【推荐3】The first time 9-year-old Jake Bohm came into the barber shop it was a _________.

Jake, who has autism (自闭症), _________ with his parents to run outside the moment he entered the shop. I ended up walking around the shop with him that day. I got in a few cuts _________ stopped the haircut when I saw Jake was _________. Cutting hair can be _________ for some children with autism. Jake was no different. I felt I’d _________, and it made me _________ to learn more about autism so I could connect with him and take away his _________.

After the first _________ haircut, I suggested to Jake’s parents they bring him back every two weeks at closing time. That went on for a few months. His hair was long. I could __________cut it properly. I’d get a couple of cuts in, and then he’d just go crazy. That was a really __________ time. But I knew we had to just keep going.

I even went to his house to give it a try. No __________.

Then the owner of the barber shop__________ me for allowing a customer to come in after closing time. Discouraged, I __________that job, and soon opened my own shop. Every two weeks, Jake would __________ my shop after it was closed. This lasted about eight months.

A few weeks ago, we made __________. I sang “The Wheels on the Bus” to him. I didn’t know he was __________ nursery rhymes (儿歌). I was just trying to __________him. He looked at me as if he were mesmerized (迷住). I gave him a full haircut for the first time. I realized our slow, two-year effort had __________.

Two weeks later, Jake let me do it again.

I often don’t charge them the cost of the haircut. Maybe the reason I do something like this is to increase my __________ of the kids like him.

【推荐1】Like many parents, I enjoyed reading a bedtime story to my two sons each night before they went to bed. After the story was over, we would turn out the lights, and talked until they fell ______.

One night after the lights were out, my 3-year-old son, Will, ______ me to tell them a story ______ by myself, not one from a book. So I ______ told him a story about the first thing that came into my ______. But to my surprise, he ______ it so much that he asked me to do that the next night.

Thus a story-telling tradition was ______ in our family. Ever since that night, they seemed not to be able to sleep without hearing one of my ______ stories. Of all the things I do for my ______，my storytelling is what they love most. It has created a special ______ between us. And they find that their day isn’t ______ without one of my stories, and so do I.

When I see how ______ my storytelling is in their lives, I come to realize how much our television and video-oriented （以视频为导向的）society has ______ in terms of the personal connections that storytelling brings. Before the ______ of television, computers and smartphones, a family’s ______ was built around storytelling. Many of the stories we have today originated from the oral（口述的） tradition. It was ______ down from generation to generation until someone finally ______ them down.

Storytelling serves as a creative way to ______ for me. During the storytelling, I forget about the pressure of the day and enjoy the ______ time I can spend with my children. I hope that other parents can gain ______ from storytelling, too.

【推荐3】A 90-year-old driver is providing it’s never too late to pursue（追求）your dreams. Last year, Hershel McGriff became the ______ driver to compete in a NASCAR event when he raced at the Tucson Speedway in his home state of Arizona.

McGriff has been ______ since he was a teenager. His first time behind the ______ came when he was just 17 years old after he read an ad in his local newspaper and was drawn to the ______ that comes with driving hundreds of miles per hour around a track, ______ for first place.

"I borrowed my dad’s 1940 Hudson — an ugly car, and I got a couple of guys to help me," McGriff ______ his beginning in the sport. "I didn’t do very ______ .I think I finished 12th or 13th out of a bunch of cars. That got me started."

His first win on the NASCAR circuit (联赛）came when he ______ in Mexico at the age of 22. McGriff went on ______ dozens of races, finally being ______ as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. He retired from the sport at 74, but he never stopped his love for the track and decided to return to racing for a few special events that have made him famous in his hometown and ______ others to keep pursuing their dreams as well.

McGriffs spot in the race was a gift for his 90th birthday from his son and long-time friend, team owner Bill McAnally. "Bill called me up on the phone and said, ‘For your 90th birthday, I will furnish the car. All you have to do is ______ it," McGriff said. "When he made the ______, I was ready to accept

McGriffs history-making race proves that you can pursue your dreams at any ______ , but for this young — at — heart racer, it was just a chance to get behind the wheel and ______ pursuing his passion.

【推荐1】For students chasing lasting wealth, the best choice of a college major is less obvious than you might think.

The conventional wisdom is that computer science and engineering majors have better employment ______ and higher earnings than their peers who choose liberal arts.

