【推荐2】As French author Andre Maurois once said, “Without a family, man, alone in the world, shakes with the cold.” Indeed, families who give us love and________are an important part of our lives. But even in a loving family, ________can’t be avoided.

One day, I was doing my homework and my sister ________. Busy with homework, I didn’t talk to her and just kept working. But when I took a ________, I turned my head to the place where my sister was sitting. ________, I found my notebook had a lot of messy drawings on it.

At that time, I was full of________ and shouted at my sister, “You are really a ________and I hate you.” Hearing the words, my sister ________out crying and tried to explain her behavior. But I ________ since I didn’t want to hear a word from her. The ________ afterward lasted for a long time between us. To________the problem, my father brought me to the living room and asked: “Have you noticed what the drawing is on your notebook?”

I shook my head. Then, under the________ of my father, I looked at it carefully, it ________，“Happy birthday.” At that moment, I knew how ________I was. Though drawing on my notebook wasn’t right, my sister’s love and ________were sincere (真诚的). Feeling ashamed, I said sorry to her. Instead of staying angry, she smiled back at me.

【推荐1】Ten years ago I adopted my dog Rudy from a shelter just days before they were going to euthanize (使安乐死) him. We’ve had a special ________ ever since.

I’ve found his ________ really meaningful. Every night I get in my bed and he gets in his doggy bed right next to mine. But a year ago suddenly Rudy ________. Every night when I got in bed he’d jump up on my ________ and start licking (舔) my face. I’d get ________ and make him get off but the next night he’d do it again.

I was considering taking him to obedience (驯服) school when I suddenly ________ that he was licking the same spot on my jaw over and over again. I ________   my jaw and it seemed okay but it was so ________ for my dog that I decided to just trust him. I made an appointment with the ________ and felt silly telling her why I came in but she agreed to do some ________ . It turns out I had a tumor (肿瘤) in my jaw. It couldn’t be felt from the ________ but somehow Rudy knew it was there. I’m doing much ________ now but the doctors said if I’d ________ until the tumor was big enough to be felt, it’s likely I would have ________ . I saved my dog’s life and now he’s   ________   mine!

【推荐2】When I was growing up, I had an old neighbour named Dr Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never _______ at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a _______.

The good doctor had some _______ theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional(传统的) wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants _______ them so that each following tree generation would grow _______. So you have to make things _______ for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots _______ water. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be _______.

Dr Gibbs _______ a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big since they have deep ________ now. However, the trees in my garden ________ in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seemed that adversity benefited these trees in ways ________ never could. I stood there deep ________.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, ________ of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think it’s time to change my prayer because now I know my children are going to encounter ________.