【推荐3】Imagine that you’re a whale, about 25 feet long. You can swim as fast as 35 miles per hour. The entire _______ is your home. Now picture yourself as the same whale living alone in a small pool. You cannot dive _______ or swim great distances. There is nothing to do but circle the small pool day after day.

Now _______ you’re an elephant living in a close family group. Members of the family _______ each other while traveling long distances to find the large quantities of food needed to _______   the family. Now picture yourself _______ in a trailer (拖车) moving from city to city. You’re forced to perform tricks like standing on your head—things you’d _______ do in the wild.

For many years, people have watched whales and elephants   _______ in circuses and marine (海洋的) parks, but now people are speaking up for the animals. They’re saying that they deserve to live a more _______ life and shouldn’t be used for entertainment. And some companies are beginning to ________ .

In March 2015, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey ________ that they would no longer use elephant acts in their circuses. And in May 2016, the elephants performed their last ________ . One year later, SeaWorld Entertainment announced that they would gradually stop using shows featuring whales performing silly ________ .

The announcements by Ringling Bros and SeaWorld are the first steps in putting an end to using wild animals for ________ . These decisions were made as a result of many people speaking out loud and clear that ________ animals deserved to live freely.

【推荐2】“If you could have any three things, what would you_____?"

Eleven-year-old Ruby Chitsey loves asking that question. Even more_______, she then sets out to realize someone's__________.

Ruby has long been close to older people. Her mother, Amanda Chitsey, is a nurse at a nursing home in Harrison. Ruby often_________her at work after school. “So I feel free to go up to them and ask     ____   they need anything," she says.

Last May, Ruby noticed a resident (居住者) named Pearl staring out of a window. She seemed   ____ . “What are you looking at? Ruby asked. Pearl, her eyes filling with tears, said she was watching her________being led away by his new owner. Pearl didn't know when she would see him again.

Ruby learnt that Pearl didn't have enough to pay anyone to________ her pet at the nursing home. Ruby and Amanda also asked around and_______ that many nursing home residents are unable to     _____ even the smallest luxuries (奢侈品). So Ruby _______ to do something about it.

She started by asking residents what three things they wanted most in the world. Amanda________that they would ask for cars, houses and other things an 11-year-old wouldn't   be able to provide. _____, they asked for chocolate bars, McDonald's fries, and even just pants that fit properly.

“It broke me as a human," Amanda says. “We left the nursing home that day and went straight________a store and bought as many items as we could."

Using their own money, the Chitseys granted the wishes of about 100 people in three months. Then they started asking for_________.

People of Harrison responded _______ so much, so that Amanda set up a GoFundMe page, Three Wishes for Ruby 's Residents, hoping to collect $5,000. They_______ their goal in a month. After GoFundMe named Ruby a Kid Hero and______her story internationally this past January, Three Wishes raised $20,000 in 24 hours and more than $250,000 in five months.

Earlier this year, Three Wishes for Ruby 's Residents launched its first nationwide branch. One of its new________ is to set up a communal laptop (平台) in each state. Ruby doesn't plan to stop there. “I consider________ to be my hobby,” she says, “and I'm very good at it."

【推荐3】“WELCOME TO HELL, LADIES!” says Mr. Smith, the _________ of the adult ballet class. I force a smile as he presses down on my stiff (僵硬的)back, attempting to be a little more _________ .

When I was a little girl, I _________ elegantly dancing across the stage like the Swan Princess. With several reasons, my hopes of taking ballet lessons were killed. But every so often, usually while watching a brilliant performance of Swan Lake, those little _________ of unfulfilled desire would speak up and say that I should take lessons before it’s too late.

And here I am — more than 50 years — finally _________ for it.

I’m an absolute _________ , but 30 years older than the rest of the participants in the adult class. We are practising “port de bras”, a ballet term for the _________ of the arms. I flutter (挥动)my arms, awakening my inner _________ , “Your hands, they look like claws of a chicken,” Mr. Smith _________ , “No one wants to look at that. It’s ugly.” He points his finger at various body parts while __________ giving feedback, “Head up, neck long, chest proud, stomach in, back straight, bottom tight.” Every time he looks at me, I instantly know that I’ve missed something. So I take note of every previous adjustment to gain his approval.

After a few sessions, I find myself looking forward to taking ballet classes with a mix of anxiety and excitement. Between classes, I __________ my posture in every window I pass. I’m __________ . My hands are less claw-like and my posture a little more straight. And I constantly imagine I’m on stage, holding the audience entirely in my __________ .

Learning ballet as an adult has been a much bigger __________ than I expected, but I’m glad that I took action and that ballet still __________ to me as it did when I was a little girl.

【推荐2】Jim and his sister May walked in the street, and then they noticed a pet store. It was a very small pet store that didn’t have many _______ . The owner of the shop, Mr Smith, greeted Jim and May when they _______ . May said, “We would like to buy a dog.” “Ah, well, our shop is not very big,” Mr Smith told her. “So we only have two dogs to choose _______ .”

They asked Mr Smith to _______ them the dogs. Mr Smith took them to see the two dogs. One was a big Bulldog named Buster. The other was a tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. May wanted Teacup,   _______ Jim wanted Buster. They walked outside to discuss. They couldn’t agree on a dog. May _______ they race home for it. The one who _______ the race could choose the dog. Jim agreed, and then told May her shoelace(鞋带)was loose. When May _______ , he ran off to get a head start. Jim ran as _______ as he could because he really wanted that Bulldog. When he looked back, he found May was so ________ behind that he couldn’t even see her. Jim finally got home. He was tired but happy. He knew he was the ________ . May arrived a few minutes later. She congratulated him and they ________ the pet store together. However, when they arrived they only saw Teacup. They asked Mr Smith where Buster was.

Mr Smith gave them a(n) ________ that a few minutes after May and Jim left, two boys walked in and bought Buster.

Jim looked at May, and she couldn’t help ________ . Jim sighed and turned back to Mr Smith. “Sometimes you win the ________ , but not the prize!” Jim smiled sadly. “We’ll take the Chihuahua, please.”

【推荐3】When I arrived in Sydney two years ago from Brazil to study, I struggled to find work to support myself. My savings soon became dangerously ________ and I was upset that I might have to ________ my dream of studying overseas.

One day, I was at the park, worrying about the future. A lady sitting next to me noticed the ________ expression on my face and gave me a sincere smile. She asked if something ________ had happened and if I needed any ________. I didn't want to bother someone I had just ________ with my problems, so I pretended (假装) that everything was fine. But we ended up chatting for nearly two hours about life in Brazil and what I thought about Australia. She gave me lots of________ about places to visit in that country. Before we knew it, it was almost five o'clock. She said she had to go to work and ________ invited me to accompany (陪同) her. Why not? I ________ although I felt a little surprised.

We arrived at a restaurant and the most ________ thing happened. She said that she owned the place and needed some help in the ________ as one of her chefs was leaving soon. She asked if I wanted to take a part-time job there. I ________, of course, and started the next day. I spent almost one year ________ in her restaurant, improving my English, and ________ my skills. And most importantly, I built a good ________ with my boss. Even now living in different cities, we are still close friends and enjoy sharing long chats about life.