【推荐1】I grew up in a low-income household where music became my refuge (避难所) from my teenage anxiety. Despite knowing deep within my heart that music was my ______, I chose to ______ the journey to medical school. Being a doctor meant a lot to me: a life of security, ______ stability and social status. However, the stress and the lack of “me” time saw me deeply ______ in a song-less decade.

______, with the assistance of a young producer, I wrote and recorded a six-song demoCD. This was my first experience in a professional recording studio, and it was ______! Finally, after all those years of ______ my passion, I wanted to be a songwriter.

I ______ to a professional musician and asked if he would listen to some of my songs ______ the events of my life, of grief and pain, new relationships, and love lost and found. Thirty minutes later, he looked at me with a bright smile and said, “You’re ready to ______ an album (唱片).” His words gave me the ______ I needed.

One year later, Perfect Love, my first full-length CD, was officially ______, and is now ______ to users on iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.

My life feels ______ and I know I have done what I was meant to do. So you too can ______ it is indeed possible, whatever your life circumstances, to make your dream come true.

【推荐2】I have a moderate hearing loss. My parents dutifully took me to have regular visits to the audiology (听力学) clinic, but I_________to wear my hearing aids and wanted to live my life without them. These visits struck_________into my heart. As soon as I hit adulthood, I never set foot inside an audiology clinic. I liked to_________myself: Well, I did well at school and went on to university.

In my late thirties, it became apparent that my hearing was _________ ; I found having conversations in large groups_________I often turned up the volume on the TV, relying _________ on subtitles (字幕). My lack of ability to_________conversations from a different room also filled my husband with_________.

When I finally went to the audiologist, he was _________that I should have managed for so long without hearing aids as my loss was now very severe.____________ I started wearing my hearing aids, I still considered myself____________in the hearing world. I wish I could say that I wore my aids with____________ but I didn’t. I kept my hair down and rarely put it up; I____________ answering questions about my hearing aids.

A few weeks ago, I went out to dinner with several friends. The waitress noticed my aids and whispered in my friend’s ear, “Is there anything else I can do for this lady?” It felt ____________to me, who is at least an independent and hearing person with aids. While I sort of____________ her deaf awareness, she____________me in some way. She just wanted to communicate with my friends rather than talk____________ to me.

The experience made me realize the____________ that deaf people face. I think I owe a (an)____________ to the deaf community for not wearing my hearing aids confidently. I also see the need to build a more deaf-friendly society and I will do what I can to____________this.

【推荐3】I was just out of college and dragging a heavy backpack and suitcase through the underground that day. I was also crying _________. As I struggled to get the _________ up another flight of steps, I was struggling to understand how my _________ had been such a mess.

The day before, I had a fierce quarrel with my uncle for a certain reason. My uncle had _________ me that I would never speak to him, his wife, or my two _________ again. I spent the evening in my room, weeping as I _________ one of my friends.

In the morning, I wrote a note of _________ and left it in my uncle’s bedroom, then I dragged my bags for a mile to the train station. When I got off the train, I had to take the _________ to my friend’s house.

I was familiar with the subway, but at the time, it was a subway of _________ white tiles (瓷砖). I was __________. Worst of all, no __________ were working. Crying yet again, I tried to lift my suitcase up the stairs.

Suddenly in my difficulty there were __________. No one said anything, but each time I __________ another set of steps, a hand would grasp the suitcase handle and __________ it. At the tops of the steps, the hand would __________ and I’d pull the suitcase to the next set. And just as I was about to struggle again, another hand would appear suddenly.

It happened several times. I never looked up, because I could not stop __________. I do remember thinking through the haze of sorrow that each hand looked __________ and that many different people helped me, without asking or saying anything. They just __________, right up to the top of the __________ flight of stairs that exited the station. I couldn’t look up. I wasn’t able to __________ appreciation.

I think of them as I ride the subway today, and I watch the commuters and tourists surge by (从身边通过), just in case someone needs a hand.