【推荐2】Yesterday, a salesman called me by phone, on behalf of a telecommunication company, to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don't like spending time on those conversations, I _________myself that I couldn't talk yet and _________ that he call me back one hour later, at 6 pm.

That's what he did. So we _________about 15 minutes. He explained to me his different phone plans, which he stated to be better than my _________one. While listening to him, sometimes I was lost in my thoughts. I gave several “hmm hmm”, as a sign of agreement and to _________that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit _________ , especially as he had a bit of difficulty in correctly talking in French. But I stayed calm and _________until the end of the discussion.

Finally, he expressed his _________to me: “Olivier, you are the first person in a long time, with whom I had a(n) _________conversation. Usually, people ____________at us and slam down the phone. Today, since 10 a.m. I hadn't had ____________without an offense. I know you had a long day at work and you could have ____________in front of your TV or done something else. ____________, you listened carefully to me. I am touched and I sincerely thank you.”

It set me thinking. I realized that he had been the ____________of language violence (暴力)，all through his working days. Yet, he was only doing his job. I felt a sense of____________that I hadn't treated him so rudely.

【推荐3】I’m proud of myself for this kindness I did last night. I did it ________ and did the right thing. However, I was unwilling to _______, because by sharing 1 am also sharing the ________ and more self-centered side of myself.

It was last night and I ________ my shift at work. It was late and I wanted to go straight home. On my way out of the door I ________ a fellow staff member and colleague. She doesn’t have a ________ and usually either catches a taxi home or _______ for an hour waiting for _______ staff member and friend of here to finish work.

In the past I’ve ________ to drive her home as she ________ on my side of town. But last night I really did not want to. I wanted to ________ straight home, alone. And I did not have to make “small talk”.

So I tried to ________ her, walking past her, heading down, and stealing out (偷溜) to the _______ without letting her see me and _______ without offering her a lift.

Yet, something in myself was stopping me. Something in myself made me ________ her and put myself in her shoes. She had young ________ who she wanted to go home to attend to and, she could go home right now _______ I took her, not an hour later when the other staff member and friend of hers who was taking her. So I offered.She_______. And of course, she was extremely ________.

Well, I learned a great ________ last night about not being so self-centered and selfish!

【推荐1】Saving a Tiger Named Cinderella

On an icy day in February 2012, two hunters in eastern Russia discovered a limp bundle of fur lying in the snow. It was an orphaned cub (幼虎)! The cub hadn’t eaten in days, and was _________ enough for the hunters just to pick her up. Dr. Dale Miquelle, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Russia Program, said, “A healthy tiger cub, even a three-month-old one, would give you reason to _________ before you stuck your hand too close to its teeth and claws. But this cub had no _________ left in her.”

The hunters wrapped the cub in a coat and _________ her to a local wildlife doctor, Andrey Oryol. Over the following weeks, Oryol _________ the orphaned cub back to health. But now he had a new problem: What could he do with an _________ three-month-old tiger?

The cub was an Amur tiger. _________ a small number of Amur tigers remained in the wild, so scientists wanted to return _________ cubs to their natural habitat. The orphaned cub was taken to a new wildlife center. The center was designed for raising wild animals without _________ them to people. It uses hidden cameras and covered fences to keep workers out of __________. That way, the animals don’t become __________ on humans.

The cub, now named Cinderella, became the center’s first tiger. Over the next year, she grew into a big, healthy tigress. In the center, she learned to hunt. By the spring of 2013, experts agreed she was __________ to return to the wild.

They chose the perfect new __________ for their tiger princess: the Bastak Nature Reserve. During the next two years, researchers watched Cinderella’s __________. They set up cameras to snap photos. When Cinderella passed __________ one of these camera traps, it took her picture. Cinderella not only __________, but grew healthy and strong.

Then, in December 2015, the cameras __________ exciting news: Cinderella had become a mother! For the first time ever, a tiger that humans had __________ and returned to the wild had given birth to two cubs of her own.

Tigers are some of the most admired animals on our planet, but they are also __________. Thanks to the work of conservationists like Dr. Miquelle, there is new __________ for these magnificent cats.

【推荐2】Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.

