【推荐2】When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant_______Miller King, who was the best _______at our school.

Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for _________.

Just before September, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from _______. He looked very pale, but he didn^’t cry.

That season, I_________all of Miller’s records while he _______ the home games from the bench. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player, _______I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s _______.

One afternoon, I was crossing the field to go home and saw Miller stuck going over a fence—which wasn’t _______to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept assistance from. But even that challenge he accepted. I________ him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally ________ on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did fine. Thank you for filling in for________ .”

His words freed me from my bad ________. I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was________ahead of me. I was right to have admired him. From that day on，I grew ________ and a little more real.

【推荐1】People on a college campus were more likely to give money to the March of Dimes if they were asked for a donation by a disabled woman in a wheelchair than if asked by a nondisabled woman. In another _______ , subway riders in New York saw a man carrying a stick stumble and fall to the floor. Sometimes the victim had a large red birthmark on his _______ ; sometimes he did not. In this situation, the victim was more likely to _______ aid if his face was spotless than if he had an unattractive birthmark. In _______ these and other research findings, two _______ themes are found: we are more willing to help people we like for some reason and people we think _______ assistance.

In some situations, those who are physically attractive are more likely to receive aid. _______ , in a field study researchers placed a completed application to graduate school in a telephone box at the airport. The application was ready to be _______ , but had apparently been “lost”. The photo attached to the application was sometimes that of a very _______ person and sometimes that of a less attractive person. The measure of helping was whether the individual who found the envelope actually mailed it or not. Results showed that people were more likely to ________ the application if the person in the photo was physically attractive.

The degree of ________ between the potential helper and the person in need is also important. For example, people are more likely to help a stranger who is from the same country rather than a foreigner. In one study, shoppers on a busy street in Scotland were more likely to help a person wearing a (n) ________ T-shirt than a person wearing a T-shirt printed with offensive words.

Whether a person receives help depends in part on the “worth” of the case. For example, shoppers in a supermarket were more likely to give someone ________ to buy milk rather than to buy cookies, probably because milk is thought more essential for ________ than cookies. Passengers on a New York subway were more likely to help a man who fell to the ground if he appeared to be ________ rather than drunk.

【推荐2】One very important institution in our economy is the bank. Banks_________ money for individual people, corporations, and the government. Banks provide a number of important services for you and your family. Most importantly, they’re a_________ place to store your money. They also provide an easy way for you to_________ money from one place to another. When you write a personal cheque, the cheque authorizes the bank to give your money to the person or business whose name is on the cheque.

Of course, banks also lend money. Ordinary people take out bank_________ for a number of reasons-to pay for college, to buy or remodel a home, to start or expand a business, and so forth. Banks provide these services to individuals; _________ , their main function is to lend large sums of money, for example, to corporations. When people or corporations borrow money from a bank, they must, of course, pay_________ —a percentage of the money they have borrowed.

Banks pay interest on the money they hold, and charge interest on the money they lend. For a bank to make a_________ , it has to collect more interest than it pays out.

Sometimes banks invest money as well as lend it. To invest money means to put it into a corporation or some other project—for example, building a housing complex or doing medical research— _________ a share of the profits. Most businesses need loans and investments at some time, and banks are an important source of_________

You might wonder what would happen if all the people with money in a bank wanted to take their money out at the same time. I mean, how would the bank be able to give everyone their money, if it had lent out or __________ most of it? In fact, this can be a serious problem for banks. They__________ the fact that most people won’t want their money for a long time once it’s deposited. That leaves the bank free to lend or invest the money. If every person—or even lots of people-tried to__________ their money at the same time, the bank might not be able to honour all of its__________ . This causes some banks to __________ , or go bankrupt.

Bank failures used to be __________ during times of recession or depression. They were especially common during the Great Depression of the 1930s. When Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1933, one of the first things he did was close all the banks, so depositors wouldn’t panic and try to take all their money out.

【推荐1】It’s both a strength and weakness of human nature that we’re never satisfied for long. Whatever we have, wherever we are, most of us want more and better things. When we ___ money or power, our ___ can turn into the greed that crush our happiness and ambition.

But in many other areas of our life, our ___ for more and better things can be a very ___ thing. For example, in business we should ___ struggle for improvement and innovation. Similarly, when we ___ the quality of our educational or health care systems, government honesty or efficiency, or the general state of social justice, we should never be ___.

Even in our personal lives, we should ___ for better relationships by improving communication skills and organizing our lives better. And there’s nothing wrong with ___ a better job, one that’s more intellectually challenging, emotionally ____, financially worthwhile, and socially significant.

To live and enjoy a good life, we need to find a healthy ____ between wanting more things and ____ what we have. You see, what we have is worthy of ____ and appreciation, even ____ we try hard for more.

