【推荐1】Attitude isn’t quite everything when it comes to being successful, but attitude plays a part in every stage of your life. A poor attitude gets more people _______ than any other single factor, and a good attitude gets people jobs and helps them _______ those jobs more than any other factor.

Your attitude _______ many people, from your family to the stranger on the street corner. Your attitude is particularly important when you _______ seemingly hopeless situations. Losing a job or a friend because of a poor attitude is _______.

You can find at least two _______ to look at everything. A pessimist looks for difficulty in the opportunity, while an optimist looks for opportunity in the difficulty. A poet of long ago put the _______ between optimism and pessimism this way: Two men _______ out from prison bars—one saw mud; the other saw stars.

Unfortunately, many people look only at the _______ and not at the opportunity that lies within the problem. Many ________ complain about the difficulty of their jobs, for example, not realizing that if the job were ________, the employer would hire someone with less ability at a lower wage. A small coin can hide even the sun if you hold the coin close enough to your ________. So when you get too close to your problems, to ________ objectively about them, try to ________ how your vision can be ________. Take a step back, and look at the situation from a new angle.

You can’t do anything to change the fact that a problem ________, but you can do a great deal to find the opportunity within that problem. You’re ________ a better tomorrow by doing your best today and ________ a plan of action for the tomorrows that lie ahead. ________, just remember to ________ a positive mental attitude.

【推荐2】There are days when I feel I am a student in my classroom rather than a teacher.

One day, my students held a discussion about different tools, especially, how _________ were like tools. They discovered the same tools could _________ different results: they could hurt or _________. I watched and listened with _________. They got it!

A few days later, Laura had an unexpected _________in class. She refused to work but quarrel with her group. I asked her to go. She _________ from the back of the room to the door, _________ me an angry look, and then slammed (猛摔) the door. Extremely angry about her disrespectful behavior, I was _________ in my tone and harsh (严厉) with my words. She said, “You’re using your _________ against me.” I was speechless.

There are times when you are at a __________ crossroads with a student and the road you choose will make all the __________. Minutes later, I realized at that moment I should apologize, “You’re right, Laura. I have used my words unwisely and unkindly. Will you forgive me?” She looked me in the eye and __________ said, “OK, I forgive you, Mrs. Ekre. And I’m sorry, too.”

A year later, she wrote me a beautiful letter, __________ to which was a small key, a tool, she said, for a teacher who taught her how important words can be. It serves as my __________ of a lesson I taught as a teacher but one I really __________ from my student.

【推荐3】I wrote my first novel when I was 22. It was a_________. I didn’t know how to properly organize dialogue or _________ a plot (情节). Those were all _________ I planned to work out later. I gave the book to my father to read, and within a day he left me a voice mail saying that it was_________ and that I was going to sell it for $300,000.

_______, the book was _________ by every publisher in New York. If there were a literary prize for Most Rejections, I would have won it. I was _________, of course, but I knew better than to _________ — writing wasn’t an easy job, and if this book wasn’t my _________ in, maybe the next one would be. I got back to work.

But this scenario (剧情) happened again: I wrote books … and then they wouldn’t __________. Still, my father’s faith in me never wavered (摇摆), even __________ I worked a lot of other jobs. Some of the jobs, like being a bookseller, were great and __________to my writing life. Some, like selling overpriced jeans to 12-year-olds, were only good as long as they were material for future __________. And they were — because it finally __________. I sold a book! I was going to make it big!

I completely agree with motivational speaker and author John Maxwell’s words: “Successful and unsuccessful people do not __________ greatly in their abilities but in their __________ to reach their potential（潜力）.” Life’s not __________. It never was, it isn’t now, it won’t ever be. But do not fall into the trap of feeling you are a __________, you are not. Get over it and __________ with it. And yes, most things are more __________ when you make an effort to get them.

【推荐3】The Source of Power

Most of my life I had lived in a Black and Latino community. Neither of my parents had graduated from middle school and I was the first in my family to ever enter a college campus. By contrast, most of my _______ came from generations of well-educated family and had grown up in _______ , white suburbs. _______ sharing with others how I was feeling, I closed myself and thought I could get through it if I just _______ study. During the weeks before the winter break, I finally decided I would drop out. _______ , that wasn't the end of the story. I found _______ and guidance to continue through to finish my college.

Consulting provided me a space to _______ my emotions. My consultant provided me with books and other _______ to understand what I was experiencing and she helped me feel powerful.

Volunteering with a campus organization provided me a constant_______ for why I was in college. My interactions with students, who reminded me so much of my own friends at home, inspired me to work for________ to higher education for low-income youth. I also got ________ in a summer urban program, where I cooperated with a group of student leaders to start a conference to talk about________ of race and class.

________ is power. I read books and intentionally chose courses to learn more about topics ________ to immigration, race, social class and urban education. These courses and books helped me ________ a much deeper understanding of my own racial experiences of oppression（压迫）.Most importantly, I was empowered with the knowledge I needed to work against injustice and inequality.

【推荐1】I will never forget the year when I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be _________Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, “What would I say when the other kids asked what I’d _________?” Just when I started to accept that there would not be a Christmas that year, three women _________at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of _________that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t _________. Somebody had thought _________of me to bring me a gift.

Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my_________Christmas there special and memorable, I instantly remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of _________for as many children as I could possibly reach.

So I _________a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans (孤儿) at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with toys, clothes, and school supplies, each with a child’s name. We wanted all of them to know they were ____________. Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I ____________them that they couldn’t open their presents until every child had come forward. Finally the ____________they had been waiting for came as I called out, “One, two, three. Open your presents!” As the children opened their packages, they beamed and their bright smiles ____________ up the room. The ____________in the room was obvious, and it wasn’t just about toys. It was a feeling — the feeling I knew ____________that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.

【推荐3】When my aunt’s children were small, she decided to get them a puppy. Her neighbor’s dog had given _______ to a couple of puppies a few weeks earlier and so my aunt arranged to _______ one of the puppies once they had been weaned(断奶).

The day came to bring home the little puppy and the children were_______; they named it Shorty happily and _______ welcomed it, preparing its food and a comfortable _______ in a basket. The next day the children gave it some milk before kissing it goodbye and_______ for school. When they returned, they were _______   to discover that Shorty was missing. They _______ the whole house inch by inch, _______ it was nowhere to be found. A few hours later, the ________ who sold them the puppy came over carrying Shorty,________. He explained that the mother dog had slid into my aunt’s house and carried the puppy back to his home.

For a number of days my aunt and her neighbour tried ________ to keep the puppy in his new home, because each day the mother dog would________ it from the tiny bed. Finally, my aunt’s neighbour gave up and offered her a refund.

I came to realize that mother’s love is flowing all over the places you can imagine, ________ in the kingdom of animals. By the way, if you would like to keep a puppy as a ________ you might as well keep the mother dog at a distance.