【推荐1】Tears clouded my eyes as I stood in our washing room, holding Brett’s jeans and shirt full of burn holes.

Tired and defeated, I _______ to the floor. The clothes were just one more thing Brett had_______ . He often got almost everything in the house out of _______ . Many windows in our house needed repair due to his breaking _______ to steal money when he chose to live on the street. Yet none of this could compare to the emotional _______ Brett had done to our once quiet home.

Brett came to live with us when he was 12 years old. During the next few years I had dealt with Brett as _______as possible, but inside I was shouting. “I don’t want him in my house another day, Lord! I just can’t   _______ him!” Having wiped my tears, I continued _______ him as before.

When Brett was nearly 18, he landed again in Juvenile Hall（少管所）. After that, my husband and I had to send Brett to a boarding school for helping _______teens.

At the   ________ ceremony, each graduate held a white rose to give to the person who had ________ the most to him or her.

Brett spoke __________ to his parents and then spoke to me, “You did so much. You were always there, no matter __________ . My mom and dad, I was their kid. But you, ________ troubled enough by me, always ____________ me such love. And I want you to know I love you for it.”

________, I stood as Brett placed the white rose in my hand and hugged me__________.

At that moment, tears__________ in my eyes again, this time not for disappointment but for________. Although I had struggled with silent __________toward my stepson, Brett had seen only my actions. Love is action. We may not always have positive feelings about certain people in our lives, but we can love them.

【推荐2】My mom has been and will always be my biggest inspiration. She is a single parent of eight, and I have no idea how she _______. Throughout the years, my mom has overcome many hardships which could easily _______ someone with little faith.

Even when doctors _______ if my little sister Jessica would live to see the age of 1, my mom never lost _______. After visiting many doctors, my mom _______ to bring her home and make the best of my sister’s life instead of receiving the same results from different hospitals.

Jessica’s numerous hospital visits surely _______ her, but my mom never showed signs of _______. Her strength helped Jessica through every _______ time. No matter how confused Jessica was, my mom always made her feel as if there was absolutely nothing to _______, which enabled Jessica to live the life of a ________ child. She attended a public school, went to parties to dance around excitedly. We actually ________ that she was even sick.

________, things began to take a turn for the worse. The whole family were heartbroken. Once again, my mom found a way to ________ us all. She made it her job to let us know that she had an effective support system. She decided to ________ her job and attend to Jessica’s every need. Gradually. I noticed our faith grew stronger than anything. Now Jessica is 18 years old and is enjoying her college life.

My mom gets us to realize that no matter how ________ our trials may appear, we have an effective support system. We are a family that will always be there for one another.

【推荐1】As I was a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbours to ________ a little pocket money.

One day I ________ on the door of an elderly woman and asked if she needed me to clean the yard. She asked why I was not in ________ and I showed her my worn ________, which no longer kept me warm. She allowed me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, "I suppose you want to be ________ now." She then took out a jar filled with dollar bills and said, "I'm glad you've done a ________ job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to ________ new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to visit me with your report card and I will ________ you when I see you have worked hard and have some good ________. Now reach out your little hands and take out as much money as you can."

I put my hands in the jar and ________ so much money that it was ________ for me to buy what I badly needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she ________. She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I ________ her that I had an "A".

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighbourhood. I will never forget the huge ________ this wonderful lady made over my life with her ________. This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

【推荐2】Learn to Meet Challenges

My classmates called me “the alien”, and they avoided me like the plague (瘟疫). As a young boy, I ________ from a serious skin disease, which filled my arms with scars. The true ________ of my condition, however, was social: I lived a life of loneliness.

Doctors predicted (预言) that I would never fully recover, but my parents encouraged me to hope for the future, teaching me that my difficulty could be overcome. I therefore took a/an ________role in fighting against my disease, trying many medications and herbs, and my health improved greatly before I graduated. I realized that my personal ________ had led to this improvement. I regained self confidence and made many friends at school.

Years later, like my personal battle against disease, I learned a great deal about ________by overcoming difficulties.

I joined the Culture Club as a Special Event Director. I ________a group of six students in organizing various activities. I was the most advanced ESL (English as a second language) student among the group. So I considered myself the most capable. But I quickly learned my ________. While preparing for our first presentation, I was strict with my team members and often rejected their ________. I performed most of their tasks myself, allowing them to help me only with small details. As a result, the presentation was not very successful. The setback ________me, and I spoke of it to the club’s director. She responded that she ________ my ability to succeed in the future. This comment filled me with ________, for I realized that I had never trusted my own team members.________they were weak in English, they had many valuable talents. I immediately ________ my policy, allowing my team members to choose the tasks they desired and to complete them on their own. For our program, we had many meetings, which gave ________ to many good ideas. Most importantly, the atmosphere among us improved dramatically. We were happy and eager to devote time to the program, and I learned what true leadership is.

My experiences ________ improved my ability to handle challenging situations.