【推荐1】A Commitment to Life

The snow was falling and the roads had become dangerous. The schools were dismissed early, but much to my surprise, my ____ wasn’t canceled. So I went, feeling especially heroic. As far as I could see, I was risking my life to keep my ____. Snow or no snow, I would be on time for my scheduled donation at the local ____ center.

When I got there, I discovered I wasn’t ____. Four more “hero-types” were already lying back in donor chairs with lines ____ to their veins(静脉), and machines quietly pumping away to ____ their lifesaving gifts.

Seeing my fellow donors honoring their own commitments, I realized why I was there. I lay back in my donor chair, ready to make a ____ to the life of someone I would never ____.

To be honest, I’d never really thought about why I donate. I just did it. ____ a few months ago, during one of my ____ donations I learned that my blood was specifically for a cancer patient and for a newborn baby—both patients needed what I would give in order to live. I’ve viewed my visits to the blood center ____ ever since.

My wife Karen is a ____, too. And more importantly, she has been on the bone marrow (骨髓) list for fifteen years, ever since she ____ to provide bone marrow to a kindergartner with leukemia(白血病). That little girl died before Karen’s bone marrow could help her, but Karen was called again recently. Her test results were still on file, and it turned out she was a potential ____ for someone else. The caller asked Karen if she would still be willing to become a bone marrow donor. “Yes,” she said and then immediately began answering questions on the pages of paperwork for further testing. It was a race ____ time.

I wish I could say that this ____ was won. It wasn’t. The caller later thanked Karen for her participation and asked a few more questions—including whether or not she’d ____on the donor list. “Of course,” Karen answered.

Last week Karen gave blood and next week I’ll make my usual donation. I’ll clear an afternoon from my schedule and make an appointment. I don’t know whose life my donation may ____. Most likely it will be a ____, but on any day the person needing blood could be you or me or maybe a loved one. It is worthwhile to ____our time to donate.

I really do feel proud every time I donate. And I like the feeling.

【推荐2】I was 18 years old, fit, strong and ambitious. One day, I fell down for no_______reason. I saw many different specialists and was finally diagnosed with limb girdle muscular dystrophy(MD).

It was a very difficult time. I had no idea what life was going to_______at me and I was scared. By my late 30s it was_______and I had transitioned(转变）from a walking stick to a wheelchair. I wanted to be master of my own _______, so I had to recognize my_______ and play to my weaknesses. What I wanted to make _______was a trip to the north pole.

People with MD feel the cold. So why did I want to go to one of the most extreme, cold and_______places on Earth?I'd read about Chris Cope, who wanted to go to the north pole to raise money for MD, and it had _______ my adventurous spirit: I wanted to raise awareness about the _______, but I also wanted to find out what I was capable of. I'm very________

In the two years it had taken to organize the expedition, my muscles had worsened but we ________regardless. The unpleasant life coaching and cold training helped me to ________ how my body would behave in extreme cold, which made me aware of what to________.

I had an amazing team around me,________ the four different flights we took to get to the inner Arctic ice shelf were nevertheless discouraging. While we were on the ice the runway________and we had to wait for it to refreeze.________ we reached the north pole, I was bitterly cold, exhausted and a complete ________.I was on   the ice for the best part of three long days,then ________the final 350m.The expedition raised50,000 for ________MD is slowly destroying my life but I have chosen to fill it with ________ and I live life to the full.

【推荐3】When Eric Darko arrived in Seattle from Ghana to participate in a professional leadership exchange program in 2015, he had no idea that his visit would be ________ — not only for himself, but also for the people in his community back _______.

The 33-year-old biochemist, who _______ in a regional office of the Food and Drugs Authority, a state agency in Ghana, _______ being ＂moved＂ by the experience of volunteering at Northwest Harvest, Washington’s only statewide non-profit _______ distributor.

＂I had never seen a food bank before. The _______ of hungry people coming in and picking up food really _______ me,＂ Mr. Darko says. ＂I am the kind of person who likes ______. I remember saying in our closing meeting I would open a food bank in Ghana.＂

Five months ago, he kept his _______, launching Eastern Harvest Food Bank in the New Juaben Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It’s believed to be the first food bank in the country with warehouse operations.

Ghana is a country of about 28 million people. Despite its relatively small size, it ________ a fast-growing economy because of natural ________ such as gold, diamonds, and oil. It also has a strong agricultural sector, and the government is pushing more _______ in vegetable production.

Over the years, the government has made ________ gains in fighting hunger. Yet even with much progress, food ________ remains a problem.

