【推荐2】In Minneapolis, the Olson family lives next door to 99-year-old Mary O’Neill.

Although Mary has an adult daughter who _________ her once a week, with the rest of her relatives scattered (分散), for the most part, the pandemic (流行病) left the soon-to-be centenarian (百岁老人) _________. But as the lockdown went on, Mary _________ to build a special friendship with one of her neighbors — Benjamin Olson, aged 2.

Over time, Mary watched through the chain-link as Benjamin learned to walk, talk and _________ run and play. Despite the huge differences in their _________, Benjamin was drawn to his elderly neighbor, delighting in her presence.

Between the two, they developed a _________ between them over the fence. Benjamin would pass her a ball and she’d hit it back to him with her walking stick.

While others may _________ the friendship due to the 97-year gap (代沟) between the two pals, when Benjamin sees Mary, he simply sees a _________, not a number.

Although the pair’s _________ connection scores high on the cuteness factor, Sarah, who is Benjamin’s mother, and Mary’s adult daughter believe the relationship has been a lifeline that’s kept the elderly woman __________ the hard times.

As pandemic restrictions have lifted. Mary and Benjamin’s __________ continues to grow on both sides of the fence. Benjamin joins Mary on her back steps to play games and enjoy the activities that bring __________ to each other.

“Friendship can just __________ in many different ways.” Sarah told CBS. “I’m just really happy they were able to form this one. It __________ a lot to her and to him too.”

In August, when Mary celebrates her 100th birthday, Benjamin and his family will be there to help her blow out the candles and make a __________. But the last thing she will be wishing for is a best friend because she’s already got one.

【推荐3】As a high school coach, I did all I could to help my boys win their game. I cheered as hard for _________ as they did. A dramatic ___________, however, following a game in which I was a referee(裁判), changed my _________ on victories and defeats.

It was a league championship basketball game between New Rochelle and Yonkers High. New Rochelle was _________ by Dan O’Brien, Yonkers by Les Beck. The gym was _________, and the noise made it impossible to hear. The game was well played and _________ competed. Yonkers was _________ by one point as I _________ at the clock and discovered there were but 10 seconds left to play. New Rochelle, the home team, took _________ of the ball, passed off and shot. The ball __________ around the rim(篮筐边沿) and off. The fans ____________. New Rochelle recovered the ball, and tapped it in for what looked like victory. The noise was __________.

I looked at the clock and saw that the game was over. I hadn’t heard the final buzzer(终场哨) because of the noise. I __________ with the other official, but he could not help me. So, I __________ the timekeeper, a young man of 17 or so. He said, “Sir, the buzzer __________ before the final tap-in was made. ” Yonkers won!

I had to tell O’Brien the sad news. His face __________. The young timekeeper came up and said, “I’m sorry, Dad. The ____________ ran out before the final basket. ”__________, like the sun coming out from a cloud, O’Brien’s face lit up. He said, “that’s okay, Joe. You did what you had to. I’m __________ of you.” The two of them then walked off the ____________ together, the coach’s arm around his son’s shoulder.

【推荐1】On a cold afternoon in January 2015, Yesenia Diosdado, 11, got off a school bus. She noticed that a(n)________   woman was trying to communicate with an Emergency Medical Service worker using sign language, but he couldn’t understand her. “I heard him________an interpreter,” Yesenia says.

She ran over to the paramedic (护理人员) to________— her mother, a former sign language interpreter, had________her and her sisters how to________ (no one in the family is hearing-impaired).

“She said, ‘I sign. Can I help?’” says EMS captain Chris Winger. “I was________.”

Yesenia was able to________to the emergency worker that the woman’s neck was injured and tell them the name of the local hospital she preferred. “She looked really________,” says Yesenia. “I’m proud that I got to do________ to help.”

When her mother, Susan Milidore, 36, heard about Yesenia’s________actions, she wasn’t surprised. “It’s in her     ________to help,” says Susan. “I was impressed that she recognized the________of the situation and took charge. Most adults wouldn’t have________that.”

A few weeks later, paramedics________Yesenia with a gold coin and a certificate of appreciation at her elementary school.

“My mom always says that you________know when sign language might come in handy,” says Yesenia. “That day, it did.”

【推荐2】On Christmas morning, Abby, a teenager, went happily downstairs. She didn’t _______ what was under the Christmas tree. Nothing can _______ the gift she has already been given this year-that of life.

The teenager has been looking forward to her first healthy Christmas in six years. She was told she wouldn’t _______ 18 without the operation, and she is enjoying her new life. This year there will be no 12 hours of dialysis（透析）on Christmas Eve and no sitting in her bedroom watching films while _______ to a machine. Additionally, she can go out and _______ with her friends.

But as _______ mounts（逐步增加）, Abby realizes her future has come at a price for that of her donor’s family. She said, “This Christmas is going to be a really big _______ for our family, but I will take some time to silently _______ the family of my donor, who will be _______ for the person they lost. After everything, I’ve realized that I have a（n） ________ to look after my body. I know how precious my kidney（肾脏）is. I will live healthily to ________ the society in the future. I want to ________ that if I was able to get the drug, then everyone in my position should also get it.”

Abby said, “Now I’m well. I met ________ doctors and nurses and discovered there’s a lot of kindness and support there. I hope to become a child psychologist to help those children ________ .”Mum Jo agreed. She said, “We’re astonished by the love we’ve had. Abby’s ________ shows she has reached a new level of humanity.”

【推荐3】Every Saturday morning Phoenix Young would take piano lessons with a family friend when he was a child. “At that time we would _______ around and take all morning just to have a lesson,” Phoenix ________. “And I loved it.”

But when Phoenix was 12, his teacher proposed that he need better ________. So his mother took him to a music school in the Bronx, and signed him up for classes with a teacher named Bade Simon, experienced but known for being ________. And she quickly lived up to that ________. Phoenix found the stressful life was ________ like his lighthearted Saturday mornings with his former teacher, so it wasn’t long before he ________ that he would quit.

One day, however, Bade ________ him and said something surprising, “I have ________ in you. Keep going.” Then the unwilling student did something surprising ________: he said, “Okay.”

“It was as if all I wanted was just a ________ from her that she cared about me,” Phoenix said.

That moment ________ their relationship. Within a few weeks, they were having ________ during lessons. And within a few months, she was teaching him things about music that he’d never known before. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

“I went into ________ and became a piano teacher, a career I have been doing for 50 years,” Phoenix said. “And I owe (把...归功于) it all to that ________ moment with my unsung hero, Bade Simon.”