【推荐1】Every day on the way to work I drive down a street lined with pine trees. One tree in particular _______ my eye. It must have suffered some severe _______. Part of its trunk grew nearly parallel(平行) to the ground, and then in an effort to _______ its own course of life, the trunk took a 90 degree turn _______ to stand tall and stretch(伸展) toward the sun.

This tree became a _______ for me. Each day as I drove by, I saw this bent but determined tree and I would be _______. It was a reminder to me that _______ I may not have had the best start in life, I could change _______ in the paths of my life at any time.

I was planning to stop one day to get a perfect _______ of my kindred-spirit(志趣相同的) tree. But that week I was ________. After that busy week, I still didn’t take any action. Every time I drove by the tree I ________ tell myself, “Tomorrow, I’ll stop tomorrow to take one.” Then one day, as I drove by, I glanced over and, much to my ________, I found a lonely sawed-off stump(树桩) ________ the symbolic tree had stood. It was gone! I had ________ my plan until “tomorrow” and tomorrow proved to be too ________.

A picture of a tree is not of great ________. But my lesson rang through clearly ________ I found out one of my colleagues had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer. He may no longer have many ________.

What have you been putting off? What would you do if you knew you would ________ have the opportunity to do it again? Why not do those things ________ that you have been putting off until tomorrow?

【推荐2】My sixth-grade daughter was being kicked out of school. The teacher explained, “She may not be _________ what we’re trying to accomplish.” He was _________ saying she didn’t have the _________, which made me mad because I knew she was smart, just as my father had known about me when I was _________ in school. We had her _________ and found that the troubles she was going through were exactly what I had suffered from — dyslexia (诵读困难症). Just then I was a _________ television writer, and had been awarded Emmy Award for “The Rockford Files.”

If I had known earlier that something beyond my _________ could explain why I was a low _________, I may not have worked so hard in my late 20s and early 30s. I was working for no other reason than to hear people _________ me, because I did __________ in all my courses.

I once asked a friend why he always got an A, “How long did you study for this?” He replied, “I didn’t. I just __________ it.” So he must be smarter. “What if I’m not good at anything?” I began to ask. Despite my __________, I did become successful, and people now say to me, “So you’ve __________ dyslexia.”

No, I don’t. I learn to __________ it. I __________ making a call if possible, because I sometimes have to try many times to get the number right.

Despite these weaknesses, I view dyslexia as a(n) __________. Many dyslexics are good at right-brain, abstract thought, and that’s what my kind of creative writing is.

I can write quickly, and can get up to 15 pages a day. Writing is my __________.

The real __________ I have for dyslexic children is not they have to __________ in school, but that they will be quitters before they get out of school. Parents have to create __________ for them, whether it’s music, sports or art. You can make your dyslexic child able to say, “Yeah, reading is hard. But I have other pride.”

【推荐1】In New England, fall leaves are an eagerly-hoped annual delight. The changes ________ north in Maine, then make their way south in all their brilliant, colorful glory.

One spot in Maine — Acadia National Park — is a unique leaf appreciating ________. People drive hours to see the ________ moment.

This national treasure ________ to me for more than its natural beauty. To me, it represents the lasting, positive influence that a(n) ________ of generosity can have on the world.

In the early 1900s, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., an extremely wealthy man, bought a summer home in Seal Harbor, Maine, and fell in love with the natural ________ of Mount Desert Island. After leaving the business world, he turned his ________ to philanthropic (慈善的) efforts.

One of these was ________ the area that was renamed Acadia National Park in 1929. Rockefeller ________ a large area of land on Mount Desert Island, designed and built 57 miles of fancy “carriage roads (马车道)” that he hoped would ________ car traffic in the park. He eventually donated 11, 000 acres of his land to the park and worked with other wealthy landowners to encourage them to do the _________ . This story shows the lasting ________ a generous act can have on the world. A century later, each of us can _________ from their generosity —and perhaps we can also become inspired to find new ________ to be generous ourselves, with our time, our money or simply our ________.

【推荐2】There he was, turning the corner of Hawley and Main Street like clockwork. His red hair seemed to catch the sunlight, giving his head a soft candle-flame glow. He caught my eye, and up went his arm in his usual wave. As usual, I _______ back and gave him a warm smile. I didn't know his name, but he was very _______ to everybody. No matter the weather, I saw him walking out there almost every day.

Having moved from a larger city, I wasn't used to waves from _______ . Actually, wherever we were, people hardly _______ each other. We simply passed by each other, heads down, minding our own _______ .

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed these daily waves. It-felt great to be _______ and receive that message of "Hello!". On days when we didn't _______ to pass each other, I missed him and wondered if he was all right. The next day, I'd find myself driving with one eye on the _______ . It was a happy reunion when I spotted him, and I'd wave first in my _______ .

One night I was walking in the street, my thoughts traveled to "The Waver", wondering if I could be ________ enough to wave at people I didn't know. Just at the' point, I heard a car ________ . I made eye contact with the person in the car, smiled and waved at her. The woman's face ________ , and she waved back. I was a little surprised. I reminded myself," It's okay. It's actually kind of ________ !" I waved to everyone I saw the rest of the way home.

Everyone at some point in their lives wonders if they've made any ________ on the world. I can tell you that you don't have to change the world ________ . It's enough to help sweeten it a little, even simply by a heart-warming wave.