【推荐1】Society has certain standards for beauty. But Romanian photographer Mihaela Noroc, who spent nearly four years _________ photos of women from around the world, is challenging these standards.

She believes that beauty can _________ many forms. “Beauty just means being _________,” Noroc told NPR, “I don’t think we have to change ourselves to be in a certain way; I think we just have to keep ourselves as we are and don’t _________ need to change.”

_________ by a trip to Africa in 2013, Noroc has traveled to more than 50 countries and regions since then. In 2017, she published a book called The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits to show how many different kinds of beauty there are in the world.

From a struggling Russian dancer to a talkative cafe owner in New York, Noroc’s subjects (拍摄对象)_________ her in deep conversation. Noroc found out what _________ them, what their daily struggles and joys are, and what brings beauty into their own lives. “No matter where I go, it’s the _________ that carry all the culture and traditions of a place. I really try to focus on women’s stories, how they face challenges and _________ them,” Noroc told CNN.

Her __________ with Ala, a student at a self-defense school in Jordan called “She Fighter”, left a lasting impression on her. Ala raises her clenched (紧握) fists as she looks into the __________ while her face is covered by a white hijab (面纱). Noroc describes She Fighter as “the first self-defense school for women in the Arab world”, and writes, “I discovered an amazing initiative and a(n) __________ sisterhood.”

In Iran, Noroc met Farnoush, a woman who lives in two worlds. “In one she is an economist, by __________. In the other, she is an artist, because this is her __________.” For Noroc, the women’s beauty __________ how natural and comfortable they appear while just being themselves.

【推荐2】It was just after sunrise on a June morning. “Nicolo,” whose real name cannot be _______ to the public because of Italy’s privacy laws, _______ working the whole night at a factory in Turin. As he often did, he stopped by the “after work auction(拍卖)” _______ by the Italian police where things _______ on the trains were sold to the highest bidder. There, among many other things, Nicolo spotted two paintings he thought would look _______above his dining room table. Nicolo and another bidder _______ until Nicolo finally won the paintings for $32.

When Nicolo retired and went to live in Sicily, he _______ the paintings with him. He hung them above the same table he had _______ from Turin. His son, age 15, who had _______ an art appreciation class, thought that there was something ________ about the one with a young girl sitting on a garden chair. It was signed(签名) “Bonnato” or so he thought, but when he ________ it, he only found “Bonnard,” a French ________ he had never heard of. He bought a book and was ________ to find a picture of the artist Pierre Bonnard sitting on the same chair in the same ________ as his father’s painting.

“That’s the garden in our picture,”Nicolo’s son told his father. They ________ learned that the painting they ________was called “The Girl with Two Chairs.” They ________ the other painting and learned that it was ________ Paul Gauguin’s “Still Life of Fruit on a Table with a Small Dog.” The ________ called the Italian Culture Ministry; the official confirmed that the paintings were ________ and worth as much as $50 million.

【推荐3】Last month, Alex posted his painting of a fox on Reddit hoping to raise money for an animal rescue group. But when a video of him working on the painting went viral with more than 44,000 “likes”, requests on social media from people hoping to buy copies of his work _________ in. His fans were amazed when they watched him paint by holding a brush in his _________ because he had lost the use of his hands.

Drawing and painting always came naturally to Alex. When he was a kid, he would sit down to draw something almost every day. It continued _________ high school and college. He loved creating something with his hands.

But in 2004, Alex _________ a rare disease that caused sensory (感觉的) loss and weakness. One day, he suddenly could not use his left hand. Then the problem spread quickly to his right hand. As the pain and numbness _________ and more tests were done, the physicians _________ Alex had a rare immune disorder. _________, he was no longer able to draw, paint or play the piano. By September 2005, he had difficulty walking, as his legs and feet had also weakened. _________, he needed a wheelchair. He had to quit his job and move to live with his parents.

Alex didn’t follow his artistic dream _________ his mother showed him some paintings created by artists who also could not use their hands and arms in 2015. He was very __________ and then began to teach himself to paint with his mouth and to __________ the right pressure to the canvas(画布).

Three years ago, Alex successfully had a major transplant __________. The process of recovery is challenging but steady. With supporting aids on both legs, he is walking again without pain. Alex hopes one day he will be able to __________ a paintbrush in his hand. If not, he will continue to __________ his visions with his mouth.

“I have a lot to be __________. I’m painting again; I’m walking again. Life feels really good for me right now,” Alex said.

【推荐2】Early in my teaching career, I heard countless excuses for why students didn’t have their homework. As time passed, I became_____________of hearing “I don’t have my homework because…” So I_____________accepting any excuse.

When I moved to another school, I _____________ my students “No excuses!”. I collected homework each class. When a student didn’t have it, I never asked why._____________, I sighed loudly, shook my head and recorded a zero in the _____________ book.

Then, one afternoon, Anthony _____________me. “Could I talk to you a minute?” he asked _____________, not taking his eyes off the _____________ . “I know you said it doesn’t matter _____________we don’t have our lessons done, but I don’t want you to think I’m ____________ because I come to school without mine so often.”

