【推荐1】Big City Bus Driver

When I was 20, I went to stay with a friend for two weeks in Vancouver. My friend worked during the day, so I decided to go ____ on my own. I knew where I was and where I wanted to go, the Vancouver Aquarium（温哥华水族馆）. It sounded ____.

But soon I was completely ____. I boarded a bus, figuring it must do a circle, right? I rode a good half hour before becoming impatient and then got ____. I walked quite a while, up and down various blocks, but had no idea where I was.

I’ve lived in a tiny town all my life, rarely leaving it. Being a “small town girl”, I admit I’m fairly ____ about city life. People at home always told me city people were cold and unconcerned about others, so I was afraid to ____ to anyone.

I got on another bus, and then another again. Finally, after hours, I decided to get on ONE bus, and stay on ___ I recognized something. I rode over half an hour. Nothing ever seemed ____. When I became the only passenger on the bus, I began to get ____. I had no cellphone, and didn’t even ____ my friend’s office telephone number.

As I was about to give up and leave the bus, the driver asked ____ I wanted to go. I told him the aquarium, and he laughed, saying his bus wouldn’t go anywhere near. I ____ back in my seat, really afraid and upset. He asked where I was from, and I told him what had happened and now I just wanted to go back to my friend’s place.

__ , the driver pulled the bus over and called me to the front. He gave me detailed ____ as to which buses to take, and how to understand the bus system. He ____ printed the bus tickets I needed from his machine.

I was shocked. He spent a good twenty minutes ____ me, telling me everything I needed to know. Before giving me the tickets, I thanked him repeatedly, and asked him how much I ____ for tickets, “Nothing. Just get yourself to your friend’s home.”

Thanks to his ____, I was able to make my way back to my friend’s house. I don’t know what I would have done if that driver had not taken the ____ to help me. What people had told me was not true. City people ____, just like the driver. I never did learn his name, but I’ll always remember him.

【推荐2】When I was in sixth grade, it was clear there were only two choices.I could somehow be cool, or invisible(隐形的).And I was doing__________ well at choices two.Until one day, when a teacher had   us ___________ a questionnaire with “get to know you” questions.

I _________ that she would be reading them privately, so I felt safe to share my thoughts.The teacher __________ the sheets, mixed them, and handed them out to the class again.We ________one by one. We'd __________ the student's name and then our two favorite answers.My sheet__________ in the hands of a kid who was one of the meanest.

The first question was “What's your favorite movie？” He read my answer, Beauty and the Beast. A laugh came out loudly , and my cheeks__________.

The next question he read was “Where would you like to___________?” The others had said “Australia,” “Japan.” I__________, “Wherever a book takes me.”

The__________ this time had an explosive equality to it.The kids were crazy. I_________about an inch tall.

But then, something___________happened.A voice from the back of the room said, “Guys, __________it out.” And the room went __________. The voice belonged to Michelle Siever, and she was popular and cool.Michelle Siever had great __________.The room was quiet.

I don't remember the teacher or the kids' names, but I remember Michelle Siever's name.I remember how it felt when she___________for me because she showed me that day that we_______have three options.

You can be _________， and you might be remembered for a little while.You can be invisible, and you won't be remembered at all.___________, if you stand up for somebody when they need you most, then you will be remembered as their hero.

【推荐3】Two Candles

Tom was a middle-aged leather trader whose repeated failure in career made him a depressed man, often ____ that he had been cheated by others. One day he told his wife he was so ____ with the city that he had to leave.

So his family moved to another city. It was the evening of a weekend. When Tom and his wife were busily ____ up their new home, the light suddenly ____. They had to stop work. Tom was regretful to have forgotten to bring along candles and had to wait ____ in a low mood. Just then he heard slight, hesitant ____ on his door that sounded clear in the ____ night.

“Who’s it?” he wondered, since Tom was a ____ to this city. And this was the moment he especially hated to be ____, so he went to the door and opened it ____. At the door was a little girl, shyly asking, “Sir, do you have candles? I’m your neighbor. ” “No,” answered Tom in anger and shut the door ____. “What a nuisance (讨厌鬼)!” He complained over it with his wife. “No sooner had we settled down ____ the neighbor came to borrow things.”

After a while, the door was knocked again. He opened it and found the same girl outside. ____ this time she was ____ two candles, saying, “My grandma told me the new neighbor downstairs might need candles. She ____ me here to give you these.” Tom was very ____ by what he saw. When he became fully aware, he said, “Thank you and your grandmother. God bless you!”

At that moment he suddenly realized what caused his ____ in life. It was his ____ and harshness (刻薄) with other people. The person who had cheated him in life was actually____   else but himself, for his life had been darkened by his unsympathetic ____.

【推荐1】I had a bad habit of skipping to the last pages of a book. I just wanted to see how it ended _______ I was still in the middle of it. This habit _______ first my mom, then my friends, and _______ even my own daughter. Often my _______ wouldn't be limited just to the books I read but also to what others were _______ as well. Then one day my daughter told me in anger, "Dad, please just read a book one _______ at a time like everyone else!"

At times I didn't _______ this bad habit to just reading books either. I also tried to skip ahead in my own life and _______ what to do months or even years from now _______ enjoying each day at present. Although I knew that the __________ of my life wasn't done yet and that I had many pages __________ to go, I still couldn't control my burning desire to write the __________ of it halfway through. Time and again, I would foolishly jump ahead and try to solve every __________ problem before it happened. Life, __________, doesn't work like that. It loves to __________ us, and you never know what new problems, changes, or opportunities each new day will __________.

