【推荐1】A visit to the hospital is rarely a pleasant one. As I made my way to the ward （病房）, I took a deep breath and _______ a smile. After all, nobody needed another _______ face in the room.

As I entered the ward, I overheard my relatives making plans for a _______. My grandfather had remained _______ for almost a week, with a _______ diagnosis from the doctor. Was this really the end for him? _______ at my grandparents' place since young, I _______ a very close relationhip with them. He would sneak me downstairs for ice cream when Grandmother was in the bathroom, while I _______ added more sugar in his morning drink because he had a _______ tooth that Grandmother disapproved of.

I wanted to ________ this quiet man. I did not believe it was his time to go. I had ________ about paper cranes（鹤） and wishes coming true. For every one thousand folded paper cranes, we get a wish ________ by the gods. ________ as it sounds to the adults, I managed to ________ my sisters and cousin to carry out this sacred plan.

The last few cranes were ________ but a week later he was still in a deep sleep. The one thousand paper cranes had not delivered our ________ to the gods. We only had one wish - was that too ________ to ask for?

Just when all hope seemed ________, a call from my aunt changed everything. She wanted us to come to the hospital immediately my grandfather was awake. A visit to the hospital is ________ a pleasant one. However, this time, I was ________ by the scent（香气）of flowers that visitors brought. I stepped into my grandfather's ward and saw him holding our jar of paper cranes. This man of few words looked up at me and said, “My good girl, thank you.”

【推荐2】It seems like just yesterday that I was driving my mom to the hairdresser’s or out to go shopping. She would always sit in the passenger seat, examining her bag ________. For a long time, my mom carried a newspaper. The ________ was about a boy going to school. She always told me how she had gone to school with him, but I had no ________ of knowing for sure. My mom had Alzheimer’s disease.

Something about this story ________ in her mind, so she put the newspaper in her bag. She frequently ________ the things in her bag to make sure it was still inside. She also looked for her ________ , because my dad probably ________ her to make sure she could answer it.

It made me ________ . I shouted at her and told her the more she ________ it and took everything out, the more likely she would be to ________ something. But none of that ________ . She always had her ________

Finally, she stopped worrying about the bag ________ . She put it down one day and never picked it up again. And she never woke up again. I found her bag lying on the kitchen table one day and it ________ me. I never thought I would be so sad to ________ this bag. It caused me so much ________ for so long, but there I was, crying at the sight of it.

This bag symbolizes a time when my mom was able to get into the ________ and go out with me. I wish I could go back in time to a day when my mom ________ the old bag in her arms. Whatever you are going through right now and whatever your ________ is, you are going to ________ the thing that drives you mad someday.

【推荐3】My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations, and is ____ to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a ____ who laughs loudly and chants, “Girls rule, boys drool.” But when that ____ zone is not around her, she is shy and ____.

This has been challenging for me ____. “Shy” is not a word that I think has ever been used to ____ me. But this has been a year of ____ for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of ____. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she teamed to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she ____ her first kids’ triathlon (三项全能).

On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son’s birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to ____ her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to ____ and to run with her. We got all the equipment she’d need and we kept talking about the ____. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her ____, she ____ my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep calm.

And then it was time for her to go. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart ____ quickly. My daughter ____ into the most confident human being I had ever seen. She dominated that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the ____ with the biggest smile on her face.

I can honestly say that I never felt so ____ of someone in my entire life. It wasn’t because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and ____ that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn’t seen before.

All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I ____ that clay.

【推荐2】A 17-year-old teenager, Anika Puri, has invented a low-cost tool to spot elephant poachers (偷猎者) in real time. She won the 2022 Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication for her model of a machine-learning driven software that analyzes movement patterns in thermal videos of humans and elephants. “I’m________excited by the________focusing on endangered species and environmental science.” Puri said.

During a recent trip to India, Puri realized that elephants were still being________for their tusks (牙). “I was quite taken aback,” Puri said, “Because I always thought, ‘well, poaching is________; how come it really is still such a big________?”

