1 . I went to an old friend’s farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and ______ past a house. It seemed that it had not been used in many years. A ______ at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), ______ to escape (逃脱). I ______ her from spider-webs (蛛网).

With the bird in my cupped ______, I looked around to see how she had got in. The broken window was the likely ______. I filled the ______ with a piece of cloth and took her outside.

When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I removed the sticky spider-webs that ______ her head and wings. ______, she made no attempt (企图) to fly. Perhaps she had been struggling too long and was too ______? Or too ______?

As I ______ her towards my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly ______.

Two hours later, as I was ______, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. Finally, she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then ______ a squeaking (吱吱) call, seeming to say good bye to me, and was gone. What an amazing bird!

2 . I was ten years old. My grandmother sat in the chair under the tree. It was late _______ and there were sunflowers in the garden. My grandmother was knitting (编织) a sweater for the winter months. She was very _______ and had grey hair, her eyes were not very strong, but her hands _______ quickly.

I was _______ a box of old books. Nothing in it _______ me very much, except for (除了) a book with _______ photos of birds and flowers. I opened the book and found a small photo _______ the pages. It was a picture of a girl standing against a wall, and behind the wall there was nothing but sky and _______. There were flowers growing near the girl, but I couldn’t tell what they were.

I ran out into the garden. “Granny!” I _______. “Look at this picture! Whose picture is it?”

She took the photo from my hand, and we both looked at it for quite a long time. The girl had long hair, and she wore a long _______. She stood there, with a wide smile on her face.

“But did you know the girl?”

“Well, she was a bad girl.” said Granny. “She sometimes went _______ in a muddy (泥巴的) pool and rode on the back of buffaloes (水牛).”

I laughed heartily and grandmother laughed _______, too.

However, I knew who she was. Because grandmother still smiled in the same way, even though she didn’t have as many _______.

I held the photo in my hand looking from it to my grandmother and back again, trying to find something in common between the old _______ and the little girl. It was a soft warm summer afternoon, and I am guessing how I will look like if I am at my grandmother’s age. Perhaps my grandchildren will have more interesting smiles when they look at my photos at my young age. This is _______, changeable but fun.

3 .

January 17, 1994, was the day it took a village to save a child. On that day, a heavy ________ hit Louisville. Barbara Schmitt and her granddaughter Michelle were at home enjoying the snow day However, Michelle was in ________ of a liver transplant (肝脏移植). Suddenly, news of a matching liver in Omaha, 600 miles away, brought hope as well as a race against _______—they had just 12 hours to get there. But it was impossible to pass the roads ________ snow was too thick.

________ the phone lines were still working, Babara called Sharon, who runs a charity (慈善机构) or children’s special needs. She called for a plane to fly the Schmitt family to Omaha at once. But reaching the airport was still a trouble. Sharon asked the local radio station WHAS for help. A listener _________ a helicopter for the Schmitt family to go to the airport. Another listener suggested a nearby church’s parking lot would be a ________ helicopter landing place. Then 150 volunteers got together to ________ the snow-covered lot in a short while.

As night fell, a WHAS’s four-wheel drive took the Schmitt family to the church. The crowd cheered and waved (挥手) as _________ flew off into the snowy night.

Michelle’s transplant was a success. It was the success not only of a skilled medical team, a child with the fight to survive (生存) and a family that wouldn’t ________, but the success of a whole village that found something much better to do on January 17 than to stay warm inside and watch the snow.

A little girl called Lucy liked playing in the garden. One day, she ________ a bee flying from flower to flower. The bee seemed to be working hard, collecting nectar (花蜜) all day long without stopping.

Lucy wondered ________ the bee was so busy, so she asked, “Pretty bee, can you tell me why you ________ stop to play for a while?”

The bee decided to share his thoughts ________ her. “Dear, flowers won’t last long. When winter comes, they’ll be gone. So are many valuable things in our life.”

Lucy listened ________ and then asked, “You’re telling me to enjoy things around me while it lasts, right?”

“Yes,” the bee replied, “And there’s more to learn. Plant seeds (种子) of knowledge, love and kindness when you are young. Some day in the ________, you’ll have a rich harvest (收获). Do you understand?”

Lucy ________ the bee’s words and realized something. Her childhood was like the flowers in spring. She should make full use of this ________ to learn and grow. When she grew older, everything she had done would pay off.

From then on, Lucy took every chance to learn from the world. She learned to ________ well at school, to love people around her, and to be a helpful person ... As time went by, she grew into a ________ person with love and kindness.

5 . The use of the word “disabled” always makes me angry. In my daily life, I experience so many difficulties that are not seen by any other person. However, once when a friend gets a broken _______ and has to walk on crutches like me for a few weeks, they begin to look at me with more understanding.

In Nigeria, school education is a big challenge (挑战) for the disabled. The school buildings and all other facilities (设施) were not   _______ for anyone who uses a wheelchair or crutches. So in order to attend school, I usually have to do more than others. My parents didn’t send me to any _______ school, so I attended normal schools like many other children. But when I got to the college, things changed. I had to live on campus (住校) _______ it was very far from town to the school and the travel cost much. Using the facilities was a difficult task, and many days I _______ give up taking my bath in the toilets.

