【推荐1】We moved there on my third birthday. My first _______ is our neighbor Arlene handing me strawberries from her garden through a hole in the chain-link fence. She and her husband, Bill, lived next door.

One day, my parents asked Bill and Arlene whether they’d watch me _______ they were out on a date. This _______ well for everyone, so it became a somewhat monthly occurrence. Arlene and Bill didn’t have kids. They had a _______ room in their house, which became “my” room. I had a cabinet and boxes of toys and books in that room. Arlene and I would do crafts together. Bill taught me how to _______ the lawn tractor and eventually a car (stick and automatic).

When I was about five, I had an idea. My parents were watching TV when I spit it out: “What if I adopt Bill and Arlene as my _______?” My parents said I could go over and ask them. I _______ on Bill and Arlene’s door, sat down in their living room, and said, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and _______ accepted. Soon after, they printed out an adoption _______, and it hung on their living room wall from then on.

I remember being surprised that they took my ________ so seriously — not because I wasn’t serious but because I was just a kid. They could have ________ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly magnificent about a child offering up her love and ________ being so excited to accept it. Every child in this world ________ enthusiastically responded love.

Arlene passed away in 2013, two days before our adoption anniversary. Bill gave her eulogy (悼词). At the end, he said, “Arlene ________ her husband, Bill. And the greatest joy of her life, her granddaughter, Katie.”

【推荐1】Three hundred years ago news travelled by word of mouth or letter, and circulated in taverns (酒馆) and coffee houses in the form of booklets and newsletters. The coffee houses particularly are very roomy for a free conversation, and for reading at an easier rate all manner of printed news, noted one observer. Everything changed in 1833 when the first mass-audience newspaper, The New York Sun, _________ the use of advertising to reduce the cost of news, thus giving advertisers access to a wider audience. The penny press, followed by radio and television, turned news from a two-way _________ into a one-way broadcast, with a relatively small number of firms controlling the media. Now, the news industry is _________ to something closer to the coffee house. The Internet is making news more participatory, social and diverse, reviving the _________ characteristics of “the era before the mass media”. In much of the world, the mass media are flourishing. Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009. But those global figures mask a sharp _________ in readership in rich countries.             

Over the past decade, throughout the Western world, people have been giving up newspapers and TV news and _________ events in different ways. Most strikingly, ordinary people are increasingly _________ in compiling (汇编), sharing, filtering, discussing and distributing news. Twitter lets people anywhere report what they are seeing. Social-networking sites help people find, discuss and share news with their friends.

And it is not just readers who are _________ the media elite. Technology firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have become important channels of news. Celebrities and world leaders publish updates directly via social networks; many countries now make raw data _________ through open government initiatives. The Internet lets people read newspapers or watch television channels from around the world. The web has allowed new __________ of news, from individual bloggers to sites, to rise to fame in a very short space of time. The news agenda is no longer controlled by a few press giants and state outlets.

__________, every liberal (自由人) should celebrate this. A more __________ news environment, with a remarkable diversity and range of news sources, is a good thing. The transformation of the news business is unstoppable and attempts to __________ it are doomed to failure. As producers of new journalism, individuals can be cautious of facts and transparent (透明的) with their sources. As consumers, they can be general in their tastes and demanding in their standards. And although this __________ does raise concerns, there is much to celebrate in the noisy, diverse, argumentative and alive environment of the news business in the ages of the Internet. The __________ is back. Enjoy it.

【推荐3】Most kinds of rose plants come from Asia. But roses are also native to other areas including North-west Africa Europe and the United States.

In 1986, Congress _______ the rose as America's national flower. Technically, Congress and President _______ it the "national floral emblem(象征)". Whatever the name, the decision did not smell _______ to supporters of other popular flowers.

Some people say roses are _______ to grow. But you have a good chance of success if you start with a few suggestions from experts. You should plant your roses where they can get _______ for about six hours on bright days.

You can buy roses from a garden centre or by mail _______. You can buy potted(盆栽的) roses , also known as container roses, or bare-root plants. Each kind has its fans.

Some gardeners say potted roses are easier to plant. They say the roots develop better. But Jeffrey Dinslage, an expert of Nature Hills Nursery, _______ that bare-root roses come without soil. So they _______ less to transport.

Jeffrey advises getting bare-root roses as close to _______ time as you can. If they arrive________you are ready to plant them, make sure the packing material is moist(潮湿的). Keep the plants in a ________ , dark place. You plant the roses while they are dormant(休眠的). The resting plants have no ________ but still need water.

When growing roses, the ________should feel moist deep down.________ should be done in the morning. That can ________ problems called black spot and mildew(霉病).

If your soil is very dry, you can add peat or compost, which returns nutrients to the soil. If insects invade(侵袭) your rose bushes, you may be able to force them off with just a strong spray of water.

【推荐2】When it comes to parenting his three children，the Microsoft mogul，Bill Gates admits his wife has done more than her________ of raising the kids，"My wife does 80%，" Gates told a________ of Harvard students.He said they have been quite deliberate about the model they've used to________ their children.

The couple followed a 1970s "Love and Logic"________ model.The idea of their philosophy is ________ the idea that using emotional control，essentially minimizing emotional ________ like shouting or scolding kids.

"One of the greatest________ of applying Love and Logic is that it helps us learn________ to keep a tighter leash（缰绳） on our emotions and on our ________." co﹣founder Charles Fay wrote in a blog post about his model.

________ controlling hot﹣blooded parent tempers，the love and logic model also________the importance of not leaning into rewards for kids，but instead demonstrating unconditional love and________ kids for who they are，not what their________ performance is like，such as a poor test score or a bad grade.

"Many successful people________ with grades as children，" Fay wrote. "What most important is that children ________ good character，curiosity，and problem﹣solving skills."

Gates says it wasn't the only way he set boundaries for his children while they were________.None of his kids owned a cell phone________ they were 14 years old.The children also attended church   ________ with their parents.And they will each get________ USD 10 million of their parents' fortune as inheritance.

"We want to strike a balance where they have the freedom to do anything，but not a lot of money showered on them so they could go out and do________，" Gates once told TED.

【推荐3】In October, I told the eight-year-olds about my plan. “I’d like all of you to do extra jobs to ___________ some money. Then we’ll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner ___________”. I wanted the children to ___________ that it’s more blessed to give than to _________. I wanted them to understand that religion is _________ nice theological ideas; that people somehow have to make it come ___________

Early in the week, the boys and girls arrived in class seizing their hard-earned money and couldn’t wait to go shopping. I watched ___________ they ran up and down the supermarket aisles. _____________, we headed toward the checkout. Then someone ___________ a “necessity” that sent them racing.

“Flowers！” Kristine cried. The group rushed toward the holiday ____________. I pronounced, “You can’t eat flowers.” “But Mrs. Sherlock, we want flowers.” ____________, I sighed as the children moved a pot of purple mums(菊花) into the cart.

Then we set off to the house of a needy grandmother and finally ________________ in front of a small house in the woods. A woman with a tired face came to the door to ____________ us. My little group hurried to get the turkey and the trimmings. As each box was carried in, the old woman thanked us—much to children’s ______________. When Amy put the mums on the counter, the woman seemed surprised.

We returned to the car. Fastening seat belts, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, past the trimmings, __________ to the mums. She put her face in the flowers. When she raised her head, there was a ____________ on her lips. She was __________ before our eyes. The children were quiet. In that one brief ____________ they had seen for themselves the ____________ they possessed to make another’s life ____________. The children had sensed that sometimes a person needs a pot of funny flowers on a dark November day.