【推荐2】“Grandpa, you know the New Year is ________, so are you preparing for it?” asked Alex ________. “No dear, I am not. With the passage of time, the world has ________ changed and I don’t see any ________ in celebrating the world I see today.” answered his grandfather disappointedly.

“I feel I am a ________ in the world I am living in. It is not the same as I have know. Now everyone is busy with their own work. I don’t know how to pass my days,” said his grandfather sadly. “In our days, we had a fixed time each day when the whole family sat together and talked, ________ problems and laughed together.”

That night Alex thought about what his grandfather had said and an idea flashed through his mind.

It was December 31^st and everyone was busy with their own work. Feeling lonely and upset, Alex’s grandfather was sitting at home ________. When the clock struck 6 p. m., as scheduled, everyone started ________ in the living room. “Today, we are not going anywhere but enjoy the party for you!” Alex said excitedly. The whole family apologized for being busy with their lives, thus ________ his feelings. Then they had a wonderful dinner chatting, sharing problems and laughing together.

Looking back on the old days, those sweet ________ came crowding in, their eyes glistening with tears. The whole family was bathed in overwhelming happiness and love. “It never ________ that home is where all family members are together” Alex said, looking at his ageing grandfather, “Let’s ________ a time when the whole family will ________ together regularly.” Hearing the warm hearting words, grandpa was moved to tears. The shadow of the family’s ________ and harmony was cast on the window. Despite the cold outside, the whole family couldn’t be ________.

【推荐3】I realized last year that I had lived here longer than my mom did. That just didn’t seem right to me. If anyone _________ a long life, it was my mom. She was kind, cheerful and filled with love. During her last four years, she fought _________ against cancer and never gave up. I remember calling her every day to tell her I loved her, something I didn’t do that much as a child. I _________ not telling her that more often when I was a child. _________, she passed away at the age of 55.

After her death, my own health broke. I developed double pneumonia (肺炎). Later, although my body _________, my spirit remained burdened with _________. I couldn’t imagine living without my mom, and I wanted my _________ to know her love. One day, while I sat in pain on the couch, my little girl climbed onto my laps to _________ me. Her brother joined her, and I held them both closely. In that moment, I felt Mom’s loving _________ in the room. I knew I had to keep going.

I promised myself that I would __________ stories of Mom’s love and beautiful soul with my children. I believed that her __________ spirit would always live within me. I could hear her laughter in my mind, __________ me to rise up and live again.

Each day is a fresh beginning. Mom lived by this __________. She never wasted a single moment, __________ laughter, love, and kindness to everyone she met. Each day, she made the world a better place for our family. I will strive to follow her example and embrace each day as a new __________ for joy and growth.

【推荐3】Many years ago, I knew a man named Bob who was friends with my boss. He showed great _________ for learning languages and could speak several fluently(流利地). And he was a very _________ man.

My desk was right at the front, _________ I could see everyone who came in. One day, a man, who looked tired and sad, came in, speaking broken English. After a short _________, I knew he wanted to sell office supplies. _________ , I told him our supplies were sent from our main office. So we couldn’t buy anything.

Bob was just _________ my boss, and he heard the man talking to me. Bob came and asked the salesman a question in a language that sounded _________ . The man answered him with a look of _________. Then they sat down and talked for several minutes, and the man grew _________ by the minute.

Later, Bob __________ that the man was from Italy and that they talked in Italian. Besides, Bob told the man he was from there, too. “Are you really from Italy?” I asked. “No,” he said. “I __________ to him. I’m Irish. But he needed to talk to someone from home, and it didn’t __________ him to think I was Italian.”

Bob’s words have left me a powerful __________ and stayed with me through the years. It’s true that sometimes we just need to talk to someone from home to __________ our spirits. Bob could have __________ the man, but he took the time to make him feel better, and maybe a little less homesick.

【推荐1】It’s a really cold winter day. I had just finished some shopping, and was ready to _________ the supermarket’s parking lot. Hearing the _________ coming from the area of the shopping carts, I _________ the sounds. It was someone I knew well who was playing the guitar. Beggar (乞丐), I can’t really call him.

He never begged. It was more like he was open to _________ presents. He would just sit _________ to the side of the entrance, and _________ everyone very politely who gave him something. I’d seen him many times.

He had been an epileptic (癫痫患者) since his childhood. He couldn’t even _________ the lowest-paid job the social services try to offer people like him. They seemed afraid of the _________.

I started feeling _________ for him, but he said, “I’ve made my __________ with that. I’m happy I could live in a flat. It’s very difficult to get off the street when people know you’ve lived here.” He told me how he’d remembered his __________ for music. He’d gotten so much help, and wanted to try to __________ the kindness, starting with the music. Thus everyone could enjoy sweet music while shopping.

I was __________ when he said that people were much more giving, and he wasn’t __________ about the money anymore because it didn’t matter to him any longer. He was grateful for what he had. He only wanted people to give him money if they really wanted to, if it was a __________ from the heart.

【推荐2】My first year living in Los Angeles, I was a birthday-party clown. I struggled a lot with my identity because, though I viewed myself as a _______   everyone in my life associated me with this _______ day job. To make matters more confusing, being a clown is_______an identity-masking job.

One night, someone said: .“Tomorrow you’re going to be Batman.” At the time I had a giant mustache. I knew: a clown with a mustache—that’s a huge red _______for parents. But I hadn’t wanted to_______   my physical appearance for that job.

The next day, I went to the party and I had to leave my car _______ far enough away so that the kids couldn’t see Batman _______ in a PT Cruiser(PT漫步车). I popped in through the front door : “Surprise! Batman’s here!” All the kids _______. But they didn’t want to see Batman sweaty and panting from a brisk jog, so I just kept _______ . I started to regret my choice to not ________ . I’m thinking, “Gosh, this party is not going to go well.” I’m so embarrassed. I wanted to________ and run back to my Bat mobile. But then the laughter kind of merges and changes into cheering and applause.

Then I was still about 20 yards away from the party________ I just started running and my cape was billowing(鼓起) in the________ , and—mustache or not—in that moment, I was Batman.

I saw the birthday boy with his dad, and the________ was   laughing, saying, “You see, son. I told you Batman had a mustache.”Just then I saw the ________ birthday cake with a frosting Batman drawn on it, and the Batman has a mustache. I just stared at it in________ . It looked just like my mustache.

Those kids were at the perfect age where they still believed in miracles and heroes and that the world is an________ good place—all the stuff that’s so difficult for us to keep believing ________ we grow up in a cold and complicated world.

That year, I struggled a lot with my________ ; was I a filmmaker, or was I a clown? But that day, at least, there was ________   in my mind what I was. I may not have been the hero that they expected. But that day, I was the hero that they needed.