【推荐1】It was the day after Christmas 33 years ago. I was _______ married and still in college. Only 10 days earlier my wife had gone into labor with our first child. It was a scary delivery that _______ in an emergency C-section(剖腹产). We were so _______ to have Joseph John Mazzella II also known as JJ _______ peacefully in the cradle(摇篮)next to our bed.

The day before we had been on the road _______ our joy to all of the grandparents and great-grandparents. It had been a busy Christmas and _______ on my wife who was still _______ from the operation. Now we were back in our house _______ to get a few extra winks of sleep before starting the day.

Just then I heard JJ stirring in his cradle. I leaned over and picked him up _______ he started to cry and then ________ crept (缓慢爬行)out into the living room so my wife could keep sleeping. I picked up a bottle and sat in our rocking chair with JJ ________ my arms. I spoke softly to him but also felt a little ________ as I watched him. How was I going to ________ him? I was still at ________ and had no idea what the ________ held in store for us. I rocked and worried and worried and rocked.

After a few minutes I saw the sun slowly ________ in the sky outside my window. The bright light was shining down from the heavens making the freshly ________ snow shine with a beauty that ________ my soul. As I watched it my fear fled and I felt such a sense of ________, harmony, love, and joy. I knew then that whatever the future held, it would be alright ________ I kept love in my heart.

【推荐2】A businesswoman got into a taxi in midtown. As it was the rush hour and she was in a ________ to catch a train, she ________ a quick way to reach it. “I have been a taxi driver for 15 years! ” the driver said ________. “You don’t think I know the best way to go?”

The woman tried to explain that she hadn't ________ to annoy him, but the driver kept________. She finally realized that he was too annoyed to be________, so she changed her ________. “You know, you are right,” she told him. “It must seem ________for me not to think you know the best way________the city.”

________, the driver glanced at his________in the real-view mirror, turned down the street she wanted and got her to the train on time. “He didn’t say another word the rest of the ride,” she said. “________I got out and paid him. Then he thanked me.”

When you find yourself________with people like the taxi driver, you will always try to________your idea. It can lead to longer arguments, lose job chances or________marriages. I have discovered one simple________extremely unlikely method that can prevent the disagreement or other difficult situations from________in a disaster.

The________is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and look for the________in what that person is saying. Find a way to________, and the result may surprise you.

【推荐3】Mother’s Day drew near,and John was driving by a flower shop.He said to himself,“I will send Mom some ____.” He entered it and saw a boy ____ with the clerk.“How many roses can I ____ for six dollars?” the boy asked.The clerk was trying to explain that roses were ____.Maybe the boy would be happy with carnations (康乃馨).“No,it has to be red roses,because that’s my mom’s ____.She was sick last year and I didn’t ____ much time with her.”He said again.____ inside of John was ____ by the boy’s words,and he looked at the clerk silently whispering that he would pay for the boy’s roses.The clerk said,“Okay,I will give you a dozen red roses ____ your six dollars.”The boy almost jumped into the air.He took the flowers and ____ from the shop.John ____ his own flowers and made sure that delivery would include a ____ telling his mother how much he loved her.

As he drove away from the ____,he was feeling very good.As he waited at the light,he saw the boy enter a park through two huge gates.Suddenly,he realized it was not a park.It was a cemetery (墓地).He could see the young man turn in by the gate and walk along the fence.As the light ____,he pulled over,got out of the car,and began to ____ the boy,thirty or forty steps behind him.The boy stopped by a small monument and went down on his ____.He sobbed and laid the roses on the ____.John heard him speak,“Mommy,why did I not tell you how much I love you?Why did I not tell you one ____ time?God,please tell my mommy I love her.”John walked back to his car,____ in eyes.He drove quickly to the shop and told the clerk he would take the flowers ____.He wanted to make sure of it and tell his mother just how much he loved her.

【推荐1】When I was a baby, my parents gave me anything I wanted. We would walk into a _________, and I could get anything. They never refused me. Then my dad died when I was 3, and I got even more as my mom tried to make me feel _________. My mom continued to treat me to what I wanted until I was 7, and my world crashed (坍塌).

That was when the real state (房地产)market crashed. My mom had spent nearly all the _________ in it. We lost all. Thus we had to live on a tight budget (预算).

Whenever I asked for a new toy, or bike, or _________ to see a movie, my mom would say we couldn’t afford that right now. I didn’t know my _________ were not helping my mom. She had to work all year, _________ to pay our water and power _________.

I got T-shirts for my 8th birthday instead of a video game, which I always _________. Each of my friends had it and I wanted one, too. Touching the T-shirts, my mom asked me what I thought. I said I loved them, but she could tell how _________ I was and started crying.

I hugged her harder than ever before. Suddenly I realized how hard she worked to pay most of the money for rent and food, so she couldn’t afford to give me anything I didn’t __________.

From then on, I learned to __________ the toys or games I did have. When I wanted a new iPod, I had to work to buy it. It may have been a tough __________, but I learned the __________ between what I wanted and what I needed.

Now I’m grateful for everything I have and understand that the feeling of having truly __________ something is one of the best feelings in the world. I guess I’ve really __________.

【推荐2】Life is colorful. Sometimes it’s just like potato salad; when it’s shared, it became a picnic.

