【推荐2】"I'm going to______today!" says my little brother, Trevor, bouncing (跳起来) to the breakfast table. He's already wearing his backpack.

Mom looks at me. "Isn't it great, Annie? You'll both be at the same school."

Actually, it's not great at all. School used to feel like my thing. Now Trevor is going to be in my______classroom. At least the second grade is in a different part of the building.

"Can I play with you?" he asks as Mom drops us______."

I shake my head. "School______, remember? You have to play in the kindergarten area. I stay on the big playground."

I______him to his classroom.

"Hi, Mrs. Morena," I say as I tug (用力拖) my brother forward. "This is Trevor."

"Hello, Trevor!" Mrs. Morena______, so they're the same height. "Want to come meet the other kids?"

Trevor nods and______my hand. I'm out the door in a flash.

After a break, I've forgotten all about Trevor. It's great to be back at school! I'm running to the slide when a loud cry rings out across the playground. It sounds______.

I look to the kindergarten area. There's Trevor sitting in the sandbox,______on his face.

"I want to go home!" he howls. Mrs Morena is______him, but he's still crying.

I take another step toward the slide. Then Trevor cries again. My feet turn, and I’m running toward him. But there's a fence between the kindergarten area and the big playground. I can't go to where he is.

I do the next best thing I can______. I stand on the very edge of my playground and call, "Trevor!"

He looks up and runs to the fence. I blow him a kiss. He stops crying. I blow______one, and he begins to smile.

Soon the bell rings. Mrs Morena comes to get him, and his face scrunches up (揉成一团) again.

"I have an idea. Trevor! I'll be in that window over there," I point. "I'll blow kisses______your window, OK?"

As Mrs. Morena leads him inside, he tugs her down to whisper in her ear. I run to my classroom and look out to see her______the kindergarten window.

I blow a kiss. Trevor is inside his classroom. He blows a kiss______and smiles.

【推荐3】It was our first Thanksgiving in the new house and I wanted everything to be perfect. But my plan for everyone to do some preparation work had been ______ by my husband's business trip. Even worse, a project for me that week had ______ two days of planned vacation. By Wednesday, my task of a table with fresh flowers, _____drinking glasses and various homemade desserts had already______, I just hoped that I'd find a clean tablecloth and eight ______ forks.

In my perfect Thanksgiving, there wouldn't be any orange in my salad because It hadn't made the grocery list. There would be no perfect family photos to record that day because I hadn't got the broken camera _____. Someone had brought home the wrong toilet paper, which was the last straw that made me ______.

I don’t remember what my son asked me as he was doing some cleaning, ______I do remember twisting into that mean-and-tight mom-face before making an ______. This combination of noise and anger is a universal signal to kids everywhere that they might as well ______ me. But he didn’t.

Instead of disappearing from view, my second-grader turned ______ the cleaning machine and walked across the room to ______ me. He never said a word. He just ______ his arms around me, making me feel ______ of myself until today.

It turned out a(n) ______ Thanksgiving. The people I loved gathered around my table and dined just one choice of the pie. My dad used a mismatched fork without ____. My daughter drew a picture of us where everyone smiled.

My son took a(n)______to teach me that sometimes we need a hug most when we are ______ huggable. This is the best gift you can give: One size ______ all and no one ever minds if you ______.

【推荐1】Whenever we hear about “the homeless”, most of us think of the Developing World. But the _______ is that homelessness is everywhere. For example, how many of us would expect to see people living on the streets of a _______country like Germany?

Kurt Muller and his wife Rita have spent eleven years making _______for the homeless of Berlin, Germany’s capital. They first _______one long hot summer when most Germans were away on holiday. Kurt and his wife stayed at home, made sandwiches, _______ a table in the street and gave food to the homeless.

The Mullers soon realized that food and clothing weren’t _________. “What these people also need is warmth and _______,” says Rita. The Mullers didn’t_______to give their phone number to the street people and told them to phone anytime. Rita_______ there was somebody at home to answer the phone and their home was always________to anyone who couldn’t face another night on the street.

The couple were soon   ________ all their time and money, so Kurt visited food and clothing companies to____________donations. Today, over thirty companies ________ donate food and other goods to the cause and volunteers help to ________them to the homeless. The public also give clothes and money and a shoe producer ________new shoes.

Kurt and Rita receive no ________ for their hard work. “We feel like parents,” says Rita, “and parents shouldn’t ________money for helping their children. The love we get on the streets is our salary.” Though Rita admits she often gets________, she says she will ________with her work because she likes the feeling of having made a________in the world.

【推荐2】I used to think my life was a picture of perfection. My mom had her _______ job and a beautiful office, while I enjoyed the _______ of my own room, equipped with a computer and the quietness of a garden to tend to. However, one Sunday, everything _______. A hurricane _______ our neighborhood while we were visiting my grandparents in Raleigh. Our kitchen was destroyed, and our clean and comfortable home was _______ .

In the midst of this misfortune, something unexpectedly _______ happened. Our neighbors, theFlores family, with their generous hearts, came to our _______. They helped us clear out the broken pieces of glass, heavy furniture, and the rubbish that was spread around our house. Their kindness was most impressive. Though we had _______ exchanged words before, they _______ us into their home with open arms, offering warm beds and hot meals, which made us feel like family. This act of kindness from nearly unknown neighbors was a pleasant ________.   

We started a new ________ of having weekend dinner together. Our home became a ________ place for neighbors; tables were filled with food, and laughter filled the rooms. We ________ the meals served in large dishes roast chicken, bowls of fresh salad, and homemade pies. The meals were ________yet delicious. It was during these gatherings that I befriended Rosica, the Flores’s daughter, a bond created post the hurricane. She had a ________ for storytelling and our evenings together were filled with adventure and laughter. Our conversations felt effortless, filled with ________ , and the sound of children’s laughter provided a lively backdrop. It was a cheerful scene, casting a sharp ________ to the recent disaster that hit us.

________, I understand that the hurricane, despite the serious damage it caused, brought about an unexpected ________. It bridged unknown distances with our neighbors and enriched our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Sometimes, it takes a disaster to bring out the ________ in people.