【推荐2】Early spring can be a tough time in the Midwest. It can ________ both people and animals with its unexpected snowstorms.

Every spring, migratory(迁徙的) birds camp out in a large pond near my house on the way to their summer ________. This year, besides geese, scaups, a type of diving duck spent days hanging out ________ eats. Then a snowstorm hit, followed by a very ________ night.

The next morning, I was shocked to see that all birds had ________ overnight — except one lone female, who was diving ________ and dynamically in the circle of open water. Her movement and body heat had kept the ________ from coming close as I ________ her from my warm house.

However, as the temperature dropped, the open water got smaller, and her movements slowed. I watched with ________ as she eventually stopped moving, fearing that something might happen.

And then it happened: Two more ducks appeared, ________ next to her still body. More ducks came and the circle of water came alive with their splashing and diving. Slowly, the circle of water ________ in size. Within minutes, the lone female was revived by her friends’ presence.

This little duck wouldn’t have ________ another night without her friends. She, in turn, had kept that area of water ________, so her friends had a place to stop and ________ themselves. Sometimes, a tiny action — even our mere ________ — might brighten one’s day, and even save one’s life.

【推荐3】The griffon vulture (兀鹫) is an endangered species. _________, conservationists have been training cameras on some of their nests to try to _________ them.

This year they’ve been watching a family _________ on a cliff (悬崖). The pair had single chick. All was going _________ until the mother was killed when she flew into power lines, which are the biggest _________ to the huge birds.

The vultures have to fly far and wide to _________ food, and the experts knew that the father would not be able to provide enough _________ for the chick on his own. The only way to _________ the chick appeared to be to send climbers up to the nest and take it into captivity (圈养). But then someone suggested a different _________ and within a few days of the mother’s death she had a rescuer — Mama Drone (无人机). The drone has been dropping food to the chick every two or three days.

Getting to the cliff isn’t __________. It requires precision flying. They also __________ a drone that would be non-threatening to the chick and other rare __________ in the area.

XTEND is a cutting-edge drone company that __________ in giving operators a pilot’s-eye view. Virtual reality puts the __________ in the drone’s driving seat, as it were. With the company’s __________, the conservationists prepared for the mission by making a __________ of the nest site in their base. Operators __________ practice flights for hours to prepare themselves for the real thing.

And mission Mama Drone has worked out __________. All those involved got the reward they’d __________ earlier this week. The chick __________ for the first time.

【推荐2】When you eat something really sour, there is something that can’t be ignored. It is the _________ that isn’t limited to your tongue. An especially sour bite has a way of making your entire face _________ into a look of discomfort. If you can’t _________ puckering (撅起) your mouth when you lick a lemon or snack on Sour Patch Kids, you can thank evolution.

That unmistakable sour flavor that stimulate your taste buds is a product that acids release when they combine with saliva (唾液) . When your mouth _________ this sign of acid, it lets you know in a dramatic way. Your taste receptors   _________ and your face twists involuntarily in what’s known as a rejection response, according to Live Science.

Your tongue’s reactions to bitter or spicy foods are rejection _________ as well. Many plants found in nature with these _________ are poisonous, and your body’s strong reaction is its way of protecting you from harm. Sourness _________ naturally in fruits like citrus (柑橘), but it can be a warning of food-borne illness in many cases. _________ fruits and dairy products contain acid, which gives them a sour taste too.

It’s hard to ignore the sour flavor of what you’re eating when it twists your entire facial expression. This reaction isn’t necessarily enough to help someone who has already taken a bite of a bad apple, but it may protect the people they’re with. When our early human ancestors hunted for food, a sudden twisted face may have ____________ that whatever that person put in their mouth wasn’t good to eat.

The pucker response to ____________ flavors helped early humans avoid getting sick, but it doesn’t stop us from eating this kind of food today. The flavor is so sought after that there’s an entire candy market ____________ to maximizing it in processed products. So why do we love to eat the very thing that our face and tongue warns us might kill us?

