A Chinese policeman familiar     1     China’s many regional dialects has helped more than 50 missing people reunite with their families in the past 11 years. His     2     (impress) language skills have allowed the 51-year-old police officer Wang Baoku from Wuhan to identify where a person is from by     3     (analyze) their accents.

Wang has used his rare talent to track down people reported as missing for years or even     4     (decade). In a case last year, a homeless old man was     5     (critical) ill in hospital, but couldn’t provide any information about his family. “He said in a weak voice that he was surnamed Xiong, with a falling tone. And he pronounced     6     last character of his given name as ‘Yuan’, with the retroflex (卷舌音) often     7     (hear) in a Chengdu accent,” Wang says. He then narrowed down the scale of his search to Chengdu and finally found the man’s daughter     8     had been looking for him for 22 years.

Wang became an expert in dialects during his 22 years of military service when he     9     (train) soldiers from different parts of China. Wang says it’s not very hard     10     (find) information about unidentified people these days with clues from accents and well-developed police data, “I am confident that I can do it as long as I spend enough time and effort,” says Wang.

A few weeks ago, a series of deadly earthquakes     1     (strike) Syria and Turkey, causing massive damage. Rescue     2     (worker) continued to search for survivors in the rubble (废墟).

Ali Cakas is a 33-year-old world-famous mountain biker and coach for the Turkish national mountain bike team. He’s also a firefighter, so when     3     natural disasters occurred, he didn’t hesitate to search a collapsed apartment building in Nurdagi, Turkey.

Ali found a little black and white cat and the cat was clearly very happy to see his rescuer. A photo of Ali     4     (wear) a bicycle helmet (头盔) with the cat on his shoulder quickly went viral (走红), attracting animal lovers across the     5     (global).

It seemed the cat had been trapped for several days and nights     6     Ali rescued him, and this grateful cat wasn’t about to let his hero out of his sight! Ali had no choice but     7     (adopt) the animal and bring him home. Ali named the cat Enkez,     8     means “rubble” in Turkish.

Enkaz has now become the unofficial face of Ali’s fire department! The cat seems to be settling into his comfortable new home very nicely, and Ali     9     (frequent) updates his social media pages with pictures of Enkaz enjoying treats. Ali even has set Enkaz up with his own Instagram page so the kitty’s new worldwide fan base can keep up     10     his every move.

A long time ago, a father was old and sick. He did not have much time to live, and he wanted     1     (give) his sons a good lesson before he died.

Recently, he noticed that his sons     2     (fight) among themselves and seemed unable to agree on anything. The old man feared what would happen after his     3     (die). He was afraid that his sons would begin to argue. “They will disagree about everything,” He thought. “Soon they     4     (be) enemies, each going his own direction.”

He called his sons together in his room. “Bring     5     (I) a bundle (束) of stick,” he asked his servant (仆人). Soon enough, a thick bundle of sticks arrived, tied     6     (close) together. One by one, he gave the bundle to each son, and asked him to break the bundle. One son after another pulled and twisted (拧) with all of his strength (力量),     7     the sticks would not break. The old man smiled and ordered his servant to untie the bundle of sticks. He handed one stick to each son and said, “Now break the stick.”

The old man smiled and ordered his servant to untie the bundle of sticks. He handed one stick to each son and said, “Now break the stick.” Of course, the single stick     8     (break) in two easily. The old father looked at his sons. “Do you understand this lesson?” he asked.

Each son, being intelligent,     9     (understand) the meaning at once. Alone, it is easy for one of them to be harmed. But together, they are strong and can’t be harmed even     10     great forces (势力). That’s the meaning of the sticking together. In unity, there is great strength.

A parent’s nightmare turned to relief in Florida as policemen swiftly rescued a missing five-year-old girl with autism. The local police launched a desperate search,     1     (use) air and ground efforts. Thermal imaging (热成像)    2     (lead) to the discovery of her in a swampy area. A body-worn camera captured the heroic moment of her rescue.     3     policemen’s quick response, she was found unharmed. The public praised the team’s efficiency in turning     4     could have been a tragedy into a heartwarming reunion.

A Californian woman has become a fitness influencer in her 50s after losing more than 40 pounds and taking up bodybuilding.

