【推荐1】Do you think an individual can make a difference? Ask Rossano Ercolini, the Goldman Prize winner, which is considered the Nobel Prize for “   ___”. Eroclini is a young   ____ in a small town in Italy. After   ____ the news of reducing waste on the radio, he decided to teach his students to   ____ paper and replace plastic water bottles in the school lunchroom with   ____glasses.

When his town announced plans to open an incinerator to burn waste, Ercolini knew it would be   ____ to his students. Incinerators are huge heaters that burn all waste and poisonous materials, leaving behind   ____. You might think it is   ____ than sending waste to landfills. It is true that landfills   ____ space, smell bad, and that poisonous materials can make underground drinking water   ____ to use. But incinerators have their own   ____. Burning will   ____ poisonous gases into the air, causing breathing problems. People will have to wear a mask     ____ they go out. The smoke also causes pollution, and even   ____ the greenhouse effect.

Ercolini was worried about the   ____ of his community and felt it was his duty to   ____them. He organized town meetings and talked about how to reduce, reuse and recycle.   ____, Ercolini has advocated the zero-waste movement, the   ____ of which is to reduce the waste to the least possible amount. He has already   ____ plans for more than 50 incinerators in many Italian cities.   ____ his efforts, there are more than 100 zero-waste towns in Italy now!

【推荐3】About five years ago my family moved to Iowa and I started going to a new school. I was a little _______, but I worried I would never be _______ than the other eleventh graders. Lucy, a girl in my class was not_______for the change. I thought she didn’t_______me from the start. In fact, I was sure that she hated me. When I asked her a _______, she answered me impatiently as if I was a total fool. My teacher made us_______next to each other in the last semester. Lucy didn’t like that _______. I didn’t wear make-up (化妆), and I didn’t wear those awesome (可怕的) jeans everyone else was wearing. I didn’t exactly_______ the coolest girl. However, I kept smiling at her, _______ she rolled her eyes at me (翻白眼). I kept telling her she looked ________, even if she was angry. ________, Lucy let me talk to her, even in front of her "cool" friends. She started ________ me how beautiful I looked. I still remember the first time when she________ at me saying that, and I smiled right back, telling her a joke. Lucy ________ me to her house for parties, and talked to me all the time. Lucy, the girl who had ________ me, called me her best friend. I will never forget a sentence written by Abraham Lincoln: "Am I not destroying (消灭) my enemies when I make friends of them?"

【推荐1】I work as the reception manager at my hotel. A ______came in a few weeks ago with a note saying that the guest would be travelling with her________ father. His daughter wanted to make his trip to Ireland as ______as possible.

Upon seeing this note, I ______I would be the one to check them in as I was scheduled for their arrival time. I ______to learn some very basic sign language. I ______ the guest in my usual fashion, asking for the surname on the booking. Once I heard the name I ______ immediately who was standing in front of me.

I had been learning for two weeks how to say "welcome to Ireland. My sign language is ______, but please if you need anything during your stay just let me know and we will help you".

I ______ at the father and daughter and greeted him in the sign language I had learned for him. His daughter broke down ______ and called me sweet when she learned about the truth. But the father just smiled and was so ______. Honestly, seeing his ______ was enough for me. It was so worth the last few weeks of learning basic sign language.

On check-out, I ______ wasn't working, but they had ______ a gift for me---a small box with some chocolates and a book on sign language. Inside was a ______ saying "Thank you very much for what you did on check-in. You have no idea how much this ______ to my father and me. We can't ______ you enough. You've made his trip home to his family after 50 years very ______ with one simple gesture".

They wrote a letter to the general manager, ______ to give me a raise, which I really ______. I cried for 5 minutes when I came into work today to find this gift in my locker.

【推荐3】I first discovered Café Gratitude several months ago. My friend Dr. Heather invited me to ________ her for lunch. Heather had just moved to Los Angeles, and we would discuss the project we were doing. As we sat down and were ________ the delicious vegetarian menu, the server who came to take our ________ asked us the question of the day, “What are you grateful for? ” 

I felt a familiar stir in my chest, and my eyes began to water. ________ pause, Heather ________ her hand out to me and said that it was great to be with me. I expressed my gratitude to be with her too, enjoying this moment of our shared ________ and her new start in Los Angeles. After a delicious lunch, I decided to stay a while longer as the question had inspired me to meet the co-owner, Ryland. Pauses or ________ in life are a very good time to listen to what’s ________ on inside of our hearts.

When Ryland came over to my table with his big smile, his title of Chief Inspiration Officer seemed very ________ for his personality. He gave me his ________ attention as he opened his heart to listen. I told him how I wanted to help him open more ________ so there could be more places to eat and help spread this ________ of “being generous and grateful every day”. Since that ________, Café Gratitude has been my favorite place to eat.

What a rewarding and meaningful experience! And I’ve since learned that Café Gratitude practices business through what they call “Sacred Commerce” where they provide inspired service, and express ________ for the richness of our lives. A simple question that day ________ me down new paths and gave me new friendships.