “You should remember your lunch or I’ll _________ you with something you don’t like.” Instead, I’m saying, “You are in charge of _________ your lunch. I know you will because you like to eat what you brought from __________.”

I __________ that I have sometimes even tried to __________ something. Last year, when my second-grader was forgetting to return his homework to school, I told his __________, “Don’t hesitate to mark him down for __________ homework.” I know that meeting real world’s __________ is often a more powerful force than just what parents want him to do.

So what did we do about __________ and signing the second-grade homework? I told my son’s teacher that I wanted to encourage his sense of __________, and asked if we could try it for a while. She happily agreed, and so for the rest of the year I __________ his homework to my son. There were far more items with high marks if I’d had a __________ hand to punish them, but I’m hoping a lighter touch and a little __________ will lead to a capable (能干的) child — and adult.

【推荐1】Many years ago, because I didn’t have a car, my daughter, Sarah, had been driving me everywhere. At 60, I couldn’t get used to ________ on anyone else. I desired for ________.

One day, Sarah drove me to a local senior citizen center, where I encountered a flyer, advertising the taxi service. As a nurse, I had spent much time looking after my patients, and I had ________ to my daughter, too. When I retired, I felt my life was ________. I’d hoped working as a ________ in this center would help me find my value. However, not having a car, I felt it would be a ________. If the taxi could serve me, I would get rid of the worry.

Then I dialed the number. But the ________ was received by an answering machine. So I left a message. That was really a ________. Disappointed, I went back home. Suddenly, the phone rang. “This is Jenny. You have the wrong number. I’m not the head of the taxi service center”. My heart ________ as I was still stuck. “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” I said, trying to ________. “I was just trying to find a ride.” She said ________, “I can do it”. I could feel her firm tone. But I ________. Could I take ________ from strangers? But eventually, I persuaded myself to accept her kindness.

The next day, I saw Jenny ________ at the door. Taking Jenny’s car was like driving with an old friend, and we cherished our ________. Later, I no longer depended on Sarah’s car Jenny and I had our own life, and we often did good without getting paid together.

【推荐3】One day Christopher Columbus was at a party that a Spanish gentleman gave in his honor. People were saying, “What a great _________you have made!” However, several people present were envious of him. They began to try to make Columbus_________.

“You have discovered new _________beyond the seas,” they said, “but what of that? Anybody can _________across the ocean and anybody can coast along the islands on the other side. It is the_________thing in the world. All you need to do is sail west. That’s not a(n)_________ feat (功绩).”

Columbus made no _________, but after a while he took an egg from a dish and said to the company, “Who among you, gentlemen, can make this egg_________on end?”

“That’s impossible,” the host replied, “You would need to be a _________to do that.” One by one, those at the table __________ the experiment. __________, none of them succeeded.

After a short silence, Columbus took the egg and struck its small end __________upon the table so as to __________the shell (壳) a little. After that, there was no __________in making it stand upright. “Gentlemen,” said he, “what is easier than to do this which you said was impossible? It is the simplest thing in the world. Anybody can do it—AFTER HE HAS BEEN__________HOW!”

【推荐2】A 12-year-old artist from Iowa is using his artwork to raise awareness and money for children’s cancer.

When Arsh Pal was eight years old, he was ________ painting supplies for his birthday. He ________ painting watercolor canvases (油画), and had made so many that he began ________ some of them to his family and friends as gifts.

As ________ went on, Pal got even better at painting, and his paintings grew in ________ in America, especially among the young people.

________, he started selling his paintings and ________ 100 percent of his proceeds (收入) to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He set a ________ to raise $1,000, which he quickly ________. Since then, Pal has ________ more than $15,000, and has donated, to at least five charities ________ St. Jude, Easterseals, Make-a-Wish foundation, Compass to Care, and the Riverview Center.

For all of his hard work and ________, Pal was recently honored with the Diana Award, a ________ youth humanitarian award named after the late Princess Diana. The ________ is given to “outstanding young people” between the ages of 9 and 25 who are “________ creating and sustaining positive social change.”

“I’m from Iowa and everybody else is from everywhere else,” Pal told Des Moines Register. “I feel really ________ that I’m getting it because it’s a pretty big award. Princess Diana ________ charitable work and helping the community, so that’s kind of what I do.”

In his free time, Pal also ________ nursing home residents how to paint. He hopes to soon start teaching free painting ________ to kids as well, particularly those who ________ from bad anxiety and emotional struggles.