【推荐1】Eighth grade was a terrible year. Jenny and I both knew it, but we didn't talk about it. On cold winter days, she _______me how she lay on her pony Redwing’s back. Then we would_______on a long journey, riding and walking. She left in ninth grade and I_______her. We had got each other through a   _______time.

Anyone with children knows the rapid friendships formed with parallel parents. To Jenny, I will be forever_______. We met on a_______ in New Jersey. Her twin boys were about the same_______as my daughter. She lived in the beach town. I lived alone with my_______a block away. My husband had left for North Dakota, leaving me to_______out what to do next. Now,________，there was someone I could talk to. For the next weeks, we met at the beach, and I would go________with her so that the________could go on playing. The normal state of her little home________my broken heart.

Such friends as these often________when your own life is off balance; they________you till the world settles on its axis (轴）once again.

【推荐3】The Little Angel

Sally jumped up the moment she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She asked, “How is my little boy?”

The surgeon said, “I’m _______. We did all we could, but your boy didn’t _______ it.”

Sally _______ into the chair. The surgeon asked, “Would you like some time with your son before he was transported to the _______?” Sally nodded. While saying goodbye, she ran her fingers _______ through his thick curly hair. “Would you like a lock of his hair?” the surgeon asked. Sally nodded yes. The surgeon cut a few hairs, and handed them to Sally. The mother said, “It was Jimmy’s idea to _______ his body to the university for study. He said it might _______ somebody else. “I said no at first, _______ Jimmy said, ‘Mom, I won’t be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom.’”

“My Jimmy had a heart of _______, always thinking of someone else, always wanting to help others if he could.” she went on.

Sally walked out of the hospital. She put the bag with Jimmy’s ________ on the seat beside her in the car. The drive home was ________. It was even harder to enter the ________ house. She carried Jimmy’s belongings, and the lock of his hair to her son’s room. She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room ________ where he had always kept them. She lay down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, ________ herself to sleep.

It was around midnight when Sally ________. Lying beside her on the bed was a letter. The letter said,

I know you’re going to ________ me, and me too. I will always love you, Mom, even more ________ each passing day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to ________ a little boy so you won’t be so lonely, that’s OK with me. He can have my room and old toys to play with.

Don’t be sad thinking about me. I don’t hurt any more. The cancer is all ________. I don’t have to stand that ________ any more. The angels in Heaven are so tender. They say I’m a Special Angel! I love you, Mom.”

【推荐2】This weekend a marathon took place where I live. I _________ the runners, who would run 42. 2 km if they completed the race. I’ve never run for more than half an hour _________ I’m amazed that some people _________ to keep going for over four!

At university, I played korfball (荷式篮球). The aim in the sport is to shoot the ball _________ the hoop (篮筐), which is like a netball hoop only _________ ! All players get a chance to attack and _________ during the game and its pace is _________.

When I started korfball, I wasn’t very good at it. I could _________ and catch but I was not very fast on my feet. Shooting was also difficult for me because I’d played netball in school and was used to a shorter post (柱子). _________, you often had to shoot on the move in korfball, and I found it __________ to balance and shoot straight while running __________ away from my defender!

However, I really __________ the sport and made friends, so I attended training twice a week. Two years later I was in the first team for my university and played in many matches, even scoring some goals for my team! This just shows that perseverance (毅力)__________—if you train hard, you can succeed.

__________ is difficult because you have to encourage yourself to keep going it’s __________ an individual than a team sport. I used to get really out of __________ while running and it didn’t feel good at all! Now I actually enjoy going for a run, feeling my muscles working and breathing in the fresh air.

Challenging exercise is always __________. I would like to try a 10 km run sometime, or even a half-marathon though I will __________ be a marathon runner. Seeing how happy the runners were as they __________ the finishing line made me want to have that feeling—the months of __________ is worthwhile as you achieve your goal.

【推荐3】A Person Who Has Influenced My Life

There is always a time in one’s life when a hero comes along. Someone who has inspired you can really help you learn what life is about.

I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was fifteen years old that year. It was around eight o'clock one evening when my mother ________ a phone call from her brother-in-law, who told us my aunt was in hospital and that the doctor ________ them she would need an operation immediately. My family became very worried about my aunt’s situation.