With two assistants helping Darko as well as volunteers, Eastern Harvest Food Bank is ________ on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It provides people ________ — generally local residents who are age 50 or older — with ________ such as rice, beans, tomato paste, sugar and ________else. Since its launch, Eastern Harvest Food Bank has ________ more than 2,400 people.＂Some days we run out of food,＂ Darko admits. ＂We need more ________.＂

So far at least 54 volunteers, some of whom work for the Municipal Nutrition Office, have given their time to help distribute food. And some return with donations.

【推荐1】China and India _________ the Greening of Earth

Over the last two decades, the Earth has seen an increase in foliage (植物的枝叶) around the planet, _________ in average leaf area per year on plants and trees. Data from NASA satellites shows that China and India — two _________ economies with the world’s biggest populations — are leading the increase in greening on land. The effect comes mostly from ambitious tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.

Researchers from Boston University found that global green leaf area has increased by five percent since the early 2000s, an area _________ to the entire Amazon rainforest. The study was also published in the journal Nature Sustainability on February 11. It revealed that at least 25 percent of the global foliage _________ this century came in China.

“China and India _________ one-third of the greening, but contain only nine percent of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation — a(n) _________ finding, considering the general notion of land degradation in populous countries from overexploitation,” said Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University and lead author of the study.

China’s tremendous contribution to the global greening trend came in large part from programs to _________ and expand forests, which is about 42 percent of the greening contribution. These programs were developed in an effort to _________ the effects of soil erosion, air pollution and climate change.

Another 32 percent of the greening change in China, and 82 percent in India, resulted from __________ cultivation of food crops. Land area used to grow crops in China and India has not changed much since the early 2000s. Yet these regions have greatly increased both their annual total green leaf area and their food production to __________ their large populations.

Rama Nemani, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, saw a positive message in the new findings. “Once people realize there is a problem, they __________ to fix it,” he said. “In the 1970s and 80s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was __________. In the 1990s, people realized it, and today things have improved. Humans are incredibly resilient. That’s what we see in the satellite data.”

__________, the researchers rang bells as well. They pointed out that the gain in global greenness did not __________ offset the loss of natural vegetation in tropical regions like Brazil and Indonesia.

【推荐2】Over two weeks ago I was standing on the summit of Mount Qomolangma. It was the top of many years' hard work, and the_______of a childhood dream.

I have been overwhelmed by the tide of goodwill and support. But one thing has become_________apparent. Many people have constant misunderstandings about Mount Qomolangma. In their minds, Qomolangma has_________her crown. She has become a mountain connected with death, exploitation and_________.

The most common question I get asked is: "Is it_________with rubbish?" As a United Nations patron(资助人)of the wilderness, one of my roles is to_________back the Earth's remaining wildernesses and to act as a_______for the wild.

I climbed Qomolangma expecting a rubbish dump but what I found_________me: I_________saw any litter, from the airport to the summit.

The Nepalese have____________some huge clean-up campaigns in recent years, perhaps to improve their reputation, but also in response to some tragic natural disasters. The government____________a number of requirements including that each climber____________an additional 8kg of litter(not including their own) and incentives(激励)for Sherpas(夏尔巴人)of $ 2 per kilo of rubbish cleaned.

The results have been____________. The country lanes of Great Britain have more rubbish than the path to base camps; despite the 100, 000 footsteps I saw one of the cleanest, tidiest wilderness trails I have encountered.

I have spent time in many of the world's popular wilderness locations and I would say Nepal should be proud. It is an example of man repairing the____________he has done. As our focus turns to the oceans and the seemingly____________task of repairing our marine habitat, we could look at Qomolangma as a fine example of turning back the clock.

【推荐3】In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The problem is that countries around the world have growing mountains of_______because people are throwing out more things than ever before.

How did we_______a throw-away society? First of all, it is now easier to_______an object than to spend time and money repairing it. Thanks to modern manufacturing(制造业)and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and_______

Another cause is our _______of disposable products. Living in a society where efficiency comes first, we are always looking for_______to save time and make our lives easier. Companies produce thousands of different kinds of disposable products: paper plates, plastic cups and cameras, to name a few.

Our appetite for new products also_______to the problem. we are_______buying new things. Advertisements persuade us that the_______is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we________useful possessions to make room for new ones.

All around the world. we can see the________of this throw-away lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To________the amount of rubbish and protect the environment, more governments are requiring people to recycle materials.________, this is not enough to solve our problem.

Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions ________throwing them away. We also need to rethink our attitudes to________. Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.