【推荐1】I’ve been in an 18-year love-hate relationship with a black walnut (胡桃树). In late September or early October, falling fruits as _______ as baseballs put your head at risk. Patio (露台) umbrellas are a _______ while dining in the garden beginning in early August, and because of the amount of fruit this season, I _______ my helmet while working in the garden.

Also, the black walnut produces a chemical substance (物质) through its roots as a _______ strategy, which is poisonous to several common plants. There have been many new plant varieties I brought home with _______ that the walnut would _______ accept them, but they all failed to grow well.

What does _______ are native plants that naturally grow in the area. They are important to have around since they provide beneficial pollinators (传粉者) like birds, bees and butterflies with seeds and _______ to a healthy environment. Native plants for this area are generally easy to grow, so they experience less _______.

Have I thought of getting rid of this giant ________ in my backyard? Yes, ________, removing this tree standing at 50 feet is next to impossible. I’m also ________ under the tree. Trees are important to the urban forest and for all of those that live in it. Trees absorb air pollution and keep cities cooler and more livable. They are home to many birds and insect species and are ________ for keeping our environment balanced.

Sometimes, I ________ my life without the black walnut. I can’t ________ a spring without the birds who arrive every year and sing loudly before dawn. I miss falling asleep on lazy weekend afternoons as I look up into its leaves before the ________ threaten to fall.

Every spring, I wonder what the season ________: What are the chances of being knocked ________ while barbecuing? Like any good relationship, I’ll never be pleased. I’m stuck with this tree, so I’ll listen to its needs and give it the space it ________. In return, my walnut offers a home to wildlife and a reminder that ________, instead of resistance, is the better way to be.

【推荐2】Where are the Bees?

Bees are essential to the production of food we eat. Bees make honey, but they also pollinate (授粉) large areas of _______ such as strawberries, apples and onions. About a third of the food we eat is a(n) _______ of pollination of the bees. _______, bees have been disappearing at a(n) _______ rate.

In 2006, beekeepers started reporting about something called Colony Collapse Disaster (CCD). The main sign of CCD is the _______ of adult honey bees from a hive. In October of 2006, some beekeepers reported that they had lost between 30 and 90 percent of their hives.

There were many _______ for the disappearance of the bees. But the most convincing one has been _______to pesticides (杀虫剂) and lifestyles of bees today. Nowadays beekeepers get most of their income not from _______ honey but from renting bees to pollinate plants. This means that the life of the typical bee now _______ travelling all around the country to pollinate crops as the ________ change. That means a lot of traveling on trucks, which is very ________ to bees. It is not ________ for up to 30% of the hive to die during ________ due to stress. In addition, bees that spend most of their time locked up on trucks are not ________ what they usually live on. ________, they live on a sweet liquid from corn, usually polluted with pesticides.

The ________ reason for the disappearance of bees is not sure, but losing bees is very ________ to the economy. The bee pollination services are ________ over 8 billion a year. With no bees, pollination will have to be done ________, which would have effects on the quality of food and increase food prices. We hear a lot about big environmental disasters almost every day. ________ one of the biggest may well be the loss of that tiny flying insect.

【推荐3】It was the day before Thanksgiving and Kaleb Benham was hanging around outside his home. His 90-pound pit bull, Buddy, was doing what dogs do: getting into trouble. Only this time, Buddy was getting into a whole lot of trouble.

The______sound that no one wants to hear alone in the woods______Benham’s attention. It was the deep______of a black bear. Benham______around to see the beast, which Benham______weighed around 350 pounds, some 100 feet away. In an instant, the bear took hold of Buddy’s head and started dragging him away. Benham took off after them. “______,” he told CBS13 in Sacramento, “the only thing I could think of was ‘save my baby.’”

Benham______the bear by the throat. Nothing. He tried opening its mouth, but the jaw was locked______. Benham beat the bear over and over around its snout and eye. It______. The bear dropped the dog and ran off into the______.

Buddy was______. His face was bloodied and his ears were______. He had a bite mark clear through his lip.

