【推荐2】I had a great dream when I was in my twenties. I wanted to travel around Africa with my _________. So I left my hometown with great confidence and _________ Cape Town, not really_________ what to do next. Luckily, before my trip actually started, I met a kind, old Nigerian man. He gave me the best travel _________ I had ever received. “Be like a(n) _________on your way around the world.”

It sounded _________, but it really changed my idea about travelling. He helped me realize that travel is about learning and observing local _________. “It’s far too easy to go into a(n) _________ country and believe your ways are better. But if you study, ask questions and try to learn from the locals, you’ll have far richer _________,” he promised me.

On other vacations, when I was on my tour way to Cancun. I was __________ a tourist. I only stayed there for a week to see the __________ and places of interest and then left. The culture didn’t __________me. I left the cities and towns without really knowing anyone or anything that existed in those places to which I had paid a visit.

This time, I promised to myself that I would be a __________ traveler. After seven months of__________ backpacking in Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, I realized that having a student-like mindset (观念模式) helped extend my trip and helped me learn a lot, which __________ me more than any other trips ever did to me.

【推荐3】According to a Chinese saying, he who doesn’t reach the Great Wall of China is never a great man.

Growing up in Beijing I _______ historical sites and natural attractions perfectly well. However, I’d _____climbed the Great Wall before until recently. I, along with my friends, ________ for the top. We soon discovered that the hike was much more _______ than we had imagined. But we didn’t _______. It took us about two hours to finally _________ where we had wanted to get to.

As I ________ at the top of the Great Wall, I looked back at the waves of _______ walking to the top. At that moment, I saw an amazing ________ that would forever change my opinion on humans’ limits. I saw young couples carrying their children, walking __________ but surely towards the top. They would stop once in a while to take a ______ under the hot sun.

As I stood there, I began to _________ words that can describe us humans. If one would like to describe Giraffes (长颈鹿), he/she would use words such as ________ and long-necked -But what about us? I took another look down below and my _________ began to gather, persevering (坚持不懈的), determined, and ________...As these words came into my mind, I ________ that it was not appearance or physical characteristics that should define (定义) us humans, but the _________ that we share.

I don’t know if I became a _________ man after returning from this _________ according to the Chinese saying, __________ I surely returned as a more thoughtful person.

【推荐1】Once upon a time, much of the world was populated by wolves. They ranged all over the United States and Canada, Siberia and much of mainland Europe, as well as Great Britain, and if humans hadn't come along, they would still be there _______. But man did come along, farmed the land, _______ the wolves , killing their livestock and so gradually drove them out of the homes that had once been theirs.

Wolves are not ______ in our language and our literature, however. In fairy stories, they are seen as evil and dangerous, always ______ to eat people. Remember the time when Little Red Riding Hood thinks that a wolf is her grandmother? 'What big teeth you've got, grandmother? ’she says, and the wolf, disguised as her grandmother, shouts back, “All the better to eat you with, my dear!’

If you really want to see what English-speaking humans think of the wolf, just look at the ______! ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is not a pleasant person and a ‘wolf-whistle’ is not a pleasant sound!

Yet wolves are totally unlike the image we have of them from legend and language. For a start, they don't ______ humans; indeed they do their best to keep out of our way. They are very sociable animals, living in packs and looking after their young with a fondness that should make some humans _______ themselves. Far from wolf music being _______ , the howl of the wolf--the cry of the whole pack—as the full moon rises is one of the most beautiful sounds in nature. They are beautiful creatures which can run at speeds of up to 65 kph if they have to. They can jump up and run up rock faces like a cat. And when they do ______ , their 42 large teeth are fearsomely effective.

But the ______ remains that we love the lion, the king of the jungle, while we demonise (妖魔化）the wolf, one of the most beautiful animals in the world. Only _______ do writers treat them nicely; _______ a she-wolf is supposed to have fed the twins Remus and Romulus, who went on to found the city of Rome.

And so, while man kills animals in their millions, often just for the fun of it, the wolf on the mountain, out in the wilderness, running over the Siberian wastes, represents a state of natural ________ that we do not know and can never obtain, even though we ______ it in our hearts. Perhaps that's why, in the end, we ______ the wolf so much一for having something we can never get our hands on.

【推荐2】The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer.

The ______of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would______ himself watching how the tradesman worked.

"Young man, why don't you try your ______to learn to make shoe tacks(鞋钉), even if it is only to kill the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you."

The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little ______ he found that he was becoming very______ and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.

Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war______all his goods. He had to leave home and was______   to take up residence(居住) in another country. It ______ happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were_____   a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid______ prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high______for soldiers' shoes.

Our young Mr. Smith, who was   ______ it difficult to ______ his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of ______ tacks and had the______ idea of making a _____ with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him _____ in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the______. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.

"How______ it seems," he used to say, " even making tacks can bring a _____. My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches."

【推荐3】I was sitting in a chair having coffee when a text message from a former colleague woke me from my daydreams.

“Do you want to _________your rocking chair?”

I taught grades 1-2 for 17 years, and my dreams as a teacher were tied to that rocking chair. It was a _________idea to have it in my class. Every day after break time , the class would _________around and listen to the story I was reading. When the students are close, they find the _________to share their stories, dreams and fears. The chair was part of my ________, part of me.

________, I became unwell and couldn’t keep teaching. I experienced _________anxiety and at last I was forced to _________the job. With my life as a teacher over, I needed a new path. And I didn’t have to look far.

My husband and I _________one of my former students in 2017. The complexity of parenting a child who came to us at 9 years old changed our lives in _________ways. But it inspired the part of me that _________being a parent. We spent _________hours staying with books - healing, bonding and solidifying our family, which gave me a new purpose.

I joined a _________group of local moms. For about a year, I met with them weekly for walks or coffee. We came together to ________, and then I started giving and receiving help, I gave driving practice to a single mom with her learner’s license and received emotional support in _________I also took her son on hikes around the city. Another woman encouraged me to buy a stand-up paddleboard and gave me lessons.

My family, my books, _________a new purpose and belonging in a community -these are fulfilling the sense of self I used to _________as a teacher. I learned my _________doesn’t need to change, Fm still honoring those core (核心的)values _________I’m working as a teacher. What about that rocking chair? I looked back at the text message, My answer was no, and I don’t need the chair. I’ll let it go to a new ________!