【推荐2】Dad was not only my best friend, but teach me what to do in my life and study. While he was alive, he _______ me through what he does and suggestions. He taught me one important _______:“Believe in yourself.”

If there was one sentence my dad _______ liked to hear, it was “I can’t.” He did not have a chance to finish high school. In order to _______ his large family, he took two jobs, _______ he never complained (抱怨). Through self-education and years of hard work, my dad became a good reporter.

When I was in high school, I had a _______ time with math. He tried to help me, but I _______ struggled (挣扎). So my math teacher suggested I meet with him at 7:00 each morning before school for _______ help. I told Dad, “That’s _______! I’m tired! I can’t do that!” He replied, “You’re doing it. I’ll send you to school.” Every morning at 6:45, we’d leave the ________. Although Dad worked 12 hours every day, he never once ________ driving me to school.

After months of ________, I was facing the final exam. I was so ________. On the day of the final, my dad hugged me and said, “Luke, ________ yourself. You can do it.” His words made me realize I needed to trust in my ________ and in the hours of work I had ________. When I got my ________ proudly, the first person I called was my father. He cried, “Yes! You deserved (应得) it！”

Even now, whenever I ________ that a task is too much for me, I think back to that exam. No matter how ________ something is, if you’re willing to work, you can succeed. I’m forever ________ to Dad for that lesson.

【推荐3】This was my grandmother’s first Christmas without grandfather, and before he passed away we had promised grandfather that we would make this her best Christmas ever. When my parents and I _______ at her house, we found she had waited up all night for us. The house did seem a little _______ without grandfather.

Grandfather had always said that the Christmas _______ was the most important decoration of all. So we immediately set to work on the beautiful artificial tree that was stored in grandfather’s closet (壁橱). Through our efforts, we finally stepped back to _______ our handiwork. It looked beautiful. _______ something was missing.

“Where’s your star?” I asked.

The star was my grandmother’ s favorite part of the tree.

“Why, it _______ be here somewhere,” she said, starting to sort through the boxes again. “Your grandfather always _______ everything so carefully when he took the tree down.”

As we emptied the boxes and _______ no star, my grandmother’s eyes filled with tears. Grandfather had given it to grandmother some fifty years ago on their first Christmas together. It brought them great happiness. Now, on her first Christmas without him, the star was _______ , too.

“Don’t worry, Grandmother,” I ________ her. “We’ll find it for you.”

My mother and I formed a search ________ “Let’ s start in on the closet where the ornaments (装饰品) were,“ Mother said. ”Maybe the star just fell out of the box.”

That sounded ________ , so I began to search the closet. I thought I tried every ________ , but no star. I could see grandmother was ________ , although she tried not to show it.

“What’s in this wrapped box?” Mother suddenly called out. “It was at the bottom of father’s closet.”

Grandmother took the box in ________ and opened it. Her face ________ when she unfolded the paper and pulled out a golden star. There was a(n) ________ attached.

Don’ t be angry with me, dear. I broke your star while packing the decorations, and I couldn’t ________ to tell you. Thought it was time for a new one. I hope it brings you as much ________ as the first one. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Bryant

So grandmother’s tree had a star after all, a star that expressed their everlasting love for one another. And we were glad we were able to make this Christmas ________ for her.

【推荐2】"Smile! "I shouted, flashing a bright yellow poster at a crowd of people in Seattle.

We were 3,000 miles away from home on a Random Acts of Kindness and Volunteerism road trip. Our _______ was to try out our new "Smile! "signs and see how much kindness and joy we could _______.

We weren't sure how people would _______our signs. It's so easy to walk past a busy crowd, lost in your own world, _______ to make eye contact with strangers and feeling _______while surrounded by hundreds of people. I _______raised up a sign and shouted, "Hi there!" to a young couple. They looked over, _________, then read my sign and broke into smiles. They even nudged（轻推）a person beside them, gesturing to our sign so their friend could _______, too.

This might _______, I thought.

Before long, our signs were wildly ________. Tourists wanted photos with us. Strangers stopped to ask us about our ________, and we told them the story of our Acts of Kindness road trip. The famous fish vendors（小贩）changed their ________from, "FISH! FRESH FISH!" to "HEY! SMILE, EVERYONE!"