Recently when I found myself living in the __________ again, I heard a voice that gently told me I needed to "live one day at a time". When I heard those words, I __________, turned the book of my life back to the __________ page, and thanked God for today.

Each of us has to __________ the book of life line by line, moment by moment and trust that our story will be brought to its perfect end.

【推荐2】Everyone should go to his or her 50th high school reunion. There was a time when I thought I’d never go even if the opportunity _________. But now I feel _________ for people who don’t go.

I went to the _________ of my high school on a Saturday evening, and I’m glad I did. It was a gift to recognize some _________ classmates right away — and to be recognized. _________, we had name tags and our _________ photos on our clothing to help identify us. I recognized one woman immediately!

The most memorable and moving experience of the night was _________ by a schoolmate and neighbor to whom I was once close. Unfortunately, we had a falling-out in the high school. I never saw her after _________, but this time, I saw her name on a place setting. At first, I feared that I would _________ her. But my better self won over, and I __________ her out. I kept looking until I got a __________ on my shoulder. There she was __________. We hugged as if nothing had ever __________ and exchanged affectionate words. When the party __________, my old-new friend walked towards me, __________ me again and wished me well. I returned her good wishes. All the bad __________ melted into thin air.

I am grateful I had this __________ to reunite with old classmates. After all, we are almost __________ the final lap of our lifelong journeys. Some classmates had already left this __________, and their names were deleted from the list. Sometimes we have to walk back into the past because time does heal old wounds. We’re not the __________ people. We are better people.

【推荐3】John is a busy lawyer, whose whole day circles around two things: work and his two daughters. ________ the two things often proves to be very difficult, so John spends most of his day in a rush to do everything he needs to do, and get everywhere he needs to be. With such a(n)________ schedule, it is common to find John and his children in line at a McDonald’s drive-thru, waiting for some burgers, fries, and shakes.

“I know fast food isn’t the healthiest thing I could give my daughters,” ________ John. “But it’s the most convenient thing around when we’re in a rush. Plus, it makes them ________ .” Unfortunately, fast food is considered ________ by so many parents in the U.S., and it is easy to understand why.

Nowadays, nearly every single city in America is ________ with its own McDonald’s. In Los Angeles alone, it can sometimes feel like there is one on every other corner when you’re ________ round. As if this didn’t already make it hard enough for parents to avoid, McDonald’s   ________ their famous “Happy Meals” at children so that every time they drive by the giant golden arches, children ________ to go inside to get a new toy with their meal.

Although it may be very hard for parents to have healthier meal options for their children, doing so is a ________ that this country can no longer ignore. ________ consuming fast food is becoming normal now and is resulting in millions of people suffering from overweight and diabetes for the rest of their lives. Instead of teaching children that it is okay to ________ to the attraction of a quick fatty meal, parents should get their children into the ________ of healthy eating everywhere they go. In the end, children will be more ________ for living long, healthy, and happy lives, than for getting a cheap ________ in a cardboard box.

【推荐1】It’s fourteen years since I left the Philippines to live with my family in the USA. A month ago, while on summer vacation back in my motherland, I learned a lesson from mosquito bites. Right before leaving Kennedy Airport in New York, my grandma ______ me of the behavior of the native mosquitoes around the _____ like me. She said, “There’s an old saying ---the ____ you stay away from the motherland, the sweeter your blood _____ to the mosquitoes.” Not _____ it,” I replied, “Grandma, that’s just an old wives’ tale!”

Well, less than a week after my arrival in Manila, I was already carpeted with a _____ of mosquito bites. I took many measures to keep myself from being _____, but they all proved useless.

Late one night in my cousin’s home, I couldn’t bear the _____ of the bites. Hoping to find some comfort, I ______ my cousin, who was sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine. Unhappy for being ______, she said, “There is nothing you can do. Go back to sleep.” With a few turns, she slept again. Enviously _______her sleep, I hoped a big mosquito would ______ on her face. However, the mosquitoes would just lightly dance around her forehead and fly away quickly, never biting her. Amazed, I ran to others’ rooms, only to find they were all sleeping _______ as the same thing occurred again and again.

From those bites, I came to _______ my grandma’s silly tale. From then on, I’ve always tried to keep a(n) _______ mind about those strange old wives’ tales because they do have some truth to them.

【推荐2】Two-year-old Nancy is deaf. However, that hasn’t stopped her from being a(n) ________ little girl trying to “chat” to anyone she meets. As soon as she goes out into town with her parents, she starts ________ in the hope that the person she is talking to ________ sign language too.

Normally hearing loss is a social ________ for those who don’t know how to use sign language. Anyone Nancy tried to talk to ________ this and felt so sorry they couldn’t ________.

Then, something amazing happened. Instead of causing a ________, this barrier brought the community together. Determined to ________ sign language so that they could talk to Nancy, her ________ hired an instructor, and took classes together. The teacher ________ that this is really remarkable because, quite often, even the parents of deaf children don’t ________ to learn the language. But here Nancy has a full community that is signing with her, and it is a ________ story.

The teacher also says that this level of inclusion will guarantee that Nancy will be a happier individual in the future. Nancy’s parents are already noticing a ________ in their daughter and how ________ they are to their neighbors.

With a little girl and a lot of love, the neighbors ________ make the neighborhood a community.