A 90-year-old has been awarded “Woman Of The Year” for     1    (be) Britain’s oldest full-time employee—still working 40 hours a week. Now Irene Astbury works from 9am to 5pm daily at the pet shop in Macclesfield,     2     she opened with her late husband Les. Her years of hard work have     3    (final) been acknowledged after a customer nominated(提名) her to be Cheshire’s Woman Of The Year.

Picking up her “Lifetime Achievement” award, proud Irene     4    (declare) she had no plans     5    (retire) from her 36-year-old business. Irene said, “I don’t see any reason to give up work. I love coming here and seeing my family and all the friends I     6    (make) over the years. I work not because I have to,     7     because I want to.”

Granddaughter Gayle Parks, 31—who works alongside her in the family business—said it remained unknown as to who nominated Irene for the award. She said, “We don’t have any idea who put grandma forward. When we got a call     8    (say) she was short-listed, we thought it was     9     joke. But then we got an official letter and we were blown away. We are so proud of her. It’s     10    (wonder).”

4 . It’s about 250 miles from the hills of west-central Iowa to Ehlers’ home in Minnesota. During the long trip home, following a weekend of hunting. Ehlers _______about the small dog he had seen _______ alongside the road. He had _______ to coax(哄) the dog to him but, frightened, it had _______.

Back home, Ehlers was troubled by that _______ dog. So, four days later, he called his friend Greg, and the two drove _______. After a long and careful _______, Greg saw, across a field, the dog moving _______ away. Ehlers eventually succeeded in coaxing the animal to him. Nervousness and fear were replaced with _______. It just started licking(舔) Ehlers’ face.

A local farmer told them the dog sounded like one ________ as lost in the local paper. The ad had a ________ number for a town in southern Michigan. Ehlers ________ the number of Jeff and Lisa to tell them he had ________ their dog.

Jeff had ________ in Iowa before Thanksgiving with his dog, Rosie, but the gun shots had scared the dog off. Jeff searched ________ for Rosie in the next four days.

Ehlers returned to Minnesota, and then drove 100 miles to Minneapolis to put Rosie on a flight to Michigan. “It’s good to know there’s still someone out there who ________ enough to go to that kind of ________,”says Lisa of Ehlers’ rescue ________.

“I figured whoever lost the dog was probably just as ________ to it as I am to my dogs,” says Ehlers. “If it had been my dog, I’d hope that somebody would be ________ to go that extra mile.”

6 . My Favourite Books

Jo Usmar is a writer for Cosmopolitan and co-author of the This Book Will series(系列) of lifestyle books. Here she picks her top reads.

I once wrote a paper on the influence of fairy tales on Roald Dahl’s writing and it gave me a new appreciation for his strange and delightful words. Matilda’s battles with her cruel parents and the bossy headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, are equally funny and frightening, but they’re also aspirational.

It’s about two sisters—Eri, a model who either won’t or can’t stop sleeping, and Mari, a young student. In trying to connect to her sister, Mari starts changing her life and discovers a world of diverse “night people” who are hiding secrets.

There was a bit of me that didn’t want to love this when everyone else on the planet did, but the horror story is brilliant. There’s tension and anxiety from the beginning as Nick and Amy battle for your trust. It’s a real whodunit and the frustration when you realise what’s going on is horribly enjoyable.

This is an excellent fantasy novel from one of the best storytellers around. After a serious flu outbreak wipes out 99.4% of the world’s population, a battle unfolds between good and evil among those left. Randall Flagg is one of the scariest characters ever.

7 . “You can use me as a last resort(选择), and if nobody else volunteers, then I will do it.” This was an actual reply from a parent after I put out a request for volunteers for my kids’ lacrosse(长曲棍球) club.

I guess that there’s probably some demanding work schedule, or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport. She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren’t even on … At this point the unwilling parent speaks up, “Alright. Yes, I’ll do it.”

I’m secretly relieved because I know there’s real power in sharing volunteer responsibilities among many. The unwilling parent organizes the meal schedule, sends out emails, and collects money for end-of-season gifts. Somewhere along the way, the same parent ends up becoming an invaluable member of the team. The coach is able to focus on the kids while the other parents are relieved to be off the hook for another season. Handing out sliced oranges to bloodthirsty kids can be as exciting as watching your own kid score a goal.

Still, most of us volunteers breathe a sigh of relief when the season comes to a close. That relief is coupled with a deep understanding of why the same people keep coming back for more: Connecting to the community(社区) as you freely give your time, money, skills, or services provides a real joy. Volunteering just feels so good.

In that sense, I’m pretty sure volunteering is more of a selfish act than I’d freely like to admit. However, if others benefit in the process, and I get some reward too, does it really matter where my motivation lies?

8 . Bacteria are an annoying problem for astronauts. The microorganisms(微生物) from our bodies grow uncontrollably on surfaces of the International Space Station, so astronauts spend hours cleaning them up each week. How is NASA overcoming this very tiny big problem? It’s turning to a bunch of high school kids. But not just any kids. It is depending on NASA HUNCH high school classrooms, like the one science teachers Gene Gordon and Donna Himmelberg lead at Fairport High School in Fairport, New York.

HUNCH is designed to connect high school classrooms with NASA engineers. For the past two years, Gordon’s students have been studying ways to kill bacteria in zero gravity, and they think they’re close to a solution(解决方案). “We don’t give the students any breaks. They have to do it just like NASA engineers,” says Florence Gold, a project manager.

“There are no tests,” Gordon says. “There is no graded homework. There almost are no grades, other than ‘Are you working towards your goal?’ Basically, it’s ‘I’ve got to produce this product and then, at the end of year, present it to NASA.’ Engineers come and really do an in-person review, and...it’s not a very nice thing at times. It’s a hard business review of your product.”

Gordon says the HUNCH program has an impact(影响) on college admissions and practical life skills. “These kids are so absorbed in their studies that I just sit back. I don’t teach.” And that annoying bacteria? Gordon says his students are emailing daily with NASA engineers about the problem, readying a workable solution to test in space.

Hiking the Longji Rice Terraces (梯田) in southern China is something I would recommend for everyone to add to their bucket list. The name     1     (literal) means “Dragon’s Backbone” due to the fact that the rice terraces look just like a dragon’s scales, while the mountain’s summit     2    (resemble) the backbone.

During my visit to Guilin, I decided to set out on a three-day hike through the famous Longji Rice Terraces. Known as the “Dragon’s Backbone”, the terraces were a spectacular sight as they stretched across the green hills in complicated     3     (pattern) looking like ripples of water.

The hike     4     (take) me through small villages set against the beautiful landscape. Local farmers were busy tending to the terraced rice fields that had been farmed for over 1,000 years. Along the paths, I passed orange groves and met friendly locals     5    offered me fresh lychees.

At night, I stayed in simple homestays run by farming families. Over multicourse meals     6     (feature) local specialties like sticky rice, I learned     7     (much) about the terraces and village life. The feeling of community spirit and connection to the natural environment was unique.

Reaching the hike’s end after three full days, I felt a profound     8     (appreciate) for these ancient agricultural wonders carefully built into the landscape     9     generations of families. The Dragon’s Backbone terraces provided me with unforgettable mountain views     10     cultural insights into rural China.