【推荐1】In American countryside, the message we hear is this; Go and get an education._________your small town and make something of yourself, Success and opportunity will be found elsewhere.

After_________from a high school in Helena, Arkansas, I did go.

I went to Colby College in Maine. I had visited the school before._________, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew about the difference in weather. I understood the difference in_________atmosphere and I wanted to stretch myself and_________my comfort zone. You know what? I_________loved my time there. But one thing took me by_________, that is to say, the lack of countryside representation._________of the other students at Colby were from big cities: New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco... And when I had_________with these students in or outside of class—we almost focused on topics__________large American cities. In my education classes, it was always "urban this" and "urban that". It was like small towns didn't__________in the USA.

And this urban interest doesn't just happen in college. I__________an education conference a couple of years ago, and a professor—someone who had been__________to educational reform—was there to__________a speech. I was chosen to be part of a small group that got to meet with him. So there we were, five or six of us sitting in a room, and I asked him, "What are your thoughts on the state of education in the__________?" And this man was__________

I'll never forget that moment. It tells a larger__________. Towns like mine are forgotten.

This trend of__________talent and resources to our big cities—this mindset of leaving small towns and never coming back—I don't want to add to that movement. I want to make the__________ of that movement.

Now it's my turn to help people__________to me. And you know what? I'm a sixth grade teacher in a primary school in Helena now.

【推荐2】When I was nine years old my greatest desire in life was to own a pogo stick(蹦蹦跷). My mother told me they were too _______ and that we simply couldn't _______ one. One day before Christmas, my _______ and I went to the department store to pay our credit bill. While my mother and I were at the counter paying the _______, my dad said he needed to see something in the tool department. Soon he _______ with a long thin box. I remembered _______ at the very moment if it was a pogo stick in that box.

When we got home my dad put the box in the barn (谷仓). While my parents were _______ with their housework, I _______ out to the barn and found the box. I was so _______ and I knew that as soon as I opened that ________ box, my bright shiny pogo stick would ________.

No such ________！Inside the box was a silly old ________. And so Christmas morning was both great and ________. I got some nice gifts but I didn't get the present that I ________ wanted.

After all the packing paper was cleaned up my dad said he needed to tend to something in the barn. When he came back in, he was ________ my beautiful pogo stick. I couldn't believe it, how they were able to ________ the money for it and how they ________ me with the broom.

________ we didn't have much money, my parents gave me the most important ________ of all, an abundance of love.

【推荐1】South African lifeguard Achmat Hassiem would watch sharks hunting seals in False Bay. Hassiem never imagined he would _______ an attack by the shark because he always thinks they are one of the most _______ ocean killers. He was really lucky.

In August 2006 he and his brother were _______ an exercise with the local lifeguards. Suddenly he saw shark _______ towards his brother. His first thought was to distract(分散)the animal’s _______. Immediately he started drumming on top of the water, trying to make a _______ noise. He knew sharks tend to move towards _______. He saw the shark turn away from his brother. But as it _______ the course, the shark swam towards Hassiem. The shark _______ its mouth and his right leg was in the shark’s mouth. Then it pulled him under the water and headed downwards. Then he ________ horrible sound. His right leg split(分解)in two. ________ of the shark’s’ bite, Hassiem immediately swam toward the shore. He waved his ________ out of the water and cried for help.

Hassiem survived, ________ the shark had taken away his right leg below the knee. Hassiem was training ________ for swimming. Two years later, he was on a plane to Beijing to ________ his country at the 2008 Paralympic Games(残奥会). After that he represented South Africa to attend two big Paralympic Games and ________ a medal at the London Paralympics.

Sharks are________. Now, Achmat Hassiem is an ocean conservationist(环保主义者)encouraging people to ________ sharks. He thanks the shark for setting him on a new life. He said, "Thanks to the shark’s ________, I’ve managed to go around the world. As child, I always wanted to represent South Africa, and the shark gave me the ________. Who is better to speak up for sharks than a shark attack survivor?"

【推荐2】This past summer was really special for Jaequan Faulkner, a 13-year-old boy living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He set up a hot dog ________ outside his home to make some extra money. The boy took care to make sure that all food was fresh and clean. People in the neighborhood ________ the boy’s spirit, but there was only one ________: he didn’t have a permit.

When the Department of Health received a ________, instead of shutting down Jaequan’s stand, they did something_______. They helped the teenager get a permit so that his business could ________.

Daniel Huff, director of the department, said they were ________ to help a young man with such a sense of business. The health inspectors helped to pay for his first permit. ________, Huff took another step and helped connect Jaequan with the Economic Opportunity Network, which gave the young businessman tips on ________ a small business.

“I was kind of ________ and so grateful,” Jaequan said about all the ________. “Because usually I would have one person at a time helping me, but there ________ to be so many kind people at once.”

The food stand now operates with a ________ and is open four hours daily from 11 am to 3 pm. Jaequan wants to give back to the community, and is planning to ________ to organizations that assist teenagers in need. With such a ________, the boy surely is going to have a bright future.