【推荐1】Xian Xinghai was a very famous musician in China. In his short life he wrote _______ 300 songs and an opera.

Xian was born in Panyu, Guangdong, China in 1905. Because his father died before he was born, Xian moved from place to place with _______ mother. He began learning to play _______ violin when he was 20 years old. In the beginning, his violin was _______ cheap that he could not play it well. His friends _______ laughed at him. But he still kept on _______ it every day, later he was _______ in it. In 1934, he was one of the first Chinese students in a music school in Paris. Before he left Paris, he _______ play it well and won some prizes. _______ clever he was!

In 1935, he returned to China and helped fight against the Japanese army. Later, he came to Yan’an ________ music at a college. ________ there were no pianos in Yan’an at that time, Xian still wrote ________ important music there, including The yellow River.

In May 1940, Xian ________ to the Soviet Union by the Chinese Communist Party to write music for movies. In the Soviet Union, he was ________, he got sick and later died of a lung illness (肺病) ________ October 30, 1945, aged only 40. Xian’s music, however, lives in the people’s hearts.

【推荐2】A man sat at an underground station in Washington, D.C.,and started to play the violin. It was _____ cold day in January. He played six Bach(巴赫) pieces _____ about 45 minutes. It was rush hour and _____ people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and the first person, a middle-aged man, noticed there was a _____ playing. He slowed down and stopped for _____ seconds and then hurried up _____ the subway.

After a minute, the violinist _____ his first dollar tip. A young woman threw the money in the box and continued to walk. Then _____ five minutes went by and someone stood against the wall to listen to _____, but the young man looked at his watch and started to walk again. ______,he was late for work.

During the musician's performance, only six people stopped and stayed for a while, twenty gave him the money ______ continued to walk. When he finished ______, no one applauded (鼓掌). No one knew the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world.

This is a(n) ______ story. Joshua Bell playing in the underground station ______ by The Washington Post as part of a social experiment. One of the conclusions coming from this experiment could be: ______ we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music, how many other things are we missing?

【推荐3】You may know the song Happy Birthday very well. But do you know about its writer? It was written by an _______ girl. And she _______ very rich after that.

When she was a child, she was poor. Once her friend Joan _______ her to a birthday party. She was _______ but sad because she didn’t have enough money _______ a gift for her.

“The party is coming soon, but now I have _______ money.” Tears ran down her face. Later that night she was in bed, thinking about the gift when the door opened and her grandma came in. “What happened?” her grandma asked. Hearing the girl’s story, she said, “Don’t _______. I think I can help you. How about _______ a song together? Happy birthday to ...” _______ beautiful song! They sang and sang. Suddenly she woke up. ________ it was a dream, she decided to write it down at once and sing it to ________ friends at the party.

When she sang the song at the party the next day, her friends were very happy. “How ________ you sing! I haven’t heard such a beautiful song before. Thank you ________ giving me the special gift.” said her Joan. And they learnt to sing ________ song together. ________, the girl became well-known in America.

【推荐1】Last year, I took part in my first marathon and I trained hard for it. However, a month before it, my left ankle（踝关节） _________ by a bike and this meant not running for weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. But I decided to continue.

I remember back to my _________ in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us _________ laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later told me that I was “not good at sports”.

_________ idea that I was “not good at sports” stayed in my mind for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized that running was a challenge to myself, not about competition or whether I was good at sports. It was all about the challenge to my own body and mind. A test of wills（毅力）!

The night before my marathon, I _________ that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, _________ ready to show that I could make it.

Shortly after _________ the start line, my shoe laces（鞋带）became united. So I stopped to tie _________ . Not the start I wanted!

At mile 3, passed a sign: “Go FOR IT, RUNNERS!”

By mile 17, I became out of breath and my left ankle hurt very _________. I walked for a while and then ran again ____________ I was in a lot of pain.

By mile 21, I felt terribly hungry!

As I was close ____________ mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my ____________ fan of all. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or asked questions about the money I spent on running.

I was one of the final ____________ to finish. But l finished as ____________! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

Be myself, move forward bravely and leave others’ words behind. I can now call ____________ “a marathon winner”.

【推荐2】My cousin _______ a good friend. Her name is Liu Li. She lost her arms in a car accident when she was a child. What was worse, she lost her parents _______ the age of twenty. Her elder sister, who was ten years older than her, wanted to _______ her. However, Liu Li refused _______ with her elder sister, saying that she would like to look after herself. She managed to enter college and studied very hard. Four years later, she graduated and found a job. Once she wrote in her diary, “Facing hard lives, I am very _______. I lost my arms, _______ I still have my legs. Give me _______ more sunshine, my world will be even warmer.”

Liu Li chose to face her misfortune (不幸) in a hopeful (乐观的) way. Instead of _______ sad every day, she decided not to let it hold her back. While she _______ difficulties, she was brave. She has taught us a good lesson. Whenever something bad happens to us, we have two choices. One is to complain (抱怨), and the other is to face it wisely. We must _______ it.

【推荐3】Steven lost an arm after a traffic accident years ago. On that day, he was knocked down by a car ________. His left arm bone was smashed(骨折). “I can’t feel my hand!” Steven kept shouting when he woke up in the hospital. It was the only way he could think of to stop the things ________ getting worse, though(尽管) it was no use at all. That was really ________ time for him.

Life still went on. Steven spent the next two years in the hospital. At first, he couldn’t even tie his shoes, open a bottle of water or cut his fingernails(指甲) by ________. Later he knew he had to face all the ________. With the support of his wife, he began to take part in all kinds of activities(活动). Gradually, he began dreaming of a better life and decided to learn to play ________ violin. Steven knew little about it and there was no one to ask for help. Therefore(因此), he made ________ progress. Then he met Lam, an amateur(业余的) violinist. Steven became Lam’s first student. Then Steven kept practicing ________ the violin with Lam. Sometimes he also played in public. When he played on the street, what people offered was not sympathy(同情心) but praise.

Steven says playing the violin doesn’t make life easier for him, and he has to face new challenges every day. ________, he won’t give up. And he ________ his best to do different new things in his life.