【推荐1】Christmas 1940 makes me misty-eyed every time I think about it. In the hard times, people_______one another. We_______food, clothing, bedding and household items and gave them to the needy.

That Christmas we students found ourselves_______toys we collected and loading packages for_______.As we presented the gifts, we saw_______in many faces, especially those of the children. We had a few more_______to make on Christmas morning. The air was heavy and frozen to the bone. For several hours, we knocked on doors. But as the cold hours passed, our_______gradually faded. When we_______headed home, someone_______a small house down a canal bank. None of us knew who lived there,________we wondered if there were________.We still had a doll, two trucks, some small toys, chocolate Santas and a box of groceries. We decided to make one last visit. When we knocked on the door, a young woman answered it, looking at us________.Three small children watched from behind her skirt—a little girl of about 2, and boys perhaps 4 and 5 years old. “Merry Christmas,” we________as we bent down and handed the gift-wrapped packages to the children and the box of groceries to the   ________, whose eyes widened________.She slowly smiled, then quickly said, “Come in.” The room was________as the children looked at their mother, wondering if the gifts were really for them. The little girl________her doll, and the boys grasped the trucks as they sought a(an)________.She put her arms________them and said in a________voice, “I told you Santa Claus would come.”

【推荐2】Now that the Spring Festival is over, I   only have   school to look forward to. It's   ______ funny.I find   myself looking forward more and more to school.

As usual, ______ can get little work ______ during   the winter vacation. For one thing, the Spring Festival   is always a big distraction (使人快乐之事), and for   days before and after ______   can get any work done. It's   all right if you really have a nice time, as I used to. But   now I find myself ______ it less and less.I ______   enjoying fireworks and firecrackers years ago. The firecrackers especially get on my nerve. I really think we   should stop making them, as every year many children   have their eyes hurt or even   ______. Even worse, sometimes fires ______ out and whole buildings get ______ down.Still I suppose we'll continue to make them ______ there is a market for them.

And the ______！ People spend days buying. The   result too much and too rich which does nobody any   good: chicken, duck, fish, meat and so on. What's   ______， they become ______， too. Too   much of a good thing, as we say, and this visiting business too. It's all   right for a few really good friends ______ together and chat over some tea or drinks. But mere acquaintance and the usually not too neighborly neighbors dropping ______ to say hello, — well, I suppose these are well­intended gestures, but I find them a pain in the   neck (讨厌的家伙). Usually there is nothing to talk about ______ some meaningless words.

Oh yes, I ______ myself skating on the nearby lake   ______ a few times. The ice is not too good now and   getting very ______. I stopped going before the Spring Festival. But there are people who are ______ too reckless (不计后果的) or too ignorant or both, and we hear about people falling through thin ice every year.

【推荐3】My grandmother died when my mother Alice, was five years old. The year was 1925, and life was hard. My mother told me that her family was too _______ to even afford to give her a doll.

In December 1982, I had a job at a bank. One afternoon, we were ______ the tree in the hall, getting ready for the Christmas. One of my customers came in with beautiful handmade dolls. He was _______ Christmas dolls. I decided to get one for my daughter. I asked my customer if she could make me a _____doll for my mother-one with grey hair and glasses. The doll maker felt that this idea was certainly ______ and took it on as a creative _______. He said “Yes”. So I placed my Christmas _____: two dolls for Christmas morning! I asked if he could ______ Santa Claus to make a visit to Christmas morning to our home. He _____ happily.

Christmas Day arrived at the _____ time, so did Santa Claus. I had prepared the gifts for Santa to ______. My daughter was surprised and ______ that Santa had come to see her.

My mother was enjoying watching her granddaughter’s _____ to the visit of this special guest. As Santa asked who Alice was, my mother was taken back by her name being ____ , and said that she was. Santa handed her a doll with a _____ that reads:

For Alice ：

I was cleaning out my sleigh(雪橇) before my trip this year and ______ this gift that was supposed to be sent on December 25, 1925. The present inside had ______ , but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many ______ for the lateness of the gift.

Love，

Santa Claus

My mother was deeply ______ by the words in the card. She couldn’t speak but hold the doll as tears of _____ ran down her cheeks. That gift made my mother the happiest “child ” in the world.

【推荐1】When we moved from California to Colorado, 1, 200 miles away from our parents, my husband and I decided that we did not want to travel a long way with our four ______ for Christmas. However, one late October day, I had a phone conversation with my mother-in-law.

“When are you coming?”she asked.

I did not know how to ______ , and changed the subject. When she asked again later in the ______-“When are you coming?”-I knew that we would change our plan and not stay in our own home for Christmas. The thought of not being in our own home caused me to be ______. What would Christmas away from home look like? Would we be ______ the magic of Christmas by not being in our own home? It would be the first time our children would spend ______ away from our own home. “How would you like to give grandparents the best Christmas present ever? We can do that ______ giving them the gift of our presence,” we told our kids. They all agreed we should go and so the trip to California was ______

My husband's large family always kept Christmas very ______. They only attached great importance to the special meal together. My in-laws' faces ______ with joy when our family arrived. Christmas Eve was filled with ______, as we played games and sang our favorite songs.

