【推荐1】I lived in America with my teenage son Karl. After his father died, Karl became very shy, quiet and only concerned about his thoughts. As a_________ parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he __ When his report card arrived during his third year. it said that he had been__________95 times from classes and had six___________grades for the year. At this rate he would never________ . I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. __________worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down _________ my knees and prayed for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything more for my son. I’m at the end of my hope. I’m giving the whole thing up to___________. ”

One day, I was at work when I got a (an)_________ . A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absence. ”________he could say another word, I was very upset and all my__________and sadness over Karl came__________into the ears of this stranger. “I do ___________my son but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school but nothing has worked. It’s out of my ________ . ” For a moment there was (a)__________on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up.

Karl’s next report card showed an obvious__________in his grades. Finally, he even made the honor roll. In his________year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his__________were astonished at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum,__________that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s___________I knew I had to make you proud. ”

【推荐2】Capturing the lines of love

I’ve never been the kind of person to say, “it’s the thought that counts” when it comes to gifts. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when my kids gave me a present that blew me away.

For years now, I’ve been wanting to sell our home, the place where my husband and I _______our kids. But to me, this house is much more than just a_______ .In the front room, there’s a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines,_______ the progress of my children’s growth.Every growth_______ is marked in grey, with each child’s name and the date they were_______ .

Most people I know have been featured on a wall like this, or at least had a wall like it in their home.

Of all the objects and all the ___________, it’s this one thing in a home that’s the   ___________ to leave behind. Friends I know have returned home after work only to   ___________       their wall of heights has been ___________painted over. A new paint job wouldn’t normally be greeted   by____________,   but   erasing   that   evidence   of   motherhood ________ more than it should.   Our   kids   grow   in   so   many   ways,   but   the   wall   is   ____________evidence of their progress, right there for everyone to ____________.

Over the years, I’ve   talked   about   how   much   I   would________ leaving   that   wall behind when I moved, even though the last marks were made 10 years ago when my kids stopped________.So one day, while I was at work, my children decided to do something     about it.They hired a professional photographer whose________ is about capturing ( 捕 捉 ) the________ things in life, from clear lakes and skies to ballgowns ( 舞 会 礼 服 ).Over several hours,she took photos of the hundreds of drawings and lines, little grey fingerprints, and old marks. Somehow, she managed to photograph all those________of memories perfectly. Afterwards, she put all the photos together into one image (影像), ________ them into a beautiful history of my family.

Three weeks later, my children’s wonderful gift made its way to me – a life-size photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that________ entire lifetimes of love and growth.

【推荐1】I learned about life from an ant farm. When I was seven years old, my family _________ an ant farm at home. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box, and then we brought some ants from the backyard and placed them into the _________ home.

Shortly after the new _________ were dropped into the glass structure, they got to work making tunnels. I was amazed that each one knew _________ what to do. After hours of staring, I realized that the ants had particular given jobs. With my mom’s help, I kept a journal of what happened each day and _________ the ants. My favorite was the biggest, Cinderella. I drew a picture of her in my journal, which I still have.

On day five a disaster _________ the ant farm. While I was observing the ants, I had put my face so close to the structure that I accidentally _________ it over. Unfortunately, my carelessness caused all the tunnels to _________. Although the ants _________ their earthquake, one by one they began to die. I was __________ as I watched them give up their tunnel-building to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm. My mother explained that the ants were actually dying of “frustration”—feeling annoyed and disappointed as they couldn’t control the situation.They simply could not __________ the reality that their tunnels had been destroyed. Cinderella was the last to die; she did so while carrying a dead ant on her back.

Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world,__________ it taught me much more.__________ the years, I came to realize the ants were a study in the benefits of __________. Working together, they were able to create a(n)__________ world for themselves. I also learned that they should be __________ for their hard work. Day in and day out, each labored at their task. The ant farm demonstrated that teamwork and perseverance are indeed two key__________for success. But there was an even larger lesson that I did not __________ until recently: Disaster is a natural part of life, and must be __________. Unlike the ants, humans cannot give up when they face __________. Unlike the ants, we have to realize that if a tunnel comes down, we just have to build another.

