【推荐1】Heimaey is a small island off the southern coast of Iceland of just 4,200 people. But with its neighboring islands, there ________ the world’s largest puffin colony (海鹦群). Each spring, puffins go to the islands to breed. Around August, baby puffins ________ their way to the ocean. That’s when the ________ begins.

Baby puffins leave at night by instinct (本能) and follow the light of the ________ to the sea. But they are ________ by bright lights. Every year, a large number ________ lost. Worse still, the lost birds are ________ hit by cars or eaten by cats.

Each breeding season, the ________ of Heimaey start their own midnight ________, which is called the Puffling Patrol. They ________ to form search parties. “When you see a bird, you try to ________ it and guide it into the box,” Eldur Hansen, a 14-year-old boy said.

The next morning, they take the birds to the beach for ________. Over the years, kids have even developed a ________ method. “You do not throw them like a baseball,” Eldur says. “You hold them in both hands. Then ________ your arms out in front of you and let go.” Before being set ________, the birds are ________ and tagged(附上标签) for tracking purposes.

“Thanks to kids’ help, we scientists have learned that baby puffins now weigh less. That means they have a ________ chance of survival,” says Erpur Hansen, Eldur’s dad, a researcher in the Southeast Iceland Nature Research Center.

Scientists worry puffins will ________ completely. But the kids give ________ to Erpur Hansen. “The ________ is that people can make a difference,” he says. “Each time these kids help a bird get back to the ocean, they show us that.”

【推荐3】Life is just full of surprises! Some are ________ surprises and some maybe not so pleasing. Our team had a good surprise a few days ago that is worth sharing with ________ on our blog. Our teammate Carol had gone into town for our Thanksgiving shopping and ________ coming home with a 15-month-old German Shepherd (牧羊犬) female. We usually ________ to do as much as possible on our trips to the town because the town is 45 miles one way. One of her stops was to ________ medicine for our senior German Shepherdmale, Bozwell.

Her trip to our veterinarian (兽医) takes her right by the local animal shelter. She glanced over and ________ a German Shepherd dog sitting in the corner of her outdoor enclosure (围栏). ________ we love all dogs, the German Shepherd is our first choice. She ________ to the enclosure and got off her pickup truck. One of the ________ came up and asked if she was looking for a ________. Carol said she wasn’t but wanted to take a ________ and send it to me. It ________ that Lucy, the German Shepherd female, is 15 months old and was going to be ________ to another shelter in a distant city the ________ day.

Carol took Lucy ________ to our veterinarian for an exam. We know our dogs very ________ and knew that introducing another dog like this would not be a(n) ________. We have brought many dogs into our pack family over the years and because we fully understand our dogs, ________ a new dog has never been much of a problem for us. So Lucy is now part of our ________ and has all love we can ________ to it.

【推荐1】Yesterday, our teacher asked us when a man could be referred to as an old man. David stood up and said people with wrinkles could be called old people. However, Mary didn’t _______, for some people may gain wrinkles at an earlier age owing to their tough work. Then Lily expressed her idea that those reaching their 60s or more could be called old people. This time, Emily expressed her _______ that some old people may still be energetic and trying to pursue their dreams, which makes them appear young. The class was over and we still didn’t reach any _______, so the teacher asked us to think about it after class.

The _______has made me think about the saying of J. Barrymore that a man isn’t old as long as he is _______ something.

My grandma is such a woman who pursues her dream _______ when she’s 70 now. She has _______her dream of being a painter since she was a little child. _______, because her family was poor, she had to _______ her dream and stepped into the society to raise money so as to support her family. Though she has ________ abandoned her dream, she could hardly find any time to realize it because of the tough work. ________, chance came when she retired from her work. ________she had all-white hair and lots of wrinkles, she began taking her painting lessons. At first, I ________her idea of attending school at so old an age, but after seeing her paint happily and enjoyably, I ________ feeling it a good choice. She seems energetic and looks fine.

So if we have our dreams and seek for them, we aren’t old. It’s when we don’t know what we want and let ________ be the center point of our lives that we can finally be regarded as the old.

【推荐2】I love old people. Two of my best Mends are eighty-nine. I never understood it,______ for some reason I’ve always been ______ to older people much more than children. I have such fond ______ of sitting with my grandfather before he died. We used to ______ him once a week, talk to each other for an hour or so, and then I leave. At the ______ of a very good friend, I started going to see him ______ my own. I value that I was able to hear his stories and ______ mine. When I announced that I made a decision against our custom and my family was giving me a ______ time, the words of my grandfather helped to ______ me through. He said, “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I ______ you.” That’s really all I needed to hear.

Later on, I ______ in a hospital and in a number of retirement communities. I have seen it all. When you get old, you get real. Everything is ______ — roles, the health of the body, memory, the people you love, your home. Whatever we want to hold tightly, whatever we think we are …it all ______ goes. What are we left with? This is the basic question that old age invites us to ______.

Once a famous poet said, “Go gently into that good night.” I say it depends on ______ or not you want to suffer. You can be angry at the dying of the light, but nature is going to take its ______. Can you stop a river from flowing? Can you hold back a baby when it is ready to be born? The more we allow ourselves to ______ into the changes that are happening the ______ the journey will be.

These are ______ that anyone, at any age, can benefit from. I so ______ them now, and only wish I had known them earlier.

【推荐3】It is dark now when I begin my early morning walk in the woods. And now that autumn has marched into winter, darkness persists well beyond my 6 a. m. start time.

Paths have become familiar after years of hiking. But rocks and tree roots have magically appeared from previously ________ ground.

Certainly I hit my toe against or ________ on some unseen barriers. Fallen branches from last night’s storm ________ in wait. Layers of autumn leaves create a false floor through which my trusting footsteps ________. Sometimes a piece of moon donates some ________ to the mystery path. But when skies are dark, there are no ________ clues for where I step.

My very first night hike was during summer camp on a warm August night in the woods. Our leader ________ bright flashlights so we would not scare away the night creatures we hoped to find.

“See with your ________，” the leader told us over and over again.

________， that advice took effect. With ________ and courage, it didn’t take long before our feet became ________ to the ground’s textures(质地) and irregularities. Toes learned to ________ for barriers before trusting full weight on feet. Holes and dips in the ground were detected in ________ of possible fall…

But mistakes ________ happened. My foot got caught on a trip and I fell. Since the pace was ________， there was little damage except to pride. Once ________， I paused to feel the firmness of earth beneath me.

On my way home, as dawn ________ day, I thought about how similar night hikes were to journeys through life.

The same rules often ________ for both: slow down, concentration, “see” with new senses —and don’t be ________. Although the path is full of ________— hidden barriers, false surface, wet floor — the earth is solid and firm beneath. It is the nature of night ground. It is the nature of life.