【推荐1】Every New Year’s Eve, we had breakfast at Aunt Dot’s house. Aunt Dot lived in a home with shelves of___ and photo albums she had collected over the years. Colorful pots of plants lined her kitchen windowsills and movie posters for   classics___ the walls in the living room.

Although the food was delicious, my most vivid___ of the meal was the centerpiece that Aunt Dot always ____ on her kitchen table-a set of seven   ceramic (陶瓷的) salt and pepper shakers .

It wasn’t until years later, when I was home during a holiday, that I finally asked Aunt Dot about the ____   centerpiece. She was then eighty-seven years old     and she still___ us to the last breakfast of the year. I had come over early that morning to ____   the meal preparations and Aunt Dot was _____   cooking. Then I asked, “Why do you always put them out on New Year’s Eve morning?”

“Well, my dear,” Aunt Dot said in a ____     manner. “It helps to _____   me that even though the holidays are over, there’s another whole year of them coming. I   have learned over my many years that nothing really___ ; every ending in life is really just another new beginning.” She smiled and continued, “Remember that, my dear.” And I___ .

In the spring of that year, after a short illness, Aunt   Dot ___ . She left her   book _____   to my mom and   the movie posters to my sister, but I was   ______   to       learn   that I got the holiday salt and pepper shakers. I ____   Aunt Dot wanted to     make sure I remembered her___ to life.

Now, I continue Aunt Dot’s breakfast____ at   my   own   apartment.   The   pancakes are never as ____   as Aunt Dot’s,   but the center of the table is covered     with those _____   salt and pepper shakers, reminding us all that every ending is       really just another beginning.

【推荐2】One day, while we were visiting my parents on a farm in late summer, Dad mentioned he’d always wanted a Crimson King Maple Tree for the yard.Mom agreed that the trees were_______．

Like many other parents, mine were hard to_______for, so I figured this was a great opportunity to get them something they’d_______． I also thought two would be even better.I checked the_______at work and decided it was a bit more than I could_______—but all of my siblings(兄弟姊妹) agreed to give some money to buy the trees.

In northern Ohio, you don’t plant maple trees at Christmas, so we decided to_______Mom and Dad with a special Christmas in October before the ground_______． We asked my aunt if she’d help us with the “_______”, and she called my parents_______to say she was coming for a Sunday visit.Then my sisters and sisters­in­law went into________, planning a big holiday turkey dinner.

On the________Sunday, we all met at my house and________the trees into a truck.I________as Santa Claus.When we arrived at my parents’ house, Dad was________something was wrong first.He and Mom were amazed when we told them________we were there.

When Christmas________, of course, we couldn’t go to our parents’ house empty­handed, so Mom and Dad got________ presents that year.Almost half a century later, I________drive by the old farm and smile when I see those big, handsome________and remember giving a special________to special people at Christmas in October.

【推荐3】In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents __________ five or more children were common. Over the years, the__________ of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the __________ of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them ____________ dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better __________ and have more money to spend on _________ . The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers _________ away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents ________ . A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling _________ as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children’s emotional and psychological __________ while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and __________ very little time for the parent’s own personal_________ . Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are _________ to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs ___________ that things are getting better. The divorce rate is__________ . The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.

【推荐2】All he wanted was some juice. As high school students sat in a cafeteria on that cloudy afternoon, he was _________. We sat near yet away from him, fixing our hair and _________ about the test period we hadn’t studied for. He was far away from our world, but yet was _________ to be part of it.

He stood at the drink machine on purpose, fumbling(摸索) in his _________ leather wallet for some change. He came up with a wrinkled dollar bill, and _________ glanced back at his table where other students were sitting. _________ the help of a six-year-old, he tried to make the machine _________ his money. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the snicker(窃笑) and comment began. People were _________. Some were even throwing things at him. He began to _________, and his eyes misted with tears. I saw him turn to sit down, __________. But for some reason, he decided to try again. He wasn’t leaving until he got a __________.

With a determined expression, he continued to __________ thrust(插入) the dollar bill into the machine. Then something terrific happened. A popular senior girl __________ from her seat, and with a look of genuine compassion, went over to the boy. She explained why the __________ had a hard time accepting dollars sometimes, then gave him some change and showed him __________ to place it. The boy gave her his dollar and chose flavor of fruit juice. Then the two walked off in different __________.

Although it was clear that they were from very different __________, for one moment they had shared a real __________. As I walked away from my lunch table that day, I looked at the boy. I remembered thinking how he and the __________ were very much alike, they both weren’t accepted. But just as the dollar had found a place in a __________ girl’s pocket, I was sure that boy would finally find his, too.

【推荐3】Jenna had graduated from her middle school and was lucky enough to be admitted to Westwood College, She was ready for new ________ at the college and filled with confidence, ________, she didn’t expect it that college life was quite different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts for cheerleaders. She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be ________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the judge read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart ________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling ________, she walked back to her dormitory carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving at the dormitory, she started with ________. She had always been a good math student, but now she was struggling. She moved on to English and history, and ________ to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to prepare for math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school ________. “I’m sorry, but we have enough ________ for the newspaper already. ”, she said. Jenna smiled ________ and left. “Why is college so different?” she sighed.

Later in math class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much ________. By the end of the class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d   ________ to try to fit in with her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d ________, but she knew she had to try. College was just as her mom had said, “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond ________ a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the ________ fish you can be.”