【推荐1】The world always makes way for the dreamer.

When I was twelve years old, my father took me to see Zig Zigler. I remember sitting in that dark hall listening to Mr. Zigler____everyone’s spirits up to the ceiling, I____there feeling like I could do anything. When we got to the car, I turned to my father and said, “Dad, I want to____people feel like that.” My father asked me____I meant. “I want to be a motivational speaker just like Mr. Zigler,” I replied. A(An)____was born.

Recently, I began seeking my dream of motivating others.____a four-year relationship with Fortune 100 Company____as a sales-trainer and ending as a regional sales manager, I left the company at the height of my____. Many people were____that I would leave after earning a six-figure income. And they asked____I would risk everything for a dream.

I made my____to start my own company and leave my worryingless position after____a regional sales meeting. The vice-president of our company delivered a____that changed my life. He asked us, “If a god would offer you three wishes, what would they be?” After giving us a____to write down the three wishes, he then asked us, “Why do you need a____?” I would never forget the power I felt at that moment. I realized that____I had accomplished in the past had prepared me for this moment. I was ready and didn’t need a god’s help to become a motivational speaker. A motivational speaker was____.

Having made that decision, I was immediately____. One week after I gave notice, my husband was laid off from his job, and now we had no____. But I held fast to my dream. The wonder really began to happen. In a short time my husband found a better job. And I was able to book several____engagements with new customers. I discovered the incredible power of dreams.

【推荐2】I am the “Laundry Goddess”. Well, that’s what my kids call me anyway because I have the talent for finding the right _________ for any stain. From spaghetti sauce and grass marks to ballpoint ink stains, whatever my _________ throw to me, I seem to be able to find a way to make it look brand new again. It’s a skill I got from my mother. My mom wouldn’t admit it, but I think she _________ doing the laundry.

The laundry room was Mom’s territory. It was _________, with only the sounds of the washing machine or the hum of the dryer to interrupt her. She would _________ down early in the morning, often still in her housecoat, to put in the first _________ of the day. We would find her there, leaning against the machine, peacefully having a coffee, and reading the newspaper in her territory absorbedly.

I don’t remember Mom teaching me the ways of the laundry room. I learned to _________ towels and small items as a youngster. I spent many hours ironing clean cotton handkerchiefs and pillowcases. But the _________ wasn’t part of my training. So, when I left home and _________ to another city, __________ the stain required an expensive long-distance phone call home.

My washer and dryer seem to have more __________ than a jet plane, certainly many more than the machines with basic functions used by my mom. I have made the __________ from laundry powder to liquid, and I have my own favorite stain __________. But every time I step into the laundry room and think about how to deal with a particularly difficult stain, I __________ the Laundry Goddesses who came before me for her wisdom and perseverance. And each clean item of clothing is a(n) __________ force in a messy world.

【推荐3】I was living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is a huge city, with more people living in it than in my whole ________. We rented a flat in a community, but there was a favela (贫民区) quite near. For several months I didn’t have a ________, so I used public transportation to go to the city centre. During these ________, I would ride with the people who took the ________ bus from the favela to go to work.

When I got on the bus, all the _______ were already taken. But when people saw that my bag was ________, they offered to hold it on their legs to make me lighter ________. At first, I was ________. Then I realized that these people certainly had no ________ to steal from me: they only wanted to ________.

Once, on my way back, I had to wait for a long time at a bus stop. I was alone, except for a woman who was ________ very poor. She carried a small paper bag of popcorn (爆米花) and nothing else.

While we were ________, she walked over and ________ me some popcorn. I thanked her, but didn’t want to help myself to it. She then repeatedly ________ that I take from what was her only ________.

That was the first time I thought about how people who have almost ________, are sometimes able to ________ the little they have so much more easily than those who ________ a lot.

I was so moved by that woman s simple ________ that day. I clearly had more than she did, but she ________ and joyfully shared what little she had with me.

【推荐1】It was Jennifer Williams’ mother who got her interested in books. A librarian, she read to her three________every day until they went to college. When Williams became a________, she wanted her students to love reading as she did. But she realized that some kids had limited________to books.

“It’s very obvious to teachers which kids are________to and which kids are not,” she said. To Williams, the________was simple: Give kids books. In 2017, she gave away 900 used children’s________over three days. Most people would be satisfied with that.

“Anybody could do that,” she said. “I just________to do something that was going to stretch my faith, my work ethic, my everything.” So she set a new________for herself: Give away one million books. It sounds like a(n)________number, but as Williams posted on Facebook: “Don’t complain if you aren’t willing to work hard out on the field.”

