【推荐2】As sixth graders, kids were separating into groups, but I wasn't sure where I belonged.

Our teacher gave us a task called "secret friends" for the coming week. We were supposed to do nice things ______ our fiends without letting them know who was doing it. We could leave ______ notes or cards cither on their desks or in their backpacks. Before doing the task, with our eyes closed, from a basket, we ______ a name of a classmate who we were to secretly befriend over the next five days.

Soon, the task was turned into a competition of giving ______ instead of notes. Everyone was getting cool presents except me. My friend followed the teacher's directions without a fault. I received nothing but handmade cards with nice words about me.

On the last morning, I finally got a package. When I ______ it, the girls around all ______ . It was perfumed powder, an "old lady" git. My face went red.

I tried to forget about the ______ gift, but when the same girls ______ it again during the break in the bathroom, I joined in, "How stupid! My grandmother wouldn't ______ want it." The girts laughed at my remarks and filed out of the bathroom. Washing my hands, I let the water run through my fingers ______ I thought about my words. It wasn't normally like me to say things like that.

"I'm your secret friend." It was Rochelle. "I'm sorry about the gif," she whispered to me, tears ______ down her face.

From a poor family, she was a target at school for those with rich parents. Yet she just took all the ______ and the horrible treatment silently.

I was sick to my stomach as my ______ words ran through my mind. She had heard everything. How could I have been so cruel?

Later I learned she had felt bad all week about not being able to leave me any cool present and her mum had given up her only luxury.

And I had ______ everything for her.

I told her that I had only said those things to try to fit in.

"We aren`t that different from each other, are we?" She smiled ______ . Her simple words, spoken from her heart, found their way straight into mine.

【推荐3】I played a racquetball game against my cousin Ed last week. It was one of the most ______ and tiring games I’ve ever had. When Ed first phoned and ______ we play, I laughed quietly, figuring on an ______ victory.

After all, Ed’s idea of ______ has always been nothing more ______ than lifting a fork to his mouth. As long as I can remember, Ed’s been the least physically fit member in the family, and strangely proud of himself. His big stomach has always ballooned out between his T-shirt and trousers. Although the family often ______ about that, Ed refused to buy a larger T-shirt or to lose weight. So when Ed ______ for our game not only with the bottom of his shirt gathered inside his trousers but also with a stomach you could hardly notice, I was so surprised that I was ______. My cousin must have made an effort to get himself into shape.

As a result, at the point in our game when I’d have predicted the score to be about 9 to 1 in my favor, it was ______ 7 to 9 — and Ed was ______. The sudden realization was painful. We ______ to play like two mad men. When the score was 16 up, I was having serious ______ about staying alive until 21 years old, let alone ______ that many points. When the game finally ended, both of us were lying flat on our backs, too tired to ______. In a way, I think we both won: I the game, but cousin Ed my ______.

【推荐1】After my cancer diagnosis (诊断), my friend gifted me a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. Despite my physical limitations, _________ the green plant became an achievement during a time when I felt _________.

As a family physician I was used to _________ care, now I was the one relying on others. The _________ change left me feeling unsettled. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, _________ me to my old identity and taught me I could still be a caregiver and be _________.

Through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (化疗), I _________ looking after the plant, and it thrived (茁壮成长), so did I.

But before long, _________, it began to show signs of stress. No matter what I did, the _________ kept browning and dropping to the __________, which made me frustrated and uneasy. I seemingly related its struggle to my own health, fearing it __________ the return of my tumor (肿瘤).

As my anxiety eased, I __________ guidance online to figure out how to better take care of the poor little thing. Following the __________ found, I transplanted it to a larger pot, allowing more room and nutrients it required. When it returned to the sunny window, we both began to thrive again!

Now, the lucky bamboo was not just a __________ item in my home but a representation of life, and the ability to find __________ even in challenging circumstances.

【推荐2】There once was an ordinary street in the suburbs where no one cared much for their gardens. The lawns were overgrown, the weeds were _________ and the hedges(树篱)desperately needed to be cut back. It looked very _________. But when the neighbors saw their gardens, they just looked at each other and went away with _________.

It seemed too hard to _________ all the gardens and no one could be bothered to make them better because everyone’s garden was _________ terrible. No one felt it was urgent for a _________. Then a man named Bill _________ here. Bill was a _________, hard-working and patient man who started working in the garden as soon as he _________ in the street. He took his lawn mower(割草机)out to cut back the grass and pulled out all of the __________. Finally, he took up his gardening and started __________his hedges, making them look like flowers, plants, stones, balls, etc.

Attracted by the hard-working __________, the neighbors walked by and __________ the newly manicured(修整的)garden. Over some time, something __________ happened. One by one, the neighbors started to put in more __________ in their own gardens and the sounds of lawn mowers could be heard again. After a few months, the street was __________ from a dirty, unappealing collection of houses to a beautiful avenue that wouldn’t be out of __________ in a stylish magazine.

One person’s action showed everyone what could be __________ with a little hard work. It’s easy for us to __________ the environment around us because no one else cares about it. Remember what you positively do not only brings the __________ to yourself, but also results in a change to the whole world.

I had arrived at the airport about 30 minutes before the check­in. It had been very ___1____ three days for me with lots of meetings. So I was glad to have the ____2___ time to make a note of what I ___3____to do the following day. But then came the ___4__ that my flight had to be ___5___ because there was a problem with the plane.

As I sat waiting for my ___6____ to be called, I reflected on my last meeting of the day. It was not a business meeting but rather a very enjoyable __7___ with an old business friend I had not seen for over 12 years. Our lunch was spent recalling time gone by ___8____ filling each other in what had happened in our lives over the last 12 years. We both laughed and smiled as we recalled the good times and the great experiences we had ___9___ together. At the end of our time together, we both said how much we had ___10___ it and that we must do it again.

It was great to have this additional time to replay in my __11__ all that we had talked about. I realized how important it was to have regular___12__ of the good times in our life. I was lucky enough to have had the chance to take a short ___13___ and reflect on the good things that had happened in my life over the last 12 years.

It was somewhat like looking at an old photo album ___14___ in a cupboard in your house. There before your eyes were lots of wonderful ____15___ that take you back to times and places, and most importantly to those people who were in the __16____.

My flight home was finally __17__ three hours later. I smiled as I __18___ the plane and realized that I was not at all ___19___ about the delay in the flight, as I had been able to spend the time __20__ on the good times from days gone by.