【推荐1】Every year I’d read over 2,000 college applications from students all over the world. It is quite ________ to choose whom to admit. ________, in the chaos of SAT scores and recommendations, one ________ is always irresistible in a candidate: kindness.

The most surprising ________ of kindness I’ve ever come across came from a student who had excellent scores and a supportive recommendation from his college consultant. Even with these qualifications, he might not have ________. But one letter of recommendation caught my eye. It was from a school security ________. Letters of recommendation are ________ written by people like former presidents, celebrities, and Olympic athletes.

The security guard wrote that he supported this student’s admission because of his ________. This young man was the only person in the school who knew the ________ of every member of the guard staff. He turned off lights in empty rooms, consistently ________ the hallway monitor each morning and tidied up the classroom after his ________ left school even if nobody was watching. This student, the security guard wrote, had a(n) ________ respect for every person at the school, regardless of position, popularity or power.

It gave us a ________ onto a student’s life in the moments when nothing “counted”. That student was admitted by unanimous (一致的) vote of the admissions committee.

Next year there might be a flood of security guard recommendations due to this essay. But if it means students will start paying as much ________ to the people who clean their classrooms as they do to their principals and teachers, I’m happy to help start that ________.

【推荐2】I woke up with only one thing on my mind: what to wear. A billion thoughts ________ through my brain as wooden hangers moved back and forth. It was my first day of high school in a new State; first ________ are everything, and it was necessary to impress the people who I’d spend the next four years with.

It wasn’t insecurity that ________ me to madness but the fact that this was my third time being the new kid. ________ moving does something to a child’s development. I ________ finding reliable friends. But this time dad’s company ________ my starting and finishing high school in the same place. This time mattered, which made me nervous.

I emerged proudly in a patterned dress after riding (扫荡) my closet. I felt just as ________ as I stepped off the bus. But my jaw dropped to the floor when I found Mrs. Hutfilz, my English teacher, wearing the exact same ________ as I did. I kept my head down and tiptoed to my seat, but the first day meant ________ in front of the class, and ________ it was my turn. I made it through my one-minute introduction speech, until Hutfilz stood up, ________ adding she liked my style. All the ________ that had accumulated throughout the morning surprisingly ________. The students raised heads as I shared my story. My smile ________ as I giggled with my peers. After class, I stayed behind, sharing with Mrs. Hutfilz my previous understanding about coming into a new school and state. I was relieved to make a humorous and genuine ________ with my first teacher in the coming days.

【推荐1】I had never been more anxious in my life. I had just arrived at the airport to travel home. As I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport sidewalk, I realized my _________ had just begun. This was my first visit alone to the international terminal of the airport, and nothing was _________.

I couldn’t make sense of any of the _________. Where was the check-in counter? I felt as if I were deaf and blind and stupid. I began to _________. I had to find help!

I tried to ask a passing businessman for help, but my _________ came out wrong. He frowned and walked away. I had been in this country for a semester, but could not even remember how to ask for directions. Awful! Another _________ arrived at the terminal, and the passengers came out carrying lots of luggage. Right! I could _________ them to the right place.

I dragged my enormous suitcase, went after them and reached the elevators. Oh, no! They all fit in it, but not enough room for me. I watched in despair as the elevator doors closed. I was _________! I got on the elevator when it returned and _________ all the buttons. Which one could it be? I pressed button 3 because I thought I saw those passengers pressed 3, though only a quick glance. The elevator climbed up to the third floor and stopped. A high, unpleasant noise __________ the opening of the doors, and I looked around __________.

Tears formed as I saw the empty hall and realized I would __________ my plane. Just then an elderly airport employee walked towards me. He guessed I was __________ and offered to help. He patted my shoulder to ease my anxiety. We walked up some stairs, turned a corner, and reached the check-in counter!

When I turned to __________ him, he was gone. I never got an opportunity to know that man’s name, but I would always remember his kindness. Without his timely help, I would have missed my plane. I hope I will be able to do the same for another traveler experiencing a(n) __________ journey like me.

【推荐2】University was a new experience for me. I had grown up in a small seaside town in the south of England, and suddenly I was _______together with people of my age from all over the country. People were speaking in _______that I had only ever heard on TV, and sometimes using words that I had _______heard before.

