【推荐1】Last year, I visited Patchings Art Centre to view the winning entries of a competition. After that, I remembered a rather _________ story.

Some years ago I _________ a local art competition, the Stafford Open. As a famous local artist, I was _________ confident of selection, which was a silly assumption, as I soon _________.

My painting, a scene _________ life in the 1950s, was large and only just _________ my car. It took me great efforts to paint and deliver it. I paid the _________ fee and checked it in at reception then, a day or two later, I received a letter informing that my entry hadn’t _________ it through. I collected the painting and brought it home, _________.

I went to view the exhibition when it opened and was __________ with the usual mix of competent __________ largely uninspiring landscapes and still lives, __________ one exhibit, that stood out from the crowd. What was it? __________ an A3 canvas board painted completely black except for a small white spot, just off centre. Needless to say, the local __________ pounced on (争相报道) it but then the ‘artist’ came forward and __________ that it had been entered as a joke, and that he wasn’t an artist. This was much to the __________ of the selection committee, who made a good __________ to justify their choice to the press. But it was too late by then, as all __________ was lost.

However, there was nothing like that here, at Patchings and I was delighted to have won an award for the second year running with the same painting that had been __________. So, here comes to my __________ that don’t worry too much about losing, your time will come if you keep on trying.

【推荐2】When do you stick with something even if you’re not the best at it?

When people find out my son Sam is a(n) ________ mathlete, they usually ask if my husband and I are “math people”. The answer is definitely not. Sam’s done pretty well ________ his parents aren’t math people. But sometimes I wish I was a math person so I could help him or at least give him better ________.

Ninth grade was ________ for Sam, math-wise. He left the ________ of middle school math, where he was kind of a big fish, and started ________ with the high school kids. In the most recent competition, he didn’t do as well as he’d hoped and was ________ by a math camp he’d applied to. He’d set a high goal for himself and hadn’t quite ________ it.

He ________ into my office one day last week, clearly discouraged. “I don’t know why I didn’t do better,” he said, ________ on a chair. “Maybe I should just ________. I’m not good enough.”

I knew how he felt. The thought ________ us all-that we just aren’t good enough, and that all our hard work won’t ________ in the end and we can’t turn our ________ into success. I don’t have an answer for Sam. I am still ________. How to ________ difficulty, disappointment, rejection, boredom. How to commit ourselves to something because it’s beautiful and worth our while, not because we’re ________ we’ll succeed.

“Maybe you’re not,” I said, looking at my son. To me, he is incredible and accomplished, but I know he is ________ by doubt just like anyone. “But I, for one, don’t think that’s been decided yet.”

To devote time to something with no guarantee of its ________ is risky and terrifying. But, then again, ________ is everything. And we don’t need to be a math person to know that.

【推荐2】On his 67th birthday, Dad had a heart attack. He was ________— he survived. But something ________ him had died. His passion for life was gone. He refused the doctor’s ________, and his bitter attitude made every visitor ________. Dad was left alone.

I asked Dad to come and live on our small farm, hoping the fresh air would do him good. A week later, I________ the invitation. He criticized everything here. Frustrated, I decided something had to be done.

One day I read an article saying several depressed patients ’ attitudes had ________ dramatically （显著地） when given dogs. That afternoon I drove to the animal shelter, where a pointer’s eyes caught my attention. They watched me ________ . A staff member said: “He’s been here for two weeks with nothing heard. His time is up tomorrow. ”

I turned to the man in horror. “You mean to kill him?”

“Madam,” he said coldly, “We don’t have ________for every unclaimed dog. ” The pointer’s calm brown eyes ________ my decision. “I’ll take him. ” I said.

On arriving home, I took the dog to Dad’s room. “Look what I got you!” I said ________.

Dad frowned and murmured, “I don ’ t want it. ” Then, suddenly, the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He sat down in front of Dad.

Dad’s anger ________ , and soon he was hugging the animal.

It was the beginning of a ________ friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together they spent long hours walking down country roads and relaxing on the banks of streams.

Dad’s bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne befriended each other. Then, one night two years later, Cheyenne rushed into my bedroom as if telling something. Running into Dad’s room, I found he had________.

Two days later, my grief ________ when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad’s bed. While burying him near their favorite stream, I silently________ the dog for restoring Dad’s peace of mind.

【推荐3】The Afrikaner culture that I grew up in has a delicious tradition — baking lots of different types of cookies at Christmas. We bake for days on end to _____________ our cookie tins, and prepare cookie baskets and boxes to _____________ to friends and neighbors. As an adult, I choose not to continue many of the Christmas traditions. However, this is still one of my favorite Christmas activities.

I have a friend from a different _____________ background. She also loves cooking and baking. When she heard that I was planning a baking day, she _____________ me to teach her how to bake my Christmas cookies. A week before Christmas, it was usually baking time. We both envisioned (想象) the beautiful and tasty treats that we would make for our families, friends and neighbors. Our baking got off to a slow but _____________ start. The techniques and skills that I’d used countless times were new to my friend. And some of them would be even _____________ to an experienced baker, let alone a first-timer. On my own, I’d have done it quickly and correctly. But by midday, I could feel my _____________ rising. Teaching my friend had put us well behind _____________. There was, of course, an easy solution: I could _____________ and just let her watch. But I had promised that I would teach her. So we decided to reduce the variety of cookies, bake more of the ______________ versions and get creative with the icing. At the end of the second day, we had 20 beautiful gift boxes, each displaying a mouth-watering selection of cookies.

My friend couldn’t wait to get home and share the ______________ of her labors with her family. Seeing how proud she was, I was doubly ______________ that I didn’t act on my thought to do everything myself just because it would be ______________. Not only would I have robbed her of an opportunity to ______________ but I would have robbed her of that new-found ______________ and the pride she felt at having achieved something new.