Sadly, my mother-in-law’s dementia(老年痴呆)became worse. I was ______ that we had made an exception and ______ that Christmas together. I didn't know it at that time, ______ it was the last Christmas with my mother-in-law.

The gift of being ______ with her that year was the best gift I have ever given and received.

【推荐2】I walked around to the side of a puddle along the path covered by water and mud. I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did ______ , for it was so unpredictable. I stepped back and my attacker ______ attacking me. Instead, he flied in the air with its graceful wings in front of me. If I had been hurt, I wouldn’t have found it amusing but I was unhurt, it was ______ and I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!

I took a step forward, and my attacker rushed me again. He pushed and ______ me in the chest with his head and body over and over again with all his might. It’s just not everyday that one is ______ by a butterfly, so I stopped to find out the ______ . My attacker moved back as well to ______ on the ground. That’s when I discovered why my attacker was ______ me only moments earlier. His mate beside the puddle where he landed was dying.

Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his ______ for his mate, even though she was ______   dying and obviously I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few ______ moments of life. Now I knew why and what he was ______   . I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by changing my ______ to the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly ______ those moments to be with her, undisturbed. I cleaned the mud from my boots and left.

Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly ______ I see huge barriers facing me. I always use it as an inspiration to remind myself that good things are worth striving for.

【推荐3】A winter storm dropped huge amounts of snow overnight on January 16 in western Pennsylvania. ________ Brian Delallo, who worked on a local high school football team, decided to call off his players’ weightlifting ________. He texted his ________ saying: “Due to the expected severe weather, Monday’s weightlifting workout has been ________. Find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel (为……除雪) their driveway. Don’t ________ any money — that’s our Monday’s workout.”

The players received the ________ and went out to work on the more than six inches of snow that fell overnight. They said that they removed snow from dozens of ________. Some players texted their coach afterwards to tell him how ________ it was. “We all feel great about it,” said team captain Gavin Moul. “It’s not only helping them, but it’s helping us to become a better team.”

Many of the people whom the team members approached couldn’t believe that the players refused any payment. Sometimes people even ________ their help because they wouldn’t take money for it.

________, it was not the first time for the team to have shoveling workout. It was started by a coach more than two decades ago. It was one of the many ________ the team kept.

“It’s about community.” the coach said. “It is an inspiring way for us to interact with our community and show that it ________. Shoveling snow is just one of those opportunities to show ________ to the community that supports us.” The team got a workout and gave back to the community by doing these acts of ________ at the same time. It was a ________ for all.

【推荐1】John Berry of Burlington, Kentucky, was just 15 years old when his mother died unexpectedly. He has lots of _________of her mother from his youth. _________,when she passed away, he didn't have many physical _________ to remember her by.

A few years after her death, John's father _________ her car to a collector in Michigan. As he grew up, John's_________was still on that green car and the freedom it represented. Over two _________,John reached out to the car's owner_________ to ask if he could buy it, but the man_________For about 20 to 22 years, John kept _________ with that gentleman. Finally, after years of __________the man wrote to John and said he was __________ to pass the car on. The gentleman said, “I am 81 years old, and get to thinking about your __________ for the car and the number of years that I'll be able to __________ it. I think it is time to let it __________.”

When receiving the car, John __________ the entire experience was like a trip down memory path. Not only was the car still in __________ condition with just 42,000 miles, but the glove box also contained a time capsule from his mother's __________: a pair of sunglasses and stamps that she had__________there.

Some things really are worth the wait! John finally realized his__________ and now his own children can take a ride in the very car their grandmother owned.__________really does pay off.

【推荐3】During the early 1980s, I was a sales manager for a large training company. One of my ______   was to train people on how to sell. I taught people that lack of time and opportunity were only excuses for not producing   ______.

My mother is a Greek immigrant with ______ formal education. Her high point of each week was Sunday

when she ______ take an hour-long bus ride to church, where she and her friends would ______ and exchange gossip and stories of their families.

When the committee members decided to ______ money for a new Greek church, my mother jumped at the chance to ______. Her plan was simple: talk to as many people as possible about buying tickets and make them feel ______ if they didn’t.

That was ______ I came into the picture. She said I was a big shot and gave me ten booklets of ten tickets, each one worth one dollar, ______ up to a total of $100. A week later, I showed up with the ______ half. “I simply didn’t have the time.” I ______ to my mother.

“You either do something or you have all the ______ why not,” my mother shot back and started to cry. I was ______ and quickly agreed to buy the rest of my tickets myself. She stopped crying ______ and said, “When you want something, then you do ______ it takes to get the job done, even cry.” With a ______ she said, “I knew that crying would work with you, and for being so sad with your excuses, here are ten more books.” As a sales manager, I paled by ______. It ______ that my mother sold 7,000 tickets, 200 ahead of the second.

I learned a new level of distinction between ______   and results. Soon afterwards, I quit my job and started my own business, training people in time management.