Sometimes I'd see a（n） ________face and feel nervous to show my sign, but I tried not to judge. I'd ________be rewarded with a big grin（咧嘴笑）, as suddenly a frowning elderly woman turned into my ________old grandmother.

Some people ________if they could have a "Smile!" sign to take with them. One bus driver put a sign in his window: a bicyclist that ________one of our signs emailed us several years later to say he still uses it whenever he races.

The signs are more than a (n) ________to smile -they' re an excuse to connect with ________and to remember we' re not alone. This world is full of ________people we just don't know yet.

【推荐3】Pennsylvania is full of mysterious places! One of those is an old turnpike (收费高速公路)_________ for decades. My dad learned it was open to the public._________, when I was 14, we took a bike trip to_________ this road!

My dad chose a 16-mile_________   of the road for us to ride. Part of it included an old tunnel called Sideling Hill! To_______, we checked our tires and made sure our lights had batteries. In the morning, we loaded our bikes into the car and set off. As we approached the tunnel, I felt_________ as it was absolutely black inside! But Dad encouraged me. He said he would be beside me. He reminded me to stay_________ and keep my light on!

When we_________ the tunnel, the sound of our bikes was heard through the darkness. I shined my flash light around and saw walls_________ in graffiti (涂鸦). And I felt like I was being __________! I was pretty scared, but __________   on following Dad helped me relax. After riding half-way through, I could see light coming from the other end!

Whenever going through ____________   in life, I remember this trip. It reminds me that my father is always beside me. He turns on the light of hope in my __________   as well as gives me__________ to keep riding through life's__________ tunnels.

【推荐2】One day, my uncle brought home a parrot. My cousin and I called it Mitthu. My family were so _________ strongly that they trimmed (剪掉) its wings. They said if it left home, it wouldn’t _________ outside without us.

As time went by, we grew and so did Mitthu. Its wings grew quite a lot. Mitthu wasn’t kept in a cage. I sometimes wondered why it didn’t _________. Maybe it was quite attached to us and didn’t want to leave us, or it didn’t want to leave the luxurious life and _________ the harsh reality of life.

As I grew older, I _________ that Mitthu’s life wasn’t very different from mine. I was pampered(溺爱) and _________ carefully. I was prohibited from really _________ the outside world. My house became my whole world, which was like an invisible _________ that had bound my spirit.

Now I’m sent out to study and told that I have the whole sky to fly, but _________, just as Mitthu, I am not able to do so. Mitthu and I might be two different beings but we are __________ in a similar situation. I am afraid of flying. I am afraid my behavior might hurt my parents’ feelings. These emotions and __________ will never really allow us to fly independently!

It’s good for parents to love and __________ their children, but, sometimes, over-protectiveness from parents might harm their children’s future and __________ children’s decisions. True __________ is to allow kids to grow freely and let them try __________ things. Thus, they will be brimming with confidence and courage.

【推荐3】I met my art teacher Ms. J in the seventh grade and she changed me.

In her first class, she encouraged us to ________ what art meant. During the discussion about facial structure and paintings, she ________ the “golden ratio (黄金比例)”, a beauty standard and explained how Da Vinci applied it to his works to ensure they were visually (视觉上) attractive.

I couldn’t help but think that if my ________ had been measured against the “golden ratio”, my score would have been low.

I was born with a facial disfigurement (缺陷) and my face looked ________ . After several appointments with ________ , my face was changed many times with little improvement. I ________ seeing myself in the mirror.

People’s strange words and curious expressions kept telling me that I was different. Worse still, my photo appeared in a magazine with big letters “Face similar to works of Picasso” right below. I felt ________ .

I told Ms. J about my ________ and how my face was compared to Picasso’s painting.

“Art isn’t about what you see but about what you ________ .” She comforted me and told me that our ________ appearances were our signatures that we left in the world, which set us ________ and made us beautiful. And then she showed me a picture of an old man with long white hair. “You see, Da Vinci doesn’t look too pretty, but his works ________ beauty on us,” she added.

I was touched by her words, and I wondered why I had never thought this way.

“Being compared to Picasso may seem like a shame, but it’s a(n) ________ . You are unique and you are a masterpiece.”

Today, when I look into the mirror, I will remember the words of my teacher, “Beauty is subjective” and I get to know my appearance is my ________ .

It takes me years to ________ that beauty is more than a cold calculation.