【推荐1】I used to have what everyone might call a good life a few years ago, which was because I had a permanent ____ that paid the bills, I had a good family that I was really close to, and I had a place to live in and money in the bank for trips and____ . However, I was bored even if there was nothing much wrong in my life. I wanted more. I really wanted to live ____ and make sharp memories instead of the ____ ones of everyday life, ____ I was a little afraid. I had never had any ____ in myself. When I was a child, even buying something in a shop caused me a great deal of____ , and even though I did get better as I got older, I never___ that childhood shyness. And I tried everything, like reading books about confidence. I took tiny steps towards my goals. But none of them really___ .

As a result, I___ that the small steps weren’t enough. Soon afterwards, I signed up for an internship( 实 习 工 作 ) teaching English in Vietnam, a huge step which seemed____, one that frightened me as much as it ____ me. I was looking forward to it. And then eventually the day came and I left my home as well as my loved ones. I stayed all alone in a distant country where the local food was ____ and the streets were dirty. I had no idea whether I could ____ everything this very strange environment would___ at me.

I had been in Vietnam for more than five months, teaching, exploring and laughing. I had learned to ____ myself, my skills, my abilities and my decisions. After that period of time, I returned home and was ____ , even to myself, not to mention to others. The ____ that had controlled my life and the self-doubt completely___ . That one big chance___ everything for me, and in me.

【推荐2】The last thing Jack wanted to do was wake up early and go to work on Monday morning. Getting out of the bus, Jack found there was still 30 minutes before his ______ began, so he ______ to take a walk around the block to adjust (调整) himself to another busy working day.     

While walking, he______ a young couple talking to each other in a foreign language. “Excuse me! Could you help us please?” the woman called to him in strange English. “We are tourist, lost. Need ‘Dolphin’ hotel. You know where is?” She was courageous as she spoke a (an)______ language.   

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’m in a hurry,” Jack said, and moved off. He was so upset about his problems that he ______ without thinking. Having walked about 100 feet, he felt he was wrong and______ back. Luckily, the couple were ______ there. He walked up to them. “I remembered where the ‘Dolphin’ hotel is. I’m sorry, I just got ______ : there are hundreds of hotels in New York. It’s not far from here. you may______there. Just go straight to that crossroad, then turn to the left, and you will see a white-blue building. That will be the ______you’re looking for.”

The couple thanked him, and Jack______lightly this time. But when he turned his back, he saw that the couple didn’t move, and the look on their faces was the______. “Maybe I was talking too ______, and they couldn’t understand me well enough”, he thought. All of a sudden, he felt that he could do something more important than sit in his office all day long. He knew that he couldn’t leave these young people behind: they couldn’t______get to the hotel by themselves. He walked up to them once again. They looked at him in surprise. “I could______you to the hotel, if you still need my help,” Jack said. For the first time since the beginning of this month, he felt relaxed.

【推荐3】No matter what life throws our way, having a positive attitude makes room for the future. Let’s read Hervey Bay teenager Mark Farrell’s ______ story. At the age of 14, he took a dive into a swimming pool, which would ______ his life forever.

“I jumped into the pool and broke my ______ ,” he says. “It’s a very unusual story because I jumped into the deep end, not the shallow end where most spinal (脊柱的) injuries ______ .”

Mark has been in a wheelchair ever since and now, at 27, is very calm about any ______ life might throw at him. In fact, he finds it ______ to name any challenge. “I just live my life and it’s ______ day by day,” he says.

For the past few years, Mark has worked with the Spinal Education Awareness Team (SEAT) whose aim is to ______ students to prevent spinal injuries, telling his ______ to young people in the Hervey Bay region. “If I can ______ one kid’s life, it makes my ______ worthwhile,” he says.

Mark stresses the importance of checking the ______ of water before diving in and being more ______ in general. He says that if his talks can prevent one spinal injury in a young person, he’s ______ . Mark’s contribution to preventing spinal injuries was ______ in 2017, when he was named Young Australian of the Year.