Not being satisfied doesn’t have to be the same as being dissatisfied. ____ is a negative state of mind. It’s a ____ of unhappiness. Thus it’s important to find a ____ place between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. That place can be the state of pleasure ____ by true appreciation of what one has and the ability to ____ it.

In the development of good, better, and best, better and best are superior ____ good. But good is still good. Enough can be good.

【推荐3】There isn’t any doubt that positive thinking is valuable after you find out you have cancer. But will positive_________ help the cancer go away?

There have been a number of studies on this_________ , but none of the studies say that positive thinking is a_________ in helping cancer go away, or that_________ feelings can make cancer worse.

So, is there a reason to have a positive_________ ? Of course there is.

While I understand the danger of my illness, I choose not to_________   statistics. I always imagine myself as being among the small group of patients who survive._________ do I do that? So I can sleep well; so I can plan a trip for two days from now; so I have a reason to begin writing another book with the_________ that I’ll finish it; so my husband and I can enjoy lunch out; so I can_________   to someone else who is having a difficult time and offer them____________ .

A positive attitude can also help family members feel better so they can____________ a more loving family environment. Most cancer patients, as well as their family members, know all too well how dangerous cancer can be. It’s difficult to____________ when patients receive bad news. But a positive attitude helps me want to do things that I know are____________ to my health, and helps me____________ the thinning hair, tiredness and low blood counts which are the____________ effects of my treatment.

So, I____________ to stay happy and positive. I do my best not to think too much about all the hospital visits, and I try not to____________ if I feel any pain.____________, I seek joy as much as I can, and because I am seeking joy, I find joy. Being positive might not save you from cancer, but I can almost____________ you that if you are positive, you will find____________ in your life, as well as happiness in every day that you live.

【推荐1】Beginning to learn gymnastics even before she could barely walk, Svetlana had always dreamed to enter the Olympics scene some day.

However, her ________ ended in the car on the winding road when a lorry appeared out of nowhere. The last thing she ________ was a blinding flash of light. In hospital, when told she would never ________ again, she couldn’t believe it. Three months later, she was ________ out of hospital on a wheelchair. Then a friend came to her house to visit her with an old Child’s storybook. A bookmark in it made her ________ to page 117. The name of the ________ was ‘The Day Clara walked’. She was determined to return to stage whatever it might cost.

________, after a year’s hard exercise, Svetlana ________ and was able to display her gymnastics. While she was sitting on the green bench ________ the Athens Stadium, memories ________: first, the pain and the tears, the book under her pillow, the words of relatives full of advice and comfort, and the pity in those eyes that had once held ________ for her talent. Then followed the trips to the gym where everyone looked on   ________, their disbelief transforming slowly to wonder, ________ she could balance the hoop (健身圈) as well as her teammates. She registered for the Olympic Games and finally she received ________ from the Olympic Committee.

Her ________ was interrupted by the attendant who said, “It’s time”, two words that she had been ________ to hear for so long. Smoothing her dress, she walked into the stadium, each________ firm and steady. Everything was ________, and the applause rang loud in her ears, her heart hammering violently against her chest.

Later that night, Svetlana pulled the gold medal out of her pocket and placed it on the old ________ on the shelf, which opened to page 117, to the chapter ‘The Day Clara Walked’, tears ________ her vision.

【推荐2】In one Nebraska teen running race before graduating from high school, Brandon Schutt’s personal best turned out not to be about marking the fastest time but displaying the biggest heart.

During the race, he knew he had the potential to _________ for the upcoming state meet, so he slowed to a comfortable _________ that would allow him to simply enjoy the moment and the day. Meanwhile, aiming to _________ his own personal record, after a fast start, Blake Cerveny continued to push himself _________. With less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny got a cramp (抽筋) in his legs and they _________ him. _________ to finish, Cerveny rose from the ground and continued on, only to _________ again after another 150 meters…and again. This time he’d _________ it only 25 meters more before going down. With tremendous effort, the young runner pulled himself up and with a ( an ) _________ pace, moved forward for one final push. It wasn’t enough. Less than 100 meters from the finish line, he lay curled on the ground. His legs had simply __________.

Brandon Schutt, who was at his side, __________ a helping hand. His first __________ to get Cerveny up failed, but like Cerveny, he too refused to __________. With a second hard pull, Cerveny was __________. With Cerveny holding Schutt for support and Schutt __________ Cerveny maintain balance, the two __________ the final 75 meters. Schutt even made sure the injured runner crossed the finish line first, securing his __________ a faster time.

In today’s __________ world in which the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records, it is __________ to see that for an athlete like Brandon Schutt, the value of true sportsmanship still has legs. And for others, like Blake Cerveny, knowing that finishing the race, no matter the odds or adversity, is the true __________ of a win.