【推荐1】After twenty-two years raising three children, I was introduced to a concept: the empty nest. Apparently, this was now my time to ________ into new experiences. Why, then was I not excited, but ________?

For a job opportunity, my husband and I moved to another state. One day, I discovered a trail only a short ________ from our apartment, I was thrilled and began to use it regularly. The trail meandered along a river lined with bushes and towering trees. Ducks ________ on the riverbanks; Canada geese flew overhead; small rabbits bounded across the pathway, ________ into the bushes. These small peaceful scenes provided me with a(n) ________, but only slightly lifted me out of my loneliness.

Still, I continued to walk the path. I ________ something new: couples, young and old, holding hands, chatting as they walked; a father ________his daughter to ride her two-wheeler; a woman doing Tai Chi. They all ________the trail. I became fascinated with the lives of these strangers, yet still wondering if any of them feel ________?

One morning, an elderly woman holding the handles of her walker came into view. She sailed by me in the ________direction like a marathon runner. I turned around to catch another glimpse of this one-woman wonder. She was ________moving forward, not letting anything hold her back. That’s when it ________me. Nobody was.

As I walked toward my car, remembering the elderly woman’s energy and ________, I made a decision. I would fill my empty nest with ________. I was ready for the bright future that stretched before me.

【推荐2】I don’t know when I became so focused on ensuring equality in all areas,including personal relationships.I was afraid of the sort of ______ where you give and give with nothing in return,and the other person feels much bigger than you are.I constantly worry that I ______ my friends more than they do.When the scale ______ to one side in my relationships,I feel like falling over too,like a branch ______ the edge of a cliff.

But when I entered high school,I began to make friends who gave ______ :advice,knowledge,help,and ______.______ they gave more than they received,they did so with a smile.My friend Alicia always ______ to help others with their work and assignments,which made me and all the other ______ of her kindness willing to help her if she ever ______ anything in the future.It wasn’t an exactly equal way of paying her back,but it was our own small way of saying thank you.I slowly came to understand that some people were worth the ______ ,and some things could be paid back in other ways or paid back later.

Today,I still ______ with ensuring equality in my life.However,I have learned that it’s okay to give more than you receive,if you are giving to the right person.It’s okay to let some debts exist ______ ,and to let some things go.Equality is a construct that requires two parties to build,______ but surely,each person ______ a little bit at a time.

【推荐3】2020 was difficult for many people, _____ it was good for me. Last year I ____ many positive lessons.

I lived then in China, where we didn't have many problems with COVID-19, which _____ many countries.

Chinese tourism had also _____ much However, after things started getting back to "_____ " in May, I could pretty much do what I wanted, I could see my friends and travel around the country.

Instead of hating the lockdown (活动限制). I’m _____ for the experience. I've learned since 2020 that it's _____ to live on your own. I've done so for most of my life and 2020 has again _____ this: Though you're on your own, it doesn't mean that you’re _____ or unhappy. Don't worry about it.

Conventional _____ says, at least in the west, you must have a(n) _____ desire to make money. Nevertheless, 2020 has taught me that's not necessarily _____ . My business was OK last year. 2020 has shown me it's OK to have some _____ in your life when you have nothing to do.   We needn't always keep every minute of our lives _____ .

What are some of the life _____ you learned in 2020?

【推荐2】Most Africans are poor, not because they are really poor, but because _______ decides to describe them as such.

My 95-year-old grandfather is “poor”, too. He certainly lives on “less than a dollar a day”. But during all his past time, he has never been _______ anything, and not begged. He was only in school for a year in the 1930s and learned to read and write. This is _______ he is living.

My grandfather usually goes to pick up bananas for his dinner on his farm when he wants _______ . There are other fruits and all kinds of vegetables. 365 days a year, he raises tens of cows that _______ him with milk every day. He also has about 20 goats. In Uganda (乌干达), goat milk is generally not considered _______, possibly due to too much cow milk that tastes good, so we never milk goats. He would _______ a couple of them to get enough money to send his children to school. He also kept a few chicks _______ a hobby.

His farm produces more than he can use. He sells some of them to buy something _______ for life. He has eleven children, and my mother was his first kid. He sent ________ of them to school, and saw eight of them through college. He sold at least two cows, some goats and something else each school term to send his every child to school.

He has never ________ food and daily things. He has been like this for the past 75 years.

Why the long story? My grandfather is ________ poor, just like millions of other Africans. He holds almost no money with him, and in fact he ________ needs it. He produces most of what he needs. But using the Standard World Bank, my grandfather is really poor.

But what’s the ________ ? I live in the city and can earn about 12,000 dollars a year after tax, which is a high salary in Uganda. But I can hardly support my family as ________ and comfortably as my grandfather. So what on earth is poor?

【推荐3】Our church has a way of helping those who have financial difficulties without making them feel shame or guilt. It just puts the donated money in a(n) _______ without the giver’s name. The envelope is then sent to the _______ mailbox.

There came a time when my husband and I were among those in need of help. We did not _______ our financial problem with our children since we did not want to _______ them with a problem they could do nothing to solve. _______ they knew it because they were _______ that we had to cut back on many necessary things.

Our situations kept _______ . Just as we reached the _______ point, we found a gift envelope in our mailbox. We were extremely _______ for the help and kept ________ who had given us such a generous gift.

A year later, our 17-year-old son had to ________ a student loan so he could attend university. It was then we discovered that his ________ was almost empty. His father and I were very ________ because we had trusted him to put part of his ________ from his part-time job into the bank for his ________ . From the time he was nine years old he had been a paper carrier for a local newspaper, and he had ________ very hard. I asked him ________ where the money had gone. At first, he ________ to tell me. But I would not let him alone. Finally, my son ________ that the year before he had put his savings in the envelope to help his ________ and me.