【推荐1】In March 2022, I was recovering from an operation for breast cancer and going through a terrible time. I spent my days at home ________ everything to myself. Then one of my colleagues suggested ________, “Why don’t you pick a couple of days and go to Ireland and escape?” I ________ the tip.

The trip was fun, but when I got on the ________ to go home, I wasn’t feeling well. My plan was to sleep for the ________ journey, but the guy next to me looked ________, eager for a conversation because he had kind eyes.

“I had an operation,” I said ________. “I had breast cancer.” He paused for a moment and said, “What’s wrong with that? Breast cancer is just a small ________ of your life, like going to college or getting married.”

I could feel my eyes ________ up with tears.

“Don’t think too much of your problem,” he said. “Instead, think about how many people you could help.”

I had tears coming down my face, and said, “I can’t ________ I’m crying in front of you. I don’t ________ know you.”

“Look, you have a ________ in life,” he said. “You can either ________ your things deep in your pockets and take them to your grave (坟墓), or you can help someone.”

I’ve not been a very outgoing person, and except the few people who needed to know, I’d kept my illness ________. I didn’t want to be ________ as a defective (有缺陷的) person.

But this man, whose name was Ken Duane, showed me that my illness gave me ________, because it gave me the ability to ________ someone else’s load. I decided at that moment that I was going to try to help others by sharing my story ________, in the hope of inspiring those who were in the same or similar situation. Later that year, I talked about my illness and my ________ with Ken on air.

I am forever ________ that I never took a nap on the flight over the Atlantic.

【推荐2】My family moved into a newly constructed home in Calgary 10 years ago. That year was full of promise. We _______ at the stream of incoming families during their move-in days. Hands were shaken. Couches were pulled up steps. But we saw _______ of each other as winter approached. Names were forgotten.

As the snow _______, many of the neighborhood’s kids began to learn how to ride a bike. Their mothers would be nearby, chatting. Dad wanted a place for children to play, a quiet place for parents to sit and relax, but more importantly, a _______ for everyone to leave the house and join the community. He began _______ benches.

He started knocking on doors and _______ hands. He chatted with Eric, a builder and then met with a designer. _______ began with me and my father. Within minutes there was a flock of young neighbors _______, each claiming they could help. _______ of us knew each other well, but all hands were on deck (全员出动). After a few hours, three benches formed a semi-circle on the avenue.

That afternoon marked the first of many weekend Neighbor Days. Kids ________ each other around while parents brought out food. ________ would carry on into the night. We often ________ there the following afternoon, as well as ________ afternoons and evenings in the years since.

I moved out for university four years ago, having learned to ________ value community. But I’ve never lived somewhere as social as my family neighborhood since.

There’s a saying: you must be a good neighbor to have good neighbors. My dad wasn’t thinking much about building those benches. He just wanted a place to sit on a Saturday afternoon. A place to bring the ________ together.

【推荐1】We talk about the persistence (坚持不懈) needed to make our dream come true today. Just think of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Their ___certainly didn’t happen overnight!

Wilbur was 12 years old and Orville 8 when their father brought home a ___. It was a rubber ___made in France. They ___it so much that they played with it until it broke. Immediately, they began ___copies. They were hooked on aviation (飞行器制造)! In 1900, as young men, having built their first glider (滑翔机), they decided to ___it out at Kitty Hawk on Kill Devil Hills. It ___consistent strong winds, and the somewhat cushioning effects of sand. That first flight was unsuccessful, ___it didn’t stop them. After several more tries, on December 17, 1903, with a much ___plane, they risked their lives to drive it in the wind. They ____flying the world’s first powered airplane. Beginning at 10:35 a.m. that day, Orville ____it 120 feet in about 12 seconds! At 12:00, Wilbur flew it 852 feet in 59 seconds! Johnny Moore, one of the five men who ____them that morning (in charge of dragging the plane across the sand for positioning), ran to the village of Kitty Hawk ____, “They’ve made it!” This was the ____of aviation! At this time, Wilbur was 36 and Orville 32. Roughly 24 years had passed ____their father gave them that toy!

If you have a ____, work at it. If it doesn’t turn out as ____, don’t give up! Try again! Who wants to live and say somewhere, “If only” or “What if?” ____what you want and accomplish it. Don’t ever give up! ____in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more ____than unsuccessful men with talent. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts (流浪汉). Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent (无所不能的).

【推荐3】Brenda Bongos was a girl with one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But a(n)_________ lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to lots of _________ people in a care home. The sound of beating drums would really annoy them. Brenda was _________. She always tried to find a way of practicing her drums without bothering other people, but without success. However, _________to practice as much as she could, Brenda tried all kinds of ways.

One day, while watching a science documentary, she heard that _________ cannot travel in space without air. At that moment, Brenda bongos decided to become a _________astronaut. So Brenda built a space bubble connected with a machine, which drew out all air. Inside was a _________ of drums. Once inside, Brenda _________ the machine and played like mad!

It wasn’t long before she had become _________. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. ____________ afterwards she started giving concerts out of the bubble. ____________ Brenda became a real musical astronaut as the government asked her to be part of a space journey, and had gone far beyond her first ____________ of playing drums in a band.

When asked how she had ____________ all this, she said, “If those old people next-door hadn’t ____________ so much to me, I wouldn’t have gone to such ____________ to find a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.”