【推荐2】A Pair of Wild Geese

One morning in early fall, I noticed a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by surprise, because we’d never seen geese there before.

I thought they would soon be on their way, so I seized the opportunity to be _________ to these graceful creatures. As the days passed, my curiosity about why they were staying so long at the pond changed to concern. It wouldn’t be long before the cold Michigan winter came and the pond _________over.

One day as they were _________ in the grass near the driveway, I discovered the reason for their _________ — the male had a broken left wing. He was unable to _________, and his lifelong mate would not leave him behind. I was amazed at the _________ between them. I asked a wildlife biologist friend what I should do. He explained that sometimes a broken wing would _________ by itself and suggested letting them alone.

On the first day of November, I was working near the geese with my tractor. _________ I bent to fasten a chain, I noticed both geese running toward the pond, wings beating _________. They looked like a couple of planes moving for take­off. __________, both were in the air and flew over the pond freely. The geese then circled back toward me, flying about 50 feet over my __________ as if to say goodbye. Then they were out of __________.

The season’s first snowflakes fell the very next day. The birds must have __________ that winter was coming, and it was time to go.

I grew fond of them during their stay at our pond, and I __________ them. I would never forget their __________ to each other. We could all learn a lesson or two from this pair.

【推荐3】Grandma lived on Sugar Creek Mountain with a lake. I still remember the day when Grandpa _______ in the lake. My parents tried to talk Grandma into moving into town, but she wouldn’t _________. Today I was going to visit Grandma, and the excitement grew inside me _________ the thought of it. _________, it had been ten years since I had last seen Grandma. As I _________ the top of the mountain, I _________ see Grandma staring out the window of her house. Grandma _________ me with a big hug, saying she would give me a special surprise. _________ did Grandma know that I had a very special surprise for her as well.

When we baked cookies in the kitchen, Grandma told me how she used to bake _________ for Grandpa, which were his ____________. Listening to her talking about him was a ____________ experience. I could ____________ her love for him. After dark, Grandma handed me the special present. It was a quilt made out of my dresses that I had ____________ as a little girl. I would value it forever. When I asked Grandma ____________ special gift for Christmas she wanted, without ____________ thinking, she would like to see my Grandpa just one more time.

Just then, Grandma’s face ____________ up. ____________ slowly towards her, with an apple pie in his hand, was Grandpa! Tears of joy were ____________ down Grandma’s cheeks as she ____________ her arms around Grandpa.“We thought you had drowned” Grandma cried. “How can I ever thank you for bringing Grandpa home to me?” asked Grandma. I replied, “Seeing the ____________ and the love you have for each other is all the thanks I need.”

【推荐2】“Paul must have been trying to carry his wastepaper to rubbish bin and dropped a few pieces.” I _________, picking them up. Moments later I found more pieces. No quiet sighing this time, I _________, “Who is throwing rubbish?” No answer. _________ , I saw more bits of paper _________ down from upstairs. Looking up, I saw my seven-year-old son, Paul.

“Stop making a mess.” “It’s not a mess. They’re_________.” “Sorry, what did you say?” I hadn’t heard him clearly.

He didn’t answer me. Paul has autism (自闭症) and _________ answers a question, especially when he attentively _________ something else. He ran _________. “Where are my other butterflies?” he asked,_________around. Every time Paul puts five or more words together, my heart says a prayer of thanks. But lately he seems to __________ that the benefits of forming complete sentences when communicating are worthy of the effort.

Butterflies. Of course. I rushed to __________ them from the rubbish, dusted them off and __________ them to my son. “Want to see them fly again?” he asked with a shy smile. “Oh yes! They’re beautiful.” I whispered. He ran back upstairs to fly his masterpieces down again. They really did look like beautiful butterflies.

That day Paul __________ me to look up at beauty instead of down at rubbish. How many other masterpieces have I missed __________ I’m too busy with my work to appreciate what’s right in front of me? Life is not what happens to us. It’s __________ we look at it. Now, I look up.

【推荐3】I was 17 years old. Along with a dozen other boys I had made a long ________ to Iowa in order to see a college that I was thinking of ________. While the trip had been ________ for the most part, now that I was there I was feeling down, ________, and isolated（孤独的）.I was missing my ________ and I was also missing the Appalachian mountains and the ________ of my home. I loved how the leaves turned a thousand shades of green in the spring and then ________ a sea of red, gold, and orange m the Fall.

Here in Iowa everything was ________. The grass looked burnt and brown. All that I could smell was a ________ of corn, mud and pigs. I ________ outside the dormitory of the college and sat on an old stump. I closed my eyes and ________ being back home again. When I ________ opened them, however, I saw something that touched my ________, It was a Prairie Sunset. It seemed to ________ the sky everywhere. Gold, red, purple and pink clouds all ________ together in a picture painted by Heaven's own hand. It was so huge that it took my ________ away. It made our mountain sunsets seem ________ by comparison. I realized that this place too had its own special beauty. This place too was a part of nature's ________.

Over the years to come I learned something else. In fact each of us also has a special ________. Each of us has our own ________ talents and abilities.

【推荐1】Life can throw us something difficult, but, every now and then, a ray of sunshine breaks through the clouds.

There’s an elderly lady in Boston who has her own heartwarming ______. She is Marilyn. She happened to meet her own kind people during her ______ trip to the nearby supermarket on Saturdays.

Marilyn, who always had her husband by her side during previous ______ to the supermarket, gathered the strength to head for the supermarket in Auburndale after the loss of her ______.

She felt lucky that all was going well. However, at the checkout, she was ______ by the news that her credit card was ______. As it turned out, her card had been ______ a couple of days earlier because it was in her late husband’s name.

Marilyn was in a mix of shock and ______ as she stood at the register. A gentleman behind her, without hesitation, ______ to pay the bill. It wasn’t a small grocery bill!

Marilyn, with a deep sense of gratitude, ______ his help and hoped to pay him back. But all he said was, “No. Just wish me a happy life.” Marilyn didn’t want to ______ though.

Her family turned to social media, eager to find the mystery man. Marilyn ______ her viewpoints, saying, “Even if he doesn’t want to come forward, I’m hoping that he’ll know that I’m ______ grateful.” And to keep the kindness rolling, she promised to help fellow ______ whenever she could.

Stories like these ______ us of the boundless warmth and compassion humans are capable of.