【推荐1】When I was about twelve, I was taken out for dinner with my family one day. As we headed towards the______, a girl about my age came up to us and asked if we had any spare______. My mom asked where she kept her things. She pointed to an old car. She said there were six of them ______ in that car, which was the same size as my______.

After ______ her a few dollars, we said goodbye. Then, my mother sent me inside the restaurant with my dad and my______. But she didn’t come. ______, she had gone home and ______our cupboards into a few bags. She brought all the ______ over to the car and handed the bags to the family. I wasn’t there when that______, but I could imagine the______appearing on their faces.

Later, when I ______about what she had done, I asked her______she helped them. She told me that the girl’s family ______needed help. The girl and I were the same______, yet we lived ______ lives.

Here I stood, ______ in good clothes, headed to dine(用餐) in a restaurant and then back home to the bedroom I ______with my sisters. I remembered thinking that the other girl didn’t have any food to eat and had to share an old car with five other people.

After______ this picture in my mind, I understood why my mom had done what she had done. She ______ me one of the best lessons I ever learned.

【推荐3】It is impossible to perform consistently in a manner inconsistent with the way we see ourselves. In other words, we usually act in direct _______ to our self-image. Nothing is more difficult to _______ than changing outward actions without changing inward feelings.

One of the best ways to _______ those inward feelings is to have some "success" under your belt (在以往的经历中). My daughter Elizabeth has a _______ to be shy and wants to hold back on new experiences. But once she has _______ to a situation, it's "full steam ahead". When she was in first grade, her school had a candy bar _______. Each child was given thirty candy bars and was _______ to sell every one of them. _______ I picked up Elizabeth from school, she was holding her "challenge" and needed some _______ encouragement. It was time for a sales meeting with my new salesgirl.

All the end of the day, I ________ each teaching point with half a dozen "You can do it --- your smiles will ________ them over --- I believe in you" phrases. By the end of our fifteen-minute ________, the young lady sitting beside me had become a ________ saleslady.

At the end of the day, all thirty bars had been sold. She excitedly ________ as I tucked (把...被子掖好) her into bed that night:" Oh God, thanks for the candy sale at school. It's great."

Elizabeth's prayer reflects the heart's ________ of every person. We all want to be winners. The next day Elizabeth came home ________ another box of candy bars. She'd exhausted the ________ of friendly neighbors, and she was thrown into the cruel world of the unknown buyers. ________ I offered encouragement and a few more selling tips. And she did it. The experience ________ two days of selling, two sold-out performances, two happy people and one boosted (提高) ________. How we see ourselves reflects how others see us.

【推荐2】Years ago, I flew 3,000 miles across the country to take a new job at a non-profit organization. This was a very _________ transition (转变), I thought. Before the _________, the founder of the organization promised to eventually promote me to a senior leadership role, _________ in the end I wound up deeply disappointed. Three months into the new job, they hired someone else to _________ that position.

This _________ promise left me hurt and angry by the decision made. How could this _________ to me? The promise of being on the senior leadership team was a huge factor in my decision to _________ the job offer. As a result, I moved my family across the country and couldn’t easily move back. This was a _________ time for me. _________ my head sought answers and my heart __________ emotions, my wife, Elba, gave me the best __________. She said, Stay focused… stay faithful. This meant keeping your eyes on the __________ at hand and staying faithful to the task. It wasn’t easy, but these words __________ my attitude and actions during that time. I remained focused and faithful until a __________ chance opened at another organization.

When facing an unexpected __________ of events at work, it can seem much easier to slack off (懈怠), get angry, blame others or do foolish things, but these __________ can be costly and self-destructive. Fighting the bad with bad doesn’t __________ up to good. Good can come from bad through our __________. Spiritual and personal lessons are weaved into __________. The lessons I gained during that time have helped me to __________ life’s ups and downs.

【推荐3】“Long time no see.” is a very interesting sentence. When I first read this sentence from an American friend’s email. I laughed. I thought it was a typical example of Chinglish.

Obviously it is a word-by-word literal translation of the Chinese greetings with a ________ English grammar and structure! Later on, my friend told me that it is a standard American ________ . I was too thrilled to believe her. Her words could not convince me at all. So I did a ________ on google. com. To my surprise, I found there were over 40 thousand web pages containing “Long time no see.” This sentence has been ________ used in emails, letters, newspapers, movies, or any other possible place. Though it is ________ informal, it is part of the language that Americans use daily. ________ , if you type this phrase in Microsoft Word, the ________ will tell you that the grammar needs to be corrected.

Nobody knows the ________ of this Chinglish sentence. Some people believe that it came from Charlie Chan’s movies. In 1930s, Hollywood moviemaker successfully ________ a worldwide famous Chinese detective named “Charlie Chan” on wide screens. Detective Chan liked to teach Americans some Chinese wisdom by quoting(引用)Confucius. “Long time no see.” was his trademark. Soon “Long time no see.” became a ________ phrase in America ________ the popularity of these movie’s.

Some people ________ America to a huge melting pot(熔炉). All kinds of culture are ________ in the pot together, and they ________ the color and taste of each other. American Chinese, though a minority ethnic group in the United States, is also contributing some changes to the pot! Language is usually the first thing to be ________ in the mixed pot.

【推荐3】That day, I followed my Beijing daily routine of coming home from Tsinghua University. I was______enough to experience a friendly casual meeting. When entering the______I heard “Wait! Wait!". As I held the lift doors open, a woman______rushed in and thanked me. When I _____in Chinese, she was surprised. After chatting, she______to help me with my Chinese, and then we______names and numbers.

As 1 told my flatmates about the experience, they didn't hesitate to express their_____. From the western point of view, experiences like these are dangerous.______，to be “more Chinese”, I stayed in touch with my lift friend.

The following week she______me to go for milk tea with her and her______. I thought that the girl would________the opportunity to practice English. However, most of our _____was in Chinese! They even went to great length to help me practice______my Chinese is only middle level. Our next_______was when we gathered together to make dumplings. They made me______completely at ease in their home.

After these______meet-ups I have spent lots of time with the family, and I feel that they have become my own______abroad. Fortunately, I didn't let our western point of view act as a______. This experience has made my stay in China______. I feel like this simple difference in______is something we in the west can learn from Chinese culture.