【推荐1】I don't see my family very often. It's been more than 8 years since I moved _______ US to Beijing. At that time, my parents have grown _______, just as I have. When I went off to college, we lived in different cities, but we still kept in _______ through the phone or e-mail. It was easy to call up my mom and catch up with her. But _______ in Beijing has made it a bit more difficult. You see, we're separated (分开) not only by distance, but also by _______. My home town is on the _______ side of the earth from Beijing, it's a 12-hour difference. This means that when it's _______ in Beijing, it's night-time in my hometown. This can make it _______ to find a good time to connect my family. _______, we make it work anyway. We just try to call at a time that is convenient(方便) for _______ of us. This means I usually call my parents late at night, when they are taking their _______ break. We talk about our work, the weather, and whatever else is happening in our lives. It's nice to check in with her and see _______ she's doing.

And of course, I try to visit home _______. About once every other year, I'll fly back to _______ to see my parents and sisters for the holidays. It's not easy for us to get the whole family together—but when we do, we have a lot of fun. Like many _______ foreigners living in China, I do miss my family. We try to stay in touch as best as we can.

【推荐2】I was hurrying to our basketball game one morning. Hillary Barnes, the most popular girl in school, ________ me. “Are you the twin (双胞胎之一) who won the art competition?” she asked.

“No, that’s Christine. I’m Katie,” I said.

My twin sister Christine and I were not the same. In fact, Christine was quite excellent. I couldn’t do so well as her. Compared to Christine, I felt like one of Cinderella’s ________ sisters.

I wanted to be excellent, too. Joining Christine’s basketball team was my latest ________.

On the way to the gym, I made up my mind to do best in that day’s game. As soon as I arrived at the ________, I couldn’t wait to warm up. “Christine, here!” I threw her a ball. It was too high and she missed it. The ball fell onto the recorder and ________ it. It was used to play the national anthem (国歌) before each game.

How bad! Coach ________ the mess and asked, “How are we going to play the song now?”

Christine suggested, “Let Katie sing it! She’s always singing at home and she’s got a ________ voice.”

Coach asked, “Would you?” “Yes, I would.” I said. I looked up to the flag and began to sing carefully. My ________ was clear. Everyone could hear me. When I finished, the gym was silent. Then it ________ cheers. As the game started, my teammates told me I was very fantastic.

The next morning, Hillary Barnes stopped me in the hallway and asked, “Are you the twin who sang the national anthem?”

“Yes, that’s me.” I would ________ think that I was not as perfect as Christine. Well, just be myself!

【推荐3】I was in the most beautiful city in the world, yet I only wanted to go home.

It was an amazing week for my husband and me—the trip of a lifetime. Months ago, when my husband told me that he would have a meeting in London, I expressed my _______ to go to Europe together with him. Then we asked his mother to _______ our two children and started off.

During the week’s time, _______ visited London and Paris. All these were beautiful places we expected to see before. We really enjoyed ourselves.

On our last night in Paris, _______ we enjoyed the night view (夜景) of the Eiffel Tower, my husband called home. His mother _______ the phone. In a second, my husband’s face paled and he looked so worried. I could feel something _______ happened.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He didn’t answer and continued to listen. A few minutes later, he said _______ to me that Tony, our seven-year-old son, had fallen off his bike and _______ his leg. He must be sent to hospital at once.

At that moment, Paris suddenly lost its charm (魅力).

“I don’t want to be here! I shouldn’t be here! I should be home _______ my kids!”

We hurried back to our hotel and then to the airport.

Finally, we got home. We rushed into our children’s bedroom. Seeing our two children, I suddenly realised the truth: there is no ________ sight in the world than your children’s faces that greet you at home.