【推荐1】Bruno went into the kitchen and got the biggest surprise of his life. He could barely believe his eyes. “Shmuel!” he said. “What are you doing here in my kitchen?”

Shmuel looked up and his terrified face ______ a broad smile when he saw his friend standing there. “Bruno!” he said. “They asked me to polish the glasses. They said they needed someone with tiny ______.”

He held his hand out and Bruno noticed it was like the hand of the pretend skeleton. In reply, Bruno held his own hand out so that the tips of their middle fingers were almost touching. Bruno’s hand appeared ______ and full of life. The veins weren’t visible through the skin, the fingers weren’t little more than dying twigs. Shmuel’s hand, however, told a very ______ story.

“Shmuel! Here!” said Bruno, stepping forward and putting some slices of chicken in his friend’s hand. “Just eat them.” The boy stared at the food in his hand for a moment and looked up at Bruno with ______ but terrified eyes. He threw a ______ in the direction of the door and then thrust all the slices into his mouth ______ and gobbled them down in twenty seconds. “Thank you, Bruno.” said Shmuel, giving a faint smile.

Bruno smiled back and was about to offer him more food, but just at that moment Lieutenant Kotler reappeared. Bruno stared at him, feeling the ______ grow heavy, sensing Shmuel’s shoulders sinking down.

______ Bruno, Lieutenant Kotler marched over to Shmuel and glared at him. Shmuel looked up at Lieutenant Kotler, who frowned, ______ forward slightly and tilting his head as he examined the boy’s face. “You have been eating,” said Lieutenant Kotler. “Did you steal something from that fridge?” Shmuel looked toward Bruno, his eyes ______ for help.

“Answer me!” shouted Lieutenant Kotler.

“No, sir. He gave it to me,” said Shmuel, tears welling up in his eyes as he threw a sideways glance at Bruno. “He’s my friend,” he added.

“Do you know this boy, Bruno?” he asked in a loud voice.

Bruno’s mouth ______ open and he tried to remember the way you used your mouth if you wanted to say the word “yes”. He’d never seen anyone look so terrified as Shmuel did at that moment and he wanted to say the right thing to make things better, but then he realized that he couldn’t because he was feeling just as ______ himself.

“Tell me, Bruno!” shouted Kotler, his face growing red. “I won’t ask you a third time.”

“I’ve never seen him before in my life.” said Bruno immediately, “I don’t know him.”

Hearing that, Shmuel wasn’t crying any more, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to ______ his soul not to live inside tiny body any more, but to ______ away and sail to the door and rise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was far away.

【推荐2】The Maranhão region of northern Brazil is my ancestral home. For centuries, we have ________our natural world there, looking after the Amazon rainforest. Our ________help us sustain the environment, and in return nature ________us: trees give us food and medicine.

But today, our environment is being destroyed for capitalist (资本家) ________and gain. Around us is illegal ________and mining. In 2012, we found 72 illegal entry points in our territory which needed ________. We founded the Guardians of the Forest. We local people took matters into our own hands to________our land. For me, there was no question I would be part of this________.

When we see an illegal camp or________a new incursion (入侵), we Guardians have an________in dealing with them. Our knowledge of the forest runs far deeper than theirs. Our networks coordinate (协同动作), study the area, and prepare to ________. We agree on tactics(战术), then________the camps, and destroy their huts and equipment. We take their trucks apart, and burn their tractors. They are left with no choice but to go ________

Our resistance is________. Today there are only five illegal entry points into our land. This________extends beyond our territory’s borders – it’s about our grandchildren having a chance at a future.

【推荐3】Movement is our first language; I believe we’re born to dance. I’ve always had a special liking for dance, and my job.

I got great _______ working in the therapeutic (治疗的) world; it felt more like a calling. I enjoyed every moment; my purpose and mission _______ me. My highlights are when I’ve witnessed once dull and hopeless eyes light up when the person felt seen, heard, and accepted.

Then, ill health struck. As my health declined progressively, I had to stop doing what I loved. _______, all I had was being able to facilitate the occasional workshop when opportunity and energy aligned (一致). Chronic fatigue syndrome (慢性疲劳综合症) is a merciless beast.

