【推荐1】Our heavy lesson

When my brother and I were children, we spent a few weeks each summer in the countryside with our uncle. He was a geologist and loved to go on long walks to find stones to add to his ______ at the university. More often than not, we ______ him.

One day, we left early, and this time, our uncle had brought us ______. “You can help me carry the ______,” he explained.

Sure, why not? The whole day, we walked around the countryside, and every now and then, our uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised that he also took some stones out from our bags ______, but ______ he had just found better samples (样品) than the ones we already had.

Still, when we reached the house in the late afternoon, we were ______. The backpacks were so heavy we gave a big sigh of ______ when we put them on the ground. _______ our uncle’s backpack was half-empty.

“Why did you give us so ______ stones?” we asked.

“I didn’t. You did,” he said, waiting for a while before _____. “You did not know it, but I made you ______ a little attitude test today.”

“What do you mean an ‘attitude test’?” we wanted to know.

“It is something someone once did to me – and I shall always remember it. You see, I ______ to every word you said. And whenever you ______ about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something with an attitude of ______ and positive thinking, I took out a stone. And now look at your backpacks.”

We did. They were full.

“I hope you remember this little attitude test. You see, your ______ thoughts are like stones. You carry them in your mind just like those stones in a backpack. The more negative thoughts you have, the ______ your mind is. A positive thought, however, ______ a negative one. So look at those bags and start paying attention to what you say and how you say things.”

This little lesson was one of the most important I ______ had. And I remember my uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life – the ______ of attitude

【推荐2】The journey of learning Beijing Opera has been a meaningful one for me.

When I first stepped into the practice room, the sounds of instruments filled the air. The _________ performers moved with grace and their voices were full of power. As a beginner, I found it hard to _________ the movements and vocal techniques. It seemed impossible to _________. But with each practice period, I found the determination to keep _________. Repeating the steps and vocal exercises over and over again, I practiced _________. My teachers and classmates were very _________. They encouraged me during moments of doubt and told me that _________ was not given but earned.

As time went on, I began to see _________ in my performance. My voice became more _________ and my movements more graceful. I started to feel a connection with the __________ understanding the feelings they had through their movements and expressions.

Finally, the day arrived for my first __________. I stepped onto the stage and the music started. I put my heart into the performance. The cheers that filled the theater at the end of the show were __________. The journey was __________, but learning Beijing Opera taught me a valuable lesson: never __________. I will carry with me the lesson learned from Beijing Opera that will __________ me on the road to success, both in the world of Beijing Opera and life.

【推荐3】My family often visited Disneyland, where the best parts would be fireworks. However, as I grew older, something ______ caught my attention: my grandfather would go ______ just before the fireworks and reappear shortly after they finished. I wondered why, only to be told Grandpa ______ the noise of the explosions as they ______ him of the war.

One summer night, my family and I exited a ride just ______ to hear over the loudspeakers, “In only two minutes, Disneyland will present their fireworks…“When Grandpa heard the ______ , he started jogging ahead, even unaware I was following him.

The first shell (烟花弹) broke. Grandpa ______ as if hit by a shot. Shell after shell bursting overhead, my grandfather jogged ______ , barely keeping his footing long enough to collapse (倒在) onto a(n) ______ nearby. Instantly, I was by his side. When he looked up, I saw ______ on his face. I put my hands around him. Grandpa ______ my arms, weeping soundlessly. We sat on that bench for what seemed like hours…a 10-year-old child cradling (轻轻抱着) a ______ man.

When the last fireworks ______ , my grandfather straightened abruptly and wiped the ______ from his eyes. Seconds later, he completely ______ himself. He arose, declaring that we should find the others. His strong hand once again enclosed all of mine.

【推荐1】This short play is a stage version of The Necklace, one of Maupassant's best－known short stories. It ________ about a vain woman, the wife of a small clerk, who borrowed a diamond necklace to go to the palace ball. But ________ she lost the necklace. Then she and her husband had to work ten ________ years to pay for it.

The heroine was named Mathilde, who used to be a pretty girl. Born into a clerk's family, she had no ________ of marrying a rich and important man. ________ she let herself be married to Pierre Loisel, a small clerk ________ a government office. They were not rich and lived a(n)________ life.

One evening her husband brought home an invitation for the palace ball. It was the first time in ________lives that they had been invited to an important occasion like this. But the wife didn't feel happy, because she had no dress and no jewelry for the ball. Pierre used all he had ________ to buy her a new dress and suggested her borrowing some jewelry from her friend. That night at the ball, Mathilde was a great ________. All the men wished to dance with her. She danced wildly, ________herself, her husband, her home and all. But on the way home she ________the necklace missing. They looked for it everywhere but couldn't find it, and they never ________it again. They had to borrow a lot of money to buy a diamond necklace exactly like the one they had lost and gave it to the friend. Then they worked hard for ten years to pay the________. At the end of ten hard years, Mathilde had ________ a great deal and looked like an old woman.

【推荐2】In the Drum Tower West Theater in Beijing, Ding Yiteng was watching his new play, The New Romance of the West Chamber. The play brought his unique_______, shaped by his experiences, to the audience. Ding understands the Western view of art, and he loves Chinese culture, so he wishes to _______ them.

During his early education in the U.S., Ding_______ a lot for not being able to understand people around him. _______, when he returned to China after the sixth grade, he went through a second_______experience since he was not accepted by his classmates in his own culture.

The_______ stimulated his desire for self-expression. He found his place on the stage and devoted himself to _______ever since. His hard work_______. He became the only Asian actor in a famous international theater group in Denmark.

His deep love for Beijing Opera _______as he saw a picture of Mei Lanfang, the most famous Peking Opera star, in the Danish theater. “I felt this urgent need for the________of my country,” Ding said. After that, Ding dedicated himself to studying Chinese dramas and reinterpreting(重新诠释)________ plays as a director.

In The New Romance Of The West Chamber, Ding rewrote the story to give each   ________ a modern identity. He explored the topic of ________and left a question-whether the couple can free themselves from the limits of family and society. The play doesn’t give any ________.

“As a director, I need to find________ from the traditional stories but keep a contemporary view as well,” Ding said.