I didn’t lose heart. Today, I work as a computer programmer and I own and drive a car. _______ , my mother did a lot in this success story. She always believed that I could become somebody _______ in life. She always encouraged (鼓励) me and had high hopes for me. She’s not alive now. Without her encouragement I might achieve nothing today. All mothers with disabled children should _______ the example of my mother.

Disability is often thought of as something physical. It can be seen and _______. But the fact is that disability is often in the mind. So the final war has to be fought by yourself. People will not easily change their mind. You must make them see that they are ________ . Society must know that we are not disabled, we are just challenged and will take up the challenge.

6 . Once upon a time, in a forest lived a bear (熊). One day, the bear had a long ________. When he woke up in the afternoon, he had a terrible feeling in his ________. “Oh, dear, I’m so hungry! I need to look for some food,” the bear said. Then he went to a ________.

Looking at the fish, the bear ________ his chance. Soon he caught a fish. The fish didn’t _________ the bear. “What! This fish is too small. It won’t ________ my stomach. I need to find a big fish,” he said to himself ________ he threw the small fish back into the water.

A few minutes later, the bear ________ another fish. “Oh, no!” he cried. It was even ________ than the first one. He threw it into the river ________. Time and time again, the bear caught the small fish. He let the fish go in the ________ of catching a big one the next time.

In the end, the bear had ________ to eat because he had thrown every fish back into the river. What was ________, he felt tired and disappointed. He lay down by the river, feeling upset. He _________ letting the small fish go. “If I had eaten them, I’d have been full now. I’m really ________,” he thought.

Many small things make up one big thing, don’t they?

7 . Last December, it didn’t stop snowing. One day, Oliver and his ______ went sledging (滑雪橇) on a high hill. When Oliver’s sledge hit some stones, he fell and hurt his elbow and broke his ______! His friends were very worried and quickly rang Oliver’s parents. His father came to help and an ambulance took Oliver to ______.

Oliver had to stay in hospital for a few days. The nurses were friendly and kind, so ______, Oliver didn’t ______. He didn’t have to go to school or do any homework like his classmates. He just lay in bed in his nightclothes, and listened to pop music, played chess on his phone and watched his favourite ______ team scoring (得分) lots of goals on TV. But after two days, Oliver began to feel quite bored and a little unhappy.

But on the third morning, Peter Windows, one of the players in the football team ______! He brought Oliver a ______—a pair of really cool football boots (靴子)! Oliver’s best friend came, too. “You can borrow my portable computer while you’re here.” he said.

That afternoon, Oliver had ______ surprise. His math teacher appeared! He brought something for Oliver as well but it was some ______! “I’m sorry about your poor leg, Oliver,” he said, but make sure you do this before you come back to school in January.

8 . Last summer, I went to China to volunteer in a panda base. It was an amazing _______! The panda base is in a beautiful forest and it’s very peaceful there. Every day, we had to wake up early because the pandas need to be fed. We prepared bamboo and carrots for them. Pandas eat a lot! After _______ them, we cleaned their houses. Pandas are very playful and they love climbing trees and playing with each other. Sometimes we got to _______ with them too!

In the afternoon, we helped with some research projects. We recorded data (资料) about the pandas’ behaviour and habits. We also helped with some conservation work _______ planting new trees in the forest. In the evenings, we had free time to explore the area and try some local food.

I loved _______ in the panda base. It was hard work, but it was worth it to see those cute pandas every day. I hope to go back there someday!

9 . Do you often walk slowly or quickly? Believe it or not, people who walk slowly may get old more ______ at the age of 45.

Some researchers did a ______ and got some results. According to the results, old people who walk slowly seem to have more ______ problems. Slow walkers in their 70s or 80s often die earlier than fast walkers. This may be the same for people in their 40s.

The researchers did the survey among 904 people. They ______ the people’s health records carefully. They gave the people many tests ______ their memory and intelligence (智力). They asked the people to say the alphabet (字母表) while ______. The people who walked more slowly showed ______ brain activity while saying the alphabet. But the people who walked more quickly showed more brain activity. They also ______ that fast walkers were much healthier than slow walkers.

Now, more and more people ______ attention to their health. Lots of people choose to take exercise by walking. ______ you are one of them, remember to walk quickly. Don’t walk slowly.

10 . Last summer I spent my vacation with my grandparents in the countryside. They live in a small village far away from the city, but my life there was _______ boring.

My grandparents _______ different kinds of delicious food for me. I often helped them feed their _______ with rice. The little chickens were so _______ that I liked them very much. After breakfast, I played games with other children under big trees in the village and had great _______. When it was hot, we went _______ in a pool. In the afternoon, we went into the forest to _______ flowers. In the evening, we watched _______ on TV or listened to music.

One afternoon, I went into the forest to pick flowers _______ other children as usual. We ____________ a wounded. bird on the ground. I picked it up and took ____________ home. Then I bought some medicine and fed it every day. Half a month later, the bird got well. I thought it should be ____________. I took it to the forest and let it ____________ away. The bird left me, ____________ I felt happy for it.

What an interesting summer vacation it was!I had a ____________ time in the countryside.