1 . Back in the summer of 2016, China’s Gobi Super Marathon, a 155-­mile race across the Gobi Desert, officially ________．

Dion Leonard, a seasoned British athlete, had been invited for that ________, who had finished some of the toughest races on the planet. On the first evening, a dog kept following him wagging its tail. Dion didn’t want to be ________ because he was devoted to this race. Just after ________ it for a while, he took it aside and turned back to the camp. But the touch changed the ________ of his life.

On departure the next day, the puppy ________ again at the starting line. He thought it was a coincidence (巧合)．But when Dion started to run, the puppy followed. It was too easy to be lonely and ________ in a game like this but the puppy brought great ________ and encouragement to Dion. The puppy did not become a burden to him, ________, it’s the best companion on the boring track. Since they met in the Gobi Desert, Dion gave it the name Gobi.

On this long journey, one man and one dog silently ________ each other. They ran together, they shared water and food, they camped together under the stars. Dion also gradually forgot the ________ of the road, and suddenly let go of his obsession (痴迷) with rank.

After being with Dion for 125 kilometers, Gobi finally ran out of ________ and Dion had to put it in a first­aid car. Three days later, when Dion reappeared in the view of Gobi, it broke free and ran ________ to Dion. They rushed to the finishing line together.

________, Dion came in second. Gobi also won a medal from the organizers. Dion has no ________ about missing out on the championship because Gobi was the best prize on his trip.

2 . Exercising regularly not only helps you keep slim, but also improves your overall health and well-being. Different exercises produce different results, as they focus on alternate parts of the body. There are four broad exercise categories: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance. Many people often only focus on one exercise type, but including all four in your workout will produce better results and reduce your risk of injury.

Endurance

Endurance exercises increase your breathing and heart rate. By doing endurance exercises, you are working to keep your heart, lungs, and blood-flow system healthy while improving your total fitness. Over time these activities will make everyday activities seem easier.

Strength

If you want to build up your muscles, then strength exercises, which are also known as “resistance training”, are right for you. Even the slightest increase in strength can make a huge difference in your ability to carry out daily tasks. Developing strong muscles also reduce your risk of weak bones.

Flexibility

Flexibility exercises help stretch your body’s muscles. This allows for more freedom of movement for other exercises and can also improve your range of motion, posture, ability to breathe deeply, and blood flow. Also, it reduces the muscle tension caused by stress.

Balance

Balance exercises help prevent falls and are especially important to older adults, helping them stay independent. Most good balance exercises are ones that keep you constantly moving with your feet on the ground. Heel-to-toe walking and standing on one foot are simple ways to improve balance.

4 . To many people, honey bees symbolize wealth, sustainability and environmentalism. But as a honey bee researcher, I have to tell you that only the first item on that list is defensible. Although they are important for agriculture, honey bees, which are usually imported from outside the local area, also disturb natural ecosystems by competing with native bees.

For several years the media has told us that bee populations are under threat. In response to this media campaign to"save the bees", raising honey bees has become a popular hobby. But as a species, honey bees are least in need of saving. Much media attention is given to honey bees at the expense of native bees, and this has led many citizens—myself once included—to mistakenly believe they are doing a good thing for the environment by raising honey bees. Unfortunately, theyare probably doing more harm than good.

“Beekeeping is for people; it's not a conservation practice, "says Shelly Smith, an environmental science professor. People mistakenly think keeping honey bees also helps the native bees, which are at risk of extinction. That's wrong.”

Smith and her research team recently surveyed one thousand local people in Canada and found that they had a surprisingly poor understanding of bee types and their roles in promoting flower growth. Most people’s attention is on saving honey bees when, from a conservationist's point of view, native bees are the ones in more need of support.

“To make matters worse, beekeeping companies and various non-science-based projects have financially benefited from the decline of native bee populations, "Smith explains. "These companies pretend they are interested in saving bees but their actions are actually damaging the native bee populations.”

The introduction of honey bees increases competition with native bee populations for food,putting even more pressure on the wild species that are already in decline. Honey bees are extremely efficient food gatherers and take over almost all local flower resources, thus leading to damaging competition—that is, where one species uses up a resource, not leaving enough to go around.

5 . I went snowboarding in France with my little brother and what we lacked in skill was made up for in enthusiasm. That day, fresh snow had been falling. We stopped near the top of an off-path section. I let my brother disappear into the trees ahead, figuring I would soon catch up.

I began to pick up speed when I was suddenly thrown off balance. Just as I was regaining control, I ran into the trunk of a large tree. It was like hitting a solid wall. The pain was instant.

I quickly realized the situation could get very serious. Nobody would be coming past. There was no phone signal. It was snowing and cold. If I waited, I would probably be rescued eventually. But the chance of freezing to death before that happened was too high for me to risk staying put.

I managed to get the board off from my feet and moved it under my stomach so I was lying on it. I faced down the mountain and used the board to slowly drag and slide my body down the steep, tree-lined slope (斜坡).

It took about two hours before a skier found me and I got help. I couldn't feel my hands or my toes from the cold, but the relief at knowing I was safe was massive.

I had broken one of my backbones, so I had an operation where the doctors inserted plates. The constant pain was unbearable, but it wasn't as bad as seeing the pain and worry I put my family through.

The recovery road was tough, but I was lucky. Gradually, I was able to walk, then swim, then cycle and then run. I haven't been back to the slopes yet, but it might happen someday— I will, however, choose the paths.