【推荐1】Few dogs are as energetic as Sedze, a white Shih Tzu whose name means “my heart” in the Dogrib language. Last summer, the little dog went through a life _______.

On August 13, Louise, the owner of Sedze, was _______ the camping bag under an evacuation order. A(n) _______ wildfire was getting close and most residents were instructed to leave the city. Louise and her friends _______ into two cars with their pets. They made their way onto the highway, heading toward an evacuation centre in High Level. After driving all night, the _______ group set up camp to have a rest before _______ the road again. But 20 minutes into the second half of their journey, one of Louise’s worst _______came to life: Sedze was missing.

The group _______ back, believing they may have _______ left Sedze there. But there was no ________ of her. After searching for 30 minutes, Louise and the others had to continue the journey, ________ but still holding out hope for a miracle.

Later that evening, the group finally arrived. Louise called her daughter, Jilaine, who lived in Calgary, and ________ the news. Ten minutes later, Jilaine called back with a hopeful ________. A man named Ryan had posted about a dog that he found on the Facebook. The dog looked exactly like Sedze! Louise got on the phone with Ryan and ________ Sedze’s identity with a description of a flower attached to her collar.

Sedze was alive and well. And as it turned out, Ryan had also evacuated to High Level. While talking, they discovered that they were standing on opposite sides of a street. “It was the greatest feeling when he brought her over,” she said. Today, Louise still ________ at their luck that Ryan found Sedze.

【推荐2】A baby giraffe born with a leg abnormality has been fitted with special leg braces (支架) to help her walk.

The giraffe is named Msituni. She ________ from a condition called carpal hypertension (腕骨高血压). It ________ the young animal’s front legs, which was especially ________ to a giraffe. The abnormality was putting a lot of ________on her joints and bones. Zoo workers ________ that she could die if they did not quickly correct the ________. This is because it could ________ the giraffe from getting food and from being able to walk around.

Zoo officials ________ experts to treat the giraffe. The medical team had a lot of ________ fitting people with braces to correct leg problems. But they had ________ treated an animal before. Ara Mirzaian was a member of the medical team. He found the situation strange and ________ went online to start learning as much as possible about giraffes.

The team ________ models of the giraffe’s legs. It took the team about a week to ________ the braces, which were made of a ________ called carbon graphite (碳石墨). After 10 days in the special brace, the problem was ________. In total, Msituni was in braces for 39 days from the day she was born. She ________ in the animal hospital the whole time.

Mirzaian said he planned to ________ a picture in his office of the baby giraffe wearing her special brace so that the children he treats might be ________ to wear their own braces. “It was the   ________ thing to see an animal like that walk in a brace,” he said. “It feels ________ to know we saved a giraffe’s life.”

【推荐1】Vicky Umodu from Colton in California was in the process of moving into her new home. She was in urgent _______ of furniture but couldn’t afford to buy anything _______ or used. So she decided to search online for other options. She was _______ to find a lovely furniture set that was being given away. It looked hardly used. Vicky then contacted the owner of the furniture _______ and was more than blessed to have it.

Once she got it home, she started to _______ the furniture. But she noticed something a little _______ about one of the chairs. The cushion (坐垫) felt uneven. As she inspected the cushion, she _______ what she was feeling was perhaps a hot water bottle under the cushion cover.

But to her _______, she found dozens of envelopes full of money! Instead of keeping it, she right away _______ the money to the owner of the furniture. Much to her surprise, she later learned the furniture ________ the owner’s grandma who passed away last month and the owner had no ________ that his grandma saved money by ________ envelopes of money in furniture.

Vicky’s ________ turned into a double blessing. Not only did she find favorite furniture, but the owner of the furniture also gave her a(n) ________! He gave her extra cash to buy a new fridge. What a valuable ________ she is teaching her children and the world!

【推荐3】Richard is a boy who is positive towards life. He is interested in doing sports and takes a(n) ___________ part in a lot of ___________ such as soccer, boxing, skiing and badminton. He is always against ___________ in sports and tries to avoid errors in matches. As a result, he is ___________ to be an excellent athlete and ___________ all kinds of sports. Doing gymnastics in the ___________ is his favorite. To build up ___________, he jogs in the stadium every day. In his mind, _________ makes him relaxed and ___________. Sweating during the jog gives him an enjoyable feeling. Besides, in order to have a slim shape, he keeps a ____________ diet.

Once he signed up for a marathon ____________ in his city. During the competition, he fell down on the track and his left leg was injured. The audience, as well as his captain, thought he would end in ____________. However, though under stress, he didn’t ____________ but ran as hard as he could to ____________ for his team. The spiritual strength he showed made him unique. Finally, not only did he become the champion and win the medal as well as the honor for his team, but also he won the ____________ of the citizens.

【推荐2】There are many birds that visit our leafy garden. But it’s the pair of orange frogmouths (蟆口鸱) that have been returning for years to ________ their young that bring the most excitement. It’s been wonderful to ________ how both parents take on the serious duty of caring for their young.

Last summer the frogmouth family, parents and two babies, was ________ sitting in a tall tree close to our backyard enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. With little ________, a light rain began to fall.

At first the birds seemed to ________ the rain and moved out along the branch, loosing their ________ to take advantage of the wet weather. But within minutes, day turned to night. ________ clouds gathered. Crashing thunder and blinding lightning, wild winds and driving rain ________ the small garden into a(n) ________ place for the little family.

Through the flashes of lightning, we watched in ________ as the parents guided their little ones back along the branch to the tree trunk, both parents ________ their wings over the young to protect them from the powerful rain. When the ________ passed, the family moved back out along the ________, bathed in the sunshine.

When I look up at the pair of yellow frogmouths who continue to visit our ________, I know I’m not just looking at devoted parents, but very ________ ones.

【推荐3】Our family moved to Texas in 1996, when my husband Jerry got a job in a factory as a pipe-fitter. We lived in a small mobile home. When the job in Texas ended, he was out of _________. Months went by. Rent was _________ on the mobile home.

“At least we would have a nice _________,” I thought as I drove the girls to the supermarket on Christmas Eve to buy some food. Amanda was two years old and Kimberly was five years old. In the supermarket, I was _________ by different items. The _________ wrapped with shiny paper looked especially beautiful. I wished the girls weren’t _________ by them. Kimberly _________ alongside the cart with excitement. “Maybe she forgets this Christmas,” I thought.

_________, we got to the checkout counter. When we wheeled the cart out, we saw a wall of Christmas trees, each waiting to be _________ so its branches could __________ in a special spot at home. “Look, Mom!” said Kimberly. “Sweetie, we can’t get a tree this year,” I replied. Amanda was too young to have any __________, and Kimberly seemed to be calm, but I felt terrible. We pushed our cart through the parking lot. Halfway to the car, Kimberly stopped and pointed, “Look, Mom! That can be our tree!” At first, I wasn’t sure what she was pointing at. Then I saw a pine __________ lying on the ground. I couldn’t say no again. “Okay.”

I said. “We will bring it home.”

Back home, I found a coffee can to __________ it in. Kimberly collected some rocks and filled the can. While I made dinner, the girls colored some stars and bells. Jerry __________ their artwork for the tree. We set the display on the table in our tiny kitchen. “That branch was a lucky find,” Jerry said when we sat down for dinner.

__________, it was luck. My family and I celebrated many other Christmas holidays with real trees later, but it is the Christmas in the mobile home that we all remember most.