So she got to work, first by________friends to donate books or money to buy books. And as news of Williams’ project spread, strangers started________books on her front porch(门廊). As the books came in, Williams gave them to local schools, free of________.

Now, Williams has________more than 78,000 books — only 922 ,000 more to reach her goal! And she’s not slowing down. It’s too________for kids with few options.

“Reading can take you anywhere,” she said. “You can travel in time and space. If you can read, you can learn almost________.”

【推荐1】When Ariel Rojas rode her bike to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York, last November, she planned to go hiking and bird — watching. Bingo! A mile into her walk, she ________ a gorgeous female mute swan near the water’s edge. Rojas, 30, who had worked at the Wild Bird Rescue Center in Manhattan, knew that mute swans can be _________. But as she approached this one, it didn’t move. She was certain that the bird needed ________ attention. Rojas covered her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, ________ picked it up, and cradled it in her arms. And then a thought ________ her: What do I do now?

Her best ________ was the rescue center, but that was across the East River and clear on the other side of town. How was she going to ________ a 17 — pound swan on her bike all that way? ________, some confused strangers driving by ________ her, her bike, and the swan a lift to a nearby subway station.

On the subway, no one seemed particularly ________ by the feathered passenger. Rojas called the rescue center en route, and Tristan, an animal — care manager, ________ her up at the subway station and drove bird, bike, and rescuer to the facility. There, staff members ________ that the swan might have lead poisoning, caused by ________ weights used on fishing lines.

The staff got the swan back up on her ________. She even made a ________ at the center—another injured swan. Sadly, even with all that TLC (tender loving care), the swan got ________ with bacteria. Two months after Rojas came to her rescue, she ________.

It’s a(n) ________ ending, but the real story is just how far some people are willing to go to ________ a swan in the big city — literally. In all, Rojas ________ two hours by foot, car, and subway. Says Tristan, “That’s the perfect summary of who she is.”

【推荐2】23-year-old Taleigh Loven walked downstairs to her graduation party last October. She was ______ balloons, treats and congratulations from her family. What didn’t cross her mind was her ______ wearing the same graduation cap as she did. ______ him carrying a certificate (证书) with his name on it, she instantly burst into tears.

Mike Loven, 47, decided four years earlier that he was going to restart his study in Grand Canyon University, the ______ school his daughter had just been ______ to. A few weeks later, Mike was taking his first______ course while Taleigh was getting settled in her dorm — with no ______ that Mike was a fellow freshman.

“There was no real reason for ______ it a secret from the family—I merely thought the _______ would be fun,” Mike said. “I work a lot and I’m always on my computer, so no one ______ knew that I was working on stuff (材料) for ______ all those years.”

The ______ part about the whole thing, Mike said, was during ______ midterm seasons when his family would constantly ask him for help with tricky (棘手的) school-related issues. He had his own ______ as well, but he couldn’t tell them. That, he said, ______ many late nights at the computer.

【推荐3】Eighty-year-old retired tailor, James McKay, spent Saturday night in prison after hitting 30-year-old Keith Smith over the head with his walking stick. McKay’s wife, Laurene said that, while McKay is usually a(n) ________ and pleasant person, he had been driven to this act of ________ by literally getting wet just once too often. He could no longer ________ it.

Smith lives above the McKays. He is a(n) ________ gardener, and also a fish collector. Unfortunately, the water he ________ over his balcony (平台) every day ended up on the McKay’s floor, or too often, on the unsuspecting McKays themselves.

“For the last two weeks, since Smith moved into the flat above us, we dared not go onto our ________,” said Laurene. She added that it wasn’t only the water ________ their balcony from Smith watering his plants that ________ them, but also the way he cleaned his fish ________. “We’d be sitting there happily reading our newspapers, when suddenly so much water would come from above that we’d be as wet as if we had ________ with our clothes on! We could hardly ________ the smell of fish!”

And on Saturday evening it was just too ________, “It was James’ birthday,” Laurene recalled, “and it was such a beautiful night to enjoy the starry night ________. I made him a birthday cake. The candles were a great sight as you can ________, but James didn’t get to blow them out.” Instead, Smith ________ one of his larger tanks over his balcony and both the McKays and the cake were wet through. “I have never seen him move so fast and I couldn’t stop him. He was up there in a(n) ________.”

Smith is not going to take things further with the police. He has also ________ to change his ways from now on. And what of James McKay? As he left the ________ station, a large crowd of supporters sang him “Happy Birthday”. “Definitely the most exciting birthday ever!” said the ________ old man. “The best since my ________, I’d say!”