【推荐2】When I was a boy, our immigrant (移民的) family would sometimes get together at my great aunt’s tiny house over the summer. ______ from all over the country would come to visit. The _____ would crowd together in the living room, around the kitchen table and on the front porch (门廊) to catch up on (叙旧) each other’s lives. All of us kids would be sent out into the front yard to ______, while dinner was being prepared.

Those were the days ______ video games and smartphones, so we often ended up playing a good old-fashioned game of tag (捉人游戏). I was the youngest and smallest of all the kids, so I always got _______ first. Although I tried hard to ______ my brothers and cousins, they were all too quick for me. I grew more and more _______. Finally, one day, I nearly got my brother, but I ______ to the ground just before I could. I _______ with tears in my eyes. I saw one of my cousins standing above me. She started to run away but was going much _______ than before. I caught up and tagged her ______. Then she turned to me, smiled, and said, “I’m it! You’d better run!” I ran off ______ as she turned to chase one of my older brothers.

I see now how her act of _______ saved me from sadness and returned me to joy. It didn’t matter that we had _______ seen each other before. We were family and she loved me.

Like actress Roma Downey wrote in her book, “We are all one. We all belong to each other. We are one big beautiful family.” Perhaps it is time that we all _______ our love, kindness, laughter and joy with everyone, without fear. It is time to bring this world together as one big family finally.

It’s been nearly 40 years since I became a member of the navy. You may be wondering how I have won so many honors as a commander-in-chief. In fact, it all began from the half a ______ basic training, which I will never forget. The training included midnight swims in the cold water, days without food and long painful runs in the soft sand. I always felt cold, wet, sleepy and painful. To me, the basic training was a lifetime of challenges that lasted six months.

Every morning in the training, my instructors(教官) would ______ in our rooms. The first thing they did was to _______ our beds. The corners would be square if we did it right. The covers would be pulled tight, and the pillow would be centered just under the headboard.

It was a difficult task. But every morning we were required to make our beds ______. It seemed a little funny, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proved to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning, you will have completed the ______ task of the day. It will bring you a small sense of success, and it will ______ you to do another task, and another and another. And by the end of the day, one task completed will have ______ into many tasks completed. Making your bed will prove the fact. If you can't do the little things right, you will ______ be able to do the big things right.

______ the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it. I can make sure that it doesn’t matter whether I ever ______ a day in uniform. Even now, I still start my day with making the bed to perfection. So if you have an awful day by accident, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.