Buddy’s surgery took nearly four hours. Benham watched the______ through a window. This was the second time Benham had rescued Buddy, says CBS13. The__________ was from a shelter a few years ago. “If it was your kid, what would you do?” he asked. Nodding toward Buddy, he added, “That’s my______.”

【推荐2】After my doctor’s appointment (约定), I took a seat in the hallway, waiting for my mom to pick me up. Sitting beside me was a _________ gray-haired woman. And as I _________ my library book to read, I could feel her eyes carefully looking in my direction. My thoughts kept moving from the beautiful woman to thoughts of _________. My classmates had been _________ presents to buy for each other upon graduation. I had never _________ that kids bought presents for graduation. I had no money. And I couldn’t ask my parents: they had no money either.

I was still in thought when _________ I heard some noise at the entrance. There was an elderly woman in a wheelchair and another older woman trying to _________ her along. People coming into the lobby were too busy to help them, _________them struggle alone. I jumped to help them. I helped them by opening both sets of doors and rode with them in the _________. Then I made sure they found the right office. They thanked me. I told them it was my __________ I was on my way down in the elevator when I realized that I had left my backpack on the lobby chair. There was nothing of value in it. But then I __________ that my library book was also on the chair.

Luckily they were both safely on the chair, just as I had left them. As I sat down, I could feel the beautiful gray-haired woman’s __________ eyes on me. She seemed proud for some reason. Then her taxi arrived, and, without a word, she was __________. I opened my backpack. To my surprise, __________ inside it was a fifty-dollar bill!

The beautiful with the __________ look in her eyes suddenly came into my mind. I had been kind to a stranger, and in turn, a stranger had been kind to me.

【推荐1】In the summer of 2015, Peterson and his wife, Vanessa, had just moved to Santa Ana, California. Outside their apartment, a man was often _________ on the street corner, sometimes keeping them _________at night.

One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading the book Love Does, about the power of love in _________, when his quiet was _________ by the man. _________ by the book’s moving message, Peterson decided to go outside and introduce himself.

In that first _________, Peterson learned that the man, named Faris, had moved to California to _________ a career in music, but he ended up living on the street for more than a decade.

Even though Peterson, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn’t _________ a paintbrush in about eight years, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris’s picture. Faris said yes.

Peterson’s connection with Faris led him to _________ Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization focused on befriending and painting pictures of __________ community members. Peterson sold his paintings and put money into what he calls a “love account” for his __________. Faris used the __________ from his picture to __________ an album, realizing his musical dreams.

Peterson discovered that the buyers tended to connect to the person in the painting, finding __________with someone they might have otherwise __________.

【推荐3】Four girls. Two tents. No cellphones. A thunderstorm. One hundred and thirty hours of nonstop togetherness. This was what Julia Ruelle just_________.

“It was really_________,” said Julia Ruelle of her recent week long adventure to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with three childhood friends.

Earlier this year, Julia, having completed a_________for a brain tumor (肿瘤) in April, won a writing contest and was_________a free five-day camping adventure with up to three friends. Its aim is to get kids away from technology. She struggled to_________the final three —— Anna Wander, Madeline Wilson and Julianna Torelli. No_________were allowed, so getting their agreement was a bit_________. Having a satellite phone and promising to check in twice during the week finally won their agreement.

The four girls arrived in Ely on June 10 for training. They_________the next day at 7:00 a.m., and quickly fit many things into their_________—— getting up early every morning, going boating __________ , then having lunch at the campsites, followed by swinging, reading, talking, and napping.

“I love how you are separated from everything in your life, especially__________,”Anna said.

Without her phone, she said, “I’m less__________about things.” “We got along pretty well,” said Madeline. “ We were always talking before bed, about specific things and thoughts” “But we might sometimes have had__________,” Julianna added. No one was even hungry or homesick, but they were__________nervous one night as they waited out a thunderstorm.

After the adventure, Julia will continue to take physical examination every three months to make sure the tumor is gone. “Mental health can be__________so much in the Boundary Waters. It really helps to reconnect with yourself,” said Julia.