This is true for the first job, but the long-term story is more ______. The advantage for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors ______ steadily after their first jobs, and by age 40, the earnings of people who majored in fields like social science or history have reached the same level.

This happens for two reasons. First, many of the latest technical skills that are in high ______ today become out-dated when technology progresses. Older workers must learn these new skills on the fly, ______ younger workers may have learned them in school. Skill undesirability and the increased ______ from younger graduates work together to lower the earnings advantage for STEM degree-holders as they age.

Second, although liberal arts majors start low, they ______ catch up to their peers in STEM fields. This is by design. A liberal arts education ______ valuable "soft skills" like problem-solving, critical thinking and adaptability. Such skills are hard to quantify, and they don't create clear ______ to high-paying first jobs. But they have ______ in a wide variety of careers in the long run.

According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, computer science and engineering majors between the ages of 23 and 25 earned 37% higher than the average starting salary of those majoring in history or social sciences. ______, the average salary of those majoring in computer science or engineering by age 40 was $111,870, and social science and history majors earned $131,154, an average that is ______ in part, by high-paying jobs in management, business and law.

Why did that happen? According to a 2018 survey, the three ______ of college graduates that employers considered most important were written communication, problem-solving and the ability to work in a team. In the liberal arts tradition, these skills are built through the ______ between instructors and students, and through close reading and analysis of a broad range of subjects and texts.

I'm not suggesting that students should avoid majoring in STEM fields, but I do think we should be careful of the urge to make college curricula ever more ______ and career-focused. A four-year college degree should prepare students for the next 40 years of working life, and for a future that none of us can imagine.

【推荐2】I still remember the day when I lost my job. I said to my parents，"I would like to go _________，have an experience in an English-speaking country and look for a（n）_________there. "My parents answered，"What are you saying？You are 30！You are too old...and you don't have a good level of English. It will be _________ for you."

Yes，it would be hard _________ not impossible. I didn't care about my age，my basic English and people's _________；for the first time I was really _________ about my choice. I knew that I could do it. The work situation in Italy _________me several times. Despite my _________ in Medical Biology，I couldn't find a good job in my industry. And what's more，I really wanted to learn English. So I decided to _________.

That's how the biggest __________ of my life started.

I was afraid but at the same time so __________. I planned everything：4 months of English courses and then 4 months of work experience in the medical area.

The time that I __________ in Alpha College was amazing. I met people from all over the world getting the opportunity to know new __________.Teachers were skilled，helpful and they coached me step by step. I couldn't believe how __________ my English was getting better. When I did the job interview，I was definitely __________ about my English. I got the job easily. My work _________ inspecting and testing all packaging materials. Moreover，every week，there were courses and training for new __________ like me.

My work experience was finishing when，one day，my boss __________ a contract（合同）to me. I was completely astonished… my dream was coming true！__________ I accepted it and I'm still working here.

This is the end of a beautiful story...MY STORY！But，please，don't think that it can't be also your __________. There is no age to learn English or to start a new life...just believe in yourself！If you want you can！

【推荐3】I’m known for my determination. If I want something, I _______ for it; I refuse to give up until I succeed. Over the years this _______ has worked well for me and helped me achieve my goals. _______ this year everything changed. I had set my sights on a summer job that I was _______ to get at the Water Zone, because the employees there could go on the water rides after their shift (当班时间) and get free food at the snack bar. It was the _______ job to have on hot summer vacations. So I set out to _______ the job. I completed the application, carefully prepared for my _______, and gathered many recommendation letters. I was _______ that nothing could keep me from my dream job. But after my interview, the manager of Water Zone told me that he could _______ only those with experience in water safety. I was very shocked and ________. I felt like a failure.

On the last weekend before school ended, my teacher, Mrs Keller, asked me ________ I would be interested in an opening at a summer day camp. I decided that I had nothing to ________, so I called the manager and ________ an interview. She was ________ by my babysitting experience and employed me. In less than a week, I had completely ________ about wanting to work at the water park. Each time I comforted a little boy who missed his mother or a little girl who needed help. I felt I was doing something ________. I realized that I had discovered my life’s purpose: to work with ________.

Sometimes in life we don’t get ________ what we want. It’s natural to feel ________: I sure did. But I also learned an important lesson. Sometimes when we don’t get what we want, something even ________ is waiting for us around the corner!