【推荐1】It was quite a bad time for me. I was in low ________ and felt tired physically. Probably     ________ this I hadn't shaved (剃须) for a few days ________ because I had been doing some repairs at my daughter's house, I was ________ quite scruffily (邋遢的). Boarding the ________ to go home,I saw it was almost ________ so I found a rail to rest against.

That was when a young woman, siting with her child, stood up and ________ me her seat. “Wow !” I thought, surprised. Out loud I said, “Do I look that old and tired?” She ________ to me with; a smile, You look like you've had a tough day." I thanked her sincerely and stayed where I was standing.

A moment later a man ________ from his seat at the back of the bus and made his way ________ towards me, walking past several people on the way. He told me that he had a serious alcohol addiction ________ and wanted to ask my advice. We ________ about life for a few minutes and then he went back to his seat.

_____ him go, I also looked at the bus-load of people ________ me and his seat. He hadn't ________ to talk to those strangers. He chose to talk to this stranger for whatever it ________ to him and whatever comfort it brought him. Why?

That's when it ________ to me that he must have thought that I had been where he was. I probably ________ a man who would understand a difficult life. I was a little sad at first, but then I was inspired by the ________ that even when we are at our lowest we can still ________ others if we look like we might be able to meet them where they live or walk a while in their world.

【推荐2】As I drove my blue Buick into the garage, I saw that a yellow Oldsmobile was _________ too close to my space. I had to drive back and forth to get my car into the _________ space. That left _________ enough room to open the door. Then one day I arrived home _________ , and just as I turned off the engine, the yellow Oldsmobile entered its space—too close to my car, _________ . At last I had a chance to meet the driver. My patience had _________ and I shouted at her, "Can't you see you're not _________ me enough space? Park farther over." Banging（猛推）open her door into _________. The driver shouted back, "Make me!" _________ this she stepped out of the garage. Still, each time she got home first, she parked too close to my __________ Then one day, I thought, "What can I do?" I soon found __________ . The next day the woman __________ a note on her windshield（挡风玻璃）:

I'm sorry my mistress（女主人）shouted at yours the other day. She's been sorry about it. I know it because she doesn't sing anymore while __________ . It wasn't like her to scream __________. Fact is, she'd just got bad news and was taking it out on you two. I __________ you and your mistress will __________ her.

Your neighbor,

Blue Buick

When I went to the __________ the next morning, the Oldsmobile was gone, but there was a note on my windshield:

My mistress is sorry, too. She parked so __________ because she just learned to drive. We will park much farther over after this. I'm glad we can be __________ now.

Your neighbor,

Yellow Oldsmobile

After that, whenever Blue Buick __________ yellow Oldsmobile on the road, their drivers waved cheerfully and smiled.

【推荐3】In my childhood, I envied my classmates very much as my absence from school was not allowed due to my strict parents. I had to be _____ in order to stay home. My parents _____ to say that they were leading me to have a _____ work ethic(职业道德). Not until last week did I see the ______．

I was on a bus, and behind was a man who was ______ to his friend about his life. His dream was to become a director but he wouldn't continue to ______ it because he had no ______ if he could make enough money. And he didn't want to waste ______ because it probably would take months or years to ______ it big. Then he admitted to thinking about becoming a(n) ______ because he thought he could ______ make six figures within one year. His friend agreed because as he put it, “I have no ______ to work long hours and not make much money. Taking pictures is good because you can make big money and only work short hours.”

Many people these days don't______ that when things seem to happen immediately, it is only because a lot of ______ , determination and time have gone into it. Someone once told me that you may know ______ someone is an expert in his given field by how easy he makes it look. The ______ it looks, the more hours go into it.

There is no______ for laziness. In the television show Fame, the dance teacher told her students, “If you want fame, fame ______ and here's how you start paying for it, in sweat.” Every time I watch that show, my dad would repeat how ______ she was because in order to ______ you have to work hard. He would go on and on about how bad it is to be lazy.

【推荐1】It was time to start my afternoon run on the school bus. I drove up to the elementary school, parked and opened the doors.

Usually I enjoyed ________ the kids as they climbed aboard, but today I kept my ________ fixed straight ahead. I’d just come from a(n) ________ family counseling (家庭咨询) session with my oldest son, Shayn. He started consuming alcohol at 17. I felt ________. “How did we ever get here?” I thought. Shayn was intelligent and had been a ________ to raise. The two of us were close

The kids walked past me onto the bus. One or two said ‘Hi’. A little girl ________ a small piece of paper on my lap gently. “This is for you!” she said.

I absent mindedly ________ the folded paper and looked up just in time to see long blonde hair ________ down the aisle (过道).

I’d hoped family counseling would help Shayn quit drinking. ________ at today’s session, Shayn was angry. He said kids at his age drank ________ and that his drinking was under control. What hope did we have ________. Shayn couldn’t see that he needed help?

I moved to throw the note in the rubbish can near the driver’s seat, then ________ “What if the little girl sees me throw her present away?” I thought. So I ________ it. Inside was a four-leaf clover (四叶草), along with a message written in a child’s hand: “This is filled with _________.”

As I read the note, my whole body ________. My thinking changed. I couldn’t control Shayn’s drinking. There was still hope, even when I didn’t know what to do.

I searched my rearview mirror (后视镜) for the child who’d given me the note, but not a single one had long blonde hair.

A Brick in Life

A young and successful manager was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was _______ kids rushing out from _______ parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

_______ his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed into the Jaguar's side door. He slammed on the _______and turned the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.

He jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and _________ him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what _______ are you doing？” Then he went on, “Didn't you know that brick you threw is going to _______ a lot of money. Why did you do it？”

“Please, sir. Please, I'm sorry. I didn't know _______ else to do！” begged the youngster.

“_________ my brother，” he said. “He rolled off the sidewalk and fell out of his __________ and I can't lift him up.”

Sobbing, the boy asked the manager, “Would you please help me get him __________into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too ________ for me.”

Moved __________ words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and __________ his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see ________ everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you, sir. And God bless you，” the ________ child said to him. The man then ________ the little boy push his brother to the sidewalk toward __________ home.

It was a long ______________ back to his Jaguar — a long, slow walk. He never did repair the side door. He kept the dent (凹痕) ________ him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.