In 2020, the unimaginable happened. In addition to soul-destroying feeling of being _______, I began experiencing frequent vocal challenges of varying degrees. I could no longer accept facilitation invitations because my _______ was now unreliable. I grieved, feeling like I was being swallowed by a damp, dark fog.

After an extended period of being in self-pity, I _______ my thinking. I have internal value. My value or identity is not _______ by what I can or cannot do. Regarding my health journey, in time, I _______ this: it is what it is. For this season, this is my path.

So, I started dancing again. Life is full of surprises, pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral, yet what matters is how we _______ to those surprises. Despite ongoing voice loss and health challenges, I found new ways to make a difference.

You and I may not be able to choose the ________ life plays for us; however, we do get to choose how we will dance to it. May we dance with strength, courage, and grace.

【推荐1】A heroic attempt of a man, Oscar Rivera, risking his life to save neighbors from a burning home is cheered by the whole community. The dramatic ________ recorded on video goes viral within minutes.

Rivera was relaxing with his children in their backyard when he heard an enormous sound and ________ action. On reaching the front yard, he ________ that the neighbor’s house was on fire and there were people inside. A woman was trying to assist a man who was ________ on the roof.

Despite the dangerous situation, he kept calm and ________ a ladder (梯子) quickly and began going up with the help of a fellow neighbor. “I just started jumping, jumping, jumping,” Rivera said. Nevertheless, ________ in onrushing thick smoke and extreme heat that made it ________ for him to advance any further, he managed to reach the top floor. There he found somebody inside begging for assistance. Without ________ he pulled him out through one of the windows. People ________ and cheered while Rivera safely brought down the victim.

Eyewitness Janeen Huth ________ this heart-stopping rescue on video, praising Rivera’s selfless bravery which she noted had put him at ________. The victims were attended to ________ within minutes but their wounds could have been ________ if it had not been for what Rivera did.

As residents reflect on this terrifying incident in their ________, they will always look upon Rivera’s brave deed as an example of ________ amid hardship.

【推荐2】Over the years, I have learned that God refines our spirits not only through great challenges but also through everyday ________ and simple moments. I got another ________ of this just the other day at the grocery store.

It was a chilly and ________ day and all I wanted to do was grab my stuff and go home. As I hurried towards the store ________. I saw a little, old lady ________ with age, walking slowly in the rain with a stick in her hand. I didn’t stop to speak with her,________, but hurried on into the store. Later as I was pushing my car t ________through the aisles (过道) I saw her again in a motorized car t carefully ________ out of other people’s way. Again I ________ her and hurried on.

Thankfully, God in His infinite Love gave me a third ________. As I was ready to leave, I saw her again, sitting in her cart ________ sadly at the boxes she couldn’t even reach if she was standing. This time I stopped and asked if I could help her. She gave me the most ________ smile and pointed to a box on the top shelf. I stretched up and ________ it for her. Then we talked for a few minutes, two souls ________ in a beautiful way, until we said “goodbye”. As I was leaving the store, I smiled and thanked God for giving me enough chances to finally get it ________.

【推荐2】Carman Kelly, 82, needed a walking stick to push shopping carts (购物车) back to a certain area daily at an Arizona supermarket. Elizabeth Rizzo, a customer, wondered why the lady was still ______ at such an old age. She didn’t know that days later she would help change the lady’s ______.

After ______ that the Walmart employee (雇员) was doing the job to clear about $10.000 of medical debt (债务), Rizzo made a TikTok video about her ______.

The video has been widely ______ and been viewed more than 15 million times. Through GoFundMe, a popular crowdfunding (众筹) website, Rizzo and her _______ raised more than $129,000 for Kelly.

“I was ______ the amount (金额) we were able to collect,” Rizzo says. “I believe in the   _____ of people and I believe if you ______ their heart, they’ll come together.”

Kelly doesn’t know how to _______ Rizzo and the TikTok community. “There aren’t enough words to tell you how I feel,” she tells Rizzo.

Rizzo says she has a ______ grandmother. “My grandma _______ when I was 15,” she says. “I always wished I had her in my adulthood. Now I’ve got my grandma back.”

She ______ walking down the streets as a young girl. Her grandmother told her to move any rock she saw to the side of the street so people wouldn’t ______ it. And her grandmother taught her to be kind to others. And it’s those lessons of ______ that encouraged her to help Kelly.