【推荐3】Jacky Hunt-Broersma, 46, completed 104 marathons in 104 days, breaking the world record for most consecutive marathons. She set her goal in January and ________ about five hours to complete each run.

She is grateful because running has given her the ________ she was afraid she would never regain. In 2002, doctors ________  that she had a rare type of bone cancer. Within two weeks, they amputated (截断) her left leg to save her life. For the first couple of years, Jacky ________ with the change in her life. She was ________ to be different. She wore long trousers in public so that people would not notice her ________ leg.

Five years ago, she ________ to do some running with the help of her husband. ________, she runs on a prosthetic (假体的) leg made out of strong, light ________ known as carbon fiber, which are costly for her. But her ________ is worth it. “Running has really changed my life. It has made such a ________ to my mental state and shown me how ________ my body can be. It has given me a total new ________ of who I am. I fall in love with the process of pushing my body further to see what I can do,” she said.

“The best thing is the support I’ve received from people who’ve ________, telling me how this has inspired them to ________ themselves in turn,” she said, “I am determined to keep going.”

【推荐2】I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And unless otherwise assigned (指定) a seat by the teacher. I always_________to sit at the back of the classroom.

All this_________after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy_________because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the_________to keep pace with the others on the team and they would laugh at me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “_________for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the_________of it! When I first started_________the practice sessions (练习赛), I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much less what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get_________and take a shot at the wrong direction — which made me feel really stupid._________, I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to__________learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t know “just yet”.

I practiced and practiced. Soon I__________the rules and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive__________in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned__________to play and made friends in the process — friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!

With my__________self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates. I have gone from“__________” in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself to raising my hand — even when I sometimes wasn’t 100 percent sure I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

【推荐3】My Chinese speaking experience

It’s one thing to study and learn a language, but it’s quite another when you finally get to use it.

On the _______ from Venice to Paris, a group of girls my age sat around me. I had caught enough of the conversation to know that they were speaking Chinese, but at first I didn’t feel _______starting a conversation with the stranger next to me. If it didn’t _______ well, I’d be stuck next to them for the rest of the flight.

As the food cart began to make its way down the aisle (过道) _______ us, I finally found my chance. I _______ to the girl to my left and asked, “Will you be having lunch?” in Chinese. She nodded her head, then realizing the language I had _______, and asked me in English, “You speak Chinese?”

I was a bit surprised. I _______ again in Chinese. “A little bit but not very well.” She nodded again and then returned to her magazine, _______ my effort to communicate with her. Perhaps I should have lied and said that I spoke better...

Another time, at a dinner I sat next to a man who I knew spoke Chinese. I told him that I was learning Chinese, but _______ only speak a little and not very well. When ________ me use the language, he suddenly began to speak ________ in Chinese, but all I caught was that he told me that for Chinese people, the ability to speak a little bit is actually a lot. His behaviour was the complete opposite of my earlier ________. I felt somewhat overwhelmed (不知所措). I never quite     ________ the chance to continue or make any further efforts because the conversation returned to ________ as other people joined the table.

All in all, my experience has ________me that I still have a lot of work to do.