1 When I walked in the door at school, a bunch of guys cornered me and I braced myself for the teasing to start.

brace yourself

■to prepare yourself physically or mentally for something unpleasant 使防备；使准备；使经受锻炼

例句：•The passengers were told to brace themselves (= to press their bodies hard against something or hold them very stiff) for a crash landing.乘客们被告知要做好紧急迫降准备。

造句：She told me she had some bad news for me and I braced myself for a shock.

2 I guess somebody must have thought the tape of mom cutting loose at the Talent Show was pretty funny, because it's all of the Internet .

cut loose放飞自我！

to start enjoying yourself in a happy noisy way after a period of controlled behaviour

例句：I'm ready to cut loose and enjoy the weekend.

造句：You can sway to the rhythm of the music you like and cut loose for the next several minutes, just to relax.

3 Now I am kicking myself for not keeping up my pen-pal relationship with M.

be kicking yourself /could have kicked yourself

■used to say that you are very annoyed with yourself because you have done something stupid or missed a chance （由于做了蠢事或错失机会而）懊恼，自责

例句：When I realized what I'd done I could have kicked myself.当我意识到自已的所作所为，不禁懊恼不已。

造句：They must be kicking themselves for selling their shares too early.

句子

I guess someone eventually heard me in there, and they reported him to the front desk. Within a few minutes, word got around the building that there was a potential  in the women's room.

造句：Someone eventually saw the suspicious-looking guy in the hallway, and they reported him to the front desk. Within a few minutes, word got around that there was a dangerous character haunting in the hotel.

日记：

I've finished reading the book "Diary of a wimpy kid" today. It's a real pleasure to be on the journey with this wimpy kid for the last few weeks. Despite those "mischievous acts "and consequences caused by him, you will come to realize that he actually doesn't mean any harm most of the time when putting yourself in the kid's shoes. The book gives us a fresh perspective on how kids see things differently from adults.