【推荐2】In high school I had a math teacher, Mrs. Davies, who took her job seriously and expected her students to show the same degree of commitment (投入). Strict but fair, she held our attention with her great method. One of her _______ was for students who were more academically advanced. I chose to take it and soon realized that the course was a bit over my head. I _______ with the complex problems that others seemed to learn without much effort.

One Friday we were tested on our ability to use a theorem (定理) that no one in the class thoroughly understood. The teacher would _______ our papers based on our ability to progress through the problem which easily filled two pages with formula notations (公式符号). I was absolutely _______. Finally, I didn’t use the required theorem. Instead, I decided to use more familiar theorems to arrive at an _______. I knew I had failed because I hadn’t done the required assignment, I became resigned (顺从) to my fate.

Our test papers were _______ back the following Monday. Everyone received a “C” except me. To my surprise, I received an “A”. I _______ that there must be a mistake. I watched nervously as the teacher approached my desk, smiled, and asked for my test _______ back. She then went back to copy my work onto the blackboard, _______ the class how I had arrived at the correct answer. “Mathematics is meant to be a creative tool, pushing our minds to a rewarding answer,” she said with confidence. __________ I didn’t use the required theorem, she seemed really proud of how I’d worked out the problem. The class saw her fold my test paper and put it into her textbook. She announced that it would be __________ with future classes.

My teacher could have been justified (合理的) in giving me a __________ grade. Instead, she used the __________ to deeply influence a student who often struggled. And after forty years, I still cherish the memory. It helped change my self-image. I __________ up a broad boundary of possibilities which made my life an adventure. She understood that teaching went beyond strict demands and could be used to ________ people. Thank you, Mrs. Davies.

【推荐3】Anna was a 9-year-old girl from a small village. She finished attending primary school till 4^th grade at her village. For the 5^th grade onwards, she would have to get an admission(A) in a school at a city nearby. She became very_______ knowing that she was accepted in a famous school in the city. Today was the first day of her school and she was waiting for her school bus. Once the bus came, she got in it _______. She was very excited.

_______ the bus reached her school, all students started going to their classes. Anna also made it to her classroom. Upon seeing her simple clothing and knowing she was from a small village, other students started making fun of her. The teacher soon arrived. She _______ Anna to the class and told them that she would be studying with them from today.

During the class the teacher told the students to be ready for the surprise _______ now! She told everyone to write down the Seven Wonders of the world. Everyone started writing the answer quickly. But Anna started to write the answer _______.

When everyone except Anna had presented (上交) their answer paper, the teacher asked Anna, “What happened, dear? Don’t _______. Just write what you know as other students have learned about it just a few days back. ”

Anna replied, “There are many things. Which seven can I pick to write?” And then she handed her answer paper to the teacher. The teacher started reading everyone’s answers and the most of them had answered them correctly such as The Great Wall of China, Colosseum, Stonehenge, Great Pyramid of Giza, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Taj Mahal, Hanging Gardens of Babylon etc.

The teacher was happy as students had _______ what she had taught them. At last the teacher picked up Anna’s answer paper and started reading. “The Seven Wonders are To be able to See, To be able to Hear, To be able to Feel, To Laugh, To Think, To be Kind, To Love!”

The teacher stood _______ and the whole class was speechless. Today, a girl from a small village reminded (提醒) us about the gifts we have, which are truly a ________. So value what we have and use what we have.

【推荐1】It was a Friday night and I was _______ a restaurant, washing dishes. A plate slipped through my wet fingers and fell onto the floor in _______. My face flushed (发红) and inside I was screaming, “Why me!?” as if my _______ would make the plate whole again.

The broken plate was only one of the many _______ fighting inside me. There were a dozen other smaller but urgent concerns.

For me, it was impossible to get some much _______ rest or some study time before a coming exam. I had to _______ with the family expenses (开销). So I got back to work.

It was 12 p. m. when I finally finished my work. I got on the bus home and took out my notes to study. I got the _______ looks from people out of bars because I was studying on a bus in the middle of the night.

Their _______ didn’t bother me at all. I knew something had to change in my family and it _______ to me to begin it. Fortunately, I also knew I had desire and ________ in my blood. My grandfather was among the first Mexican immigrants who ________ in L. A. Both of my parents left Mexico in their early teenage years and began working long ________ as a cook and a maid. The spirit was passed down generations, which helped me both in school and at work.

As I walked through the front door at home, I saw my mother had fallen asleep ________ me despite her own long day. In my bedroom watching my brothers breathe slowly made me feel my body’s tiredness. However, it would be a while before I could ________ them in sleep. I had an essay due early the next morning, and Ms. DePaolo doesn’t ________ late work.

【推荐2】In 1988, I began to work as a flight attendant.______ my wings was my childhood dream that I had set for myself after my first plane ride at the age of five. Like so many others before me, I fell in love with the romance of airplanes and ______ others.

I have flown hundreds of flights since graduation, but one ______ among them. We were flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D. C., when I found a young mother ______ with her baby. Everything was a ______, and the mother told me that she had no more diapers (尿布) or other ______ on the aircraft. Through her tears, she ______ me that they had missed their flight the ______ night in Los Angeles. Since she hadn’t ______ to miss the flight, she was ______ to use up most of her ______ and whatever money she had to ______ herself and her baby. As she stood in front of me, crying, I could see the hopelessness on her face. I ______ rang the flight attendant call button and asked for ______ from the other flight attendants. They brought cloth towels from first ______ to assist in cleaning up both mom and the baby. I gave her a sweater and a pair of pants.

As she thanked me for all I had done she said ______, “You’re not the flight attendant, but you’re a sky angel.” Touching my flight attendant wings, she ______, “And those are your angel wing.”

Though I am no longer a flight attendant, my “angel wings” are ______ on display in my office. And each time I see them, I am ______ of that young woman, her son and the ______ that she gave me on that special day.

【推荐1】Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience: the iPad.

Instead of looking at nature, I _________ my e-mail. Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading _________ 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 _________, since I’m not good at self-control. But I was _________. I started by handing the iPad to my wife. Then, a stroke of luck: The mobile phone _________ at our cabin was worse than in the past. I was _________, forced to carry out my plan. Largely cut off from e-mail and my favourite newspaper websites, I had little way to _________ the world. I had no ____________ 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 struggle against the Internet. I finally ____________ that it was me, of course, not the iPad, that was the ____________.

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. However, as we return to work, a(n) ____________ begins: Can I survive when I’m back at work? I don’t plan to ____________ my iPad completely. But I hope to resist the temptation (抵抗诱惑) to use it every five minutes.