【推荐2】“What are you doing?” my fifth-grade teacher asked as I bent over the side of my desk. “I’m _______ my backpack. The bell rings in a few minutes.”

“Unpack your assignments. You still have five minutes. We _______ until the clock runs out. The more you do here in class, the less you have to do at home,” she said. She was a very kind woman, but I knew she was _______ this time.

Having no option, I _______ pulled my math assignment back out and _______ one problem at a time as the minutes on the clock ticked away. The bell finally _______, and I stuffed my homework in my backpack as _______ as possible and ran out.

I cannot remember how many times per day she would say, “Use your time wisely.” It worked. It became second _______ for me to work until the bell rang. In middle school, I continued the _______ she instilled (灌输) in me. I worked on my assignments until the bell rang. And she was ________. The more I did in class, the more time off I had at home for projects and hobbies. I instilled that mindset in nearly every ________ of my adult life: my education, my career, and my family.

At age ten, I didn’t ________. I do now. Learning how to use your time wisely also means learning what’s ________ to you. It’s not just a ________ in using the time you have, but in enjoying those moments and ________ the time spent with loved ones.

【推荐3】A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox (儿童玩耍的沙场).   In the process of creating roads in the soft sand, he ______ a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.

The boy ______ around the rock, managing to move it from the sand. With a little bit of ______, he pushed the rock out of the sandbox by using his feet. When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, ______, he found that he couldn’t ______ it up and over the little wall. The rock was too ________ for his small body.

As he ______ to accept his failure, the little boy dug, pushed and dragged, but every time he thought he had made some ______, the rock rolled and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy ______ again and again, but his only ______ was to have the rock roll back.

____ he burst into tears. All the time the boy’s father ______ from his living room window as the story continued. At the moment the tears fell, a ______ voice rose above the boy’s head. It was the boy’s father. ______ but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the ______ that you had?” Defeated, the boy replied with tears, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I ____ all the strength that I had!” “No, son.” ____ the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t  ____  me to help you.” With that the father picked up the rock and ____ it from the sandbox.

Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be removed? Are you discovering that you don’t have the strength it takes to lift them? There is one who is always available to us and willing to ______ you with the strength you need.

【推荐1】Love Is Blind: The Magic of Tabby

In October, 2003, I started my work at my local animal shelter’s Adoption Department. Over the years, more than 50，000 animals have _______ the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are special animals, who touch me so deeply that I could never possibly _______ them. Tabby was one such animal.

Tabby was an ancient Cocker Spaniel, probably 14 years old. What’s more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby’s chances at adoption seemed _______ at best. After all, we didn’t have many adopters coming in asking, “Can you show me all of your really old dogs who are also _______?” We had all thought that Tabby would live out the rest of her life at the _______.

One day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, had _______ Tabby’s picture and stories on the shelter’s website at home. They were interested in meeting her! It was the only enquiry we ever received about Tabby. What could a young child possibly see in a 14­year­old dog who was both blind and deaf? Most boys would want a dog who could grow with them and _______ through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would _______ be able to do that. But after meeting her, Loretta and Gary decided that she was the right dog for their family. They adopted Tabby!

If Tabby’s story had simply ended with her _______ adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed. ________, it was what happened after her adoption that people might regard as “magic”. Gary suffered from seizures(癫痫). Since Gary and Tabby met they became ________. They did everything together. They became so “in tune” with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary’s seizures before they occurred, giving his family a(n) ________ that one was about to strike. What’s more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby’s ________.

How could it be? Nobody could explain ________ Tabby did it. But those of us who were fortunate enough to know her and her family had ________ the magic, the kind that has its roots in love.

【推荐2】Once there was a young girl named Eliza. She was the daughter of a king and she was very lazy. She_______ had her servants do everything for her.

“I am very thirsty, and my_______ is on the table. Please get it for me.” She called._______ a servant picked the glass up from the _______ next to Eliza and held it up to her _______ until Eliza was no longer _______. The next day, Eliza was walking to dinner when her hat _______. She called for a servant and a young man ran over, picked up the hat,_______ it off, and placed it back on Eliza's head.

She continually _______ her servants to do simple tasks for her. Her father noticed her________ and decided to punish her. He set her in a________ with only a loom (织布机) and some thread. No ________ were allowed in the room.

“You will________ in this room, not eating or drinking until you have woven a blanket for me. You have to do all of the work by ________.” The king left Eliza all alone in the room.

Eliza called for her servants,________ none appeared.Then she________ her father telling her about Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She called for Athena over and over until finally, she fell ________.

While she was sleeping, she had a ________. Hermes spoke to her in her dream. He said,“Athena has heard your pleas (请求) for________. She is very angry with you. She will come to you and inform you of your________.” Eliza awoke very frightened.

【推荐3】“Wow, Mubeen is your brother? He is such a wonderful kid!” My new teacher went on and on about how _______ Mubeen was. I am proud of my brother, but I was _______ of people expecting me to be as perfect as he is.

There are things that are _______ about us. He is better at study; I am more creative and social. We also have a lot _______: we’ve both hardworking and want to have a successful future. We get along well and he often _______ me when I am in trouble.

But all the _______ got to me. I was angry. I wanted to be known as Shameera, not as Mubeen’s _________, or worse a female copy of him.

This year, Mubeen was _______ to Cornell University. That was a big _______ for our school, for he was the first student to get into Ivy League university. I said to my brother, “Everyone is ________ me. But that really makes me ________ because even when you leave, your ________ will live on in this school. I’m afraid you’re going to haunt（困扰）me.” Mubeen laughed and said, “Don’t ________. I won’t haunt you. And I’m ________ that you’re going to be the second to go to an Ivy League university.”

Recently, I spoke to my history teacher about how I didn’t like being ________ my brother. She said, “To be ________, I think you’re smarter than he is. You ________ more in activities and you’re more understanding.” ________ I remember these words, they make me happy.

This school year is my first year of school without my brother. I finally have the chance to establish my own ________. Although the comparisons continue, they’ve decreased. I feel less stressed and I am more________ as myself now.