【推荐2】A family had had a cat for years. Then one day, the children finally _______ to persuade their parents to get them a dog as well. So a little Labrador (拉布拉多犬) _______.

The dog was so _______ that everyone wanted to hold him and he charmed everyone by just loving them. The cat made it very clear that she did not welcome another _______ in the house, but the little dog _______ her everywhere, trying to make friends with the angry cat.

So the family thought the cat would _______ like the dog.

Then one day the family heard horrible _______ from their backyard. They ran to the _______ to see what was happening. They lived in the suburbs and so they saw a real lynx (猞猁) was just planning to _______ their cat for lunch. The poor cat had nowhere to run or hide. It would only be a matter of seconds and their cat would be ________.

And then suddenly a black lightning ran to the cat. The little dog ________ the big lynx with all its strength. He was not frightened, nor did he stop to think. He saw his ________ in trouble and did what to be done. The family opened the window and started yelling and the father ran to the yard. The lynx soon disappeared into the ________.

And ever since that day the cat’s behaviour towards the dog ________ totally. Now it was the cat that followed the hero dog everywhere.

So we can draw a conclusion: if ever anyone is ________ towards you, don’t turn your back on them. They may not rescue your life—but their kindness can certainly rescue your day!

【推荐3】While so many birds visit our leafy garden every year, it’s the pair of tawny frogmouths (茶色夜鹰) that have been returning for years to _________ their young that bring the most excitement. It’s been wonderful to observe how both parents take on the _________ duty of caring for their young.

Last summer the frogmouth family, parents and two babies, was _________ sitting in a tree close to our back deck _________ the late afternoon sunshine. With little _________, dark clouds emerged, and _________ rain began to fall.

At first the birds seemed to enjoy the rain and moved out along the branch, fluffing up (抖开) their feathers to _________ the wet weather. But within minutes, day turned to night. Dark clouds brought a _________ heavy storm; crashing thunder and blinding lightning, wild winds and driving rain turned the garden into a(n) _________ place for the little family.

Through the flashes of lightning, we watched in __________ as the parents guided their young back along the branch until they were all gathered close to the tree trunk, both parents spreading their wings over their young to __________ them from the rain. When the storm passed, the family walked __________ out along the branch and spread their wings to enjoy the sunshine.

When I look up at the pair of tawny frogmouths who continue to __________ our garden, I know I’m not just looking at __________ parents, but very __________ ones.

【推荐1】To some people, the dictionary was a volume of truth and wisdom. To others, the dictionary is a thing you picked up in the bargain bin because you felt that an adult should_______ a dictionary. They don’t realise that the dictionary is a human document, ______ being edited, proof-read, and updated by actual, living, awkward people.

In Springfield, Massachusetts, there are a couple dozen lexicographers who spend their workweek doing nothing but_______ dictionary definitions—for Memam-Webster, to be exact. This is the song of my people.

At Merriam-Webster, there are only two_____ requirements to be a lexicographer: You must have a degree in any field from a four-year college or university, and you must be a native speaker of English.

People are surprised to hear that we don’t require lexicographers to be linguists（语言学家）or English______. The reality is that a group of people with _______education backgrounds will produce better definitions.

We require that our lexicographers be native speakers of English for a very ______ reason: That5s the language we focus on, and you need mastery over all its idioms and expressions.

There are some additional _____and unstated requirements to be a lexicographer. First and foremost, you must be possessed of something called sprachgefuhl, a German word that means “a feeling for language.” Not everyone has sprachgefiihl, and you don’t know if you are possessed of it until you are knee-deep in the English language. I use “possessed of ’ _____ : You will never have sprachgefiihl, but rather sprachgefuhl will have you, like a Teutonic imp (小恶魔）that settles itself at the base of your skull and hammers at your head every time you read something like “crispy-fried rice” on a(n) _____ . The imp will dig its nails into your brain, and instead of ordering take-out Chinese, you will be ____at the take-out counter, wondering if “crispy-fried rice” refers to plain rice that has been fried or to the dish known as “fried rice” but perhaps prepared in a new and exciting way. That hyphen, you think, could just be misuse, or ... And your Teutonic imp squeezes its claws a little harder.

You must also be suited to sitting in near ______ for eight hours a day and working entirely alone. There will be other people in the office but you will have almost no contact with them. _______, you are warned of this over and over again.

