【推荐2】Before I was born, my mom had worked as a nurse. However, she resigned(辞职)shortly after my birth to_______ me. After I turned 12, she_________to work.

She left at 5:45 am, which left me_________for waking myself up, preparing breakfast and walking to take the 7:30 am bus. I_________being left home alone in the morning and having to take the bus. Once I_________it, I was not only late for school, but I had to_________Mom to ask someone to drive me to school.

Mom worked the day shift(白班)so she could_________me up after school. On days when she didn’t go to the_________, she drove me both ways. Those were the_________days.

One day, as we walked down the sidewalk, I saw a elderly man__________us. He broke into a wide smile, but I didn’t__________him. “Leigh! Leigh!” he called my mother’s name. I looked at him and smiled, unsure of my role.

“I hope you know how__________you are!” he said after some small talk with Mom. I looked at him__________since I had no idea what he was talking about.

“You have the most wonderful,__________and lovely mother,” he said. “When I was in hospital last month, she took good care of me. Actually, young lady, I shall never__________her.” Then he__________his attention from me and went back to__________my mother.

Right then, I__________what it meant for my mom to be a nurse. She was caring for, serving and loving total__________, often during the__________times in their lives. She cared for them and me, too.

【推荐3】I love planting trees. I feel happy when I am planting since I know that long after I am gone, these trees will ________ high above the land, providing oxygen for humans not yet born and ________ the carbon dioxide from the air.

Each spring, as I am ________, my mind goes back to a ________ I have of my grandfather, walking with him on the land, listening to his ________ and learning about nature. He often told a story which has been ________ in my mind all these years.

It was in the early 1900s, a man lost his wife and daughter to a terrible disease. Filled with ________, he decided to take up the ________ occupation of shepherd in the hills. He was about 55 years of age at that time, and as he ________ his sheep, he looked around and saw the land was ________. Then the old man felt he needed to do something to help the land ________, for it had once been a splendid green forest.

He collected some ________ of oak trees from other places, ________ watered them and cared for the young trees that sprouted the next year. For the rest of his life, he planted every day. No one knew his story until he was 90 years old. Yet he ________ to plant, perhaps only five trees a day. At that time, the hill had become a green forest, ________ as far as people could see.

【推荐1】When I was a little girl, there was the magic of Mercurochrome (红药水). It was good for cuts, scratches, or other _______. My brother and I tested and _______ the powers of Mercurochrome many years ago.

It was summer and hot. Mama was not feeling well and had become _______ tired. She told us that she was going to _______ on her bed. Only a few minutes had passed when Ronnie _______ a scratch on his knee that needed immediate _______. We tiptoed (踮脚走) into Mama’s room and asked her if we could put Mercurochrome on Ronnie’s scratch. _______ on her back, Mama had fallen into a deep sleep and made no answer.

We _______ into the bathroom and took the Mercurochrome and painted Ronnie’s knee. Undoubtedly, he immediately began to feel better. _______ , we tiptoed into Mama’s room to show her that we had taken care of our scratches without __________ her. But she was in sound sleep. Then we whispered that __________ Mama didn’t feel well, perhaps Mercurochrome would make her feel __________

Twenty minutes later, we __________ every scratch and every freckle (雀斑) of Mama’s skin. She had Mercurochrome __________ her legs, arms and face. At Ronnie’s __________, we even tried to paint her fingernails and toenails.

When Mama screamed in __________, we knew that she was awake. With all the __________, it didn’t seem at first that she was feeling better, __________ she burst into laughter as she stared at her image in the mirror.

We laughed a lot the next few days. If anyone had asked us, we would have __________ that Mama had been cured by the __________ of Mercurochrome.

【推荐2】My daughter loved dance, until she didn’t. After an _______ first year, I noticed her interest fading week by week. Then, one day, she slowly walked to me before class and asked if she could just _______ it.

My first reaction was to advise her to “finish what you start”. _______, sticking with something difficult can teach perseverance, discipline and confidence. But watching my first-grader _______ herself into each ballet position, I started to question how much _______ that “blanket advice” made. Is it really in my kid’s best _______, or even practical, to make her stick to every commitment through until she reaches a bitter end? What if there are different but _______ valuable qualities, which can be gained by _______ the things that are not right for her?

