【推荐1】After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. The other woman was my _______. She had been a widow for 19 years. The way of my work made it possible to visit her occasionally. That night, I called to invite her to go out for dinner. “What’s wrong? Are you well?” she asked. My mother is the type of woman who believes that a late night call or a sudden invitation is a(n) _______ of bad news. But thinking about it for a moment, she _______ said. “I would like that very much.” That Friday after work, I drove over to pick her up.

We went to a restaurant that, although not _______, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm _______ she were the First Lady. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation—nothing _______ but catching up on recent _______ of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the _______. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me _______ you.” I agreed.

A few days later, my mother died of a heart attack. It happened so __________ that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant __________ from the same place where mother and I had dined. An __________ note said: “I paid this bill __________. I wasn’t sure that I __________ be there; but I still paid for two plates—one for you and the other for your __________. You will never know what that night __________ for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I __________ the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give time to our family. __________ in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they __________, because these things cannot be __________ till “some other time.”

【推荐3】My mother taught me a lot of things. One lesson I learned was this: Never take “no” for an_________.

I watched my mother in_________many times. One incident was when my brother Ted was attending_________. At the start of his second year, Ted called home and told my parents, “I don't have a_________on campus. The school said they didn't get the_________.”

“Where are you_________?” I asked.

“They have a house at the foot of the mountain,” Ted said. Ted didn't say what we all_________: It was a long way up that mountain to the campus. When winter came, he would have a_________time making it to class through snow.

My mother was_________. “They're crazy — I sent that room-deposit check," she said. “I'm going there and____________this out.”

I thought that was a____________idea. I knew Mom could handle the____________. She would get it solved quickly. But what I didn't____________was that I was going with her.

I tried to refuse, saying I didn't want to____________school, but I soon found myself on a bus with my mother,____________Ted's college. There we were told the dorms were____________and nothing could be done. Then Mom went straight to the president's office. She introduced herself____________and explained the problem. The president promised to take care of the____________.

The next night, after we returned home, Ted called, saying that he was in a dorm.

That day Mom taught me some valuable life____________: Never accept “no” for an answer. Always____________what you know is right.

【推荐2】I met Mrs. Sase my senior year in high school. I was_________greatly in her math class. On top of being poor at math, I was_________the anxieties that come with being a foster(寄养的)youth and worrying deeply about the future. I had been living with foster parents, and our_________was that after graduation I was to move out and begin my life as an adult, at seventeen.

The burden of this anxiety resulted in a_________of motivation in school. Most teachers didn’t_________. Mrs. Sase, however, took a_________look. She walked over to my desk and_________me a little folded note. It read,“Are you okay?”

I was_________by her genuine care and interest in my well-being. Not only was she sensitive enough to_________my reserve, she took the time to personally make a__________. She listened as I shared my most hidden fears about my past and the__________future that was closing in on me. She__________to write my letter of recommendation when I decided to apply for the Guardian Scholars program, a program committed to__________college-bound students exiting the foster care system. Her letter was__________thought-out and meaningful and it is something that I will always treasure.

Mrs. Sase gave me the support I needed to__________the difficulties in my life. Because of her influence, I came to believe that I could achieve academic and personal success.

【推荐3】Wayne Gretzky was about five when he first saw Gordie Howe, a Canadian professional ice hockey (曲棍球) player, on television. He immediately became a   ___ of the Detroit Red Wings star. “I was really ____.” he said. “Not everybody gets to meet his hero and ____ when you meet them it isn’t as good as you think it’s going to be. I got so lucky that the guy I ____ happened to be so special.”

Howe joined the Red Wings in 1946 and spent most of his long career in Detroit. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top ____ on six occasions and also ____ the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player six times.

“He was a(n) ____ guy.” Gretzky said. “He never asked for anything from anybody, ____ he would do anything for anyone.” Gretzky added that it wouldn’t   ___ whether you were a server in a restaurant or the Prime Minister; Howe ____everyone the same. “He had a way to be able to ____ to anybody and put everybody at ease.” he said. “He was just a really ____ person.”

“When I was 10 he told me, ‘Make sure you ____ your backhand.’” Gretzky said. “So I always had a great ____ in and scored many goals with my backhand. A   ___ we had as players was that our backhand was ____ and solid (坚固的) and I think that’s the one thing I really ____ from him.”

“Howe said to me when I turned pro and signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association at 17, ‘You worked hard to get to the professional ___, but nowadays you’ve got to work much harder. So many guys who have turned pro sort of ____ about that.’ That was the one thing he told me that ____ stuck in my brain.”

【推荐3】Taking Chances

Ever since I was very young, _______ of making mistakes, I’ve asked countless times, “What should I do?” I don’t remember clearly when I _______ only to do things the “right” way, and made “doing it the right way” my motto.

However, sometime during my high school years, I _______ . Maybe it was when I decided to try for the lead in “Beauty and the Beast”. On the day of tryouts, my heart was pounding; my hands were _______ badly when I got up to sing. But when I opened my mouth, the sound was loud and _______ . I was trying to do my best even though I might fail. _______ I didn’t! I realized that if I wanted to live life to the fullest, I had to take _______ .

Now, I do take these chances, with baby steps, every day: voicing my opinions in debates, _______ for a high note in church choir, riding my horse over a three-foot jump.

Three years ago, I broke my back when I fell from my horse. The _______ meant I couldn’t try out for basketball, which I loved. And, the day I ________ out for track was the first day my doctor allowed me to do any physical activity at all. The coach didn’t take me, so I started running with my mom. I didn’t ________ the track team, but I didn’t fail, either.

I have finally learned to ________ myself, like taking a tough science course. And I have come to realize that even though my parents, friends and teachers don’t always have the ________   to “What should I do?”, they will be there to ________ me when I try.

“Life is learning to deal with Plan B,” my mother ________ in her speech. But I now know that the Plan A’s I make for my life will become easier and easier with every chance I take.