When I interviewed for my first job, I met with Fred Mish, Merriam-Webster's then editor-in- chief. He cast an eye over my resume and asked with some doubt if I enjoyed interacting with people, because if I did, then I should understand this job promised ______of the sort. “Office chitchat of the sort you’re likely used to,” he said, “does not ______ good lexicography (词典编纂）and doesn’t happen.”

【推荐1】We’ve heard many stories of individuals across the world who’ve adopted a zero-waste lifestyle. However, it’s much less often that we come across an entire community that is trying to become waste-free. The residents of Kamikastsu, Japan, take recycling so ________ that they actually hope to become the nation’s first zero-waste community.

Kamikatsu has no ________ trucks, so residents need to compost (制成堆肥) their kitchen waste at home. They also have to wash and sort the rest of their trash into 34 different categories. They would then bring it to the recycling center themselves where workers make sure that the waste goes into the correct bins. It apparently took some time for the residents to   ________ this rule, but they eventually managed to adapt to the dramatic changes and are now seeing them as normal.

Reuse is highly ________ in Kamikatsu. There is a local kuru-kuru shop where residents can ________ new things with used items at no extra cost. And the kuru-kuru factory employs women to make bags, clothes, and stuffed dolls out of ________ items. Businesses are also encouraged to participate in responsible waste management. The town has a zero-waste brewery (啤酒厂) housed in a building constructed of reused materials.

With a population of just over 1,700, Kamikatsu ________ about 80 percent of its trash and only 20 percent goes to landfills (垃圾填埋场). You could say that the town is very ________ to achieving its goal. They’ve ________ their old practice of dumping trash into open fires after declaring their zero-waste ambition in 2003.

All the recycling facilities in Kamikatsu are managed by a Zero Waste Academy. It also regularly hosts groups of local schoolchildren, ________ them on the benefits of a zero-waste lifestyle. Every year, the Academy receives around 2,500 visitors from all around the world, all of them eager to learn more about zero-waste and how Kamikatsu has managed to implement its principles in such a short period of time.

【推荐2】The United States is well-known for its network of major highways designed to help a driver get from one place to another in the shortest possible time. Although these wide modern roads are generally ________ and well maintained, with ________ sharp curves and many straight sections, a direct route is not always the most enjoyable one. Large highways often pass ________ scenic areas and interesting small towns. Furthermore, these highways generally ________ large urban centers, which means that they becomes crowded with ________ traffic during rush hours and the “fast, direct” way becomes a very slow route.

However, there is almost always another route to take if you are not in a hurry. Not far from the relatively new “superhighways”, there are often older, _________ heavily travelled roads which go through the countryside. Or of these are good two-lane roads; others are uneven roads curving through the country. These secondary routes may go up steep slopes, along high ________ or down frightening hillsides to towns ________ in deep valleys. Through these less direct routes, longer and slower, they generally go to places ________ the air is clean and the scenery is beautiful, the driver may have a chance to get a fresh, clean ________ of the world.

【推荐3】The opening and closing of the doors are the most significant actions of man’s life. What a_________lies in doors!

No man knows what awaits him when he opens a door._________ the most familiar room, where the clock ticks and the hearth glows red at dusk may harbor_________. The worker may actually have called and_________the leaking pipe. The cook may have been ill and demanded her passports.

There are many kinds of doors. Revolving doors for hotels, shops and public buildings. They are _________ the busy, bustling ways of modern life. Can you _________William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens skipping through a_________door? There are double doors, sliding doors, stage doors and glass doors. The_________ and mystery of a door lies in its quality of being hidden. A glass door is not a door at all, but a window. The meaning of a door is to _________what lies inside; to keep the heart in suspense.

Also, there are many ways of opening doors. There is the cheery__________of elbow with which the waiter opens the kitchen door. There is the sympathetic and awful__________of the dentist’s maid who opens the door into the operating room and, without speaking,__________that the doctor is ready for you.

The opening of doors has in it some flavor of the__________, some sense of moving into a new moment. Even in__________, the opening of a door may bring relief. But the closing of doors could be__________. A door closed brings__________to an end. And there are degrees of sadness in the closing of doors. A door slammed is a confession of weakness. A door gently__________may often be the most tragic gesture in life.

The opening and closing of doors is a part of the serious fluency of life. Life will not stay__________and let us alone. We are__________opening doors with hope, closing them with despair. Life__________not much longer than a pipe of tobacco, and destiny knocks us out like the ashes.