【推荐1】Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He advertised for hired hands. Most people were _______ to work on farms along the Atlantic. They feared the awful _______ that spread across the Atlantic, damaging the buildings and crops. _______ the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received many _______.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, _______ the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I can _______ when the wind blows,” answered the little man.

Although _______ by this answer, the farmer, _______ for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the _______, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt ________ with the man’s work. then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer took a lantern and ________ next door the hired hand’s sleeping room. He shook the little man and ________ , “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down ________ they are blown away! The little man rolled over in bed and said ________ , “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows” ________ by the answer, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. ________, he hurried outside to prepared for the storm. To his ________, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows and the chickens were all in the ________ places, and the doors were fastened. The windows were tightly ________. Everything was ________ , Nothing could be blown away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

【推荐2】I had just stopped by the local grocery store to pick up a few items. Only one   _______ was working and the small store was almost empty. I _______ at her passage and waited while the guy in front of me was _______ a full cart of food. After payment, he put groceries back into his shopping cart and   _______ if he could push the cart up to his_______ a quarter mile away, unpack it and bring it back. The cashier was _______ and wasn’t sure what to do. I spoke up then and said I’d be happy to give him a _______.

We talked on the short trip to his home. He was new in town having just   _______ here recently. And like all of us he was feeling the _______ of the high cost of living. I nodded __________, thinking to myself too, “The cost of living__________ going up, but at least the cost of loving has stayed the same.”

If you spend your love helping others, sooner or later your __________ will be empty. Thankfully, love doesn’t __________ like that. When we share our love, it doesn’t __________. Instead, we find that we have even more love to share. Always remember the most__________ thing on earth is FREE.

【推荐3】For me, two of the loveliest words in English are “Life persists”.

I ________ them years ago as a college student, sitting in the library, ________, working on a paper. Out of nowhere, those words came ________ off the page in a quote: “In the midst of death life persists; in the midst of ________ truth persists; in the midst of darkness light persists.”

Suddenly I wasn’t unhappy and impatient any more. Then I called my grandfather. I loved to talk with him. And I was desperate to ________ what he’d think of it. He had poor hearing, so I had to repeat it a few times, but once he ________ it, he laughed. “All I can say to that is totally ________,” he said on the phone. I told him how glad I was, after a long winter, to finally see spring and ________ to find that quote. “Why is that?” he asked. “Well, spring is a sure ________ that life persists. And it just makes me ________.”

He laughed again, and then in his lovely voice, he recited to me his ________ “spring time” words: “The desert shall rejoice (欣喜), and ________ as the rose.”

Many years later, when my husband and I drove across a desert with many wildflowers and blooming cactuses (仙人掌), I could almost hear my grandfather ________: “The desert shall rejoice.”

Life persists, and so do we, in the silence of ________ and the blooming of cactuses; and in the dead of winter and the green of spring. Spring ________ us that we’re alive forever.

【推荐1】After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

【推荐3】When I was eight I was helping Dad fix up old furniture in the factory. He gave me a cent for every nail I ________ out of old boards.

I got my first ________ job. at a local restaurant in town at l6. My main responsibilities were ________ tables and washing dishes. Every day after school I would head to the ________ and work until ten, even on Sundays.

At that age it was difficult going to work and ________ my classmates run off to swim or play. I didn't necessarily like work, but I loved what working allowed me to have. Because of my ________ I was always the one buying when my classmates and I went to the local McDonald's. This made me ________.

Word that I was trustworthy and hard—working got around town. A local clothing store ________ me credit(赊账). I immediately ________ a $68 sports coat and a 22 pair of shoes. I was ________ only 65 cents an hour, and I   ________ owed the storekeeper $ 90! So I leaned early the ________ of easy credit. I paid it off as soon as I could.

My first job taught me self-control, responsibility and brought me a ________ of personal satisfaction few of my ________ had experienced. As my father once told me, “If you ________ responsibility, there are not many things in life you can't have.” How right he was.