With three young children to bring up, my husband John and I were very _______. "Can we go on a picnic, Mom?" my six-year-old daughter, Becky _______. "Please." I had said no so many times in _______ months, and I decided the usual Saturday morning chores could _______. To her _______, I agreed.

I prepared a few sandwiches and _______ a cooler with ice and drinks and called John _______.

My eleven-year-old twin sons loaded the cooler and the picnic basket in the trunk and off we went to spend some _______ time together as a family.

About the time I got the lunch _______ out on the table, John arrived on the ________. That was one of the happiest meals we ever shared together. The meal was full of ________. We felt a closeness that had been hidden by work and school responsibilities for so many months. John and the boys ________ rocks into the lake, Becky fed the ducks and I sat quietly at the picnic table, ________ God for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

That night as our children went to bed, I kissed their cheeks. It ________ me what a wonderful life I had. As I walked out of the room it dawned on me that even the busiest ________ could become a picnic when it’s shared with the ones you ________. Even though kids have now grown up and ________ from home, I can still remember how I felt that day while sitting at the picnic table.

Maybe today would be a good time to ________ potato salad, call all of my ________ kids, feed some hungry ducks and skipped a few rocks into the lake. Since life is like potato salad, let’s make it a ________.

【推荐3】My daughter Beth bought me two beautifully carved wooden butterflies for my 56th birthday. I hung them in _________ places on my walls. Each time I see them, my mind _________ back to those unforgettable days.

My mom passed away when I was only 25. Beth had _________ memories of her grandma since she was only 3-year-old. I tried to _________ it by telling her stories of Grandma. Each time I did, I could see there was a little _________ in her eyes. One day when she was about seven, we were playing outside. Beth _________ said how much she missed not having Grandma around. I was _________ and told her, “Grandma loves you very much. Maybe she’s now on a _________ to come down to see us.” At that very moment, a butterfly appeared, _________ around Beth’s face and then flew away. We both laughed with our hearts __________ of love and joy.

Since that moment, both Beth and I seem to __________ butterflies like flowers. Whenever we are outside, they may fly around us, take a good __________, and then fly away. Each time it __________ us of my mom’s love. During the coldest months when there are no __________ of any kind, I can admire the two wooden butterflies! We all need reminders that we are __________ in this life. Perhaps the best way to remember, though, is to be a reminder of love yourself.

【推荐1】If life were a book and you were the author, how would you like the story to go? That is the question that______my life forever.

One day I went home from the training of snowboarding with what I thought was the flu, and less 24 hours late, I was in a______ on life support with less than twenty percent ______ of living. It wasn’t until days later that the doctors diagnosed me with a ______ blood infection. Over the ______ of 2.5 months, I lost the hearing in my left ear and both my legs below the knees. When my parents______me out of the hospital. I______ that I had been put together like a patchwork (拼接物) doll and I had to live with______legs. I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken,______streaming down.

But I knew in order to move forward, I had to let go of the Old Amy and______ the New Amy. It was at this moment that I asked myself that significant______. And that is when it ______ me that I didn’t have to be five-foot-five anymore, ______I could be as tall as I wanted. And ______ of all, I can make my feet the size of all the shoes. So there were______ here.

Four months later, I was back upon a snowboard and won two Board World Cup gold medals, making me the highest ranked snowboarder in the world.

【推荐2】Nine years ago, I moved to an absolutely new town. ________ as I was, with various new things to explore, I was still lonely. I was desperate to establish ________.

This could explain my enthusiastic “Count me in!” when ________ to participate in a half marathon. Considering my usual 3 miles, I must have been ________—13 miles seemed a(n) ________ task.

However, the initial ________ gradually faded away. I found comfort in burying myself in training. Though taking it slow, one mile, and then two, I gradually made ________. Mile after mile, I managed to step beside my new friends. We talked about our favorite music and ________ funny stories about our children. At about mile 10, the conversations ________. We shared our past and hopes for our future, our fears and regrets. By the time we were running 12-mile legs, it was ________ that I’d made lifelong friends.

________, the day of the race arrived. At the start line, armed with my friends, I already felt like a champion. My time training had ________. I managed to hold a steady pace and kept up with my ________. Finally, we crossed the finish line together.

Although it started as a ________ of building social ties, running not only provided me with friendship, but with a beneficial skill that would ________ me the rest of my life.

【推荐3】My First Job

Since my family were not going to be helpful, I decided I would look for one all by myself and not tell them about it till I’d got one.

I had seen an agency advertised in a local newspaper. I rushed out of the house in search of it. I was wildly excited, and as _________ as if I were going on the stage. Finding the _________ quite easily, I ran breathlessly through a door which said “Enter without knocking, if you please.”

The simple atmosphere of the office _________ me. The woman looked carefully at me for a while through her glasses, and then _________ me in a low voice. I answered softly. All of a sudden I started to feel rather _________. She wondered why I was looking for this sort of job. I felt even more helpless when she told me that it would be difficult to get a job without _________. I was wondering whether I ought to leave _________ the telephone on her desk rang. I heard her say: “_________, I’ve got someone in the office at this very moment who might _________.” She wrote down a __________ , and held it out to me, saying: “Ring up this lady. She wants a __________ immediately. In fact, you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people.”

“Oh yes,” said I — __________ having cooked for more than four in my life. I __________ her again and again, and rushed out to the __________ telephone box. I collected my thoughts, took a deep breath, and rang the number. I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for.

I spent the next few hours __________ cook books.