【推荐1】When it comes to the changes in our life, I always memorize my skating. I _______ that no matter how much we enjoy doing something, at some point the one we enjoy comes to a _______ and we move on to our next life phase.  

When I was a young boy growing up in New York, I enjoyed_______ skating on the local ponds free of charge. Later, I _______ to enter a roller rink(溜冰场). As my years of roller skating began to _______, I discovered that quite often I would be the oldest skater. That, however, never_______ me because I figured that somebody had to be the youngest and somebody had to be the oldest. I just _______to be the oldest.  

About a year ago I was skating with a group of middle school students. But this time it was_______. For the first time I was having trouble keeping my_______ and almost fell several times. My years of skating were________ over! That was when I was aware that there was more to roller skating than just the skating. I ________ to hand out skates to the students.  

It’s time to move on to another phase of it—the________phase. I have________ those years on skating for joy. I’m smiling and laughing a lot ________ now. On the faces of others, I now get to see the ________ that I once had for roller skating.

【推荐2】One day, it was raining heavily and I didn’t have an umbrella, I had just_______a bus and had to walk back to my house.I_______walking in that direction, when I heard somebody shouting,“Sister,”“Sister.” I looked back and_______the stationery（文具）shopkeeper.I went to him and asked what was the_______.He said that since it was raining heavily, I could take a_______in his shop, have a look at his new_______and go home when the rain stopped.For a moment I hesitated（犹豫）,but the_______of getting to have a look at the pens made me nod.

To my surprise, I found that the_______was larger than I thought.The stationery shopkeeper offered me a chair and took out the pens for me.I_______a beautiful parker（派克）pen and had a try.It________so smoothly that I wanted to buy it with all my heart,________as expected, it was very expensive. The shopkeeper said, “I can give you the pen for ninety-five dollars________one hundred.” I looked up and thanked him for the________,but refused politely as it was________quite expensive for me. By that time, the rain had________,and after appreciating his________,I quickly walked back to my house.

After that day, the shop became my________place to hang out .The shopkeeper used to________me pens always at discount prices and very often also offered me tea.He had much information about all kinds of pens and other writing instruments.________both of us knew nothing about each other,we had a deep friendship based on our common ________.

【推荐3】I was on vacation with my husband, my brother, his wife and daughter. We were not________with the area and jumped onto a________, thinking it would be a nice way to see the downtown’s old town area. Well, until visiting with the bus driver, we________we were on the neighborhood route which picks up school children and delivers to various neighborhood places, with a route of________over about 2 hours. That was a surprise and a concern________we had parked our vehicle in a timed parking area and it was going to end.

We________this with the bus driver only to let her know we were not from the area and________for getting on her bus in error. Then she surprised us________saying, “I get off shift after a few more blocks, and if you don’t mind a tight squeeze in my company car, I’d be________to take you back to your vehicle before the time is over.” The bus driver received________from her manager, so we________said yes to her offer.

She went out of her way to take us back to our vehicle after her________was over and it wasn’t on her route to home either. We were touched and grateful for her________and thoughtfulness. In return because she had shared some of her concerns about the school-age children she sometimes had on the bus route, I shared with her a little________on how to quiet the children. She was so grateful. It was a wonderful________of kindness!

【推荐1】Traveling with a toddler (幼儿) can be exhausting. But rarely is it as painful as Kate Baker’s experience during a flight twenty years ago.

Baker and her husband, Bob, were _______ to Europe with their 2-year-old son, Neil. “When we got on the plane in New York, all of us were _______,” she said. “But halfway over the Atlantic Ocean, Neil started to get very warm.” Then Neil began foaming (口吐白沫) at the mouth.

“The flight attendants were _______ in asking anyone if they were a doctor,” Baker _______. “No one would come forward. And then the pilot started to _______ , ‘Is there a doctor on board?’ And again, no one came forward.”

One of the flight attendants asked Baker’s husband if the toddler was still breathing. “Just _______,” he replied anxiously. “Hearing those words, I felt so _______ that I could’t move,” Baker said.

Then she noticed three women get out of their seats and _______ where she was standing. They were Muslim women wearing hijabs (头巾), and they came up to her and put their _______ around her, comforting her in a quite ________ voice.

They eventually landed in Amsterdam, and Baker and her husband took Neil to a(n) ________. Doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him, and by then he appeared to be ________. However, Baker still felt worried and they quickly ________ another flight home.

