【推荐3】Soccer star Carli Lloyd made history as a member of the United States women’s national soccer team, which won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Lloyd became the first person ever to score three goals in a single game during a Women’s World Cup final, helping the U. S. beat Japan 5 - 2 in the final match. During that game, Lloyd scored two goals within the first five minutes.

Lloyd was named the most valuable player of 2015 World Cup and won the Golden Ball Trophy. In November, it was announced that Lloyd was on the short list for FIFA’s Puskas Award, for the season’s best single goal. The goal being considered was her third during the World Cup final, which she shot from the field’s halfway line, 50 yards from the net. She was the only woman nominated (提名) this year.

Lloyd became a force in women’s soccer long before the U. S. team’s World Cup won. She grew up in Delran, New Jersey, a small town near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began playing soccer at age 5. By high school, she was a powerhouse in the sport. The Philadelphia Inquirer named her Girls’ High School Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. She attended Rutgers University, in New Jersey and graduated as the school’s all-time leader in New Jersey, where she was a collegiate soccer star.

Lloyd has won two Olympic gold medals. She has scored winning goals in many important matches, including the finals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. In all, Lloyd has scored more than 70 goals as a member of the women’s national team. She has also played on several professional teams, and is currently a midfielder (中场球员) in the United States women’s national soccer team. Off the field, Lloyd gives back to her community by running a soccer camp for young people in New Jersey. She is a hometown hero in Delran; a local ice cream shop even named a flavor Carli’s Cake Batter Cookie Dough Kick in her honor.

【推荐1】It was late, about 10:15 p.m., when Janice Esposito arrived at the New York train station and began the 20-minute drive home. She had traveled the route so many times that she almost drove on autopilot (自动驾驶): a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then — bang! Out of nowhere, a car T-boned Janice’s car, pushing her backward onto the railroad tracks.

As it happened, Pole Dipinto was getting ready for bed. He’d just closed his book when he heard the loud crash not far outside his bedroom window. A volunteer firefighter and retired teacher, 64, never stopped to think. He grabbed a flashlight and still in his pajamas (睡衣), ran out of the door. “Any firefighter would have done what I did,” he said, “We’re always on duty.”

The first car he came upon was the one that had hit Janice. Once Dipinto concluded the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Janice’s car lay across the railroad tracks. And then he heard a terrible sound: the bells signaling an on-coming train.

Dipinto rushed to Janice’s car and banged on the driver’s side window. She just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. “I don’t know where I am,” she said. She seemed unhurt. “Honey, you’re on the railroad tracks,” Dipinto shouted, “We have to get you off right now!” He pulled hard on the door handle, but it didn’t work. The heavy train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was heading toward them. Dipinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. “Please, God, don’t let her be trapped”, he thought. He pushed aside the airbags, grabbed Janice’s arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and walk her to safety. Within six seconds, he estimated, the train crashed into the car.

“It was like a Hollywood movie,” Dipinto told reporters the next day. But this one had a difference. That night, the hero arrived in pajamas, not in a fire truck.

【推荐2】I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy-glued to the cement (水泥). As much as I tried, I could not move them. The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancy's house, just one-half block away, paralyzed (麻痹) my legs, making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway. Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible. Nancy's house was one of them.

I tried to call out for my daughters, hoping to see them run safely to my arms, but my voice was also stuck-stuck in my throat with no intention of coming out. There I stood, helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear, unable to protect the two lttle girls I loved more than even I had realized.

Although trapped in a body that couldn't move or speak, I could still hear. I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children. I could hear a frightening silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children. And, finally, I could hear the alarm of the fire engine. As the alarm announced, "We're on our way," it instantly dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice. I was free to make sure my daughters were safe.

As I continued down the driveway, two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street. They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancy's house. Not only did my feet and voice work now, but my eyes were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears.