A man has risked his life to save a sheep that got stuck on a rock at a cliff edge (悬崖边缘) as the ocean’s tide began to rise. While     1     (walk) along the coast at Woolacombe in North Devon, Chris and his wife Jilly noticed     2     helpless animal that was looking up at them as if to say Help. So the two decided to try a rescue. Although Chris used to go rock climbing, finding a     3     (suit) path to the animal proved quite difficult for the experienced rock climber. The rocks were very pointed with limited footholds,    4    were really dangerous especially when wet. Jilly stayed on the cliff top     5     (guide) Chris and call for help if things went badly, but luck was on their side. Once Chris made     6     to the sheep, the animal had become even more nervous and was moving carefully so he caught it. Then he put it around his neck, held onto its front legs with one hand, and     7     (flexible) climbed up the. rocks with the other. Finally, the 50-kilo sheep     8     (carry) back to safety. Upon returning with the sheep, a large number of bystanders were cheering and praising Chris’s bravery. The owner of the sheep thanked him with     9     (grateful). “I don’t want to see animals     10     pain or danger, especially if I can help,” Chris said.

5 . The Golden Gate Bridge is a well-recognized landmark in the United States. It spans (横跨) the Golden Gate Strait — a mile-wide stretch of water that connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. It is also one of the tallest.

The idea for a bridge across the strait had been around for many years, because San Francisco suffered from its isolated location. Planning for the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1916, but the design underwent many changes before construction finally started in 1933.

Joseph Strauss was the chief engineer in charge of the bridge project. However, he had little experience with the construction of suspension bridges (吊桥). For this reason, other engineers, architects, and designers made great contributions to the design and construction of the bridge. For example, the bridge owes its art deco (装饰派艺术) style and distinctive orange color to the architects Irving and Gertrude Morrow. Charles Alton Ellis did much of the technical work necessary to build the bridge.

It was not easy to get the project started. Financing had to be found, and there was much opposition to the very idea of a bridge. The US Navy, for example, feared, that a bridge would block ship traffic. The Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran the ferry fleets (轮渡船队), feared competition from the bridge. Many experts did not believe that it would be possible to build such a long bridge under such difficult circumstances. There are strong currents and heavy winds on the bridge site, which made construction dangerous.

The construction of the bridge finally began in 1933. The construction work set new standards for safety — workers were among the first required to wear hard hats, and a safety net saved the lives of nineteen men while the bridge was built. The Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937, when the bridge was opened to pedestrians (行人). It was opened to cars one year later. The bridge was finished ahead of schedule and cost much less than originally budgeted.

Because the Golden Gate Bridge is the first sight for many people arriving in the United States by ship, it is sometimes called the “Statue of Liberty” for the West Coast.

9 . You must have heard the name of Michael Jordan, the God of basketball. When he was young his father always told him that if one has a passion to do something, then nothing Is impossible in this world. He laughed and didn’t believe it. His father decided to do something.

One day, Michael’s father showed him an old dirty T-shirt that was worth $1, and asked him to sell this T-shirt for $2. Michael consented to do it. Michael cleaned that T-shirt, ironed it and made it like a new one. Then he took it to the railway station and sold it for $2.

The next day Michact’s father gave Michael a second T-shirt and said that T-shirt would be sold for $20. Michael took it and thought hard. He cleaned the T-shirt, put a sticker of a Mickey Mouse on it and came to the school where only the children from rich families studied. Finally, one child liked the sticker very much and his father bought the T-shirt for $20.

On the third day, Michael felt tired and wanted to go to the amusement park. Unexpectedly, his father gave Michael another T-shirt and asked him to sell it for $200. Michael refused.

It was a sky-high selling price in his eyes. He even doubted his father said that intentionally. But he had to agree because his father insisted he should try. After thinking, he went to a city where a famous actress Just came. Michael tried to approach that actress and finally got an autograph(亲笔签名) on that T-shirt. He took it to the crowd. When people knew the T-shirt contained that actress, autograph bidding (出价) started and finally a man who paid highest got that T-shirt for $2000. Michael told the whole incident to his father. His father hugged him and said, One day you’ll achieve a great place in your life .You can do any-thing with this spirit.

10 . Like a lawyer arguing a case, Rodriguez introduced the applicant to fellow admissions officers seated as a court of gatekeepers for the university. The student came from a suburban public high school. She had strong grades but so-so SAT marks. Rodriguez liked her essay and extracurricular(课外的) activity records, and saw a “pretty good upward trend” in performance. “She’s eye-catching,” agreed Nixon, leader of the committee. But another officer, skimming evidence from the file on his laptop, raised objections. He said he worried about the student’s class rank and course selection. Debate on the 18-member committee lasted 22 minutes until Nixon called for a vote. Only Rodriguez raised his hand for admission; others voted to deny. With that decision, one case was settled among more than 30,000 to be decided.

The scene gave a glimpse(一瞥)of how a U.S university tries to fulfill its promise that every applicant will get a fair chance. It also showed the complex and subjective interplay (相互作用) of factors determining who gets in and who does not. Most anxious college-bound students can only guess at what gets said about applications they worked hard to complete. But this time the university allowed journalists into the room to show how decisions unfold. “People believe it’s formulaic(刻板的),” said Professor Gundy, director of undergraduate admissions. “That’s just not true.” Data shows the 50 state flagship universities across U.S. received 1.3 million applications in 2016, up 79 percent compared with ten years before.

The university employs about 60 “readers,” including year-round admissions staff as well as graduate students and retired admissions officers who work part-time job in the high season. On average, a good reader can rate (评估)an application in about seven to eight minutes. It would be cheaper and more efficient to screen applicants primarily on grade-point averages and test scores——which was, in fact, standard practice until 2006. But a by-the-numbers approach would be totally destructive. Which applicant is stronger, a student with a 3.8 GPA (grade-point average) or one with a 3.5? Most people will say it depends, and that’s exactly right.