【推荐2】One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited worriedly at their desks for the test to begin. The professor ________ the question papers, with the paper facing down as usual. After he gave them all out, he asked his students to ________ the paper and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no ________, just a black dot (小圆点) in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the ________ on everyone’s face, told them the following:

“I want you to write what you ________ there.”

The students got started on the inexplicable (费解的) task.

At the end of the class, the professor ________ all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no ________, described the black dot, trying to explain its ________ in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been ________, the classroom was silent, and the professor began to ________: “I’m not going to grade this. I ________ wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the ________ part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot, and the same happens in our ________. We have a white paper to observe, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a ________ given to us with love and care, and we always have ________ to celebrate: nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that ________ our livelihood and the miracles (奇迹) we see every day.

________, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots: the health problems that worry us, the lack of money, the   ________ relationship with workmates, the ________ with a friend, etc.

The dark spots are very ________ compared to everything we have in our daily life, but they are the ones that pollute our minds.

【推荐3】My grandma and I shared an amazing relationship as uncommon as the double rainbow. When I was ten, we started our first _______ during World War II. We sowed seeds (播种) together —in the soil and in _______.

We planted beans, corn, watermelon and flowers. I must _______ that I rode twenty miles each Saturday more for the conversation with grandma and the homemade cookies than for the_______. But however full I was after I ate, I was always left _______ for more of the wisdom and optimism she _______ with me.

I’ll never forget the day when we tasted our first harvest as a result of _______ a plum (李子) tree with an apricot (杏子) tree. The ripe fruit was pink, not purple like a plum, nor orange like an apricot, _______ a mixture of both. “Granny, will they be any good?” I asked. “_______!” she said, “Didn’t we do all that was needed?”

Sure enough, they were ________. “That’s because they are special, ________ any other fruit you’ve ever eaten. They are plumcots!” she said __________ as we ate most of what we had________, “You always get out what you ________. Sow apple seeds and you get apple trees; sow weeds and you will ________ weeds; sow the seeds of great ideas and you will get great________,” she said softly, looking directly into my eyes.

From my grandma, I learned the seeds of ________ are neither unusual genes, nor are they________ on the high IQ, the skin-deep beauty, the race, or the family background. The seeds of greatness are attitudes and beliefs that begin in children by observing and learning the lifestyle of role models and heroes.

“Shape your ________ and actions after people who are enthusiastic, excellent, honest, ________ and creative in their service to others.” Armed with my grandma’s words, I set out bravely, sowing and then harvesting my own great life stories.

【推荐1】I was gating ready to head to my daughter’s college to bring her home for New Year. The _______ was falling heavily and the land was silvered, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy drive.

Usually a three-hour round _______ but I knew it was going to be a lot _______ today as I slowed my car to _______ the slippery roads. Once I was on the road, though, condition only worsened I _______ slowed down but four-wheel trucks sped past me _______ huge showers of slush (融雪) onto my windshield (挡风玻璃). During the last twenty miles I suddenly found myself behind a very _______ winter driver. Instead of driving slow and adjusting, when he hit a slippery spot he braked (刹车) hard and tamed sharply all over the road. I had to _______ hard myself to keep from hitting him but unfortunately slid into a ditch (沟).

I tried pulling out again and again but could only hear _______ tires. I was half-way out in the road and a truck sped by me, missing the car by inches. I looked about the car ________ and amazingly the car started to ________ , as if it was almost being pushed out of the ditch. From the driving mirror I spotted a ________ covered with snow, pushing my car as hard as possible. When I stuck out my hand to greet him with gratitude, he ________ signed me good luck, getting on his car.

Just as a famous writer Henry ________ it, “He who walks in love may wander far.” Wherever you go then and however ________ your journeys may be, always remember that you are watched over by people with a love more powerful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.