1 . For the longest time, I had always wanted a cat. _______, my parents did not share the same_______. Every year, I would ask for a cat, but I always got the same answer “No”.

So I _______ year after year, hoping they would _______agree. Right when I was about to give up, my seventeenth birthday rolled around. My parents were _______against the cat, but my friends were a different story. On my birthday, they _______ with a wide- eyed ,_______cat named Bandit. At that moment, I was _______ with joy. My lifelong wish had finally come true! I knew my life was about to_______

To my surprise, Bandit is the most timid(胆小的）cat I’ve ever met. I didn’t know how to deal with his actions. Upset and angry, I________him loudly. But that didn’t ________ So then I tried, I regret to say this, forceful ________. Carrying him to the outside world as he meowed(喵喵叫）________ didn’t work, either. During all of this, he was closer to my mom. I felt angry. How could the one thing I loved most love my mom more? I thought over many ________ including: maybe she would speak the language of cats, or she was luring (引诱）him with a secret ________. I went to talk with her about it, excited and ________.

“I didn’t have a secret treat, dear. What I do have is ________,” my mom replied. Ever since then, Bandit has been ________ me to be more and more patient.

He has taught me to grow up. He has also brought my family________by leading me to talk with my parents. We eat dinner together at the table more often now, usually with a Bandit as the________.

2 . When middle-aged Alex _________his job and made up his mind to become a freelance writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not. He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work

After a year or so, however, Alex began to _________ himself. He found it was difficult to earn his living by _________ what he wrote. But Alex determined to put his dream to the test even if it meant living with uncertainty and fear of _________

One day Alex got a(n) _________ "We need an assistant, and we’re paying $6, 000 a year." $6,000 was _________money in 1960. It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more. As the dollars were dancing in Alex’s head, something _________his senses. He had dreamed of being a full-time _________"Thanks but no," Alex said _________, “I'm going to stick it out and write.”

After Alex hung up the phone, he __________ everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents. Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself, "There’s __________you’ve made of yourself so far.”

Finally his work was __________in 1970. Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers __________ experience.

Then one day, Alex found the paper bag. Suddenly he __________himself working in that cold storage room. It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the __________ and perseverance it takes to stay the course in the shadowland.

3 . Many of us mistakenly believe that it's wrong to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance. However, a constant focus on our supposed shortcomings can stop our efforts to make friends with other people. How can we believe that others could like us if we believe our inner being is flawed（有缺陷）?

If someone seems to dislike you, the reason for that dislike might have little or nothing to do with you. The person who doesn't like you might be fearful, or shallow, or busy or shy. Perhaps you and that person are simply a mismatch for each other at this particular time.

Don't take yourself out of the game by deciding that your flaws are bigger than your good qualities. In fact, some of the very qualities you consider to be flaws may be irresistible to someone else. For all the factors that might cause one person to reject you, there are at least as many factors that will work in your favor with someone else.

You might be thirty pounds over your ideal weight, but you may have a wonderful laugh and a real enthusiasm for life. There are many people who don’t mind your extra pounds. You may drive a shabby car, but you might be a great dancer and a loyal friend. There are people out there looking for loyalty, or fun, or sweetness, or wisdom, and the package it comes in is not important. If you are worried that you are not beautiful enough to attract friends, keep in mind that not everyone is looking for physical beauty in their friends. You can decide to feel inferior（自卑） because you don't have much money and you don't drive a nice car. You can believe that this is the reason that you don't have many friends in your life. On the other hand, if you are very wealthy you may be suspicious that everyone is after your money and that nobody really likes you as a person.

The point is that you can focus on just about anything and believe it's the reason you do not have friends and cannot make any.

4 . Gold Coast family holidays are always great fun whether you are from Australia or from abroad. There are beautiful beaches, adventure parks, nature parks and so many more.

There are so many sights to see here. It is a pity to drive in a car and you’ll miss a great part of it. Australia is home to many animals and birds that can only be seen when moving slowly and going into the areas where they live.

When you are on a bicycle, you have the advantage of being able to stop whenever you want to see an interesting animal or bird that you have never seen before. It is a quieter mode(方式) of transportation as well, so you might even be able to take a picture. When you are on the beach you can breathe that clean air and view the beauty of the water and sand. It is a totally different experience from either simply sunbathing or                    passing it in a car.

There are many choices of hiring a bicycle to experience the Gold Coast attractions. There are stores that will fit a bike perfectly to your size. These bikes for both adults and children are in many styles and colors to please any taste. If you have ever wanted to try a tandem bike(双人单车), now is your chance, because they have those too.

A bicycle hire on Gold Coast is something that everyone should try at least once. This is a wonderful chance for anyone who likes to cycle and it is also a cheap way to travel with your family.

5 . A team of engineers at Harvard University is trying to create the first robotic fly. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

“The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of its components(部件) is off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” said Robert Wood, a Harvard engineering professor.

They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependences(相互依赖) on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood.

While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield.

Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead, he said. So there are a lot on technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”

6 . Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.

Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf. as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses (球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

There are many environment-friendly sports, Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements (代替物) for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.

8 . Being able to find high quality health care at an affordable price is a problem to be solved in many countries. In the United States, Walmart, a large chain store, is trying to help. It is offering something new to its employees: cutting the cost of a doctor’s appointment to only $4 instead of the usual $40 for the same service.

The catch is that the patient and doctor must meet over the internet. This online service is called “telemedicine.”

Walmart is the latest major business in the United States to push its workers toward a high-tech way to be examined and treated by doctors. Thanks to telemedicine, people can talk with medical experts from the privacy of their own homes, often using a secure video connection.

Supporters say online visits make it easier for patients to see an expert or quickly find help for problems considered non-emergencies.

Some healthcare needs are well-suited for telemedicine. It can help people seeking treatment for insect bites or skin conditions. Patients who have had medical treatments and cannot move around easily can use telemedicine for their follow-up visits. Also, people seeking help for mental health issues can benefit from the privacy that telemedicine gives.

But still, many people do not use telemedicine, they continue to go to the doctor’s office when they are sick. 80 percent of middle-size and large U.S. companies offered telemedicine services to their workers in 2018. However, only 8 percent of its employees used telemedicine at least once in 2017.

Compared with seeing a real doctor in person, some people may think the quality of telemedicine is not as good. Parents, for example, may feel they are not giving their child the best care if they use a virtual doctor appointment. Older adults may look forward to their in-person doctor appointments. For them, going to the doctor’s office is a big event, something they look forward to.

Another reason some adults may not use telemedicine services is trust. Tom Hill, aged 66, says he has no plans to ever use telemedicine. He does not buy anything online, let alone do something as personal as seeing a doctor. He says, for him, it is important to look his doctor in the eye and shake hands.

However, for some people, especially young people and busy students, telemedicine might be a good choice. It can cut down on the time away from work. It can also cut down on the cost of doctor visits.

9 . There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.

One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“For your wonderful kindness, ” the good fairy said to the girl，“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”       The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.

As the little girl grew up，there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness . She would only smile and answer，“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”

When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, and       feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “ tell us，please, ” they begged，“ tell us what the good fairy said. ” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said，“ She told me that everyone，no matter how safe they seemed，no matter how old or young，how rich or poor, had need of me.”