【推荐1】It was a Saturday evening in March, just before sundown. I was out walking with my wife, Melissa, and our golden retriever (猎犬), Kira, beside a lake when the _________ was broken by a woman’s voice, calling out two names over and over.

We _________ her, almost immediately, three or four hundred feet away across the _________. Spring had come, but the layer of ice on the water had just started to _________. Two big red Labradors (拉布拉多犬) were walking out across it. As we watched, the ice _________ beneath one dog and then the other, plunging (使...下落) them into the water.       

We arrived at the _________ a few minutes later, but the dogs were already showing the _________ of the cold as they struggled weakly to _________. We realized that calling 911 would be _________ — neither of them would stay afloat long enough for the __________ services to arrive.

Besides, I’m convinced I was __________ to carry out the rescue myself. And I wasn’t __________ —Kira swam alongside me. Having __________ a path, we were able to lead it quickly back to the __________.

The second dog was further out and I had to __________ before I went back in. There was more ice to __________ this time. As we approached, I __________ eye contact with the dog. With Kira’s encouragement, it __________ us back. Back on shore the dogs looked tired but were __________ OK. The owner was emotional and __________, “I’m the luckiest woman alive!”

【推荐2】There’s nothing like a heartwarming rescue (营救) story, especially when it involves two animals. Africa is known for its many kinds of wild animals, so spotting a wild animal isn’t________.

A farmer is used to spotting large creatures. One day, he saw something usual. Upon a closer look, it became ________to the farmer that this was a baby giraffe. Not only was the little baby all on its own, but it also________to be no more than a few days old. It seemed that it needed some________.Since the newborn was obviously without its________,the farmer knew he had to find a safe place for the baby. The closest one was a rhino (犀牛) health recovery center.________It wasn’t their specialty (专业), the center________to take care of the baby giraffe. The caretakers couldn’t turn down a(n)________ creature There, they________ the baby giraffe jazz.

Apart from the workers, there was one animal who________to leave Jazz’s side, and that was a dog, Hunter. He seemed to want nothing more than to________friendship to any suffering animals. He ________ watched over Jazz from the moment the baby was________Hunter appeared hopeful although Jazz’s ________was not good. The dog slowly________the sleeping giraffe, doing all he could t________the poor creature without hurting the young animal. Several days later, Jazz clearly appreciated Hunter’s________, because before long he was beginning to get closer to the dog.

The dog selflessly gave his friendship. The animals were________species, but they________ to become friends.

Before long, Jazz was looking like any________baby giraffe. He was sitting tall at his best friend’s side. Meanwhile, Hunter looked happier than ever.

【推荐3】Cats have no emotions. At least, that’s what my husband once claimed(声称). I _______ that my two cats experience emotions. They feel anger, fear, and _______. He agreed with me, but _______ his opinion that cats don’t feel love. _______, my tuxedo cat, Sebastian, would teach him otherwise.

When my next-door neighbor moved in, he had a she cat named Juliet. She was an indoor lady, always watching _______ through the window.

Then one day when I _______ my cat to the backyard for his playtime, Sebastian _______ Juliet staring at him behind the window. It soon became _______ that they were attracted by each other. So every day there after, whenever I let Sebastian out, he would rush _______to the backyard next-door and they would sit staring ________ at each other through the screen, she inside, and he outside. Even my husband watched ________, and he would murmur, “But cats can’t feel love... can they?”

Five months later, my neighbor had to ________ because of work. My heart sank. I wondered how Sebastian would ________ to Juliet’s leaving. For months after Juliet moved away and the new neighbor moved in, I often ________ Sebastian sitting by Juliet’s window, looking into the apartment ________his lady. The new neighbor didn’t mind having the “Peeping Sebastian” after I ________ his reason for being there.

Sebastian ________ the small area outside that window as his territory(领土). Other male cats were allowed in the ________, but not near Juliet’s window, which he guarded until his ________.

Even now, when my husband and I walk through the backyard and see that window, he ________ me of the lesson Sebastian taught him that cats do indeed fall in love.

【推荐2】Along with its Nordic neighbours, Sweden features near the top of most gender-equality rankings. The World Economic Forum rates it as having one of the _________ gender gaps in the world.

But Sweden is not only a good place to be a woman: it also appears to be an idyll (田园生活) for new dads. Close to 90% of Swedish fathers take paternity leave (陪产假). Last year some 340,000 dads took a total of 12m days’ leave, _________ to about seven weeks each. Women take even more leave days to spend time with their children, but the gap is _________. Why do Swedish dads take so much time off work to _________ their children?

Forty years ago Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce a gender-neutral paid parental-leave allowance. Benefits were _________ of 90% of wages for 180 days per child, and parents were free to divvy up (分摊) the days between them in whatever way they pleased. But the policy was _________ a hit with dads: in the scheme’s first year men took only 0.5% of all paid parental leave.

Today they take a quarter of it. One reason is that the scheme has become more _________, with the number of paid leave days for the first child being bumped up from 180 to 480. But it has also been _________ to encourage a more equal sharing of the allowance. In 1995 the first so-called “daddy month” was introduced. Under this reform, families in which each parent took at least one month of leave received an additional month to _________ to their total allowance. The policy was expanded in 2002 so that if the mother and father each took at least two months’ leave, the family would get two extra months. Some politicians now want to go further, __________that the current system of shared leave be turned into one of individual entitlements, under which mothers should be allowed to take only half of the family’s allowance, with the rest __________ for fathers.

Policies similar to the Swedish “daddy months” have been introduced in other countries. __________, Germany amended (修正) its parental leave scheme in 2007 along Swedish lines, and within two years the share of fathers who took paid leave jumped from 3% to over 20%. One of the most powerful arguments __________ splitting parental leave more equally is that it has __________ ripple effects (波及效应) for women. Since Swedish men started to take more responsibility for child rearing, women have seen both their incomes and levels of self-reported happiness __________. Paying dads to change nappies and hang out at playgrounds seems to benefit the whole family.