【推荐1】I had worried myself sick over Simon’s mother coming to see me. I was a new_________ and I gave an honest account of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn’t read his own handwriting. But he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected his_________

So, when Simon’s mother entered the room, my palms were sweating. I was completely_________ for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you,” she said, surprising me beyond speech. _________ me, Simon had become a different person. He talked of how he_________ me, he had begun to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had recently spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. She wanted to tell me how _________ she was for the self-respect I had nurtured (培养) in her son. She kissed me again and left.

I sat there, _________, for about half an hour,_________ what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without even knowing it? What I finally came to remember was one day, when some students were_________ reports in the front of the class. Jeanne spoke __________, and to encourage her to raise her voice, I had said. “Speak up. Simon is the expert on this. He is the only one you have to convince, and he can’t hear you in the__________ of the room.” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention, smiled more, and became happy. And it was all because he__________ to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed__________ was the one who took the last seat that day.

It taught me the most__________ lesson over the years of my teaching career, and I’m thankful that it came__________ and positively. A small kindness can indeed make a difference.

【推荐2】Molai grew up in a tiny village in India. The village was near some wetlands (湿地) which became his second_________. He learned the value and beauty of _________ there from a very young age.

When he was 16, Molai began to notice something _________ happening around his home. A flood had hit the area earlier that year and the _________ it caused had driven away a number of birds. _________, the number of snakes had declined (减少) as well. He _________ that it was because there weren’t enough trees to protect them from the _________. The solution, of course, was to plant trees, so the animals could seek _________ during the daytime. He turned to the _________ department for help but was told that nothing would grow there. However, Molai went looking on his own and __________ a nearby island where he began to plant trees.

__________ young plants in the dry season was __________ for a lone boy. Molai built at the __________ of each sapling (幼树) a bamboo platform, where he placed earthen pots with small holes to__________ rainwater. The water would then drip (滴落) on the plants below.

Molai __________ to plant trees for the next 37 years. His efforts have resulted in 1,360 acres of naturally grown land that has become home to many plants and animals.

【推荐1】When I was a kid, if someone told me that I would grow up to become a ________ author and founder of a youth ________ foundation, I would have laughed and kept walking. ________ now when I see the title of my latest picture book, My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, I shake my head, not quite believing that book has my name on it. But the truth is, this story comes from my own personal experience.

It took me a very long time to find my personal reading voice. In Valdosta, Ga., where I grew up, my community ________ two pathways to a better life for little boys like me: being an athlete and being an entertainer. I was no different than the other kids, so I did what felt ________: Play football and overlook school. School presented challenges every day and so did football practice, but overcoming ________ adversity (逆境) was ________ my neighborhood’s culture. Reading books got not so much.

Fortunately, I went to college. That’s where my reading difficulties really ________. Trips to the grocery store were stressful because there was so much reading ________ in the simple act of buying food. I would misread labels and grab the wrong ________. Once, I ________ apple sauce thinking it was apple slices. I didn’t notice my mistake until I got home and realized that it was my ________ to understand the differences in the wording on the labels that caused the mistake. I realized that I needed to make an important ________. If I wanted to be a better version of me, I had to become a stronger reader.

I joined a book club and read every free moment I had. My journey with reading also created a desire in me to inspire others who________ reading. So I started a nonprofit, Share the Magic Foundation, trying to ________ the lives of children living in under-served communities through literacy.

【推荐2】After stepping out of the international plane, I realized my 10-hour sleepy voyage finally came to an end. I got on the bus and was waiting anxiously for it to _________.

A woman, sitting next to me, and her daughter both seemed _________. She told me that her daughter had an upset stomach and would throw up continuously; besides, the mother had lost her _________ . Apart from a large sum of money, the purse also contained her phone and a phone number of an important _________, a person she was travelling 90 kilometers to meet for discussing a(n) _________ matter which had to be settled by tomorrow morning.

_________ she finished her story, I handed her my cellphone and told her that she could make any _________ she wanted. I also offered a bottle of water I had in my bag to ease her daughter’s sickness. After making several calls, they finally _________ to the official! With their problem _________ , a smile of relief spread across the mother’s __________ and they thanked me many times. The woman tried to pay for my __________ but I jumped to do it before her   __________ I knew she had lost her money.

