【推荐1】We were designing a wheelchair for the engineering course. Based on my experience making sculptures with soda cans and creating jewelry with wire, I believed steel would be too _________ and that aluminum (铝) would be light, but my partner who once worked at a bike shop insisted on using steel. A few days later, when the steel wheelchair arm kept _________ because of its weight, I felt I had been _________.

I liked crafting, but when I took engineering in college, I put this _________ aside because I didn’t think it was _________to my academic work. Although the wheelchair project was a _________ that my interest, crafting, might be important and relevant (相关的), I continued to _________ bringing it up in professional fields.

My _________ didn’t change until one day when I felt restless and _________ crafting as an outlet(发泄途径). While putting liquid into a mold, I __________ “injection molding”—a standard engineering manufacturing process. I suddenly realized that although this art is not injection molding in the technical sense, it shares the spirit and probably some __________. Maybe my crafting was something I should hug rather than hide.

Soon I saw more examples of __________ between engineering and craft that I had previously __________.I saw how crafting taught me to consider the __________ as a learning experience. So I took up crafting again and also stopped __________ it from others.

【推荐2】Geography is an important tool for learning and understanding history. Geography affects history—just look at the changes in world geography over recent years. Governments change, and _______ countries were born. Many countries no longer have the same names they _______even five years ago. Climate changes _______events such as droughts(干旱) and floods that cause lots of loss of life and the movements of people from one place to another in search of_______. Environmental changes can change the entire _______of a community or region.

As with history, children have a natural interest in_______. Watch a group of children playing in the sand. One child makes streets for his cars, _______ a second child builds houses along the_______. A third scoops out a hole and _______ the dirt to make a hill, then pours water in the ________ to make a lake, using sticks for ________. The children name the streets, and ________ may even use a watering can to make________ that washes away a house. They may not realize it, ________these children are learning some core features(核心特征)of geography—how people interact with the Earth, how climate ________land, and how places ________each other through the movement of things from one place to another. Turning to maps or globes, when we talk with our children about vacation plans, events ________around the world or historical events, we teach them a great deal about geography. Not only can such activities help our children learn how to use key reference tools, ________ over time, they help them form their own mental maps of the world, which allows children to better organize and ________information about other people, places, times and________. Such activities also help our children learn to how to work together in the future.

【推荐3】I sat in my seat, as my new grade six classmates found theirs. “OK, class. Welcome to a new school year. I’m Mr. Stevens and I’m sure I will learn all your names in no time.” He walked around the class _______ math books. When he had done it, he _______ to the front of the class and looked at us. We stared (注视) back. “What are you _______ for? Get started!” He said.

We looked at him —_______. Wasn’t he going to teach us?

“Is there something wrong with your ______? You are not all deaf, are you?”

One ______ boy at the back of the class asked what we all wanted to know. “Mr. Stevens, aren’t you going to teach us?”

“Rubbish!” Mr. Stevens ______. “You are smart kids. Open your books and get down to it. If you have any ______, raise your hands and I will help you.”

Mr. Stevens helped anyone who was ______ in a problem. He would stop us to teach all the students ______ when we all had the same question. It was a ______ method of teaching, but it was very useful.

It was a ______ point in my life. Mr. Stevens made me ______ I was good at math and also able to reach the ______ of any class I attended. I studied with his help until I graduated from middle school.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus was a popular television show back then. Mr. Stevens would often act out one of their plays in front of the class. Some ______ he was strange, and I guessed he was, ______ he knew how to make a math lesson interesting.

I’ve carried his ______ with me all my life. Whenever I’m faced with a new ______, I think of my first day in grade six math. ______ sitting and staring at the challenge, I just get started. ______ I know it, the challenge has been settled.

【推荐2】I’ve been answering calls on Mind’s Infoline for two years. Since the pandemic(疫情) began we’ve been busier than ever. The ______ of calls we’ve been getting are from people who are extremely ______. It’s been such a hard time for people _____ at home, and that isolation(隔离) can lead to ______ thoughts and over-thinking, and that can rise ______ the weeks go on. The calls are more ______ than ever before – we’ve all had people on the phone crying due to loneliness. These kinds of calls were at their ______ during the nationwide lockdown in spring.

Most of the calls we _____ now are from people who don’t really know what they’re ______, and that’s fine. They want someone to talk to, and someone who can give them options and the hope_______they won’t always feel like this.

There are lots of ways we try to help the people we talk to. Firstly, we want to provide a considerate ______, but we also want to give people ______ advice and options. At the moment we’ve been focusing a lot on different types of self-care and talking through each caller’s situation and needs and what kind of things might _____ for them. Tips for anxiety often _______mindfulness, yoga, relaxation, breathing exercises and so on.

Lots of people are looking for services, particularly consulting, so we help them find what options are _______ in their local area.

【推荐3】Most of us have experienced a change of image at some time in our lives.The change may be so _________that hardly anyone notices the difference,or it may be so great that even our close friends don’t immediately _________ us.

Changes of image may be personal or public.A(n)_________ change is something that is _________ for us as individuals but fairly normal for society._________,if a man gets his head shaved,this may be an important change for him personally,but it isn’t _________for society in general.However,in many parts of the world,people can’t stand a woman getting her head shaved.When American pop star Britney Spears shaved her head,many people decided that she must be losing her _________.

Head shaving may _________some people because of its shock value—it may be a symbol of independence,of escape from _________ attitudes.It is a very public act and it forces people to __________ you differently.In that way,it is perhaps similar to piercing (扎眼).People think that when they have it done,they are __________ what they look like.Not all piercing is shocking,however.For women,having your ears pierced is seen as quite __________,while having a nose stud (鼻饰) is slightly unusual,__________ still not shocking.For men on the other hand,wearing earrings is still quite surprising and piercing of other parts of the face cannot be __________in some places.

One reason why piercing may be shocking is that it suggests self-inflicted (加于自身的) pain,which some people might find __________to see.In that respect,it is like tattoos (纹身).But having a tattoo done is often a cause for regret because tattoos are more permanent.It’s said that 75% of people eventually regret having a tattoo done.

【推荐1】It’s March 12th. Xu Hui and Xia Hua are digging on a hill not far from their school. In China, people across the country plant trees________on this day.

The idea of planting trees was first suggested in 1911 by Sun Zhongshan, the great ________ in China’s history. He said more trees were needed as a(n)________ against flood and drought. In 1915, April 5th was named as Tree Planting Day. Then, in 1979, the day was ________ to March 12th, to ________ the date on which Sun Zhongshan died.

“Everyone has heard of the Great Wall of China,” says Xu Hui. “But have you heard of the Green Wall of China? That’s the biggest tree planting ________of all. ”The Gobi Desert in the north of China was________ every year. So in 1978, a tree planting project was started to________ Gobi spreading.

“Tree planting has become a tradition in China now, ” says Xia Hua. “Many people do it on March 12th. Many people also plant a tree on a ________day. My parents planted a tree when I started school. And my cousin planted ________ on his wedding day. We do it for the environment and for ourselves.”