【推荐3】Last Friday was very cold. When I watched   the ________falling onto my car, I really began to wonder if I was going to ________ it on time. Of course I must, because I have no ________.

About three weeks ago, what my ________ Ellen had talked about was her Christmas concert to be held in her school and some rumors about it. “Mom, Rachel was ________ to sing alone, but she’s not! Linda will replace her to do it.” “Mom, you won’t believe it, ________Lexie’s whole family is coming to the concert, even from another ________!” Making a long way out of state to see third graders sing Christmas carol seemed to be a pretty big deal(待遇) for her.

When I sat in traffic, I thought about all the school ________ I had attended alone. Ellen never mentioned it, but I wonder ________ she felt about me being the only one who ever came to her events. My own family lived out of town, and her father and his family ________ quite succeeded in filling those things into their schedules. I ________ if it bothered her.

At eight o’clock the ________ was scheduled to begin. With only a few minute to ________, I found myself running: first, though the snow-drifted parking lot, then through the school passage. I entered the ________ hall and found a vacant seat near the front. From her place on stage, Ellen saw me ________ for the chair, and she smiled. I was ________ enough to hear the loud conversation of the children on stage.

“Look, Ellen, there is my uncle mad my cousin. They came all the way from West Virginia. I can’t believe my whole family is her!” Ellen ________ at Lexie and said, “My whole family is here, too! Look, there she is!” Ellen gave me a big smile. I smiled back at her, never once ________ the melting snow dripping off my head. It ________occurred to me that while we tried to teach our children all about ________, they actually taught us what life was all about.

【推荐2】Alan Tripp, 102, and Marvin Weisbord, 88, recently released(发行)their first music album together, Senior Song Book.

The inspiration for the album came when Tripp _______ a poem，which was about life，getting old，and losing friends，shortly before he turned 100. He _______ it with his friend Weisbord，who grew up playing the piano，and he was _______ to it immediately. Weisbord decided to set it to music as a surprise _______ for Tripp's 100th birthday.

On his birthday party，listening to Weisbord perform his words on the _______ inspired the idea for an album. “I spent my whole life time wanting to become a _______ ，and at 102, I thought，Why not finally do it?” “Tripp said. Over two years，they spent several hours each week testing the composition and writing lyrics（歌词). They would _______ in the morning and sit at the grand piano in Weisbord's apartment. Tripp and Weisbord _______ the money of the album on their own. In addition to Weisbord's band，they employed ten singers to _______ the songs.

The album，released on Nov. 15, has a 1940s tune with ________ lyrics. “It is the great music of the 1940s，1950s and 1960s，but the words are looking ahead to the 2020s,” Tripp said，laughing happily. The album's first copies ________ within days-but you can ________ listen to the album on YouTube.

Tripp and Weisbord hope their album will ________ other seniors to try something ________ .“You don't retire(退休)from something. Instead，you should retire to something，” Tripp said. “We ________ what we're doing，and that's what makes us live so long.”

【推荐3】Sara Kays, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Indiana, US, is a(n) ________ star on online video-sharing platforms. She not only uses TikTok to ________ her music but also posts partially-finished snippets (片段) of songs to get ________ from her followers.

“It’s been cool to engage with people that way, and sometimes I’ll ________ to a comment of someone asking me if I could write a song about an idea they suggested,” said Kays.

Kays has been using online platforms to pursue her music dream to ________ effect. Now, she is a TikTok celebrity with about 1.3 million followers. She released her breakup song Remember That Night? in November 2020. The post ________, getting almost three million views. Kays has ________ singing since she was young. At 11, she got a guitar from her mother and then started to ________ while playing. Two years later, she began busking (街头卖艺) on the streets in her hometown,   which she had been doing throughout high school. ________, people started asking her to play at restaurants and she also started to ________ some live videos on YouTube, gaining her more and more followers.

Different from other content creators who update their content ________, Kays updates on a weekly basis and only posts videos about her songs and ________ stories, such as singing, playing the guitar or ukelele, recording in the studio and shooting music videos.

Now, Kays has ________ with a music company. She hopes to sing live and go on tour. In Kays’ eyes, people like her songs and videos ________ she shows the ideal package for a TikToker: relatable (易产生共鸣的), authentic (真实的) and youthful. “I just sing and share my feelings about divorced parents, body image, loneliness and mental health,” said Kays. “I want more people to know they’re not alone with the ________ in their lives.”

【推荐1】Some of the greatest problems we face today are concerned with the gradual destruction of our environment brown clouds; wildlife_________; polluted water ... these_________all seem so huge. So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don’t have to _________

But does it do any good?

I recently learned something about flamingos (火烈鸟). These beautiful birds gather in_________groups of a thousand or more. Every year, when the time_________for migration, a few flamingos start the process by taking off from the lake. But_______of the others seem to notice, so the tiny group returns.

However, the next day they_________again. This time a few more struggle along with them, but the vast majority still _________no attention, so these pioneers come back.

The_________continues for several more days. Every time a few more birds join in but,____________the thousands of others still take no____________the great migration plan is once again____________.

Then one day something____________The same small group of birds takes wing and a tiny number more join in, just as before. And this time their total number, though still quite____________is enough to tip the balance. As one, the whole group takes flight and the migration____________.What a____________sight it must be-thousands of flamingos taking to the sky at once!

A few can make a____________. It’s true that all of the great problems of the world have been solved because of the____________efforts of a few.

If you believe in a cause (事业),don’t____________! Others will someday take notice and together we will____________ even our greatest problems.

【推荐2】Just the other day, a fierce storm hit our community. I looked out the window and witnessed a tree being ______ by the wind. The branches bent, and swayed (摇摆) back and forth, thanks to their ______ to avoid breaking. The leaves desperately stuck to the branches because their life ______ the tree. The powerful trunk which held the tree upright bent slightly ______ from the force in the battle to ______ its position.

After the storm had passed, the tree gracefully returned to its ______ position standing tall among the chaos. It managed to ______ the storm. It didn’t look the same as leaves had fallen and the soil had loosened, but what ______ is that the tree won the fight for its life.

For a long time I couldn’t understand why this tree ______ my attention the way it did. As time passed, it became clear that it wasn’t just about the tree but about the ______ roots which are deep into the soil providing ______ and nutrition. The roots allow the tree to be able to take a ______ because they are there to support it.

_________ , the next time you catch your kids ______, when the job is driving you crazy, when you are underpaid and the ______ is tight, and when the storms of life are blowing, go back to your _______ . Life is full of storms. They will make you ______, make you sway and even make you lose some leaves, but the ______ your roots are, the stronger you stand. I challenge you to bend but don’t break. However hard the wind blows, don’t let life ______ you into an uncomfortable position. Your ______ lies in your roots.