【推荐1】During the first weeks of his retirement from the fire service, Max had felt lost. And that’s when Polly, a library manager, helped him sign up as a _________ , for Robot Club in the library.

Max hadn’t volunteered before and he didn’t know anything about _________ . He opened the packs containing the robots, nervously staring at the mess of parts. A dozen primary-age children gathered around the table, _________ eagerly. Almost double the number of adults crowded around them, watching.

Glancing around the _________ at the many parents and carers accompanying the robot builders, Max knew he had to face this _________.

“Okay, team,” he started _________, adopting the tone he’d used to _________ his unit during his firefighting days. “We’re going to build these robots one step _________.”

The children nodded, their hands busy with screws (螺丝) and plastic limbs. Max wandered from table to table, _________ words of encouragement, and slowly but surely, __________ the instructions in his mind.

An hour passed, and the room was filled with the sound of chatter and clinking parts. As the final minutes of Robot Club ticked away, Max stood back and __________ the room. Robots of all shapes and sizes stood on the tables. The children were excited, __________ their creations to anyone who would look.

As they began to leave, many children stopped to thank Max. Each “thank you” and “see you next week” chipped away at the sense of __________ he had felt since retiring. He hadn’t put out a fire today, but perhaps he had __________ something far more important — a new __________ for himself.

【推荐2】A five-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a(n) ________ could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.

One day she heard her Daddy say to her ________ mother, “Only a miracle (奇迹) can save him now.” The little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her piggy bank from its hiding place. She poured all the coins out on the floor and ________ them carefully.

Holding her piggy bank, she ran to the nearby ________ store. “I want to buy a miracle for my little brother. He is really sick.” said the little girl to the shop assistant. “I beg your pardon?” the shop assistant could ________ believe what he heard. “His name is Andrew and he has something bad ________ inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him.” “We don’t sell miracle here, child. I’m sorry,” the shop assistant said. “Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t ________, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

In the shop was a tall and well-dressed customer. His name was Carlton Armstrong. He ________ and asked the little girl, “What kind of miracle does your brother ________ ?” “I don’t know,” she replied. “He is really sick and Daddy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t ________ it.”

“How much do you have?” asked the man. “One dollar and eleven cents,” she answered. “Well,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents? What a ________! That is the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. I have the kind of miracle you need.”

He took her money in one hand and held her hand with the other. He said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and ________ your parents.” Carlton Armstrong turned out to be a famous ________ and saved Andrew’s life by giving him a successful operation.

“That operation,” her mother said in a low voice, “was a real ________. I wonder how much it would have cost.” The little girl smiled. She knew ________ how much the miracle cost — one dollar and eleven cents.

【推荐1】Our neighbors had a loud party last night. We weren’t _______ but this was one of those celebrations that I didn’t mind. They are a bunch of young, single guys and I would have felt out of place.

What _______ me was the way they behaved. Ono of the young men came over _______ in the day to “warn” us of the upcoming event and said it would be over at about 11 p. m. That was the first step. Even more _______ was what they did next. “Here’s my _______”, offered our neighbor _______ “Text me if it’s too noisy.” That was a level of _______ I had never experienced in all my years of being a neighbor!

And it really worked in their favor. My husband and I were so friendly that even when the event went past the _______ end time, even when the music reached high decibels(分贝), and even when we couldn’t get through to the phone number, we felt no _______. We knew they would stop and ________ to it eventually.

It takes such little effort to make people feel that they ________ and get people on your side. Everyone needs to ________ every now and then, especially in these uniquely tough times. But people who do it without disturbing others are few and far between. I hadn’t fully ________ my neighbors until this week. But now I see them in a new light and with greater ________ . They didn’t just bring the noise to the neighborhood; they showed us a good manner of ________ in life.

【推荐3】One sunny afternoon, a seven-year-old girl went for a walk. She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods_______she realized that she was lost.

Sitting on a rock and _______what to do, she began crying. After a while. She decided to walk along a wide path lined with tall trees and thick bushes.When it was getting dark, she saw a small, dark wooden house. She opened the door and _______ stepped in. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and she ran out the door and back to the _______. Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a _______.

The girl’s parents were out and her dog, Laddy, was at home. Laddy _______ that his mistrees（女主人）was in danger. He jumped _______ a window, breaking the glass. He looked in the fields. But he couldn’t find his mistress anywhere. However, from the ground came a familiar scent (气味) as he lowered his head. He followed the scent and walked across the grassland. Barking _______ into the air, the dog _______ through the woods until he found the ________. But the girl was not there, so he headed back to the woods. Much to his ________ , he saw his mistress’ blue shirt in the distance. He ________ over some bushes and saw the little stream, where the girl was ________.

When she opened her eyes and________ her dog standing beside her, the girl said, “you ________me, Laddy, ” and she kissed him several times. Seeing their daughter and dog coming back, the parents burst into tears of relief . That night Laddy had a heror’s supper: a huge meal of steak