【推荐1】In high school I had a math teacher, Mrs. Davies, who took her job seriously and expected her students to put forth the same degree of commitment (付出). Strict but fair, she held our attention with her great method. One of her ______ was for students who were more advanced academically. I chose to ______ it and soon realized that the course was a bit over my head. I ____ with the complex problems that others seemed to learn without much effort.

One Friday we were tested ______ our ability to use a theorem (定理) that no one in the class thoroughly understood. The teacher would ______ our papers based on our ability to progress through the problem which easily filled two pages of formulaic notations (公式符号). I was absolutely ______. Finally, I didn't use the required theorem. Instead, I decided to use more familiar theorems to arrive at an ______. I knew I had failed because I hadn't done the ______ assignment. I became resigned (顺从) to my fate.

Our test papers were ______ back the following Monday. Everyone received a "C" except for me. To my surprise, I received an "A". I ______ that there must be a mistake. I watched ______ as the teacher approached my desk, smiled, and asked for my test ______ back. She then went back to copy my work onto the blackboard, ______ the class how I had arrived at the correct answer. "Mathematics is meant to be a creative tool, pushing our minds to a rewarding answer," she said with confidence. ______ I didn't use the required theorem, she seemed really proud of how I'd worked through the problem. The class saw her fold my test paper and put it into her textbook. She announced that it would be ______ with future classes.

My teacher would have been justified (合理的) in giving me a ______ grade. Instead, she used the ______ to deeply influence a student who often struggled. And after forty years, I still cherish the ______. It helped change my self-image. I ______ up to a broad boundary of possibilities which has made my life an adventure. She understood that teaching went beyond strict demands and could be used to ______ Thank you, Mrs. Davies.

【推荐2】When I was in primary school, I got into a major argument(争论)with a boy named Tom in my class. I can’t _______ what it was about, but I have never forgotten the _______ I learned that day.

I was sure that I was right and he was wrong—but he strongly believed that I was wrong and he was right. Our teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson and _______ a good idea. She _______ both of us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on _______. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object(物体). I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what _______ the object was. “White,” he answered in a _______ voice.

I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, _______ it was obviously black! Another. _______ started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told me to go to stand where the boy was standing and told him to come to stand where I had been. We changed ____________, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I ____________ answer, “White.” It was then ____________ I realized I was wrong. In fact, it was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his side it was white, ____________ from my side was it black.

My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must ____________ yourself in the other person’s shoes and look at the ____________ through their eyes in order to truly understand their view.

【推荐3】I grew up in Pittsburgh with my mother and 3 younger sisters. My mom was a single mother and _________ a minimum wage job, so we never had much, but that was OK, we made _________ meet anyhow.

In high school, I got a job at a local shop and stared saving money for college. I was _________ into the University of Pittsburgh and received some scholarships that _________ my tuition. I couldn’t afford the _________ because it was much too expensive for me. I put a mattress (床垫) on the floor of the old van (旅行拖车) from my home and slept there for the next 2 years.

The weather in Pittsburgh was _________. Super hot and wet in summer and freezing cold and snowy in winter. Being homeless forced me to take _________ of everything the campus had to offer since I wanted to spend as _________ time in my van as possible. I _________ spending most of my time throughout the week at the __________ studying and reviewing classroom material a lot more than I would have if I had the __________ in going home and __________ the TV or falling asleep for hours in my room. This really helped me __________.

I also made a lot of new friends by meeting people __________, attending speeches, plays and charities. Before college I would have considered myself __________, I didn’t really speak much __________ spoken to, but I moved out of my comfort __________ and did new things. I really developed a(n) __________ personality.

I really think that having to deal with all the struggles __________ I had to go through really made me into a better person. Now I have got a really good job and I’ve __________ been able to help my mother out a little bit. I just feels good!

【推荐2】When I was in the seventh and eighth grade, I had to face one of my greatest fears—rejection (拒绝) by friends. It was a time when three of the most important _______ that my parents had taught me throughout my life came into use. My classmates put my sense of loyalty, friendship, and _______to the test.

