【推荐3】When Ariel rode her bike to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge(保护区)in Queens, New York, last November, she planned to go hiking and bird-watching. Bingo! A mile into her walk, she _________ a gorgeous female mute swan near the water’s edge. Ariel, 30, who had worked at the Wild Bird Fund rehabilitation(康复)center in Manhattan, knew that mute swans can be _________. But it didn’t move as she _________ this one.

She was certain that the bird needed _________ attention. Then Ariel _________ her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, _________ picked it up, and cradled it in her arms. And then an idea _________ her: What do I do now?

Her best choice was the rehabilitation center. _________, that was across the East River and on the other side of town. How was she going to _________ a 17-pound swan on her bike all that way? Luckily, some strangers driving by offered her, her bike, and the swan a __________ to a nearby subway station. And no one seemed particularly __________ by the feathered passenger on the subway. One guy, says Ariel, was “sitting right in front of me on his phone. I don’t know if he noticed there was a swan in front of him.”

Ariel __________ the rehabilitation center, and Higginbotham, an animal-care manager, __________ her up at the subway station and drove bird, bike, and __________ to the center. There, staff members __________ that the swan might have lead(铅)poisoning, caused by swallowing weights used on fishing lines.

The staff did all they could to help her. __________, even with all the thoughtful care, the swan caught a serious disease due to bacterial infection. Two months after Ariel came to her rescue, she __________.

It’s a(n)__________ ending, but the real story is just __________ some people are willing to go to save a swan in the big city. In all, Ariel traveled two hours by foot, car, and subway while dragging her bike. “That’s the perfect __________ of who she is,” says Higginbotham.

【推荐1】Why Thoughtful Gifts Are the Worst Gifts?

During all kinds of holidays, millions of people will buy gifts for loved ones, which is great--- _______ that tons of those people make the same mistakes, and buy the _______ gifts.

Roughly 10 percent of gifts are _______ each year---and the percentage of unwanted gifts is surely higher given that nice people may not want to return presents.

What's going on?

Gift buying _______ a deceiving selfish pursuit. We don't actually look for things people want to receive. _______, and to many of our gifts' detriments, we _______ look for things that we want to give. It’s an important problem.

The research says _______ .

“Gift givers want to prove how well they know a person by choosing a thoughtful gift,” said Mary Steffel, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati _______ research has focused on gift-giving. “But people aren't very good at guessing what others want.”

Research has shown that givers value the gifts they buy more than recipients (接受者).The result seems to come from a simple wrong belief _______ thoughtful presents are the best presents. They are not. In fact, they ________ just be the worst presents. The more thought you put into a present, the more likely you are to stray from buying what the person you're buying the present for actually wants.

“Gift givers focus on what people are like instead of what people actually would like,” said Steffel. “And it's most pronounced when they're shopping for people they are close to.”

In other words, people let their gift-giving egos (自我)get ________ the way of great presents. Especially when the recipient is someone they want to show they know really well.

Fortunately, the answer to our ________ on guessing what people want is simple: stop it.

“People want ________ it is they happen to want in the moment, which can be very specific,” Steffel said. “You are much better off ________ people what they want.”

There is another helpful ________ of thumb. Buy gifts that can be used more broadly. People prefer gift cards to actual gifts, and cash to ________. Here is an example. ________ you have a friend, and your friend really likes margarita (玛格丽特鸡尾酒).You might think of buying that friend a margarita-maker.

But a margarita-maker, ________ it speaks to a specific quality in that friend, is actually a pretty ________ present. Better yet? Give the friend enough cash to buy the device, ________ it, and then accept the reality that they are probably going to buy something else they want much more.

At present, almost everyone has a mobile phone, but have you ever thought that cell phones_______ be bad for your health? A study shows that heavy mobile phone use may cause hearing loss.

This study shows that people who use cell phones for about an hour a day have a _______time hearing some similar sounds, especially in their right ears. It is getting harder for _______to tell the difference between the sounds of “s” and “f”, and “t” and “z”.

Researchers studied 100 people who used cell phones and _______ them with 50 people who did not. The study lasted for 12 months. What the researchers found was that cell phone users had more hearing _______than those who did not use cell phones.

Besides this, our ears have many little_______inside them. Too much noise will cause these hairs to get weak and _______ die. When these hairs die, it affects our ability to listen.

However, cell phone users don’t care too much _______this study. One man said, “I’d be more worried about people who_______MP3 players. They put those earphones in their ears and listen to very __________ music. I think that is more likely to cause hearing loss than a cell phone.”

【推荐1】“Leave a place better than you found it.” It’s a ________philosophy (人生哲学), but one that William Lindesay holds dear. On April 22, which was also Earth Day, he led twenty _______to help clean up the Jiankou section of the Great Wall.

“He who ________is the owner”, William said in the opening remarks of the cleanup event in 2000. “The Great Wall _________ China, and is also one of the greatest cultural relics in the world. Everyone has a _________to protect it. Every day should be Earth Day,” he said.

During the past three decades, he has spent most of his time _________and exploring the Great Wall and has made his own __________to protect the cultural relic. “It’s a ________thing that people are going out to enjoy themselves and to _________the great history and heritage, but it’s also quite dangerous if they don’t __________how fragile the historic sites are and how fragile the _________is,” William said.

In 1991, his first _________Alone on the Great Wall was published, and he has published another five books about the Great Wall since then. In 2001, he __________ the International Friends of the Great Wall, an organization whose aim is to protect this _________to the past.

His next step is to _________exhibitions (展览会) about the Great Wall as a monument over the last 400 years. The exhibitions are expected to be held in Beijing, London, Paris and Washington D.C.

【推荐2】Every culture on the planet has certain topics that people avoid discussing. But the taboos (禁忌) of one culture may be very different from those of another. You may be ______ that people from other cultures say what you can't talk about.

Paying attention to what people don't ______ can teach us something important about their culture. Their taboo topics give us clues about what they value, respect or even fear. Topics that are considered too personal or too controversial (有争议的) may also be avoided.

America is full of taboo topics. Usually, during a polite conversation, Americans will ______ both politics and religion. They also avoid talking about racial issues.

Why? Because these topics can cause strong opinions and ______. Americans believe it's best to avoid them—especially at social gatherings.

Many Americans also do not feel ______ talking about their personal income, age or health. ______, they prefer to make small talks about the weather, sports or common interests.

What do these taboos tell us about American ______? For one, they show that Americans place importance on ______. America certainly isn't the only place that values it. You will find ______ taboos about asking personal questions in many European countries. "This is especially true in Germany," says Hanna Graf, a German living in Shanghai. "In Germany, you are not supposed to ask about other people's personal business," she says. "But there are no ______ rules about what you can't ask; it's just in people's minds."

In Brazil, ______, almost anything seems open to discussion. "Brazilians talk about all kinds of personal issues," says Mark Quinlan, who grew up in Brazil. But of course, even Brazil has its own taboos. In Brazil, soccer is the one topic that can turn friends into enemies. Brazilians love the sport. Saying anything ______ about soccer can cause big trouble. Even expressing preference for one team over another can be ______.

Like Brazilians, Australians talk freely about almost anything. However, they do not talk about their personal or business ______. They prefer to let people judge them by their actions, not their words. Boasting your achievements will only make you the ______ of other people's jokes.

And what about your taboos? The next time you have a conversation, pay attention to what isn't said. You might be amazed at what you learn about your own culture.