1 . Having a dog has been shown to improve the quality of life for senior citizens. But what happens as the senior ages and it becomes ________ to care for their pet?

Carie Broecker learned about this ________ while helping to care for an elderly woman’s dog. Broecker and the woman, Alice had met five years earlier, when Alice developed emphysema(肺气肿). She ________ Broecker for helping take care of her dog, Savannah, while she was at ________ appointment. When Alice was later moved to the nursing home, Broecker would bring the dog to ________. During Alice’s final days, her biggest ________ was what would happen to her dog after she passed away. “I will make sure that Savannah finds a good home.” Broecker said, “Alice was rather ________ that I could make that promise to her.”

After that, Broecker came up with an idea that she could take in dogs from senior citizens who were ________. In 2009, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue was born. Many times, it’s family members who ________ the organization to give away their aging family member’s dog. ________, a senior doesn’t need to give up their dog. They just need some ________. Volunteers in the organization can go to the senior’s house to walk their dog.

“We can preserve that human—animal bond and make this person’s life better and brighter through our ________.” Broecker said. The nonprofit also helps ________ dogs find forever homes where they can get more attention they need. “In our society, sometimes the elderly, whether they are human beings or animals, get ________. We really want to ________ all of life.”

2 . Researchers in Australia and the US are working on a project to bring the thylacine(袋狼)back from extinction, the last one of which died in the 1930s.

The team say it can be recreated using stem cells and gene—editing technology, and the first thylacine could be reintroduced to the wild in 10 years’ time. The group of Australian and US scientists plan to take stem cells from a living marsupial(有袋动物)species with similar DNA, and then use gene—editing technology to “bring back” the extinct species or an extremely similar one. It would represent a remarkable achievement for the researchers attempting it, and require a number of scientific breakthroughs. “I now believe that in 10 years’ time we could have our first living baby thylacine since they were hunted to extinction close to a century ago,” said Professor Andrew Pask, who is leading the research from the University of Melbourne.

The population of thylacine declined when humans arrived in Australia tens of thousands of years ago, and again when dingoes, a species of wild dog, appeared. Eventually, the thylacine could only be found on the island of Tasmania, and was ultimately hunted to extinction.

The idea of bringing back the thylacine has been around for more than 20 years. In 1999, the Australian Museum started to pursue a project to clone the animal; and various attempts have been made ever since to gain or rebuild DNA from samples, which is capable of surviving and developing.

This latest project is a partnership between University of Melbourne and Texas—based company Colossal, which made headlines last year with its plans to use similar gene editing technology to bring mammoth(猛犸象)back to life technology yet to become reality.

Many outside experts are rather dubious about the science behind it, suggesting de—extinction(物种复活)is just science fiction. But if scientists were to succeed in bringing back the thylacine, it would mark the first “de—extinction” event in history.

For Zhang Baohua, who lives in Changji, it is a 90-minute drive to the Xinjiang Silk Road ski resort,     1     he has become well-known to all of the resort staff and his fellow skiers.

Zhang took up skiing after he     2     (buy) a new set of equipment by his son. Since then, skiing     3     (become) the favorite outing for him and his family at weekends.

They are among the majority     4     (begin) to spend more of their spare time     5     winter sports in the northwestern region. Xinjiang, which has areas of both ice and snow, has stepped into the fast lane in terms of developing     6     (it) winter sports.

To satisfy China’s     7     (ambitious) to encourage 300 million people in the country to participate in winter sports ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Xinjiang Sports Administration has taken measures to provide a     8     (good) environment for people in the region to get     9     (involve) in winter sports. During the 2017 Spring Festival, tourist visits to the Silk Road Resort reached 42,000—a year—on—year increase of 30 percent.

Xinjiang has also been making efforts in winter sports infrastructure construction and planning to host     10     winter sports meeting for teenagers, called Stars of the Future, in order to stimulate young people’s interest in winter sports.

Having lived in Beijing for nearly four years now. I had frequently heard of people taking “weekend trips” to Tianjin.     1    , as more famous cities and destinations in China, such as Suzhou, or Xi’an, were on the top of my list, I often disregarded Tianjin     2     a place I would see someday if I had the time. Little did I know that I was preventing     3     (I) from experiencing one of China’s most charming cities.

One must understand its history to truly understand     4     makes Tianjin so unique. Tianjin has served as a vital trade port in China for centuries. Many western buildings and neighborhoods     5     (construct) to house the armies and delegates of the European Eight-Nation Alliance.

The city is also     6     (extreme) convenient explore,     7     benefited me on my visit as I was only able to stay a day, and wanted to make     8     most of it. I started my day at the Ancient Cultural Street.     9     (build) in 1986, the street is a beautiful replica (复制品) of classical Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)architecture.

So don’t make the same mistake I did by     10     (put) off a trip to this incredible city. Tianjin is a true treasure of China and I cannot wait to return.

8 . What Makes Art Valuable?

Why do people buy art? An even bigger question is, why do people pay tens of millions of dollars to own art? Is it for status, prestige(威望), and approval from peers? One thing to remember is that value isn’t only linked to its artist quality.    1    

Provenance

In the art world, an artwork’s value can be the result of provenance. In other words, who has owned the painting in the past.    2    The masterpiece went from a value of less than $10,000 when David Rockefeller first owned it, to upwards of $72 million when it was later sold by Sotheby’s.

The Thrill of Auction(拍卖)

The salerooms at Christie’s or Sotheby’s are full of billionaires—or better yet, their advisors.    3    They know when to bump up a lot and when to slightly tip the scales. They’re running the show and it’s their job to make sure the highest bidder(出价者)has a shot and that values soar.

Historical Significance

Historical significance works in a couple of ways when it comes to determining the value of art. Firstly, you can consider the piece in terms of its importance to art history in its genre. For example, a painting by Claude Monet is worth more than other more recent impressionist work since Monet changed the standard of art history and impressionism as a whole.    4    After all, art is often a reflection of the culture of its time and as it became a product, art was affected by political and historical changes.

    5    Whether in a perfect storm of passion and desire or a calculated risk of business deals and rewards, art collectors continue to spend millions upon millions each year at art auctions. What makes art valuable beyond the cost of supplies and labor? We may never truly understand.