During the first week of his stay, he ________out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to________ that his suitcase was________. He was extremely________as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his ________.

He ________ the case to the police and then sat there, lost and________in a strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a________country while trying to settle down in a new one.

________ in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to________my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said he had found________ in their trash can that had been ________out on the footpath.

My husband ________to their home to find a kind ________holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of________papers. Her parents had ________   sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign________on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had ________his new telephone number to a friend.

That family not only________the important documents to us that day but also restored our________and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.

【推荐3】When I was thirteen, my family moved from Boston to Tucson, Arizona. Before the move, my father _______ us in the living­room on a freezing January night. My sisters and I sat around the fire, not _______ that the universe would suddenly change its course. “In May, we’re moving to Arizona.” The words, so small, didn’t seem _______ enough to hold my new life. But the world changed and I awoke on a train moving across the country. I watched the _______ change from green trees to flat dusty plains to high mountains as I saw strange new plants that _______ mysteries yet to come. Finally, we arrived and settled into our new home._______ my older sisters were sad at the loss of friends, I eagerly explored our new surroundings.

One afternoon, I was out exploring _______ and saw a new kind of cactus (仙人掌). I crouched (蹲) down for a closer look. “You’d better not _______ that.” I turned around to see an old woman. “Are you new to this neighborhood?” I explained that I was, _______ , new to the entire state.

“My name is Ina Thorne. Have you got used to life in the ________? It must be quite a shock after living in Boston.” How could I explain how I ________ the desert? I couldn’t seem to find the right words.

“It’s vastness,” she offered. “That vastness ________ you stand on the mountains overlooking the desert — you can ________ how little you are in comparison with the world.________, you feel that the possibilities are limitless.” That was it. That was the feeling I’d had ever since I’d first seen the mountains of my new home. Again, my ________ would change with just a few simple words. “Would you like to come to my home tomorrow? Someone should teach you which plant you should and shouldn’t touch.”

【推荐1】Back starting from my fourth grade, I was in low spirits for about four and a half years. Never really had any_________during that time. My only one had just moved away in the third grade. I always felt_________, with no one and not even my family to talk to. I didn’t think they knew what I was_________. It was a really hard time. I’d always_________my feelings and just put on a nice, fake smile for them. That was all they_________, right?

During my seventh-grade year, I started to make a friend or two. My depression (消沉) state started _________. But at some time I was still_________myself, calling myself fat or ugly. My friends tried their best to help and it did_________in some ways but not fully. It was a surprise that I found what I was_________: music. I found this song called “Beautiful”. There was one line that said, “You are beautiful in every single way.” I now__________that we are all beautiful and no guy or girl can tell us otherwise. __________some people can’t see that.

Now I__________believe that even a song can__________a person’s life just because of the lyrics you hear. I just hope they find this__________and listen to it. I also hope it has the same__________it had on me when I was suffering.

【推荐3】I grew up in a poor family with a group of adopted kids, my father and a wonderful mother. We had little money, but plenty of ________ and attention. I was happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still ________ a dream.

My dream was athletics. When I was sixteen, I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour baseball and hit anything moving on the field. I was also ________ to have Ollie Jarvis as my high-school coach, who not only ________ me but taught me how to be confident. One particular incident with Jarvis ________ my life forever.

It was the summer holiday in senior two and a friend ________ me for a summer job. This meant a ________ for money in my pocket, and the start of ________ for a house for my mother. The summer job was ________ , and I wanted to jump at the opportunity.

Then I realized I would have to ________ summer baseball training to handle the work schedule. I was ________ about telling my coach, and I pressed myself with the ________ on the dilemma from the mother, “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.”

When I told Jarvis, he was as mad as expected. “You have your whole life to work,” he said, you’re your playing days are ________. You can’t afford to waste them.”

I stood with my head hanging, trying to explain why my ________ of buying mom a house and having money ________ his disappointment in me. He asked me about the money I would make at the job. ________ , he said, “Is $3.25 an hour the price of a dream?”

That question made me ________ the difference between wanting something ________ and having a long-term goal. I ________ myself to baseball training, and within the year I was offered a $20,000 contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I ________ it since I already had a baseball scholarship to the University of Arizona. I signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dream.