【推荐3】Tom had lived in Palo Alto and been alive during _______ earthquake. Nothing much happened _______ him or his home on that day. _______, a few_______later, _______traffic accident made him_______his life.

After Tom died, his wife came to his car he hadn’t used for some months. When she began_________it out she noticed first that the front seat had been equipped _______ it could flatten backwards. Then she noticed that the back seat had_______ rigged (装配) so it would pop out ________ to make you climb into the trunk (行李箱). ________ the trunk she found old clothes, bottles of water and two hundred ________ of rope. It seemed that, ________ he was not a man planning for the future, Tom was at least prepared for________trapped in an earthquake. ________, we should learn from ________Tom. Everyone should ________ for something ________ some accidents ________ fires and earthquakes happen________.

【推荐1】Just Being There

Mark and Ivan ran from the school bus to Mark's house. They had both tried out for the school soccer team, and the _________ were supposed to be online by now. Dropping their backpacks in the front hall， the boys raced to the _________.Mark logged(登录) into the school website. The list was up! Finding his _________， Mark was overjoyed. “Our suffering is over.”he said.

Ivan didn't_________, though. Mark turned to look at him. Ivan had a(n)_________ expression on his face. Mark turned back to the computer and read every name on the list,_________ for Ivan's name.

Mark felt as if he had been hit in the stomach. “This isn't _________，”he shouted. Ivan just sighed(叹气) .

“Let's talk to the coaches. Maybe they'll give you another _________,”Mark insisted.

Ivan just _________ his head. “If I didn’t make it,I didn’t make it” Then he was silent,staring at the computer screen.

“Oh,no,” Mark thought. “Was Ivan about to__________?”

“At least you can sleep in on Saturdays,” he __________ Ivan. “Right?”

No answer. Mark sighed. He wished he could __________people up the way Ivan could.

Even back in kindergarten（幼儿园）,Ivan had known how to do it. On the first day of kindergarten, Mark had been homesick and began to cry during the break. The other kids __________ around him. “Want to hear a funny joke?” “Try to __________!” After a while, they walked away. Only Ivan __________. He said, “I’ll just keep you company while you’re sad.” Minutes later, the two boys were playing happily.

__________ it now, Mark felt calmer. For a few minutes, he kept quiet. Then he said, “This must be really hard.”

Ivan finally __________his eyes from the screen. He looked at Mark and nodded. “Yeah. It is.” The friends sat in __________ for a while. Then Ivan took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and stood up. “Maybe we could shoot some hoops（投篮）,” he suggested. “I’ll probably feel __________ when I beat you.” He smile a little.

Mark stood up, too. “You mean when I beat you,” he said. Ivan laughed, and they headed outside. “Thanks,” said Ivan, nodding at mark. “__________. Thanks, Mark.”

【推荐2】The other day, my husband and I took the kids for dinner at a branch of Pizza Express. There was a very friendly lady _____ alone at the next table. When the time came for her to pay the       __, her bank card was declined. The waitress told her, in a very kind way, that there was a _____ and that she would call her manager for help. Seeing this, my husband _____ got up and told the waiting staff that we would pay for the lady's meal. _____, when the manager arrived, he explained to the lady that although she couldn't use her card, there was no need to _____. Pizza Express authorizes(授权)the restaurant to _____ two free meals per month and on this _____, they would like to provide her with a free meal.

She was extremely grateful and apologetic that she had been unable to pay. We were relieved that the lady had been _____ with dignity instead of being placed in a ______ position.

Then the manager approached our table. He said that, ______ we had shown such generosity, he would like to donate the second free meal that the restaurant was able to ______ to us! We were absolutely astonished! I had never heard of any chain restaurant behaving in such a generous way. We were quite ______ with gratitude. I made sure that the lady was able to get home OK, and then we ______ the staff and left. I was really impressed by how the restaurant had treated this ______ case.

【推荐3】One snowy night, a pair of beagles (比格犬) was struggling on a rural highway. The father-to-be looked around anxiously, trying to seek _______ for his dear companion. Frequently he would look at her_______ , feeling guilty she labored along, her way made heavier by the new life growing inside her. They_______ for a warm, dry place. When her_______ came, it must not be out here along the roadway.

As _______ would have it, Gus Kiebel, a county wildlife officer, who was driving home from work, spotted the pair. He _______ to the shoulder of the road immediately.

The beagles made no effort to_______ when Gus bent down and stretched out his hands to them. Gus_______ their tags (狗牌) by his truck’s headlights and tried to ring, but the falling snow _______the screen. He placed the dogs in his truck,________ his phone and called again. A man answered and instantly grew ________when Gus told him why he was calling.

“I already gave them away,” the man responded coldly.

Obviously, these beagles were________ . Meeting their large begging eyes, Gus felt his heart________“Putting them back in the snow is out of the ________ ,” Gus thought to himself, “I must bring them home.”

It’s a simple story, but it speaks to the best of our ________ : Kindness and love can keep cruelty and cold at bay .

【推荐2】He met her at a party. She was shining, but nobody paid any attention to him. After the party, he invited her for a _______. Not to be _______, she went along.

In the nice coffee shop, he was _______ and tried to break the silence. Suddenly, he asked the waiter, “Could you please give me some salt?”

When the salt came, he put it in his coffee and drank. _______, she asked, “Why salt with coffee?” He explained, “It _______ me where I am from, the small village by the sea.” She was _______ and shared a lot about herself, too. That was the start of their love story.

Later, they lived happily together. And every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt, the _______ he had done it.

After 40 years, he _______ and left her a letter. “My dearest, please forgive my life-long _______. In that coffee shop I was so uneasy that I asked for ________ instead of sugar.

It was hard for me to ask for a ________, so I just went ahead. Many times, I tried to tell you the truth, but I was afraid that the life I love might be ________.

Sweetheart, I don’t exactly like salty coffee. But as it ________ so much to you, I’ve learnt to ________ it. If I could live a second time, I hope we can be together again, ________ it means salty coffee for the rest of my life.”

【推荐3】My father had a union job at a film-processing lab, and layoffs — and eventual rehirings — were common during the 1960s. My mother, however, _______ the family’s finances, and each layoff was extremely ________ . She worked, but money was tight as she ______ to pay the rent and the other bills until my dad was rehired. She always managed to protect my sister and me from the financial_______, and we never knew the extent of her worries.

_____one spring, when I was 10, during one of my father’s layoffs, I could______my mother was dispirited . I decided that I would _____my mother by buying her a special Mother's Day gift. My sister had a friend whose mother owned an exclusive boutique（高档精品店） , the Agins, near San Vicente and 6th Street,______was known for its high-end fashions and style. My mother, who couldn't _____to shop there, occasionally mentioned the store in tones of _____.

One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins. I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins and told her I was looking for a Mother's Day present. I remember that she didn’t talk down to me. She   _____me like a valued customer. She asked me what my mother would like. I told her I wasn't sure.

After wandering to the back of the store, she returned with a box. She opened it,______an Italian handbag _____of supple leather. “How much money do you have?” she asked.

“Twelve bucks ,” I said.

“You're in _____, ” she told me. “It's only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card. ”

She______the purse and thanked me for my business.When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she stammered（结巴地说） in an accusatory tone, “Where did you get this?” “I bought it at the Agins,” I said.

It wasn’t until many years later, when I learned that the purse was _____ several hundred dollars, that I _____just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. My mother, who carried the purse for many years until it was _____repair, is now 90. “Do you know what really______me to this day?” my mother said. “Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was incredible enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of_________ that I'll never forget.