Anthony ______________up at me for the first time. “It’s just that… well, my dad moved out, and my mom waits tables at night, so I have to ______________ my little brothers. Sometimes they cry a lot, and it makes it hard to______________”

“Why are you just now telling me…?” I stopped in mid-sentence. I knew why. So I ______________the question. “Would it help if you stayed here in my______________ after school and worked on it before you go home?” He swallowed hard and ____________.

The things I learned that year weren’t taught in the classes I’d taken in college. I discovered that not all kids come from homes that are safe and ______________. Not all kids have a ______________bedroom with a desk and study light. Some don’t have a home where a parent is even around. And some kids do go to bed ______________.

Most importantly, I learned that “I’ll listen”______________much better than “No excuses!”

【推荐3】It was coming up on Mother’s Day. John ______ tried to make it back home, but this year he was just too busy with his business. When he ______ by a flower shop, he said, “I’ll send mom some roses.” He went into the shop and saw a boy ______ to the clerk, “How many roses can I get for six dollars?” The clerk was trying to explain that roses were ______.

“I have to have roses,” he said. “My mom was sick so much last year and I didn’t spend much time with her. I want to get something ______. It has to be red roses, because that’s her ______.”

John was ______ by the boy’s voice. He ______ mouthed to the clerk that he would pay for the boy’s roses. The clerk said, “Okay, a dozen roses for six dollars!” The boy took the flowers excitedly and ______. It was worth the extra 35 dollars just to see that kind of ______. John ordered his flowers and had the clerk leave a ______ telling his mother he loved her. He left the shop，and later saw the boy enter a cemetery. He pulled over and began to ______ the boy. The boy stopped by a small monument (墓碑) and went to his knees. He carefully laid the roses on the grave (坟墓). John stared at the little boy’s trembling body and ______ his crying, “Mommy, why didn’t I tell you how much I love you?” John ______, tears in his eyes，and walked to his car. He drove back to the shop and told the clerk he would take the flowers ______. He wanted to tell his mother one more time just how much he loved her.

【推荐1】I'm standing in a class of wild 14-year-old girls as they throw paper and howl (大喊) with laughter. They won't _________ me. I was 23 and I didn't know what I was doing. I never wanted to _________. I wanted to be a writer. But when I arrived in London, they were short of teachers.

My efforts at teaching were _________. When the bell finally rang, I rushed to the staff room, red with anger. The other teachers weren't _________. “That's 4B, the worst class in school,” one said.

I dreaded (害怕) our next _________, but I couldn't give up. I needed the job. So. I _________ formal lessons. Instead, I brought _________ for class discussions. One of the liveliest talks was about the arguments they had with their parents. They paid attention and shared about their lives. I was _________. So I had them write about themselves. Most wrote about families with little money and big problems. As time went on, their essays became a _________ between us. I admired their humor, toughness and insight, and I think they ____________ my interest in their lives.

The musical My Fair Lady was playing in the West End, but they had never seen a ____________stage performance. They lived just a few subway stops from the West End, but none had ever been. I asked if they'd like to see the musical. They thought I was ____________. No teacher had ever ____________taking them out. A few weeks later, 4B and I were sitting in a ____________. They loved the music, the costumes and the characters. It was the ____________ of their year, and they talked about it for days.

Near the end of the semester, someone knocked on the door of the staff room. The two most rebellious (叛逆的) girls in 4B were there — with flowers. I was proud to know I had ____________their lives. I enjoyed teaching and getting along with ____________.

When I returned to Australia several years later, I still wanted to be a ____________. For the first time in my life, I stopped ____________ and started writing. My first story was titled. My Fair Ladies. Teaching wasn't the ____________ of my writing career; it was the beginning.

【推荐3】I’m a college professor teaching people how to think more creatively. Interestingly, this lifetime passion was ________ by a casual contest when I was a child.

At a family picnic for employees of the company where my father worked, they held a contest for the children-who could throw a cloth handkerchief the farthest. The first ________, the little ones, took mighty wind-ups (挥臂动作), but when the cloth left their hands, it opened and flew to the ground a few ________ in front of them. The crowd roared with laughter, and being 13, I didn’t like adults laughing at us.

It was ________ that using the same technique would not work. Suppose I ________ a rock inside the handkerchief? No, it was “throw a handkerchief”, not a rock and a handkerchief. When they inspected it, I’d be ________. Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would drive the cloth at least farther than the others, and when they ________, people might not notice a small rock landing in the grass. I had a good chance of ________ with it.

However, I didn’t want to win by cheating but to show the adults that a(n) ________ could beat others at their own game. I had to make the handkerchief fly like a rock. I ________ began tying knot after knot until it was the size of a large rock. I took a long wind-up and threw the ________ handkerchief which landed 60 feet away. The laughing ________ and everyone was dumbfounded. The ________ then ran to fetch it to examine how I’d cheated. “It’s just the ________,” he declared, holding it up and untying the knots. The adults applauded kindly and I felt proud.

I hadn’t broken the rules, but I had broken the ________ ideas, which was the secret to creative thinking.