【推荐1】When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant _______ Miller King, who was the best _______ at our school.

Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for _______.

Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from _______. He looked very _______, but he didn’t cry.

That season, I _______ all of Miller’s records while he _______ the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,_______ I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s _______.

One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller __________ going over a fence—which wasn’t __________ to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept __________ from. But even that challenge he accepted. I __________ him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally __________ on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did __________ .Thank you for filling in for __________.”

His words freed me from my bad __________. I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was __________ ahead of me. I was right to have __________ him. From that day on, I grew __________ and a little more real.

【推荐3】At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us. My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.

In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our _________ became even more important to us. We had no fat, only muscle. On the weekends, we would go to the beach, _________ of our flat stomachs.

One summer day, all my friends were at my house swimming. At one point, I was running back to the pool. I _________ on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me. I immediately started to feel _________. That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen. I couldn’t walk. I could hardly _________.

When my foot started to go numb (麻木), everyone became more _________. My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the hospital, and my leg hurt as if it were _________. I couldn’t move. All I could do was think about how soft my waist (腰部) was becoming. That _________ me more than any concern over my leg.

That all changed when I heard the doctors mention possibly _________ my foot. It was still not getting the __________ supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

Never before did I have such great appreciation for my foot. And walking seemed like a ____________ from the gods. Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about __________ and who was wearing what. More and more I expected visits from other kids in the __________, who were quickly becoming my friends.

One girl came to visit me __________. Every time she came, she brought flowers. She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and __________ the other patients.

She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking. I would not have given this girl a second glance before. I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her visits.

Finally, I was improving and soon I went home. My leg was still swollen, but I was walking, and I had my foot! When I went back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and spreading encouragement. I thought if there was a(n) angel on this earth, it had to be her.

【推荐3】My parents always made extra Christmas specials for my sisters and me. Of course the _______ event was when my sisters and I would run down the _______ to see our Christmas tree surrounded by mountains of _______. We got the bikes, microscopes, cameras, and many others. They were great, though I didn’t _______ appreciate all that my parents did. In fact it was quite common for me to be trapped in _______ gifts and not be able to remember everything I _______.  

As my husband and I were getting _______ to welcome our first child into the world, we thought how to give Christmas gifts. Finally we _______ the decision to set the three-gift _______ for our holiday celebrations. I had ever ________ about the idea in a few magazine articles. And I really ________ how it made the children decide about the things they truly ________. But mostly, I loved the idea of ________ our holiday. I would see my kids get the same number of gifts. I expected a Christmas day when we could actually enjoy each other’s ________, as well as the gifts and the spirit that they were given.  

________ those ideas Joe and I came up before our ________ were born, such as we never let them eat ________ food, or limit TV to only one hour a day, the three-gift rule is one thing that ________ the test of time. We’ve done it each year since Tom was born 18 years ago. Joe and I are a lot less ________ since we are focusing on getting each child the ________ three things that they desire. And we find the kids do appreciate and enjoy the gifts. 

I hope my kids will be building their own families and their own traditions.