Our class consisted of 31 students who had _______each other since the first grade. In junior high, most of us had chosen groups of friends that we _______ to hang out with during our free time. I soon found that the majority of our _______began to make fun of my best friend and spread what weren't true around the rest of the school. I didn't want to have the same people _______ me, but I knew that I couldn't just sit back and let my best friend deal with this_______ .

Every day I would think about my_______ , knowing that he was getting more and more_______   as time went by. I soon decided to talk to my mother about it, since she is ________ a second mother to my friend. Her advice was to be ________and remain loyal(忠诚) to him. She told me that ________is one of the most important things in life that helps a person ________. My mother told me to have courage and ________ for my friend, even if it meant risking my own ________.

I took her advice and ________it for all that it was worth. ________I did receive rejection from my classmates, I don’t________my decision. I told my friend that I would always be there for him, through “thick and thin”. Using the values (价值观) my parents________me, I not only stood up for what I believed in, but I became even ________with my best friend because of it.

【推荐1】A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful_________, and knowing her husband could _________it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the_________ , her husband told her how_________he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He_________her a beautiful gift package(纸盒). She opened it and_________ a Bible. _________, she raised her voice and said to her husband, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” She was so_________that she left him.

Many years passed and the lady was very_________in business. She owned two large companies. She__________her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to__________ him. But before she could, she__________a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions(财产)to her. She needed to come back and__________ things.

When she arrived at his house, sadness__________her heart. She saw the still new__________, just as she had left it years before, With__________, she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring__________from the Bible to the floor and a __________could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words “LUV U ALWAYS”.

__________your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it’s because it is better packaged the way it is! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the__________.

【推荐2】At the age of eight, Lewis visited a nearby shelter for the homeless for the first time. Before he left home, he put on his favorite shoes _________. But his mom told him to take them off, _________ that those children might not have such good shoes.

Sure enough, when Lewis met them at the shelter, he quickly _________ that their living conditions were far worse than his.

“Their shoes were _________. Some of them even didn't have shoes,” said Lewis. “I feel very _________ to grow up in a family that is able to _________ me with whatever I need. A lot of kids here in the US don't have as many _________ as I do,” Lewis said years later.

The shelter visit left such a deep impression on Lewis that he started _________ to shelters all the shoes he'd outgrown. But he soon recognized that his donations weren't that _________. So in 2010, at the age of ten, Lewis started a program to collect __________ shoes from his neighborhood for the homeless children.

With the help of his parents, he then __________ the Gotta Have Shoes Foundation (基金). Since then, the __________ has donated shoes to more than 10, 000 homeless children in 21 states.

“By __________ footwear to homeless children, I'm making sure that they have at least one less thing to __________,” Lewis said, “I hope our Foundation can __________ enough money to provide a permanent (永久的) living place for them in the future.”

【推荐3】Overcoming my initial struggles in the Netherlands to start my PhD has been like riding a bike.

I _______ in a hilly, seaside city in China without cycle paths, and biking was dangerous for me. Now, my Dutch neighbour was telling me I had to _______.

It took me around a month to feel _______ cycling. After half a year, I am starting to enjoy it. For me, a helpful _______ for dealing with Dutch traffic was to make a lot of noise as I rode: loud laughs, “look out”, “watch it”, and so on. This _______ other cyclists into keeping away from me, and prevented the _______ that had seemed unavoidable when I started.

This pattern, of a time of struggle _______ by fun, was repeated with other aspects of my life in Utrecht. There were more “bikes” that I _______ to learn how to ride. One of them was _______ management. In Utrecht, I don’t see people working ________ time. As for working at the weekend, ________ it. I initially assumed that nobody was working very hard, because of their shorter ________. But after a few months, I realized that the other PhD students were all completely focused on their work during that eight-hour working period, whereas I was taking endless “________” when I could have been focusing on my studies. Cycling has become a ________ of my growth, freedom and ________ adaptation to PhD life in the Netherlands. And I have formed a good habit of working while I work and playing while I play.