【推荐3】One action can set off a chain reaction. The phrase "One Person Can Make a Difference" is one of those _______ that we teach youngsters, to encourage them to do something kind, _______ another person, or dream big about how they will _______ the world.

As adults, do we believe this? Or is it a _______ just for young people? I am writing to tell you that indeed "one person can". I _______ this because one day one person did an act of _______ that changed my life and the lives of millions more.

Almost 15 years ago, while driving across town, I was _______ a radio interview and heard a story of selflessness that was _______. Over Thanksgiving weekend, a woman _______ ten heavy winter coats on a bus in hopes of donating(捐赠)them at "A Warm Coat" drive. She knew the city had many ________ people in need and that her ________ could make a difference between cold and ________ for ten people that winter.

She was only one person, yet it was her action that encouraged me to ________ that there would always be a ________ for more coats and that more people would be able to ________ clothes if there were more convenient clothing collection ________. Now, nearly 15 years later, One Warm Coat has ________ over 4 million coats across the country. As the national founder, my heart is full and ________, knowing that we, each one of us, make a real difference in the lives of thousands.

So when you step forward to donate your time, or give a(n)________, or help your neighbor, perhaps wondering "will it ________ matter?", I can tell you that it will!

【推荐1】When I was 16, I worked at a fast food restaurant. That was when I came across two new family ________.

One afternoon in the fall I happened to find a little cat crying outside. He got a little wet because of the morning rain. I picked him up into the kitchen, ________ him and fed him water and food. My boss was ________ when seeing a stray cat (流浪猫) in the kitchen and asked me to take him out immediately. I quickly got some towels and a box and made him a little ________ and put him in my car.

After work, I hurried to my car to ________ him. I found another cat scratching (抓擦) my car door to________her brother. So I picked her up too. I had to carry them into my house ________ because my mother didn’t ________ a cat. Our cat had died earlier that year and she was in ________ and determined that she would not keep any cats.

I ________ the two cats in my room for four days. One day my mother caught me feeding the cats. Seeing her, I was ________ but I told her I had no choice but to ________ them. I told her we could just keep the boy and find another ________ for the girl. She shouted at me that we couldn’t ________ them. I knew I had her ________.

My family had Penny and Rizzo for the next 15 years.

【推荐3】Love Is Blind: The Magic of Tabby

In October, 2003, I started my work at my local animal shelter’s Adoption Department. Over the years, more than 50，000 animals have _______ the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are special animals, who touch me so deeply that I could never possibly _______ them. Tabby was one such animal.

Tabby was an ancient Cocker Spaniel, probably 14 years old. What’s more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby’s chances at adoption seemed _______ at best. After all, we didn’t have many adopters coming in asking, “Can you show me all of your really old dogs who are also _______?” We had all thought that Tabby would live out the rest of her life at the _______.

One day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, had _______ Tabby’s picture and stories on the shelter’s website at home. They were interested in meeting her! It was the only enquiry we ever received about Tabby. What could a young child possibly see in a 14­year­old dog who was both blind and deaf? Most boys would want a dog who could grow with them and _______ through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would _______ be able to do that. But after meeting her, Loretta and Gary decided that she was the right dog for their family. They adopted Tabby!

If Tabby’s story had simply ended with her _______ adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed. ________, it was what happened after her adoption that people might regard as “magic”. Gary suffered from seizures(癫痫). Since Gary and Tabby met they became ________. They did everything together. They became so “in tune” with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary’s seizures before they occurred, giving his family a(n) ________ that one was about to strike. What’s more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby’s ________.

How could it be? Nobody could explain ________ Tabby did it. But those of us who were fortunate enough to know her and her family had ________ the magic, the kind that has its roots in love.

【推荐1】I woke up without much enthusiasm, rolled out of bed and _______ there not wanting to believe I had to go to work again. This must just be a bad dream that never seemed to _______ with the same old being done over and over again. I picked myself up to a standing position and _______slowly around back towards my comfortable and warm bed and had to_______the very last ounce of strength not to head back into its hug. What a _______it was to get dressed and head out of the door!

Off I went to_______arriving just in time. Then, _______, my boss said there was a(n)_______job to do right now. I_______that anybody could do this job and that____________else would have to do it if I waited long enough. But, nobody else____________up to the job and this left me with a sinking feeling.

That’s the same problem with your____________. Many people use up a lifetime trying to ____________somebody else to do all the hard work to improve their life. There is a lot of discomfort with actually____________ your very own life while it is much ____________to let others do it. The real problem, however, is that it takes a lot of ____________ to find somebody who will do anything for you. Your life won’t change ____________ you are willing to grab hold of your life and ____________that nobody else will ever create the life you want. So, stop ____________anybody to do something for you. ____________, get your own body going and get it done now.

【推荐2】Have you ever watched an artist paint a picture? He or she works close to the canvas _____ small sections at a time in the process of completing the whole painting.

But every once in a while, the artist must step back from his/her work and look at the whole picture. Only by stepping away from what they’re working on can they _____ the proper perspective. The proper point of view is _____ to the end result.

It’s no difference for any other creation. _____ it’s a business, a project or your life, you need to step back sometimes in order to get it right. From a _____, you can see things you can’t see when you’re close. The difference is in working on your project instead of working in it. It’s all too easy to focus on something but _____ the important parts needed to create a satisfying result.

Stephen Covey calls it “_____ the saw (锯)”. It would be _____ to keep sawing without stopping from time to time to make your tool sharper. But unfortunately, that’s what too many of us _____.

Just like music, we need spaces between the notes in order to create the lovely melody. A continuous collection of notes with no spaces is not good — it’s ______.

You may need to take a vacation to ______ work or study. At other times, it’s better to take a course or attend a meeting to ______ some new ideas. Sometimes, it may be better to take a complete break, to go away and just do something totally ______ — take on a volunteer project, build a house for Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy causes.

The important thing is to take the breaks. Without them, we are not ______ and we don’t enjoy our work or our life as much. Our pressure ______ and both our work and our health suffer.

【推荐3】I was 11 years old standing outside in just my underwear while I watched the house that I grew up in rapidly burn to the ground.

A few minutes earlier I had been in bed when a _________ woke me up. A fire had _________ in my grandma’s room and awakened her. _________ hearing her, my brother had jumped into _________, running from room to room quickly waking everyone in the house. _________ we could do anything, the fire consumed it. We all barely _________ it outside before the flames had taken hold of every room.

I stood there _________ while the fire destroyed my books, clothes, and toys. I watched _________ while my mom cried and my dad sighed. I wondered what was going to happen to us _________ we had lost all of our things.

As I looked around, though, I ____________ something for the first time: The things that ____________ aren’t things. I saw my brother running across the swinging bridge by our house to get help. I saw my grandma and dad wrapped in each other’s arms and my mom ____________ our little dog. I realized at that moment that we were all ____________. Everything that was ____________ had survived the fire. Our life would ____________. We would survive without the “stuff” that was ____________. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come. And that was all that mattered.

I still think of that fire in the night. It helped me to become who I am today. It showed me for the very first time what was ____________ valuable in this life. It helped me to learn that the ____________ we share is far more important than the things we own.

Live your life for the things that matter, not for the things you ____________. Love your family. Love others. Let the fire inside of you make this world a ____________ place. Let your soul shine bright.