【推荐1】Water is one of the most important things for life on Earth. What happens ________ you suddenly can’t get this precious liquid?

Mark, an expedition (探险) guide from Shropshire, in the UK, ________ this for himself while ________ along the Zambezi River for two months. When he reached the gorge (峡谷) at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, the area became much more ________ to travel through. Mark guessed that it would take a month to get to the other side of the gorge, and with no other people for miles around, he was beginning to ________ food: After two weeks of trying to pick his ________ through the gorge, Mark decided to find another ________. On his ________, he could see another river heading into the Zambezi.

________ at 4 am, Mark climbed out of the gorge with two—litter water bottles. But after three hours of walking, he ________ ran out of water. He was on the edge of a cliff (悬崖). He could see the river far below him.

He examined the cliff and saw a few tree roots to hold onto, so he decided to make an attempt at climbing down. When he reached a ledge(岩架), he became ________ due to his thirsty, hunger and tiredness. It was not until a few minutes later that he came to himself. Even so, Mark kept pushing himself down the cliff for nearly an hour until he came to the ________. He had to sit there for an hour, cooling down and drinking water.

While few of us are likely to experience this kind of extreme dehydration (脱水), around four billion people experience a ________ of water at least one month of the year. Mark was lucky. After resting for a week, he was able to ________ his journey. Although his experience was a ________ in patience, it also taught him how important water is.

【推荐3】Every time I take time off with my family, I tend to reflect on how technology has impacted our lives. It’s when we try to _________ the technology that we realize just how much we have _________ it. What happens when we have to _________ our own imagination and mind when there is no technology? If you ever stood in a long line and _________ went for your phone, you know what I am talking about.

When my family and I go on a trip together, it usually takes a few days for my kids to finally _________the fact that they have to let go of their electronic devices. They go through a withdrawal period (戒断期) where Mom is “the worst” for expecting them to go a few days without _________. I need to be _________ here. I am writing about my kids but the _________ is that I _________ withdrawals as well. I find myself having to use all my willpower just to __________looking at emails.

It has become a(n) __________ that vacation time is quality family time and when we are together, there are no __________. When vacation mode sets in, it becomes easier to __________ the technology and enjoy the moment. My children start to share stories and we find ourselves having fun just spending quality time together. __________, it always surprises me how quickly we __________ to our regular routine once the __________ is over. It becomes part of my __________ once I am back at work to have the phone beside me at all times.

Do you use technology as a tool to improve productivity or communicate and connect? Or, has technology become a(n) __________ that contributes to devaluing ( 贬值) “real life”__________with the people right in front of you?

So, spend __________ time with your loved ones and become engaged in the moment.

【推荐2】It was the third day after the quake already.

The rescue workers were still looking for ______ . They knew with each minute passing, the chance to find someone alive gets slimmer. They were ______ . Since the quake, many of ______ had been working constantly, without any good sleep. The ______ to these mountainous towns and villages were destroyed. They did not have   ______ to work with. All they had were shovels and their bare hands.

But they were still looking for survivors.

“Come here! There is a body!” ______ a rescue worker. Under a big chunk of roof was a ______. She was lying with a strange pose — she ______ on the ground with her upper body stretching forward. Her head was on the ground too, ______ she was praying for her survival.

The woman was not responsive to any call. ______ , just to make sure, the nurse still tried to test her ______, to see if she was still breathing.

Not really. She was breathless, and her body cold. Praying or not, it did not ______ . The team moved on.

When the team reached the ______ collapsed building, the captain suddenly ran back to the woman, as if ______ something. He lay down, and stretched his arm to touch the space ______ her.

“There is a baby! And he is alive!” He cried out.

It was a newly-born, neatly wrapped in a ______ decorated with flowers. Miraculously, he did not even have a scratch in his body. When taken ______ , he was still peacefully sleeping.

The nurse took the baby and started doing routine ______ . When unwrapping the blanket, she found a cell phone tucked between the baby and his diaper. ______ had a text message written on the screen, ______:

“My dear baby, if you can survive, please remember mom loves you.”

