【推荐2】A couple of weeks ago, when we were leaving one of those horrible giant trampoline bouncy(弹跳床)places, my 11－year－old daughter said to me, “I don't think I'm very athletic, you know, like Rocket (her brother). He seems to be really good at ______.”

What came out my mouth ______ me: “No, you're kind of not.”

Okay, let me ______. As you may have guessed, this child has been with me for about 11 years, so I've had enough time to ______ her engaging in physical acts: jumping, climbing, running, and organized sports.

And the kid is just ______ me: two left feet. If anybody was ever NOT a “natural”______， that person is me.

But even ______ these facts, my first instinct(本能反应)was to show her with some ______： “Oh, no honey. You're good at sports! You just have to keep ______！” But I decided to tell her the ______， and I could see it hurt a bit.

So I said more: “Ava, we all have things we are particularly, ______ good at. Like you and ______. You're in the 5th grade and read Charles Dickens. That isn't ______， but you've done it without even trying. But all of us also have things that we are ______ in. If we wan to get good at those things, we have to put in twice the ______ of the people around us to get to a decent(相当的)point and even harder if we want to ______.”

She was nodding. She totally ______ it. Why? Because it's the truth. Sometimes I wonder why we run around talking nonsense(胡扯)to our kids when they can ______ the truth. And they can smell rubbish from a mile away. In other words, they can easily recognize you are ______. In addition, if they don't know where they ______ now, they'll never know how to get somewhere new.

【推荐1】I had an interesting question from my 10-year-old daughter Claire. She asked me if I had always been this __. I thought about it for a while and gave her the best answer __ my own personal development.

I was born and __ in a small town in Zambia. I was __ that from a very young age l was encouraged to __ the world and ask as many questions as I could. My grandfather was a(n) __ holding a high position in the government, but he treated everyone with __ like what others did to him. And I often watched him __ with people that way. As a child, I was determined to be like him __ I grew up. I wanted to make people feel good about __ and have meaningful conversations that would __ people to take action and create a better world for everyone.

As an ordinary African girl, I became __ to what life had to __. I knew that I would have some bad days as well as good days. I saw this with my parents, as they __ hid their feelings or situations. And from that, I had a __ view of my reality.

I tell Claire that my confidence comes from within and that I am bound to __ moments when I’m worried about whether things will work in my __, but I have courage not to give up on my dreams. It is the __ belief that I am good enough and I can do it that has had me going for the last 20 years. A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid that the branch will __ because its trust is not on the branch but on its own __. Always believe in yourself.

【推荐2】Over the past few months, my kids have both returned home．My daughter, having_______graduated from college, started her dream job, and my son has spent this semester at home _______a local junior college, sorting out his_______courses．This is all good,_______as all moms know, it's incredibly difficult — no matter their ages — to let our kids go about their business without_______our opinions．

I see this all around me．We all try to put some_______distance between us and our adult children．We_______as often as we can, wanting to let our kids make their own choices and_______．These choices and mistakes are so much_______than those they made when they were small, like forgetting to turn in their homework．Some decisions as a(n)________can be life­changing, such as marriage, jobs and having children．

This distance is part of how they become________of us．It's perhaps the most________part of parenting．Because as our kids grow independent, our roles as mothers change．I have felt everything from guilt to________，from loss to relief, as my children have grown up and away, as we have________and pulled against each other through this time in their lives．

So we ________，alongside our children．We grow from new parents,________to learn everything, that is, to know about our babies, our toddlers, our grade­schoolers, and especially our ________．The learning about our children has________our understanding of them more or less during the years we spent raising them．Now we have to learn to be parents of adults and________them．They are no longer children, but the men and women we have________them to be．

【推荐3】At the mid-May in 2018, the 69 year-old amputee(被截肢者) Xia Boyu finally stood proud on two artificial legs on the peak of Mount Qomolangma, a symbol showcasing to the world the power of ________.

More than 40 years ago, Xia ________ both of his feet to frostbite after lending his sleeping bag to a team member during the trip to climb Mount Qomolangma.

Even though artificial legs were not ________ in China at the time, Xia strongly believed that he would one day fulfill his ________ dream and so, before that day came, the best thing to do was to prepare himself by training constantly. Three years later he finally got his new legs, which enabled him to ________ his sports career.

However, fate once again took a ________ turn when he was in his 40s. In 1993, illness ________ on the stumps(残肢) on his legs, which required another third of his lower legs be amputated.Three years after that, he was diagnosed with lymph cancer.

Over the years, Xia never gave up his dream of climbing Mount Qomolangma. ________ to his final successful climb in 2018, he had tried four other times to climb to the summit, but each time Lady Luck gave him the ________.

The last time he got close to his dream was in 2015. The then 57-year-old was only 94 meters from the summit, but a snow storm ________ his way. Taking his team members’ ________ into consideration, Xia made the ________ decision to go back.

On May14, Xia felt ________ and a strong sense of fulfillment welled up in him, standing on the peak of the highest mountain in the world.

“The key is to focus on your dreams, instead of the hardship you encounter along the way. I didn’t regret anything that I had done and accepted everything that life had ________ me, but I never stopped fighting against ________.” Xia said, stressing that fulfilling one’s dream has nothing to do with age, disability or the thoughts or expectations of others, but a firm belief in yourself.

【推荐2】Kindness can really make you pause and be thankful during a stressful time.

Cassandra Warren was in a____and was feeling a little overwhelmed(使应接不暇)by work and planning her wedding. After she got her____invitations ready one day she hurriedly____one to her aunt and uncle. A week later, the invitation came back. She had written down the____address. A handwritten note was____to the returned envelop, which read, “I wish I____you-this is going to be an enjoyable experience. Congratulations- go to have dinner on me.” A $ 20 bill was inside.

Cassandra was at a bit of a professional crossroads and had been having a____day. In fact, she’d nearly broken down, telling her____to her husband-to-be Jesse Jones just as she____the misdirected envelop. Then she read the note. “It was kind of perfect timing, ” said Cassandra Warren. “We are____of who the mysterious(神秘的)note writer is．But I really____it．”

Cassandra and Jesse ____ with a friend who was going overseas the following night. They happily put the $ 20 towards their___. Then Cassandra bought a thank-you card. She____wrote her aunt’s address on the envelop again this time ____ and addressed it to “Kind Stranger”___by the following words inside, “Thank you for the____and taking time to____it.   Not so many people would have done that. It was a big____after the day I was having. I am___ for people like you still being in the world. ”