【推荐1】Born in America, I spoke English, not Chinese, the language of my ancestors. When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese _________ at my face, but I pushed them aside. My mom believed I would learn when I was _________ . But the time never came.

On a Chinese New Year’s Eve, my uncle spoke to me in Chinese, but all I could do was to _________ at him, confused, scratching my head. “ Still can’t speak Chinese? ” He laughed at me, “ You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown. ” “ Hey, this is America, not China. I’ll get some right now with or without Chinese. ” I replied and turned to my mom for permission. “Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu,” she said, handing over a $20 bill. I _________ the words, running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown.

I found the fish stand surrounded in a sea of customers. “ I’d like to buy some fresh fish, ” I shouted to the _________ . But he ignored my English words and turned to serve the next customer. The laugh of the people behind increased with their impatience. With every _________ , the breath of the dragons (龙) on my back grew stronger — my blood boiling — forcing me to cry out. “Xian Sheng Yu, please. ” “ Very Xian Sheng, ” I repeated. The crowd burst into _________ . My face turned red and I ran back home _________ , except for the $20 bill I held tightly in my pocket.

Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese. I should feel right at home. Instead, I was the joke, a disgrace (丢脸) to the language. Sometimes, I laugh at my fish _________ , but, in the end, the joke is on me. Every laugh is a culture __________ ; every laugh is my heritage (传统) fading away.

【推荐3】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms (习语), though my teacher emphasized (强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown_______an amusing experience.

One day, I_______to meet an English man on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I_______about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be_______, gently shaking his head, shrugging (耸一耸) his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an proper topic. Well, I’d_______change the topic. So I said to him. “Well._______we talk about the Great Wall? _______the way, have you ever_______there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing_______. It was magnificent.” He was________in thought when I began to talk________ a tourist guide, “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very________of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his order... “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to________about it”? “Well, I didn’t request you to do ________,” he answered, greatly________ I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” ________this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to ________, “ ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really?’ It is an ________ of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”________then did I know I have made a fool of ________. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.