【推荐2】My father had a union job at a film-processing lab, and layoffs — and eventual rehirings — were common during the 1960s. My mother, however, _______ the family’s finances, and each layoff was extremely ________ . She worked, but money was tight as she ______ to pay the rent and the other bills until my dad was rehired. She always managed to protect my sister and me from the financial_______, and we never knew the extent of her worries.

_____one spring, when I was 10, during one of my father’s layoffs, I could______my mother was dispirited . I decided that I would _____my mother by buying her a special Mother's Day gift. My sister had a friend whose mother owned an exclusive boutique（高档精品店） , the Agins, near San Vicente and 6th Street,______was known for its high-end fashions and style. My mother, who couldn't _____to shop there, occasionally mentioned the store in tones of _____.

One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins. I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins and told her I was looking for a Mother's Day present. I remember that she didn’t talk down to me. She   _____me like a valued customer. She asked me what my mother would like. I told her I wasn't sure.

After wandering to the back of the store, she returned with a box. She opened it,______an Italian handbag _____of supple leather. “How much money do you have?” she asked.

“Twelve bucks ,” I said.

“You're in _____, ” she told me. “It's only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card. ”

She______the purse and thanked me for my business.When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she stammered（结巴地说） in an accusatory tone, “Where did you get this?” “I bought it at the Agins,” I said.

It wasn’t until many years later, when I learned that the purse was _____ several hundred dollars, that I _____just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. My mother, who carried the purse for many years until it was _____repair, is now 90. “Do you know what really______me to this day?” my mother said. “Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was incredible enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of_________ that I'll never forget.

【推荐3】It was a Friday night and I was _______ a restaurant, washing dishes. A plate slipped through my wet fingers and fell onto the floor in _______. My face flushed (发红) and inside I was screaming, “Why me!?” as if my _______ would make the plate whole again.

The broken plate was only one of the many _______ fighting inside me. There were a dozen other smaller but urgent concerns.

For me, it was impossible to get some much _______ rest or some study time before a coming exam. I had to _______ with the family expenses (开销). So I got back to work.

It was 12 p. m. when I finally finished my work. I got on the bus home and took out my notes to study. I got the _______ looks from people out of bars because I was studying on a bus in the middle of the night.

Their _______ didn’t bother me at all. I knew something had to change in my family and it _______ to me to begin it. Fortunately, I also knew I had desire and ________ in my blood. My grandfather was among the first Mexican immigrants who ________ in L. A. Both of my parents left Mexico in their early teenage years and began working long ________ as a cook and a maid. The spirit was passed down generations, which helped me both in school and at work.

As I walked through the front door at home, I saw my mother had fallen asleep ________ me despite her own long day. In my bedroom watching my brothers breathe slowly made me feel my body’s tiredness. However, it would be a while before I could ________ them in sleep. I had an essay due early the next morning, and Ms. DePaolo doesn’t ________ late work.

【推荐1】On the weekend, I went to the beach nearby for some quality time with myself. After a ________ week, I wanted a place to be alone, ________ on what I did in the past. A few hours later, I noticed a girl of 8 or 9 building a little sandcastle with a moat (护城河) around it and trying to ________ the moat with water.

There being no container ________, she would go to the waves, ________ her hands and then walk back to her little castle. Sadly not much water was making to the moat. But she kept trying ________. I so wished I could help her out, ________, I didn’t have a container with me.

As watching her, suddenly I ________ that I had a bottle of water in my bag. I quickly ________ in, took it out, and walked over to hand it to her.

________ at first, she smiled but shook her head shyly. I reassured her that it would make getting the water much faster. She finally took it from my hands after I ________. Not wanting her to feel ________, I walked off the beach right away.

In the larger scheme of things, it was a tiny ________. But in my heart, I also know that when she notices someone needs help in her life, maybe, she would recall this little random ________ of kindness by a stranger, which would make her more likely to ________ and give a hand.

【推荐2】Many of us adults have gone through many stages in our lives. Some of them _________ us in time, and others that we fail to _________ have become a normal part of our daily lives. For far too many of us, we are always _________ the next stimulation that can help us out of our normal lives, or _________ allow us to have a few moments when we can dream of a very different life.

A friend of mine was always very _________, but he managed to devote some of his _________ to a community group. They had many _________ in mind and a major one was raising money to help build a hospital for _________ cancer patients.

With the help of a lot of local businesses and fund-raising events, this project was finally _________. The building and the services it __________ to those people were wonderful. Volunteers were __________ to help in any way they could.

No one had any idea that this service would ever be __________ by any of his family. Several years after the hospital was open, his __________ suffered from cancer. And, __________ her condition worsened over the next several years to the point where she couldn’t he cared for any longer at __________. She was __________ to a hospital for continued care and it was the very hospital for which my friend worked so hard to make sure its services were __________ to those who needed it.

We never __________ what we do can benefit others. __________ can happen to any of us, and we never know when our own good deeds come back in the most __________ ways.

I was waiting to cross a New York road during rush hours. A woman________ from my right, pushing a baby stroller (婴儿车). She was _________ something softly to her lovely baby and pushing the stroller into the _________street because there were many running cars. Just then I noticed she was going to get _________. Yet I paused for five seconds _________ reaching out to her. In my mind, I could see it all: the yellow taxi       _________ them, the woman losing hold of the stroller, the stroller and child falling in different _________, each crashing to the ground and lying still.

“What are you doing?” a man said. His voice brought me back to        _________       : the man had come out of nowhere, _________ the woman’s arm, and dragged her back just in time to _________ the speeding taxi. He did not smile       _________ at those who he rescued. He actually looked angry over the woman‘s _________. Hands in pockets, he walked away from the _________without a second glance.

I saw this man become a hero for the day. He _________ wasn’t like Superman or any other type of hero. I, however, merely a(n)_________ who just stood there, saw everything but did nothing. Perhaps I reacted slowly or I was ________that I could have been wrong about my prediction._________, years later I could still see that scene _________ in my mind. I’ve been feeling _________ about this discomfort that made me pause for those few seconds and _________ the chance to save someone.

【推荐2】One day an informed man went to consult the wise man, “I am knowledgeable. Why can’t I have a(n) _______to succeed?” “You’re smart, but you just tried everything a little,not deep enough,so how can you make it?” the wise man answered _______

Having heard this,the man _______ practicing the piano which he had great interest in. _______, he played the piano very well, and participated in contests, but still didn’t get what he wanted.He went to_______ the wise man, “I have mastered the piano, but failed again. You didn’t tell me the _______ for success!”

The wise man _______ his head and said, “You were really going deep into one thing but you didn’t _______ the chance. Actually, I watched your _______.For the first time, you were not confident; for the second time, you ________ courage. How can you________ me?”

After hearing the wise man’s words,the man trained hard for more years. He ________his self-confidence, took courage and participated in the contest again. He played extremely well, but ________ the referee’s injustice,he missed out on the top spot.

________,the man said to the wise man, “I’ve tried my best this time,but it seems that I was born to be ________.” The wise man told him with a smile,” In fact, you’ve almost succeeded.”

You only need a final leap.” “A final leap?” His eyes opened wide.” “Yes. It is________ you’ve got the ticket for success-frustration. Now that you’ve got it, the success is a________ that setbacks will give you.” This time, that man________   the words in mind. As ________, he succeeded.

Do not, for one failure, give up the purpose that you are ________to achieve.