【推荐1】A well dressed man went into a jewelry（珠宝） shop one day. He ______ that he wished to buy a pearl (珍珠) for his wife's birthday. The ______ didn't matter, for he was rich.

After examining a number of beautiful and ______ pearls, he chose an unusual black one. It would cost ______. He paid, took the black and left.

A few days later, the man ______ and said that his wife liked the pearl ______ much that she wanted another one just like this. It ______ be exactly the same size and quality（质量）______ she wanted to have a ______ of earrings(耳环). The jeweler seemed ______. Then the man suggested that the jeweler advertise in the newspaper to offer $ 25,000 ______ such a pearl. So the jeweler did.

Many people came to him to sell their pearls but nobody ______ a pearl which was the right size and quality. Just when the jeweler had given up, a little old lady came into his ______. She took out such a ______ pearl from her pocket.

"I don't want to ______ my pearl," she said sadly, "It was given to me by my mother, who had received it from her ______ mother. But I really need the ______."

The jeweler was very ______ and quickly paid for the pearl. Then he telephoned the ______ to tell him the good news. ______, the man could never be found again.

【推荐2】I got up at 4 am to receive a call from my daughter who needed my help to get home from the snowy mountain. After I helped her get a taxi, I______I was out of cigarettes, so I went to the gas station up the street to______some, I saw a young man wrapped in a______blanket, trying to keep out of the snow. I went in and bought my smokers. As I______, this gentleman asked me for a cigarette.

I gave him three and left, but______I realized I had to do something for him. So I______and asked him if he wanted a coffee. He said “yes, please”, so I went in and ______ him an extra large cup and something to eat. Then I went home with an aching______, thinking of him being out in the cold, so I carried some things and went out _____   to the guy. Giving him a blanket and a jacket, I told him there was a______nearby where he could ask for help. I asked him to______me he would go and he said yes.

I came back home, and, after my______arrived and went to bed, I sat there,______about the guy at the gas station. So I made a call to the shelter and told the nice girl on the______that there was a guy out in the cold. Told that they had one or two beds left, I _____ got into my car and drove to the gas station. The roads were_____but I knew that somehow we would be _____. After I______drove the guy to the shelter and______him off at the door, he was very______and I was very happy.

【推荐3】Everyone has his most memorable teacher. When I think back to my most memorable teacher, Mary Justice's face_______comes into my mind. She was my journalism teacher in high school.

What I_______most about Mrs. Justice is that she_______me and everyone else in the class with so much_______that she always allowed us to make our own choices. Besides, she was such a(n)_______teacher that she was elected our school's Teacher of the Year for many times and she also helped raise our_______of being a person of action rather than just making plans. Her attitude gradually_______me. I didn't know it then, but she was really a_______for my future.

I wasn't quite a_______person in class. In my second senior year, Mrs, Justice__________me to compete for the editor-in-chief of the yearbook. When she__________the final appointment in the class, I was not only quite nervous, but I also felt delighted that Mrs Justice had chosen me for that position which helped strengthen my__________.

Mary Justice has an important effect on my life and my career choice. I will never__________her reaction when I told her I had__________Nicholls State University and decided to become a teacher after graduation. Her face lit up, and I knew at that moment she was so__________of me. Little did Mrs Justice know that it was because of her that I had chosen the same career as hers.

Twenty years later, my son, Derek, started middle school. That summer. The headmaster of our local middle school had to retire__________his illness, and he would be__________by a new headmaster. To my great__________, the new headmaster was Mary Justice! She had a strong influence on my son's life as well.

Now as a teacher, I teach my students the same life skills as Mrs. Justice taught me—being__________thinkers, and learning from mistakes.__________, these will help them become successful adults in the future.

【推荐2】My mother used to ask me what is the most important part of the body. Through the years I would _______the correct answer. When I was young, I thought _______ was very important to us as humans, so I said, “My ears，Mummy.” She said，“No. Many people are _______. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon.”

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first _______, I had often thought over the question. So this time I told her, “Mummy，it must be our eyes.” She looked at me and said, “You are _______fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.”