【推荐1】For me, one of the most fascinating aspects of exploring diverse cultures is observing how ordinary and sometimes even insignificant things can ________ from place to place. The coffee culture is a great example. I love sharing with people how Shanghai is a perfect ________ for me for many reasons, and coffee is one of them.

After I returned to China in September 2022 to study at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I soon developed a(n) ________ with two other international students. During the lunch break, we would have a cup of coffee at the campus cafe every day. What we ________ was that people did not work during that coffee break; instead, they ________ savored (享受) their conversations over coffee. So, for us too, it felt wrong to continue our studies at the coffee shop and thereby disrupt the ________.

Perhaps drawn by this ________ energy, more students joined us day by day, and our group of three became a big party. Coffee ________ us as we greeted newcomers and got familiar with other local students. I feel this is how the coffee culture ________ here — to make people a little bit happier, and to ________ you up when you feel cold.

That’s why I always prefer to get my coffee ________ instead of ordering online — for the sake of ________ the general mood of the place. It is not something ________; it’s a feeling in the air that makes you want to come, ________ it in, and be nourished by the good energy. It’s like an upbeat song from your childhood — once you ________ it, you start smiling.

【推荐2】Before the summer of 2019, Darby was just another four-legged puppy living a quiet life with White, his owner. One day, White went fishing in Northern California’s Bodega Bay. He _______ Darby, then a year old and 100 pounds, to stay in the car, windows down, while he cast his line a few yards away. The fish weren’t _______ until suddenly, they were. At first, White thought he had caught a stingray, a type of large flat fish with a long tail. However it _______ that it was a shark, about 6 feet long. Not uncommon, but still _______. Their teeth were sharp. He brought it close and carefully freed it, _______ it to swim away. It didn’t. All of a sudden the shark bit his ankle and there was blood everywhere.

He _______ for help, hoping the fishermen down the beach could hear. But they didn’t seem to know what was going on. _______, Darby did. He threw himself out of the _______ toward the water. He ran right up to the shark and sank his _______ into its head, which just made the shark bite down harder. Darby backed off and bit the shark’s tail again. The shark ________ released and White managed to push it into shallow water, where it swam off. The ________ thing took less than a minute, but it left plenty of ________ with one artery (动脉) of his nearly cut off.

With Darby’s story known to more netizens, ________ cash offers started to come in. “Someone offered me a million dollars for him, but I wouldn’t ________ it. My mother passed away in early 2022, Darby and I became ________. This kind of dog might have a bad reputation for being aggressive, but they’ll give their life to save yours,” White says.

【推荐3】Here in eastern Spain, human towers are very popular. The tower sometimes falls because it’s so high. I used to ________ to be up there, but for the past year, I’ve been practicing ________. So today, I finally became a casteller — a castle constructor.

My friend Tomeu was also part of our team. Tomeu had been a casteller before. “What if I’m not ________ for this?” I asked him. Tomeu smiled, “We’re never ready, Jordi. Just trust those below who ________ you up and yourself. Have faith!”

It was our turn. We first made the ________ for our tower. My father and three of the strongest men formed a ________ facing each other as they held each other’s arms tightly. Four more strong men stepped behind, each wrapping his arms around the ________ of a man and giving him a bear hug. Four smaller men climbed onto the backs of the ________ group and stood on their shoulders.

Our base was solid, so my father ________ and we continued building. After the sixth tier (层) was set up, it was my turn.

“Have ________!” Tomeu said to me again. I passed the first two tiers ________ because the people were leaning forward. But the higher I went, the more unstable the tower became. By the time I reached the sixth tier, the tower below me ________ a bit. My heart began a crazy dance in my chest. I took a deep breath to ________ myself. Reaching deep inside to feel my ________, I rose slowly out of my crouch (蹲伏) and straightened my knees. I waved my hand to the judges, meaning our tower was ________.

Far below, I could hear the crowd’s cheering.