Parental Instincts

Last year in early summer, I was walking up the hill to my house in suburban Brisbane when I saw two birds, each about 6 centimeters tall, standing in my driveway. They didn’t seem to notice me     1     I was right in front of them and then they immediately flew into the nearby bushes.

It was the first time that I     2     (see) two special birds make a nest in my front yard. I hadn’t really expected them to as wild birds don’t usually nest so close.

A few weeks later, the birds reappeared. I found them crouching beside a tree off to the side of my driveway. As I approached them, I imagined they would run away like they did last time, but instead, they     3     (stick) out their heads and made a threatening croaking sound     4     came from deep inside their throats.

I did some research and found that the birds are burhinus grallarius (长尾石鸡). I still didn’t know     5     they were croaking at me until a short time later I made an amazing discovery: they had laid two eggs which hatched into two small birds racing around now.

As I crept towards the birds, careful not to make any sudden movement, they started their croaking again,     6     (stretch) their necks forwards so they seemed longer and more threatening.

I was watching them in awe when I suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. The birds took this     7     a threat and the father raced towards me, spreading his wings to shield the mother and the chicks while making     8     (it) appear larger.

To them, my appearance was likely to be     9     (frighten), so I left quickly. I was amazed by their brave actions. It was their parental instincts that did     10     (wonder) and made them so courageous. It is hard not to be awed by nature.

Last spring, Fiona Presley, a library assistant from Scottish Highlands came across a surprising phenomenon she would never forget. While taking care of her garden, she    1     (spot) a bumblebee (大黄蜂) queen crawling around. What surprised her most was that the animal had no wings,     2     made it unable to fly. The bumblebee may have been affected by a virus in wing development. The insect had very slim chances of     3    (survive), but this kind-hearted woman came to the rescue.

Fiona created a beautiful mini garden for the helpless animal and treated it     4     some sugar water. When it was sunny, Fiona took it out for    5     walk and protected the insect from heavy rain by taking it indoors. Soon enough the beautiful friendship unfolded between     6     (they). Every time Fiona stopped by the garden, her tiny new friend would turn up     7     (greet) her. The bee cuddled (依偎) with the woman and seemed to light up when Fiona was holding it in her hands.

The earth bumblebees have an average lifespan of only 18 weeks,     8     Fiona was taking care of her new friend so well that it lived much longer.     9     (sad), the friendship couldn’t last forever since the bee eventually passed away,     10     (leave)a beautiful memory to its rescuer.

What is clone? The noun “clone” and the verb “to clone” are not used consistently. In biology a clone is a cell or an organism, which is     1     (genetic) the same as another cell or organism. Many simple organisms such as bacteria reproduce themselves by     2     (copy) their DNA and splitting (分裂) in half. The verb “to clone” refers     3     the process of creating cloned cells or organisms. The process differs,     4     (depend) on the kinds of cells used in the cloning procedure and the desired result. Usually,     5     scientists clone an animal, they take the nucleus (核) of a cell and place it into an egg cell from     6     the nucleus has been removed. The egg cell then divides to produce     7     embryo that develops an animal if the procedures work as     8     (plan). Different from other cloning cases, Dolly was created from a specialized adult cell,     9     from a very early embryonic cell in which no specialized     10     (tissue) begin to develop.

As an adult, one of the first questions we     1    (frequent) consider is what career to take up. The best time to think about careers is when we are still at school. However, many people often have a few ideas     2    (bounce) around in their heads.

It     3     (suggest) that we complete a “career aptitude test”. The results of it will help us know our strengths and interests. The information will provide us with a better chance of finding a job we like. We can find many different kinds of career aptitude tests online     4     free. Some involve     5     (person) interests and attitudes, while others focus more on asking us     6    (rate) different kinds of work scenarios. One popular test asks the participants to grade their     7    (prefer) for a variety of work tasks. Their answers     8    (divide) up between six different types of work personalities. After that, the participant is given a chart showing their score for each type of work personality. The top three scores are used to make a code     9    indicates the participant's overall work personality.

In conclusion, career aptitude tests are thought to be     10     useful tool, but we should remember that it is only guidance for us. The secret to a good career is finding something that we are passionate about.

China is the birthplace of silk. Raising silkworms for silk production    1    (date) back to over 6,000 years ago. Legend has it that the wife of the Yellow Emperor was having tea under a mulberry tree(桑树)    2     a cocoon(蚕茧)fell into her cup. As she watched, the cocoon spun a strong white thread. She unwound the string onto her finger,     3    (realize) that it could be used as weaving thread. Thus an industry was born. She taught her people how to raise silkworms, and    4    (late) invented the loom(织布机). Silk production reached     5    high level during the Shang Dynasty (1600BC—1046BC).

For more than two thousand years, the Chinese kept the secret of silk to    6    (they). It was one of the most guarded    7    (secret) in history. Anyone found guilty of taking silkworm eggs, cocoons, or mulberry seeds was put to death. Silk clothes were worn by emperors and rich people and became a symbol     8    wealth. Common people were prevented from wearing silk. With the increases of travels and trading, sericulture     9     (slow) reached the outside world from Asia to Europe. Now most of silk     10     (produce) in the south of the Yangtze River Delta, such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Shaoxing.