_______ the years, Mother asked me a couple more _______ and always her response to my answer was, “No，but you are getting _______ every year，my child.” Then last year，my grandpa _______. Everyone was heartbroken. Everybody was crying. My mum looked at me when it was our ________ to say our final goodbye to Grandpa. She asked me, “Do you know the most important body part yet，my dear?”

I was ________ when she was asking me this now. I always thought this was a ________ between her and me. She saw the ________ on my face and told me, “This question is very important. It shows that you have really ________ your life.” I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, “My dear，the most important body part is your ________.” I asked, “Is it because they hold up your head?” She replied, “No，it is ________ on them a crying friend or a loved one can rest his or her head. I only hope that you have enough ________ and friends and that you will have a shoulder to cry ________ when you need it.” Then and there I understood the most important body part is not a ________ one. It is sympathetic to the pain of ________.

【推荐3】The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing as Melinda sits in the rose garden of the nursing home. She is _______ old times as she waits for her family’s arrival. The nursing home has been Melinda’s new _______ ever since Thomas passed away a week ago. Thomas had _______ a long and hard battle against lung cancer for three years. Unfortunately, he has broken the _______ that he and Melinda had made: to be with each other for every _______. Melinda knew this was _______ but agreed to the promise for Thomas’s sake.

“Thomas, you are completely a dreamer.” Melinda shouted to Thomas _______ he dreamed on about living on an island with his beautiful wife. That’s what she loved about him most—he had a vivid _______. They got married at age eighteen and began having children right away. Mary came within the year, _______ by Thomas Benjamin II, Lilly-Ann, and Joseph “Little Joey” George. The family lived a ________ life filled with laughter and love.

“Mom!” Lilly shouted, but it really sounded like a howl. Melinda had ________ herself in thinking about the life she had shared with her ________ husband. Lilly pushed her ________ the long dark halls of the nursing home until they arrived at the recreational room.

When the doors opened, Melinda put her hand over her mouth and was completely ________. The room was crowded with the people nearest and ________ to her and the warmth and love was felt ________. The night went on; stories and cocktails(鸡尾酒) were ________ and everything was ________.

However, when Melinda caught a moment to herself she looked around at her ________ . With a smile on her face, she raised her glass and called out for a ________. “This one is for you, Thomas, though you are not here.”

【推荐2】An elderly carpenter (木匠) was ready to retire. He told his employer of his ____ to leave the house building ____ and live a more leisurely life with his wife, ____ time with his extended family. He would ____ the pay, but he needed to retire. They could ____.

The employer was ____ to see such a good worker leave and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal ____. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was ____ to see that his heart was not in his work. He built the house ____ and used poor materials. It was an ____ way to end his career.

When the carpenter ____ his work, the employer handed the front – door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “a ____ to you.”

What a shock! What a ____! If he had only known he was building his ____house, he would have done it all so ____. Now he had to live in the house he had built none too well.

____ it is with us. We build our ____ in a distracted (心不在焉)way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At ____ points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have ____ and find that we are now living in the house we have built . If we had ____, we would have done it differently.

【推荐3】I had a plan to meet two of my friends downtown, so I took a shower and left home despite the rain. It was just an ordinary day, but deep in my heart, there was a shadow of ____.

It was because of COVID-19. At that time, there weren’t yet ____cases in our city. However, I could still smell the fear ____among the crowd. We had lunch together and hung about for some time in the busiest district before I returned home.

That evening, ____, I began to cough slightly, and then it got worse. I took my ____again and again to make sure I didn’t have a fever. In spite of the ____words from my parents that I just caught a cold from going out in the ____after a shower, I was terribly frightened. For a few nights, I lay ____in my bed, worrying that I had already got the disease and that possibly the virus was in my body.

I took my mom’s ____to exercise at home. I also read, watched films and painted, just to _____my anxiety. As a result, they worked, and I was fully _____a few days later.

As I watched the news about how many people died of the epidemic and how brave medical workers were _____their own lives to save their patients, I was deeply _____that I was one of the lucky ones.

Now, I’m sitting at my desk and taking a class ____. The little insects of early spring fly around my bedroom, and sunlight shines in through my windows. It’s just another ordinary day. However, after that incident I’ve learned to _____the day’s beauties, however small they are.