【推荐1】I can still remember the afternoon when we climbed the mountain as if it were yesterday. It was a sunny day. ________ to spend some time outdoors, I went up the mountain with Uncle Jimmy. The mountain was not easy to climb and had tough rocks and streams on it. In the end, ________ and hot, I couldn’t go any further. ________, we went back down the mountain in the end. On the way back down, Uncle Jimmy asked me a question, which ________ me speechless for a second: “What’s your dream, young lady?” “I have no idea,” I answered after thinking for a while. Then he smiled and told me about his ________. He didn’t ________ well at school when he was a student. Although ________ thought he could succeed, he knew ________ what his dream was — to be a ________. “I knew I wasn’t ________ when it came to studying, so I tried to buy snacks from a nearby market and sell them after class,” he told me. After he left school, he started selling different items to ________ which one was most attractive to customers. Of course, he often had no money in his pocket, but ________ difficult life was, he never gave up.

“There is no ________ that a person who puts in a great deal of ________ to reach his or her goal will have good luck at some point. The meaning of life is to chase your dream,” he said gently.

That night I could not fall asleep. With my eyes wide open, I lay in bed tossing and turning, asking myself, “What’s my motivation?” I wanted to be a top student, but the hard work ________ meant putting everything into following my ________. If I find myself ________ willpower, what should I do? Leaving home early the next morning, I climbed the mountain again all by myself. It made me think: If we don’t ________ the climb, how can we get to enjoy the scenery on the top of the mountain? At last, I reached the top and was ________ by the warm breeze and sunshine. Nothing could be more ________ than that.

【推荐2】Sometimes people and things around you can remind you of yourself. I was _______to my writing group with a book to read on the journey. Because it was an old book I didn't want to "dog-ear" the pages, I _______in my pockets for something to use as a bookmark. I placed a ten-pound note between the _______.

Sitting on the bus I took the book out and was about to read but a young woman behind me who was speaking on her cellphone drew my _______. She was talking to her brother. She wanted to know where he was, why he wasn’t where he was_______to be, why he had lied to their mother again and whether he knew that their mum had _______ in tears that morning because of him.

She kept it quiet but she didn't pull any punches （留情）with him. She let him know exactly what she_______him but I could feel there was love under all the disappointment. She tried so hard to_______this young man to come see his mother, but I got the sign she was fighting a _______ battle.

When she left the bus, I________behind her and drew out the note in the book. “Excuse me," I said. “Do me a favor, would you? Take this money and buy your________a box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers. And tell her a________man said that being a mother is the ________ but most important job in the world.”

Then I turned around and walked on,________if in some way I was saying a thank-you to my own mum. But I hoped I had raised a ________ on the face of a mother suffering for her child.

【推荐3】When I was 14, I invited some friends for a party at our home out in the country. I planned it well, but something _________ happened. When it was time for us to ride the bus, Nora, one of my friends, didn’t _________.

I felt _________. Why would she tell me she’d come to the party and then _________ without letting me know? So, I decided to call Nora and get some _________. I needed no apologies but I demanded to know why.

Nora _________ she had to stay away from school because she was sick. Anger still seized me and I _________ to listen. “What kind of friend are you?” I said. Nora began crying on the phone, hurt and surprised. For the rest of the school year, I _________ hung around with her again, and I forgot about my _________ call with Nora. __________ had happened between us at some point, but I shrugged it off.

Years later, I began to reflect on that ugly phone conversation. I __________ it. I recognized how selfish and __________ I’d been, caring only about myself. I wanted to make things __________. I composed a letter of apology to Nora and soon got her __________. So finally, we restored a __________ relationship, healing both of us.

【推荐1】I was at the bus stop, on my way to the lab where I was a postdoctoral (博士后的) fellow. It was ________ like any other morning. But something began to ________ inside me as I watched the people around me - headphones hanging from their ears, eyes ________, unsmiling faces. They looked ________. And I realized I was one of them. Suddenly, I could no longer ________my work life and booked a one-way ticket to fly home.

Over the years, I had grown more ________. Those who could have been cooperators became competitors I ________. But the effect of this competition was exactly the ________of what I had hoped for. So I began to feel alone and ________. I became less and less productive in my scientific work. I ________ my breaking point that day at the bus stop. The ________ had to end. I emailed my professors, explaining that I had put the ________ first and myself second for too long.

Back home, I ________ my family and friends about my problems. I also started to receive some emails from my ________ — I guessed they expected me to join them again soon. After a few ________asking how I was, in the emails many expressed their stress of academic (学术的) life. Delicate researchers were ________ their heads out of their shells (壳). I understand that we all ________ sometimes, and that fragility and cooperation can be more ________ than competition. In fact, it can be a________instead of one where one side gains while the other side loses. Working with others and ________ help doesn’t make my contributions unimportant; it means we can all succeed.

【推荐2】

Eyes are a kind of language we use to express ourselves. Through one's eyes, we can _______ sorrow, happiness or encouragement and many other _______. Eyes are always one of the fastest and most direct organs to _______ our thoughts.

I still remember an _______ experience, which happened when I took part in a singing contest at the age of nine. It was the _______ of my mother's eyes that encouraged me to go for it. I had showed great _______ in singing before that. But I was too shy to sing in _______. So one day my mother took me to _______ up for the singing contest. With my mother's _______ and encouragement, I was determined to meet that ________. Standing on the stage, I suddenly found I became the ________ of all the eyes. I got so nervous that I couldn't even ________ my eyes open. When it was my turn to be introduced to the audience and sing, I became even more ________. I felt my legs were shaking and my memory seemed ________， as I couldn't remember anything. Searching for help, I ________ my mother's eyes which were sparkling with encouragement and strong power. It seemed that they were ________ to me, “Come on, Baby! Take it easy. I'll ________ be with you！” I read the message through her eyes and at that moment I ________ my confidence and began to sing my song. When I came down from the stage, she came up to me and gave me a ________ hug, saying, “Great! I'm proud of you！” At that time, I found her eyes filled with tears of ________. Sometimes, you see, just the encouraging eyes themselves can make a shy person brave.

【推荐3】I was born blind. Of all the stories of my early childhood, the one about a _________ is my mother's favorite.

I was only two years old when the _________ occurred. We had just arrived home from a trip. Mom lifted me out of the car and _________ to speak to the driver. I took advantage of my brief _________ to dash across the lawn (草坪) — and hit a large maple tree! I ran so fast that I bounced off the trunk and landed on my backside. Mom _________ me to start crying, but I just sat there for a minute. Then I _________ myself up and kept right on going.

Mom loves to use this story as a(n) _________. It reminds her that children don't enter life _________ to take risks or unwilling to _________ again when they fall down. She never wanted me to lose that toughness as I grew older. When I ______________ my major life decisions, I was still that little girl running at full speed across the lawn. I studied abroad and later moved away from my parents' home to look for a(n) ______________. Through years of ______________, I have become a respected teacher in a school.

We are almost certain to get ______________ at some point during the process of achieving our goal. When that happens, don't sit on the grass and ______________. Just get up and keep on going. It will all be worth it ______________.