Over the next two years, Puri________the software EISa (short for elephant savior). This wildlife poacher detection solution is based on a________process: an EISa camera________to a mobile phone flies over a park on a drone and________the movements of elephants or humans. The software is four times more________than existing state-of-the-art detection methods. It also decreases the________for expensive high-resolution thermal cameras.

The 17-year -old’s invention has earned________from notable scientists. “Puri’s software is quite admirable,” says Jasper Eikelboom, an ecologist, “it’s quite________ that a senior high school student has been able to________something like this. Not only the research and the analysis, but also... being able to________it in the models.”

【推荐3】In 1967, my husband and I graduated from college with financial challenges. We ______ to make both ends meet because of our low-paying jobs as well as college loans. The birth of our son that summer ______ our financial pressure.

Later we got involved socially with a community of couples. They ______ made us feel welcome although our finances often restricted our ______. One summer, the group organized a picnic and requested we bring potato chips. I was ______ that I didn’t have to spend much on the event. So I ______ two large bags of the least expensive brand of potato chips. However, we got to the state park, only to find a real feast ______ out — chicken, watermelon, home-made salads, and desserts. ______, I was leaving when a friend reassured (使……安心) me that our time to make a ______ for the feast would come sooner or later.

Decades have passed. Now, my husband and I approach ______ with our grown son, but that picnic remains fresh in my memory. Our friends’ kindness has influenced how we ______ and assist others. We may never ______ those who once provided for us, but we continue the tradition of generosity, ______ our struggling younger friends.

That day, the feast symbolized a(n) ______ of gratitude, not to be repaid, but to be paid forward. It serves as a ______ of the lasting power of community and kindness.

【推荐1】My 9-year-old daughter cornered me in the kitchen. "Daddy, I want a pet rat." Barbara held on with reasonable ________ about how she would take care of the ________ herself and how she would ________ responsibility by doing so.

I didn’t want a rat, yet that didn’t seem to be the right ________ for this situation, given the way Barbara had so maturely made her strong ________ . So I gave her the classic parent ________ . "Let me talk to your ________ about it." My wife didn’t let me down. She came up with the idea that Barbara could prove her ________ and responsibility by researching some basic ________ we had about rats: How much do they cost? What care do they need? The task might ________ her and we could move on to ________ pets, such as goldfish.

________ , she searched out the answers and even took detailed notes. My wife _______ . I drove Barbara and her 6-year-old brother, Edvin to the pet store and Barbara ________ picked out a baby rat. "I can’t believe I have a rat of my own after a year of ________   !" She said.

"It wasn’t your begging," I told her. "You made a ________ case for getting a rat. We wanted to ________ that."

"Dad?" Edvin immediately ________ . "Can I get a pet lion?" He quickly ________ five reasons why a lion would make a good pet.

I may have learned something about flexibility with the rats, but I had not ________ my ability to reason. "No."

【推荐3】Pennsylvania is full of mysterious places! One of those is an old turnpike(收费高速公路)______ for decades. My dad loves history, and he learned it was open to the public. ______ , when I was 14, we took a bike trip to ______ this road!

My dad chose a 16-mile ______ of the road for us to ride. Part of it included an old tunnel called Sideling Hill which is over a mile long! To ______ , we checked our tires and made sure our lights had batteries. In the morning, we loaded our bikes into the car and set off. As we approached the tunnel, I felt ______ as it was absolutely black inside! But Dad encouraged me. He said he would be beside me. He reminded me to stay ______ and keep my light on!

When we ______ the tunnel, the sound of our bikes was heard through the darkness. I shined my flash light around and saw walls ______ in graffiti(涂鸦). And I felt like I was being ______ ! I was pretty scared, but ______ on following Dad helped me relax. After riding half-way through, I could see light coming from the other end, motivating me to keep going. And I was so delighted to ride out into the bright afternoon!

Whenever going through ______ in life, I remember this trip. It reminds me that my father is always beside me. He turns on the light of hope in my ______ as well as gives me ______ to keep riding through life's ______ tunnels.