Next morning, I received a call from the mother, saying that they couldn’t tell how much my kind act __________ them. I was __________ to be thanked in this way. I never thought my __________ offer valued so much in her heart. __________, I got more help from them. I came to realize I had __________ many opportunities for kindness because my attention was always distracted by cellphones. This occasional __________ reminded me that there should be something more important __________ me: the reality around me — something with easy access may make a big __________ to others.

【推荐3】One time, I was with a bunch of strangers in India. I was giving a(n) ________ about our products when power went out. It was in a dark hall, and I was with two other workmates. We were so ________ because we had invited all these people here. It was a ________ talk. We couldn’t do anything about it. Our microphone (麦克风) was gone. There was no light. Everyone was sitting in ________, and I couldn’t help but ________, “Oh, my goodness.”

When the power went out, I felt like I should be in control of it, because I was ________ the event. While we were so embarrassed, we just kept ________ and talking in the dark, hoping people would stay. I felt it was really ridiculous because there were no windows and it was a dark hall.

All of a sudden, a man in the back put up his ________,and put the little light from his phone on. Then two more people, then three people, finally the whole ________ came on, and everyone was ________ their light of their phone on us. It ________ the whole hall.

And so I got out my phone and took a ________ of everyone with their light shining at me. It was the most beautiful ________—a feeling that we were all in this together. That was not anyone’s fault, and we were just all here, ________ each other.

It was the most beautiful feeling of love from strangers I’d ever ________.

【推荐1】After six months of dating, my partner Gabe and I were taking our first road trip. Both of us were adventurous, and we couldn’t wait to go ________ and exploring.

At around 5:30 pm, we were ________ on a mountain road named Crowsnest Highway. We didn’t know the recent flooding in the area. When texting my mom, I happened to look up from my________and saw a wave of mud (泥浆) and a huge tree coming down the mountain, right in front of our car. Gabe tried to stop, but it was too ________. The mudslide sent our car falling nearly 300meters down a rocky cliff(悬崖)and our car landed on its side among some trees.

I didn’t know how long we were unconscious (昏迷的). Not ________, we were injured seriously. Suffering the huge pain, we both managed to move out of the ________ car. Then, we sat on a rock and considered our choices. We couldn’t get a ________ on our cell phones, so all we could do was shout for help. Luckily, someone ________. Four passers-by spotted us and called 911.When medical workers got to our side, they loaded us into separate emergency vehicles. I was in the hospital for ten days while they kept Gabe for six weeks. I was told I would not walk as a normal person for the rest of my life and Gabe lost ________ in his left eye.

Before all this happened, we were happy-go-lucky people. Strangely enough, the accident has made us even more ________. Despite the injuries we suffered, we’re thankful that we’re still alive. The experience also made us closer. A year after the accident, we even drove back to the Crowsnest Highway as a newly married couple.

【推荐3】Borneo is home to some of the most extraordinary wildlife. Several years ago, I decided to go there for a visit. A local person offered to be my guide, which was a great bonus for me. One day, my guide turned off the smooth road and took me across a _________ hillside instead. We picked our way carefully when _________ a charming flower popped into my view among those stones. Oh, dear! More than _________, I bent down and put my nose practically inside the flower’s core.

_________, to my surprise, it was only one of the _________ during the trip. As I _________ the end of my trip, there was still something I had yet to see. We planned to _________ most feared creature there, the saltwater crocodile, which can grow to a _________ of 6 meters or more. When we shone a flashlight towards the muddy shore, little sounds _________ in the darkness as if something unseen underwater had broken the __________. Taking a second look, we spotted two greedy __________ just above the water line. As we drew near, it __________ and we saw clearly it was a crocodile. With great caution, we neared it and finally could __________ its true dimensions. It was a baby — no more than 0.6 meter long. Aha, whatever, I could now report to the __________ back home, who had never been to Borneo, that I had __________ a hungry crocodile in the wild and lived to tell the tale.