【推荐1】Most Africans are poor, not because they are really poor, but because _______ decides to describe them as such.

My 95-year-old grandfather is “poor”, too. He certainly lives on “less than a dollar a day”. But during all his past time, he has never been _______ anything, and not begged. He was only in school for a year in the 1930s and learned to read and write. This is _______ he is living.

My grandfather usually goes to pick up bananas for his dinner on his farm when he wants _______ . There are other fruits and all kinds of vegetables. 365 days a year, he raises tens of cows that _______ him with milk every day. He also has about 20 goats. In Uganda (乌干达), goat milk is generally not considered _______, possibly due to too much cow milk that tastes good, so we never milk goats. He would _______ a couple of them to get enough money to send his children to school. He also kept a few chicks _______ a hobby.

His farm produces more than he can use. He sells some of them to buy something _______ for life. He has eleven children, and my mother was his first kid. He sent ________ of them to school, and saw eight of them through college. He sold at least two cows, some goats and something else each school term to send his every child to school.

He has never ________ food and daily things. He has been like this for the past 75 years.

Why the long story? My grandfather is ________ poor, just like millions of other Africans. He holds almost no money with him, and in fact he ________ needs it. He produces most of what he needs. But using the Standard World Bank, my grandfather is really poor.

But what’s the ________ ? I live in the city and can earn about 12,000 dollars a year after tax, which is a high salary in Uganda. But I can hardly support my family as ________ and comfortably as my grandfather. So what on earth is poor?

【推荐2】John Berry of Burlington, Kentucky, was just 15 years old when his mother died unexpectedly. He has lots of ______ of her mother from his youth. ______ , when she passed away, he didn't have many physical ______ to remember her by.

A few years after her death, John's father ______ her car to a collector in Michigan. As he grew up, John's ______ was still on that green car. Over two decades ago, John reached out to the car's owner to ask if he could buy it, but the man ______ .

For about 20 to 22 years, John kept contacting with that gentleman. Finally, after years of ______ , the man wrote to John and said he was ______ to pass the car on. The gentleman said, "I am 81 years old, and get to thinking about your ______ for the car. I think it is time to let it go."

When receiving the car, John ______ the entire experience was like a trip down memory path. Not only was the car still in ______ condition with just 42,000 miles, but the glove box also contained a time capsule from his mother's ______ : a pair of sunglasses and stamps that she had ______ there.

Some things really are worth the wait! John finally realized his ______ and now his own children can take a ride in the very car their grandmother owned. ______ really does pay off.

【推荐1】Sports is important. One teenager has learned that sports can help a person overcome________in life, and now he wants to________others this lesson.

Khovan Hussein, an 18-year-old boy from England, suffered from autism (自闭症) at an early age. The other kids at school often________his difficulties in sports, as he had problems with his________skills. Things got so bad that when he was 14, his mother Shireen put him in a school that focused on supporting his specific needs. Around the same time, Hussein was________to the world of wrestling and his “obsession (痴迷)” soon proved to be________.

Hussein’s mother________him up for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ,巴西柔术) lessons because of his love of________. Despite his challenges, Hussein began to________. As he practised BJJ more with his coaches, he gained________. His motor skills and physical health improved, and his skills in the sports developed. After finding the________to join his first BJJ competition, he won a bronze medal.

“________has helped me, and I like helping people through sports, because it can make anyone, who’s really________, really outgoing and confident,” Hussein________. After winning several more________, Hussein began to________others in his school to join BJJ. His efforts paid off. He was able to find a part-time job at a local gym________, and began coaching other students in his school. He has also________a TikTok account to encourage other students around the world with________needs to engage in sports.

For his efforts, he________the 2022 Rotary Young Citizen Sporting Hero Award.

【推荐3】A video of Tommy Carroll skating near his home has been viewed millions of times around the globe, gaining him fame as a skateboarder. He can’t see, but he can pull off some of the most incredible _______ on his skateboard without showing any _______. “I think everybody should know that everything happens for a reason and that there’s always a way to _______ an obstacle if you really want it enough”. Carroll said in the video.

Carroll, was born with the retinal (视网膜) cancer and lost his _______when he was two years old. He _______ to skateboard at the age of ten and has been on the board ever since. In the video, he explains how he uses sound to _______, listening for what’s around him and gaining a sense of his surroundings through his ears.

“I am always constantly using the sound of my wheels to _______ if there’s anything in my way and get my sense of _______ ,” he says. Carroll used to get lots’ of doubts from ‘his classmates about his _______for mastering’ the sports. “There were people who ________ me. ” Carroll smiled, adding, “They considered it no way, taking it for granted that people like me, can’t skateboard. But I just ________ them. ”

Though courageous, Carroll learns to be ________. When he skateboards in the new location, he gradually ________ himself with the surroundings. After a number of rides he then starts trying tricks. “Falling is as ________ as the sport itself. ” he said, “I have proved peers ________.”

【推荐1】Outside Brian Peterson’s apartment, a homeless man was often yelling on the street corner. Peterson would sometimes passed by, but they never ______.

One day, Peterson was reading a book about the power of love in action, when his quiet was again disturbed by the man. Inspired by the book, Peterson made a(n) ______ decision to go outside and introduce himself. He learned that the man, Matt Faris, had come to pursue a music career, but soon fell on hard times and ______ living on the street.

“It was ______ that I saw beauty on the face of a man who hadn’t shaved in probably a year,” Peterson recalled later in an interview. “And I even offered to paint his portrait, even though I hadn’t picked up a(n) ______ in years.”

Peterson’s connection with Faris led him to ______ a nonprofit which focused on befriending and painting portraits of the homeless. He usually chooses ______ inspired by the model’s life story. He showed one man ______ his battle with alcoholism, for example, by changing the colors from a sad blue to a joyful red.

Each portrait, signed by both ______ and artist, is for sell. Half of the income is put into a “love ______” for the model. He aims to help the homeless ______ immediate necessities and get back on their feet. Faris used the funds from his portrait to record a(n) ______, fulfilling his musical dreams.

But there’s more to the portraits than the ______ brought to someone down-and-out. The buyers tend to ______ the subject in the painting, finding similarities and often friendship with someone they might have ______ overlooked.

【推荐3】Driving on a freezing morning, I passed a teenager with just a shirt and a cardboard with “ANYTHING HELPS” on it. This teenager was visibly _________. Remembering that there was an old blanket in my car. I stopped in _________, asked him if he needed a blanket and he _________ his head. So I handed him the blanket and slid back into my _________ car with my heated driver’s seat. I will never forget the look of _________ on his face.

I wondered how many homeless youths were _________ on the streets at that very moment. My family lived on a(n) _________ income, but my parents always taught me to give what I had. In that moment “The Blanket Project” was born.

I visited my parents at the retirement center and talked with the director _________ making blankets and scarves for the homeless. She loved the _________ and said the seniors wanted to help and be __________ in meaningful projects that weren’t complicated and could be __________ completed. Later on, the project __________ and more and more people became involved in it. One day, I was looking for places to __________ our scarves and was talking to a teacher whose students were from very-low-income homes. I asked her __________ she thought her students needed the scarves. She answered, “Yes, but let’s have them __________ some. The students could make a blanket or scarf to __________. ” Then the students worked in teams and made lots of scarves and blankets for a women’s homeless shelter.

When the students __________ me with their scarves and blankets, they were very __________ of what they had produced. I told them that everyone can make a(n)__________, no matter how much money they had. The __________ was dozens of proud smiles on the faces of the students who knew they had helped keep someone a little warmer and made the world a little better.