With the winter show approaching, I realized she needed to either _______ her class or commit herself to it. After a few days’ consideration, she ________ dance wasn’t for her — a choice I supported. Quitting is never a black-and-white issue. Sometimes, it means ________ a barrier in your way to love something else. In my daughter’s case, ending dance made space for her new hobbies, such as horseback riding and Girl Scouts. She’s into them for now, but it is okay if that ________ changes.

As adults, we are accustomed to stressing the power of saying yes, but what about saying no? The ability to recognize when something isn’t an ________ investment of our time or energy is also important. As my daughter gets older, I want her to feel confident to ________ something that’s no longer meeting her needs. She shouldn’t be held back by the thought that she must ________ something at any cost simply because she has started.

【推荐1】Many people tend to bring electronic products when travelling, including me. Last year I just ruined my summer vacation by bringing________ a modern convenience: the iPad. Instead of looking at nature, I checked my e-mail. Instead of reading great novels, I ________ to reading online newspapers each morning. And that was the problem: I was acting as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation but my ________ wasn't.

So this year I made up my mind to try something ________: getting away from the Internet. I knew it wouldn't be easy, since I’m not good at self-control. But I was ________. I started by ________ the iPad to my wife. Then, a stroke of luck: The mobile phone ________ at our cabin was worse than in the past. I was trapped in a small circle and ________ to carry out my plan. ________cut off from e-mail and my favorite newspaper websites, I had little way to ________ the world. I had no choice but to do what I had planned to do all along: read books.

With determination and the strong support of my wife, I succeeded in my vacation ________ against the Internet. I finally realized that it was I, of course, not the iPad, that led to the problem.

I knew I had ________ when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. "Don't need it," I said. ________, as we return to work, a test begins: Can I ________ when I'm back at work? I had no ________of giving up my iPad completely. But I hope to resist the temptation (诱惑) to use it every five minutes.

【推荐2】During the lockdown, my husband, Bob, and I were offered a pingpong table. I am a non-athlete but Bob does well in pingpong.

“What are we going to do with that pingpong table?” Bob asked me.

“The two of us will_______,” I replied.

Bob looked ______ .

I lost every game and I told myself that it didn’t _______that I always lost. I was playing for   ______   and to provide a positive experience in a difficult time. But there were days when I   ______   losing. Once I threw my paddle (球拍) across the yard angrily. Then Bob ______ I play with a handicap (让分) of 12 points. That   ______a lot--I sometimes won! I’d never been interested in any kind of sport. But pingpong became the ______of my day.

We generally played five games. I   ______   won two of them. Knowing that I could win sometimes made the ______   more painful, but I watched a video of high-level players and learned from them. I began to get _____   and won more games. My handicap   ______ to 8.

My husband and I ______the worst of the lockdowns through pingpong. It   ______ me that even a self- described bookworm can learn a new sport. The ______ was my husband’s suggestion that I play with a handicap so I’d have an equal ______ to win. He doesn’t like to lose either, but it’s more fun for him if I actually want to participate and   ______ it. It takes two willing partners to play table tennis, ______and two people with an equal chance in each other’s ______to make a marriage. Simply put, when it comes to table tennis — or any other ______   — there is no ping without a pong.

【推荐3】Several years ago, a well-known writer and editor Norman Cousins became very ill. His body ached and he felt constantly ________ . It was difficult for him to even ________ around. His doctor told him that he would lose the ability to move and eventually die from the disease. He was told he had only a 1 in 500 chance of ________ .

Despite the diagnosis (诊断), Cousins was ________ to overcome the disease and survive. He had always been interested in medicine and had read a book, which discussed the idea of how body chemistry and health can be ________ by emotional stress and negative attitudes. The book made Cousins think about the possible ________ of positive attitudes and emotions. He thought, “Is it possible that love, hope, faith, laughter, confidence, and the will to live have positive treatment value?”

He decided to concentrate on positive emotions as a way to treat some of the symptoms of his disease. In addition to his traditional medical treatment, he tried to put himself in situations that would bring about positive emotions. “Laugh therapy” became part of his treatment. He ________ time each day for watching comedy films, reading humorous books, and doing other activities that would draw out positive emotions. Within eight days of starting his “laugh therapy” program, his pain began to ________ and he was able to sleep more easily. ________ , he was able to return to work in a few months’ time and actually reached his ________ after a few years.