【推荐1】The Smilodon and the Tiger

The smilodon (剑齿虎) died out probably about ten thousand years ago._______it is also known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not a_______relative of the modern tiger. The more scientists_______the two big cats, the more_______they find.

Tigers are not_______animals. They generally travel by themselves. The smilodon, on the other hand, probably_______in groups. Tigers run fast while_______their prey (猎物). But the smilodon, with much_______tails than today’s tigers, did not have the balance to run at_______speeds. It probably caught its prey by________quietly until an animal came near. Then, the smilodon would________its prey.

Another main difference between today’s tiger and the smilodon is the size of the smilodon’s________. It is known as a saber-toothed cat________two huge teeth that grew from the top of its jaw (颌). These teeth grew up to nearly 18 cm long and were easily________and damaged. The smilodon probably used the teeth to bite into________parts of its prey’s body, such as its stomach. A modern tiger's teeth are much smaller, but they are________.

The smilodon lived in North and South America from about two million years ago until about ten thousand years ago. Tigers,________, still exist today and live in eastern and southeastern Asia. No one knows for sure why the smilodon________. However, scientists do know that many of today’s tiger species are in danger of________because of human activity. So it is important to________tigers and many other animals.

【推荐2】The small town of Rjukan in Norway is situated between several mountains and does not get direct sunlight from late September to mid-March six months out of the year.

“Of course, we_______it when the sun is shining,” says Karin Ro, who works for the town’s tourism office. “We see the sky is blue, but down in the valley it’s darker—it’s like on a_______day.”

But that_______when a system of high-tech mirrors was introduced to reflect sunlight from neighbouring peaks into the valley below. On Wednesday, residents of Rjukan_______their very first ray of winter sunshine: A row of reflective boards on a nearby mountainside were put to_______. The boards are controlled by a computer that_______them to turn along with the sun throughout the day and to close during windy weather. They reflect a concentrated beam(束) of light onto the town’s central_______, creating an area of sunlight roughly 600 square metres. When the light_______, Rjukan residents gathered together.

“People have been sitting there and standing there and taking pictures of each other,” Ro says. “The town square was totally_______. I think almost all the people in the town were there.” The 3,500 residents cannot all enjoy the sunshine at the same time.________, the new light feels like more than enough for the town’s sun-starved residents.

“It’ not very big,” she says, “but it is enough when we are sharing.”

【推荐3】Many students have difficulty in cracking cloze tests (完形填空). You have no exception. So I will help you to crack it. From my point of view, cloze tests are_______ jigsaw puzzles (拼图). You can never deny that it_______patience and time to solve them. You have to have _______eyes to find the clues just like detectives. Sometimes you can not discover the proper answer_______you finish reading whole passage. Words, especially the _______between them are essential for you do it better. You are required to read _______the lines. I also want to stress the ability of analyzing the discourse (语篇). It is often heard that cracking cloze tests is beyond English itself. It may largely depend on the general knowledge or your common sense besides vocabulary. Above are my tips for dealing with the test.

Next I would like to share 3 steps you can adopt in the following practice. To begin with, read the first and the last sentence to have an overall understanding of the whole passage. Then_______ filling in the blanks according to the context. In the end, reread the whole passage to_______the answers.

Since it is a cost-effective question type, it needs more efforts. I really hope you can get a high _______within 18 mins (the time limit for finishing the cloze test). I am expecting you have a__________of achievement in my class.