【推荐1】Sports Brings Us Together

Sports are more than competitions. To me, they mean growth under the care of others. I learned this the ______ way。

I used to be very shy and often felt lonely. Although I did well academically, I was afraid of ______ education and was often laughed at. “Look at that girl,” they said. “Her feet don’t leave the ground when she runs!” Their word ______ me. Moreover, whenever the teachers ______ some competitive games, no one in the class liked to have me as their ______ or team member. As a result, I often ______ looking at others enjoy their games.

Things would go on like that if not for a sports meet. By ______, my name was put on the ______ of the women’s 1500 meters’ race. By the time I found it, it was too late to change.

1500 meters! Running ______ the best runners from other classes! And in front of the students of the entire school! It would be the worst nightmare I’d ever have!

“You still have time to catch up because there is still one month,” said they all, ______ my teacher. My deskmate, a natural athlete, patted me on the shoulder, “Cool! You will run for our class! And we will do training together.” Yes, this is not just for myself, but for my class too. But ______, 1500 meters to me was like Mount Everest to a beginning ______. Fortunately, my classmates gave me a hand. Every afternoon, we ran together. When the ______ of being laughed at struck me, I saw others running right beside me. They gave me ______.

One month ______ couldn’t make me a good runner. But when I was standing behind the start line, I saw my classmates standing by the tracks waving at me as if about to run beside me. I no longer felt lonely or afraid.

As ______, I was almost the last to ______ the finish line. But instantly I was surrounded and felt a kind of ______ I had never felt before.

That sports meet was a(n) ______ experience, which gave me a lot of ______ both in my fellow students and in my own potential. Sports have brought me close to my classmates and helped us grow together.

【推荐2】Melbourne Girls’ College is getting rid of all dustbins and asking students to take their rubbish home to encourage them to move towards zero waste.

Starting next Monday, the college will gradually ____________ all the rubbish bins in five weeks in classrooms and the yard, ____________ 1,400 students and 140 staff to find their own home for chip packets and juice boxes. Volunteer students will ____________ daily non-compulsory food inspections in which children bringing “zero waste” lunch boxes will be ____________. Students using only ____________ packaging will receive a token (礼券) to win prizes.

The rubbish that students take home may still go to landfill (废物填埋场) via their home bins, ____________ the new policy will help persuade ____________ to buy fewer packaged items and reuse containers. Most issues around carrying rubbish home, such as smell and mess, can be solved. ____________ tuna (金枪鱼) in a tin, for example, can ____________ the school’s compost (堆肥) bin and the tin can be ____________ before it’s taken home.

The college principal Karen Money acknowledges that some parents may not have the time or means to avoid ____________ in single-use packaging, “But we are ____________ to get as many people as we can to avoid it. We talk a lot, ____________ educators, about the bad problems the world ____________, and if we don’t start putting some actions ____________ that beautiful idea, then it’s just empty.”

【推荐3】During the corona-virus lockdown, a fifth-grade teacher contacted me asking for help. She was _______with students not attending online class but her students all loved the story in my book. So she asked if I had any _______.

My immediate _______ was for me to do a _______ book club where I would read to the students. The idea was _______ by Mrs. Sandberg, my first teacher in America.

When I moved to America from Iran in 1972, I spoke several words of English. Despite the language _______, I immediately loved school. My favorite part of the day was _______ lunch, when Mrs. Sandberg read to us. Her kind voice transported me to _______ places where animals could talk and where kids had grand adventures.

With this joyful memory, I started the club. At the first session, five kids _______. I read to them and tried to ________ a conversation. Whenever I asked a question, I was met with complete ________. The following week, a few more kids came; they ________ started responding, but with one-word answers. The next session, they gave ________ answers and more students participated in the conversations.

This club has quickly become the ________ of my week. I have gotten to know the students and grown fond of every single one of them. Reading out loud forces me to forget everything else for an hour. I recently wondered if our post-lunch reading hour had given Mrs. Sandberg a chance to forget her ________, too.