The answer is ____________ taste. Humans don’t naturally desire bitter, spicy, or sour foods, but foods with these characteristics are important components of a nutritious diet.____________ loving these flavors from birth, we’re conditioned to enjoy them through repeated exposure. By becoming familiar with the taste via our peers and family members, humans ____________ learn which sour (and bitter and spicy) foods are healthy and which are potentially harmful.

Though we rely on the sense every day, taste doesn’t work exactly how you may assume.

【推荐3】The world is experiencing a major health crisis. As the new coronavirus spreads, many countries are limiting their citizens’ activities. Travel has been ________ . Many schools are closed. In major cities around the world, restaurants and other businesses are shut down.

Public emergencies ________ a certain type of person—the panic shopper. Some people fear not being able to find basic needs for survival. ________ , they buy everything off supermarket shelves in preparation for the days to come. Bread is often among the first products to disappear in emergency situations.

So, if you have never made bread, now may be a good time to learn. Bread making is a ________ skill. With very few simple things—such as flour, salt and yeast—you can ________ a fresh loaf of bread for your family, neighbours or coworkers.

Baking is not just a useful survival skill. It can make you feel better at ________ times. ________ , baking and cooking have been used to treat people with mental health issues.

Julie Ohana is a(n) ________ worker. She offers what she calls culinary therapy to her patients in New York City. “I say’ therapy’ because to me cooking is so therapeutic. And ‘therapeutic’ really means something that makes you feel ________ , something that is helpful and beneficial to the person doing it.” Julie Ohana uses culinary therapy to help people overcome many kinds of issues. She explains that culinary therapy ________ on many levels.

Baking requires mindfulness. “So when you’re in the kitchen —whether you’re cooking or you’re baking—it really requires a certain level of mindfulness, of being ________ in the moment. Specifically, when you’ re baking. And baking really requires step-by-step, following a ________ , being more precise. Kneading the dough or rolling something out, you really get the full benefit of being present in the moment and being able to relax and ________ all the other thoughts and just focus on the here-and-now. And there really are very strong benefits of being able to do that, to be able to relax, to decompress, destress, and really ________ one’s level of life satisfaction.”

Baking is a labour of love. Ohana also says baking is a process filled with love. It not only makes you feel good, it produces something tangible—something you can touch and eat!

Baking is emotional. Often our food experiences are ________ to family memories and stories. We remember meals our grandmothers made. We teach our children important recipes for family favourites.

Ohana says something that all bakers know—giving delicious, baked goods makes the giver feel as good as the receiver. So, she calls baking a win-win.

【推荐3】Life can be stressful. For starters, there’s your busy schedule — waking up early for school, studying late at night for tests, participating in sports practice and so on. There’s a lot to ________!

Everyday issues can add ________ stress, too — regretting a(n) ________ with a parent or considering an important ________. With lots on your mind, it’s ________ to feel stressed.

There are many different ways to cope with ________, such as talking with friends, exercising, and seeing a school counselor. Yoga can help ________ stress because it promotes relaxation, which is the natural ________ of stress. Yoga can benefit three aspects of ourselves that are often ________ by stress: our body, mind, and breathing.

People who do a little bit of yoga each day often find they are better able to handle things when life gets a little crazy. Practicing yoga builds your ________ to calm, focus, balance, and relax yourself.

Lots of people think of yoga as stretching the body into various impossible-looking ________. But yoga is easier than it looks. There are simple poses as well as complicated ones. Yoga requires no special ________, so you can do it almost anywhere.

Yoga poses are good exercise and can help loose up the tense muscle in your body. The areas of the body that tend to carry the most stress are the neck and shoulders. But other parts of the body can also ________ simple yoga stretches.

Yoga is so much more than just ________ exercise, though. The key to getting the best out of each pose is to ________ not only on your body, but also on your mind and breathing.