While my aunt was in the hospital with special care, my cousin Mark, who is mentally disabled, spent time with my family. Mark was seventeen at the time, and had been born with severe mental disorders, which created a wide range of social and physical problems for him throughout everyday life. He never had any true friend________ no one could relate to him. I must admit that at the beginning I was filled with uncertainty as to how much of a________ my cousin would bring on my family. Now looking back it saddens me to see the ________ I once showed.

Over the two weeks when Mark lived with my family, I probably understood more about life and its meanings. Mark was seventeen, but learned on a nine-year-old level. Although his learning ability was slower than most, he could still learn. He explored ________ to do most of the things everyone else did. ________ he did pretty well and succeeded at almost everything he tried to do. He ________ his illness and showed an ambition to love life. To him, having a successful life means achieving goals on his own terms and at his own ________.

Mark is my hero, for his disability has forever changed my viewpoint on life. It seems like a well-deserved life when you’re fifteen, and it is amazing how in a period of time your point of view can change so ________.

【推荐1】The journey Betty had with her swimming was long but beautiful. She suffered some terrible illness in her early childhood. After years of _________, she finally became healthy.

Two years ago, while Betty was watching a sports program, a dream came into her head-to be a swimmer. Last summer, she wanted to _________ a local swimming team. So she practiced hard and finally _________ in being a member of it. However, the team training was a difficult start. She coughed _________ in her first few weeks. But she didn’t want to _________. She kept swimming and didn’t miss a single practice. She had a strong will to be the best she could be. _________ there were many difficulties, nothing could keep her _________ trying.

Then came the final award (奖项) ceremony at the end of the year, Betty didn’t _________ any award but was still there to cheer on her friends. With the ceremony near the end, she suddenly heard the coach announcing (通知), “The highest honor (荣誉) goes to Betty! She has inspired (激励) us with her _________ and love.”

It was the __________ moment of Betty’s life. With all she had been through in her ten years, this was the hour of true success.

【推荐2】Jason Arday’s school teachers were clear with him as he grew up. Life was going to be _________ for him.

Arday’s autism (孤独症) and a condition called global development delay were _________ at the age of just three. It _________ that he was unable to speak until he was 11, and he couldn’t read or write until he was 18.

However, at 37, Arday was _________ as the University of Cambridge’s youngest ever black professor.

Arday, who will start his _________ as a professor of sociology of education at the world-renowned university Monday, said the _________ to his extraordinary rise was perspective.

“I never _________ any of it as a deficit (缺陷), mainly because my mother never spoke to me of my being disadvantaged in any way,” he said.

“Even my speechlessness before 11 years old was a(n) _________. It allowed me to better _________ human interaction.” he said. “Those observations came to __________ as I learned to read and write as a young man.”

Arday’s mother helped him engage with the world in different ways, through music, particularly song lyrics and the use of sound to __________ things. Modern Celtic musician Enya was his childhood __________.

Arday said, “My __________ had always told me that I was blessed, I was very fortunate and I would go on and do great things. Now, I don’t think any of us could have __________ I might get to this point. But if I __________ to achieve anything in my life, it was surely because of the amazing people I had around me.”

【推荐3】My son Joey was born with club feet(畸形足). The doctors told us that with _____ he would be able to walk ______ but would never run very well. The first three years of his ______ were spent in surgery(手术). By the time he was eight, you wouldn’t know he had a _____ when you saw him walk.

The children in our ____ ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn’t be ______ to run as well as the other children. So he didn’t know.

In seventh grade he ____ to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others. Perhaps he _____ that the abilities that seemed to come______ to so many others did not come naturally to him. ______ the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the ______ to score points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn’t know.

He ______ to run four to five miles a day, every day — even the day he had a fever. I was ______, so I went to look for him after school. I found him running alone. I asked him how he felt. “______.” he said. He had two more miles to go. The ______ ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked _____ ahead and kept running. We never told him he _____ run four miles with a fever. So he didn’t know.

Two weeks later the names of the team runners were ____. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade — the other six team members were all eight-graders. We never told him he couldn’t ______ to make the team. We never told him he couldn’t do it. We never told him he couldn’t do all those things. So he didn’t know. He ______ did it.