Denise Kirtley, 52, was inspired     1     (turn) her life around two months before her 50th birthday after finding that her wedding ring no longer fit on her finger.

“When I     2     (start) my transformation in 2020, I had been sedentary (惯于久坐不动的) for     3     long while,” Kirtley explained. She began lifting light weights in her spare bedroom, saying she was     4     unfit for the first two weeks that she quickly felt     5     (breath) and tired. But Kirtley said the secret to     6     (get) started on a body transformation is     7     (simple) to repeat workouts five times per week because action “often precedes (先于) motivation.”

“Action leads to more action. We can’t wait for motivation to kick in as it usually comes     8     (late),” she said. “If you can start taking action, any action, you will build momentum (推进力). That momentum will push you forward. It DOES get easier.”

The 52-year-old said she’s also transformed her attitude toward growing older. “We really do get to choose     9     we age. It’s all about your mindset,” she said. “Old and aging are very different — there’s nothing wrong     10     aging, and I embrace (欣然接受) my age. I’m aging, but I’m strong and spirited.”

I was a boy of nine in 1960. At school, I     1     (intent) did my lessons. At the expense of my studying time, I used to mow the lawn for Mrs. Long,     2     occupation was an architect. She was one of the     3     (specialist) in the field of architecture. Her family was comprised     4     four people. The motivation of the mission was to make the lawn tidy and elegant. Sometimes, the work took     5     about two hours a day. She paid me little for the job, but that she promised to give me a Christmas present filled me with hope.

I spent much time wondering what it would be. Many boys had baseball gloves or ice skates bought for them and I was eager to have any of these. “As I can imagine, it will hardly be baseball gloves,” I reasoned with myself.   “She doesn’t know much about baseball.” So according to my rough     6     (analyze), I was convinced that she might give me ice skates.

As Christmas approached, it was with difficulty that I stopped myself from reporting to Mrs. Long and demanding my present. On December 20, I told my parents, “At 9 o’clock on December 22, I will be appearing at the door of Mrs. Long’s house.” That Mrs. Long handed me a small box which under no circumstances could hold a pair of skates was     7     made me feel disappointed.     8     (lift) from her, the present seemed so light, about which I was curious. It weighed almost nothing. When the present was being held by me at the moment, I asked, “What is it?” “A kind of magic,” she said.

On Christmas morning, I had this box on my knees. It was with great excitement that I opened the box to find inside ten sheets of black paper, each labeled in colorful letters, Carbon Paper Regal Premium. In view of this, I asked, “What is it?” Mum took two pieces of white paper, placed between them one of the black paper, and     9     (write) my name on the upper sheet. Then she handed me the second sheet, which her pencil had in no way touched. There was my name! In that one moment, I remembered the ideas about the duplication (复制) of words and the printing and the mystery of spreading ideas. This was one of the most     10     (influence) experiences in my life.

Knowing me, knowing you

One night, a married couple got into a fight. The reason     1     they had a fight was that the woman had bought too expensive a dress. It was common for them to stay in a war of silence after such a fight. And this time was not different. For most of the night, the couple     2    (ignore) each other and even when preparing for bed, they didn’t say a word.

However, her husband started getting anxious because he would catch a flight at 5:00 am the next morning. He always devoted     3    (he) to his work.     4    (give) a promotion(晋升) in his company recently, he made more efforts to do his work. The man was a heavy sleeper and     5    (absolute) depended on his wife to wake him up. Otherwise, there was a good chance that he would sleep right through the alarm.

In order not to lose face, he didn’t speak with her directly although he wanted to, but he wrote something on a piece of paper, reading, “Please wake me up when it’s 5:00 am.” He put the note on his wife’s pillow,     6    (believe) that his wife would for sure see it there. He then fell asleep with satisfaction.

The next morning when he woke up, it was already 7:00 am! He took     7     deep breath because he couldn’t take his journey to meet their customers that day. He thought     8     some extent, his boss as well as their customers was sure to get annoyed with him. To his     9    (embarrass), he was preparing to blame his wife when he noticed a handwritten note beside his pillow, saying, “It’s 5:00 am. You     10     get up right now, needn’t you? A note has been put beside your pillow already.”

Most of the time, how you say something is more important than what you actually say. When you need something, do not let pride get in the way of asking for help in the right way!