They went right to a pediatrician (儿科医生), who ________ that Neil had just had an ear infection. So everything was fine. But Baker would never forget those women and how ________ they were.

【推荐2】Four girls. Two tents. No cellphones. A thunderstorm. One hundred and thirty hours of nonstop togetherness. This was what Julia Ruelle just________.

“It was really ________,” said Julia Ruelle of her recent weeklong adventure to the Boundary WatersCanoe Area Wilderness with three childhood friends.

Earlier this year, Julia, having completed a ________for a brain tumor(肿瘤) in April, won a writing contest and was________ a free five-day camping adventure with up to three friends. Its aim is to get kids away from technology. She struggled to________ the final three — Anna Wander, Madeline Wilson and Julianna Torelli. No________were allowed, so getting their agreement was a bit ________. Having a satellite phone and promising to check in twice during the week finally won their agreement.

The four girls arrived in Ely on June 10 for training. They ________ the next day at 7 :00 a. m. , and quickly fit many things into their ________— getting up early every morning, going boating ________, then having lunch at the campsites, followed by swinging, reading, talking, and napping.

“I love how you are separated from everything in your life, especially ________,”Anna said. Without her phone, she said, “I’m less ________ about things.” “We got along pretty well,” said Madeline. “We were always talking before bed, about specific things and thoughts.” “But we might sometimes have had ________,” Julianna added. No one was even hungry or homesick, but they were ________ nervous one night as they waited out a thunderstorm.

After the adventure, Julia will continue to take physical examination every three months to make sure the tumor is gone. “Mental health can be ________ so much in the Boundary Waters. It really helps to reconnect with yourself,” said Julia.

【推荐3】I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And unless otherwise _________ a seat by the teacher, I always chose to sit at the back of the classroom.

All this _________ after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a _________ idea because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the _________ to keep pace with the others on the team and they would laugh at me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “_________ it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give it a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the _________ of it! When I first started _________ the practice sessions. I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much less what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get _________ and take a shot at the wrong direction— which made me feel really stupid. _________, I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to __________ on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not to be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t know “just yet”.

I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the __________ and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the __________ part in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned how to play and make friends in the process— friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!

With my __________ self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates. I have gone from __________ in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself, to raising my hand— even when I sometimes wasn’t 100 per cent __________ whether I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

【推荐1】Louis Tewanima seemed born to run. Like other Hopi people in the late 19th century, Louis ran for his mental and ________ well-being.

In 1907, Louis ________ himself riding on one of the locomotives (火车头) that had amazed him as a boy. With no ________ of the English language, he headed east to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania to learn English.

The ________ in Pennsylvania was much colder. He missed his family and his way of life. He turned to something ________, running. He’d seen the school’s track team practice, so he approached the coach, Warner, and ________ if he could run for him.

After watching Louis run, Warner ________ realized Louis had talent. Warner coached him on applying his stamina (耐力) and ________ to track and field. It wasn’t long before medals, and ________ filled Louis’s room at the Carlisle school, and he became a celebrity in distance ________ in America. Even when he ________ difficulties, Louis prevailed (战胜). He once missed his train to a ________ in Harrisburg. Instead of calling it a loss, he ran 18 miles to the event, arriving on time. He ________ to compete in the two-mile race, and he ________ first!

In 1908, Louis entered his first Olympic, and placed ninth in the marathon. Four years later, he ________ in the 1912 Summer Olympic in Stockholm, Sweden. This time, he ran the 10,000-metre race and finished in second place.

【推荐3】I often watched her from my kitchen window, she seemed so _________ as she played basketball with a group of tall boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often _________ the kids as they played after school.

I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. And I began to notice her at other times, basketball _________, playing alone. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to _________. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship (奖学金). I like basketball. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”Then she _________ and ran towards the playground happily to practice over and over again.

Well, I had to give it to her—she was _________. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her basketball team to success.

One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass _________. I walked towards her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft _________. “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5´5" she would _________ never get to play for a top team—not to speak of offering a scholarship—so she should __________ dreaming about college. She told me that her father said those coaches were __________. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that nothing could stop her except one thing—her own __________. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was __________ by a college recruiter (招生人员). She was indeed offered a scholarship, a full ride, to a Division 1, NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had __________and worked toward for all those years.

It’s __________: If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.