【推荐1】It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were _________. If we didn't see some rain soon, we would _________ everything. It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of _________ and witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own eyes.

I was in the _________ making lunch when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the _________ . Minutes after he _________ into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. Moments later, however, he was once again _________ in that slow purposeful step toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour: walk _________ to the woods, run back to the house.

Finally I couldn’t take it any longer and I crept (悄悄地走) out of the house and _________ him on his journey. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most __________ sight. A tiny deer was lying on the ground, __________ suffering from dehydration (脱水) and heat exhaustion, __________ its head with great effort to lap up (舔食)the water __________ in my beautiful boy’s hand. When the water was __________, Billy jumped up to run back to the house. I followed him back to a tap that we had __________ the water to. Billy opened it all the way up and a little water began to flow slowly. He __________ there, letting the water slowly __________ his hand---the temporary cup.

When he stood up and began to go back, I was there in front of him. His little eyes just filled with __________. “I’m not wasting” was all he said. As my tears began to hit the __________, they were suddenly joined by other drops , more drops...and more.

All I can say is that the __________ that came that day saved our farm, just like the actions of one little boy saved another.

【推荐2】My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse(松鸡). It’s ________for a grouse to have any contact(接触)with people. In fact, they’re hard to see, because they usually ________ when they hear humans walking nearer.

This grouse came into our lives in ________. Tom was working out in the field when he ________ her walking around at the edge of the field. She was ________ unafraid and seemed to be ________ about what he was doing.

Tom saw the________ bird several times, and she got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew. ________ of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom________ he didn’t see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

Apparently, she didn’t like to be ________. She’d run up and peck (啄) at Tom’s hands, then ________ off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the ________ and left.

As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to ________ more and more often. ________ Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom’s leg and stay long enough for me to get a________ of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt ________ not just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

When hunting season opened, we put a________ at the end of our driveway(车道) asking ________ not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road, also ________ people not to shoot her. ________, hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

【推荐3】I woke up by my dog barking in the early morning. I went outside to find a koala (考拉) at the yard gate wanting to enter. It was the first time that I had ______ a koala in my neighborhood. What a welcome ______ !

I was wondering why he was here, as koala ______ came down from the trees and didn’t like walking, either. ______ , there was no eucalyptus (桉树) around. Was he hungry or lost? Or maybe the bushfire across Kangaroo Island ______ him here?

He just sat there, clearly ______ , and sort of looked at me with a look, like helping me out of my suffering. At a(n) ______ look, I discovered a long cut at his back with bloods, ______ of attacks or cuts of something sharp in some other way.

I rushed into my room and came out with some iodophor (碘伏药水). It was not a ______ problem as I was a nurse. This poor koala seemed to quite ______ my kindness when I ______   the cut with the liquid. It ______ out that he came to ask me for ______ !

After the treatment, I watched the koala finally ______ in the wild, hoping he was able to ______ the hard time and live his life as he should.

【推荐1】April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s Day is a western festival. No one _________ exactly when and how April Fool’s Day began. However, there are some stories about _________ it came into being. One story _________ like this: in the sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was on April first. It was celebrated _________ much the same way _________ it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night.

Then in 1562, Pope(教皇)Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. There were some people, _________, who hadn’t heard or didn’t believe the _________ in the date, so they _________ to celebrate New Year’s Day on April first. _________ played tricks on them and called them “April fools”. They tried to make them believe that something false was __________. In France today, April first is called “April Fish”. French children fool their friends by sticking a paper fish to their friends’ __________. When the “young fool” __________ this trick, the prankster(恶作剧者)shouts “April Fish!”

Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One __________ trick on April Fool’s Day is __________ down to a friends shoe and saying, “Your shoelace is untied.” School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled(取消). __________ the trick is, if you fail for the joke the prankster shouts “April Fool!”

【推荐2】Clouds are an ordinary sight. However, this Dutch ______ makes his own.

Berndnaut Smilde creates clouds in locations where nature would never ______ them. The inside of a church or museum looks different behind a cloud. And an everyday cloud looks ______ in a castle. The art project ______ the beauty of clouds. Each scene lasts only five seconds before it ______.

The ingredients (原料) for Smilde’s clouds: just ______ and water vapor (水蒸气). The artist needs a cold and wet space with no wind. ______, the clouds will never ______ or will fall straight to the ground.

______ a cloud is formed, Smilde will run around it and turn it into a shape about 3 meters ______ and 1.8 meters tall. ______ he will step back far enough to take several pictures. Smilde will not stop until he is ______ with the results. ______, he creates a dozen clouds at a time.

Many people are interested in Smilde’s project. Some ______ him to create clouds for them at a party or a wedding ceremony. Smilde, however, ______ them. He says he only creates clouds when the setting offers ______ fresh. The artist doesn’t just want people to stare in ______ at his clouds. He also wants people to ______ the transience (转瞬即逝) of life. For the clouds, they exist only for a moment and then are gone forever.

“Each ______ is about being at the right place at the right time,” Smilde says. “If you are seeing a photo, you have ______ missed it.”

【推荐3】Tidying your desk, watering your plants, folding clothes—these household chores are hardly the height of pleasure. But I often find myself _________ these tasks.

If I’m stuck in writer’s block with a deadline _________, I’ll have to clear up the papers placed around my office—and it’s the most _________ I feel all day.

I’m not _________ in this. As we faced the stresses, many people reported finding new interest in _________ their homes as a way of doing with uncertainty.

There are many potential mechanisms (机制) that can explain the _________ from these tasks and their benefits—these may encourage you to _________ these little jobs more often.

Little chores may be useful because they _________ the mind, leading us to devote fewer resources to the things that _________ us. Even if we struggle with activities that are meant to help us relax, we may find household tasks can help us __________ the here and now. But this depends on where we place our __________.

In one of the few studies to __________ the mental health benefits of washing the dishes, researchers divided fifty-one __________ into two groups. Half read a text that encouraged them to __________ focus their thoughts on the activity. While washing the dishes, one should be completely __________ of the fact that one is washing the dishes. The __________ are not encouraged to only focus their awareness on the activity.

Afterwards, the participants took a questionnaire about their __________. Those who had engaged with the experience reported a __________ mood. This included __________ nervousness. They felt less anxious. The simple activity had __________ their minds.