【推荐1】One summer night, my friends and I stole into the Jordans’ backyard and started harvesting their sweet, juicy raspberries (树莓). We were enjoying every bite of the tasty berries_______Mr Jordan came charging outside all of a sudden.

“What are you boys doing out here?” he yelled as my friends ran off_______all directions. He attempted to catch one or two as they rushed past him, but they were too_______for the older gentleman to catch. Within seconds, the boys_______into the dark of the summer night. All except me.

However, speed was never my_______. I took the tongue-lashing(痛骂) that Mr Jordan gave me as he marched me down the block to my house, where my mother took over and scolded me_______. My friends said they could hear every_______word she spoke from the darkness of our backyard, where they had gathered to_______their escape and to observe my capture.

They teased me about it for days afterwards, while all I could do was complain about how_______it was that I was the only one who had to pay the price. After about a week of this, I complained to my father about the inequality of the situation. Dad said, “You took raspberries without________, and you get exactly the punishment you deserved.”

“But what about the other guys?” I asked. “They didn’t get punished at all!”

“That’s not my concern nor should it be yours,” Dad said. “You can’t________what happens to others. You can only________what happens to you. You made a bad choice that night, and you were punished for it.”

________the duration of the following years, I come to realize there is no guarantee that life will treat us fairly. That’s why we can’t________comparing our lives with the lives of others. Like Dad said, that isn’t our________.

【推荐2】One cool morning my mother and I went to several garage sales (宅前旧货出售) to find something that our family might want. We finally ________ at a pleasant house in the woods. The elderly ________ told me that he and his wife were retired (退休的) teachers. As we were searching, I heard the gentleman’s wife say her ________ to someone, and I immediately ________ who she was. She looked at me and said, “You’re Lisa Miller.” I looked at her ________, for it had been nearly thirty ________ since I had been in her class.

My mother immediately said sorry to her for any trouble I might have made. She did that again after learning that I wasn’t the sweet little child. She thought that if this woman ________ me after so many years, I must have done something ________. My teacher looked at my mother and softly said. “Oh, no. She was very good.” My teacher ________ that during the last week of school, I ________ her a plant from my mother’s garden. It was a lamb’s ear. She took us to her garden where she planted the lamb’s ear. Over the years it ________. As I looked down her driveway with lamb’s ear on both sides, she said, “Every day when I leave my house and drive up the driveway, I think of you.” Tears ________ my eyes. There at her home was a piece of my life that she had raised.

At that moment. she taught me more about life than I could imagine. We give pieces of ourselves every day ________ thought. We seldom imagine the effects (影响) that we have on others’ lives. That piece may grow and spread, becoming a(n) ________ part of a life. In the end it isn’t the big things that matter, ________ the small things that make all the difference in the world.

【推荐3】When Bill Geske was diagnosed with cancer six years ago, his life was turned upside down.

After being ______ to the emergency room with severe stomach pain, doctors found a tumor in his left kidney and ______ spots on his lungs. For treatment, Geske had the kidney removed and at the time the spots were ______. However, a few months later, he learned from doctors that the cancer had indeed ______.

The situation wasn’t good, and doctors estimated his ______ to be no more than two years. ______ the emotional and physical pains, his personal and family life suffered.

“We have a family business. We have two children who were thrown into the middle of this chaos ______, and they’ve had to grow up very fast and handle the business, which they knew ______ about.” he said.

But ______ all the chaos, there has been one constant: his wife Diane.

Whether it was accompanying him to every doctor’s ______ or cooking his favorite meal, Diane always made sure her husband knew he had her full ______.

“I really see what love is. My wife ______ so much suffering. I’m so ______ to have her fight with me and not against me.” Geske said.

The Geskes ______ that their road has been far from easy—they call it “cruel” in fact—and sometimes they ______ to the stresses of the illness.

But Diane has ______ to learn how to cope with the more difficult times. “If he’s in a mood or having a ______ day, I just leave him alone for a while’’ she said. She also said making time to focus on herself and a life outside of their relationship help keep their ______ strong.

While too many couples grow ______ when one of the partners suffers from a serious illness like cancer, the Geskes grow together. The people that are there for you on your ______ nights are the ones worth spending your brightest days with.