【推荐1】It was 80 years ago when I wrote my first letter to Paul and Renee. I was about 13. Paul was the same _________ as me, his sister Renee was two years younger, and they lived in France. I was crazy about learning languages, so I was _________ when my French teacher assigned (分配) us pen pals.

It was quite a(n) _________ to get a letter from a foreign country, so I _________ receiving their reply. They weren’t good at English, so after six months, we were all writing in _________ , which helped me have a good knowledge of the language.

I decided to go to France on holiday in 1949 to_________them. The family _________ me well, and I visited several times in the years that followed. The first time I met Renee, she _________ me up at the station, and we hit it off straight away.

Lnever.got to meet Paul. Renee wrote to me and _________ me that he had died shortly after joining the army. Renee and I continued writing to each other, and our friendship became __________ . We talked about our families, our __________ and cur troubles in life. After that I moved to South Africa for a while, married, had children, and changed jobs. Throughout all this, we __________writing letters.

I’m 93 now and I still write to Renee. She has difficulty writing now, so she phones me to__________ . Most people don’t seem to have the __________for letters anymore, but it gives me great pleasure to write. And this is the most valuable __________ I have ever had.

【推荐3】One day, Ruslan was fishing with his friends when they noticed something wrong. A mother bear was swimming confidently toward an island but her cubs (幼熊) were ________ in the lake. Ruslan and his friends could ________ believe what was happening.

As the mother bear ________ to head straight for the shore, leaving the cubs drowning in water, Ruslan felt he should do something to help. However, Ruslan’s boat did not turn for them, in ________ of the mother bear turning around and ________ them, until she was out of sight. When the fishermen were still wondering how to save the cubs, or if it was even safe to do so, the cubs made their first ________ and swam toward them.

When the cubs closed up aside the boat and tended to ________ in, they couldn’t get strong enough grasps so they kept slipping. ________, Rusland figured that he could use the fishing net, with the help of which the cubs were finally into the ________. The men were ________ that the cubs would attack them, but it was obvious that they were too ________ to do anything but lie down.

Though the mother never ________ to save the cubs, for their survival and the safety of the men, they ________ moved the cubs to the edge of the forest and then sailed away. Their heroic deed was later ________ spread. When asked why they took such a ________, Ruslan said, “It was dangerous, of course. But they are living creatures, just like us.”

【推荐2】I was once a painfully insecure teenage girl. I felt ________ all day, and rejected by my classmates. My ________ comfort was to be the stage assistant at our school’s theater.

One day, to my ________, actors from the great Oregon Shakespeare Festival came to perform for the school. One of them was Barry Kraft, who was a ________ leading actor. As I ran around backstage ________ him, he treated me with the casual ________ that he would show for friends in his living room. I ________ thought he was just making small talk to ________ the time before the performance.

That summer, I traveled to ________ Kraft’s performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. During one performance, I gathered my ________ and dropped him a note at intermission (中场休息), saying that if he ________ he could see me in the 15th row. Almost immediately I ________ sending the note, thinking he was too busy to see me.

After the ________, surprisingly, he was waiting for me! He smiled broadly, saying, “Would you like to visit backstage?” And off we went. Every time we ________ someone, he introduced me and said, “She helped me a lot.” I found him ________ sincere with people. It was then that I ________ I’d been wrong about him that day.

My ________ just increased 800%. After all, a well-known man like Kraft was willing to take the ________ to communicate with me, which ________ I mustn’t be so bad. From then on, I felt like a different person. ________, I successfully entered my dream university.

【推荐3】Emily checked her shoelaces(鞋带) and began to jog in small circles _______, waiting for Sierra. She didn’t mind the brief lateness; she was so grateful to have a running _______. Practically the first thing Emily had done after enrolling in this new school was to sign up for cross-country running.

“Hi, sorry, I’m late. It’s a good day for a run, don’t you think?” Sierra _______, talking nonstop as was her habit. Sierra ran every day, which encouraged Emily to take her own training more seriously. The regular practice had helped both of them to _______ their times over various terrains (地形).

Continuing her warm-up, Emily asked, “Are you racing next week in the big regional meet?” “Yeah, the coach encourages everyone to _______.”

“Oh.” Emily followed after Sierra just a bit, thinking about this information as they ran across the field. Knowing Sierra was easily the faster runner, Emily was very _______. She worried that her own time might _______ the team.

Race day arrived, and Emily gathered with the other team members to receive a colored wristband(手环) that showed their school. “Sierra, where’s your band?”

“You’re running in my place today because your times will _______ the team as much as mine, and I want you to have the _______ to show your stuff to the team. I’ll be your water girl at the end.” Sierra smiled and gave Emily a high-five.

“Wow, you’d give up a race for me?” Emily gave her friend a quick hug and thought this ________ would be her best performance ever.