I had only been at university for about a week when I _______David Pitman, from Blackburn in the north of England. We _______that we both played tennis, and arranged to meet up one afternoon for a _______.

I went to the sports hall at the time we'd _______, and went into the changing rooms. David was already there, and I could see that he wasn't very _______. He was searching anxiously for something inside his bag. He looked up at me as I _______.

“I've ________my keks,” he said. “You haven't got any, have you?” ________I had no idea what he was talking about. Tennis balls? Shorts? Trainers? What? I said: “Sorry?” David repeated: “Have you got any ________keks with you?”

Of course, I could have asked him what the word meant, ________I was too embarrassed and didn't want to offend (冒犯) him. David saw the ________on my face, and said: “You know — keks. Shorts. Tennis shorts.”

Now I ________, and luckily, I did have some ________in my bag. I lent them to him, we ________, and he won. Then we went to get a ________. The woman at the canteen asked me what I wanted. “I'd like a Black Beauty, please,” I said. (Where I ________, that's cola and ice cream.) “What on earth is that?” said the woman. I ________knew how she felt.

【推荐3】I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid behind my older sister, whenever I had to speak to a (n) _________ person-including the McDonald’s cashier, or even a distant relative.

_________ asked to speak in class, I could hardly _________, much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (羞怯的) voice earned me jokes-about being a girl.

Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I _________ voice lessons. After a little bit of _________, I did-as long as it stayed a secret. I began a series of vocal (发声的) exercising. After exercising a lot, I finally gained _________ in my voice.

A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people. I thought I would do better than before _________ the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and -nothing. I couldn’t remember the words of the song! My face turned hot. The _________ pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing.

Then the thought _________ me: I’ve embarrassed (尴尬) myself enough in front of this __________. There’s really nothing else to lose. So in my second song, I just __________ and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.

After that, I started singing to myself as __________ as I could in my own room. That’s something I would never have done before.

On a recent school trip, I was asked to sing again. It was __________ how much people liked my singing. One classmate __________ said that I should be in the school’s talent show.

I am not a shy person any more. __________ has made me more outgoing. Today, I’m almost a loudmouth. I can meet people without being afraid. I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.

【推荐2】Because of wasting some expensive gold wrapping paper(包装纸), a man punished his 5-year-old daughter. Money was little and he became more ________ when the child used the gold paper to ________ a box and put it under a ________ tree.

However, the little girl ________ the gift box to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, daddy.” The father was embarrassed by his earlier ________, but he got angry again when he found the box ________. He spoke to her in a serious ________, “Don’t you know young lady, when you give someone a ________, there’s ________ to be something inside the package?”

The little girl ________ at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Oh daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was ________ .” The father was ________. He fell on his knees and put his ________ around his little girl and he begged her to ________ his unnecessary anger.

An accident ________ the life of the child away only a short time later and ________ is told that the father ________ the gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was ________ or faced difficult problems, he would ________ the box and take out an imaginary ________ and remember the child who had put it there.

【推荐3】As online schooling took effect in the US, parents noted many children lacked learning space at home. So, they got _______. They built, collected, and donated desks, _______ remote learning for kids in need.

In Mitch Couch’s home in California, his daughter and son kept _______ the kitchen table for remote lessons or being bothered. This gave him an _______ —he would make them their own desks. The desks were kid-size, simple and _______, made of wood. But they _______. Then he thought: Why not provide other children with individual learning areas to _______ their supplies?

“I spent only $20—significantly less than what stores charge for desks that are suddenly in _______, ” Couch said. “I decided to show others how to build desks. So I made a video about desk-making to _______ fellow parents.”

A grocery store saw Couch’s ________ online, offering to fund materials if he would build more. They also ________ local school officials to help identify those in need. At first, there was an order for 20 desks, but it quickly ________ by at least 50. By now Couch is so ________ —he can knock one out in about 15 minutes.

Couch says the messages of ________ from parents and students kept him going, sharing thank-you cards from parents saying their kids were ‘‘doing better and ________ more because they have their own space”.