1 . Last summer, with my neck tight from too much time at the computer, I knew I needed to _________ into the woods. My husband wasn’t _________, but I really wanted to see the Perseids meteor shower (英仙座流星雨). I decided to go _________ on my own, which I’d never done before.

After throwing the sleeping bag and a few things to eat into the _________, I was on my way. I was a little _________ about being alone at first but put that feeling aside for the time being as I drove to my destination. Once I reached the camping _________, I asked the young attendant if she thought I’d be all right camping alone.

“Sure,” she said. I’m not sure what I expected her to say, but her answer was somewhat reassuring. I heard thunder. Not a great start to my _________. The one thing I don’t like is camping in the rain. By the time I reached my campsite, it was _________. Once the rain stopped, I found a spot for the _________. Putting it up turned out to be a straightforward process. This wouldn’t be so bad I thought.

After supper, I got the fire started easily. Looking up, I couldn’t see much of the sky __________ the trees. Once I zipped (拉上拉链) myself into the tent, I realized how much room there was. I loved that I could spread out and throw my clothes all over with no one to __________ about the mess. Solo camping __________ has its benefits.

Falling asleep quickly, I was awakened a few hours later by some __________. It sounded too large and loud to be a squirrel (松鼠) or a chipmunk (花栗鼠). __________, after a few minutes, it stopped, but I was __________ the rest of the night.

I didn’t think it was a good idea to __________ and look at the stars after all. As I lay there, I heard wolves in the distance and an owl (猫头鹰) calling. I was somewhat glad I was __________ to hear this little slice of nature.

The next morning, my neighbors talked about how a bear had visited in the night and knocked over some of their chairs and a small table. Fortunately, the bear hadn’t done any more __________ than that.

While I was disappointed at not seeing the shooting __________, I’m now a lot more __________ about camping by myself. Bear or no bear.

4 . I Still Look for Patches

Aren’t we lucky, when we had a childhood friend willing to be our everlasting, faithful companion(同伴)？I can still remember the day I met my special _________ .

One spring evening, my mother and I patiently waited for my father to come home. His_________ in the doorway made no clear impression on my mind. Suddenly, I heard a_________ “Yip”. “Did I hear something? Daddy, please tell me. What was that?”

As he_________ his pocket he answered, “Nothing. It was only my pocket.” The look on my face must have been a sign of_________.

“Amy!” Softly, daddy called.

I slowly turned around to look at daddy’s_________. There, crawled in his palm was a little dog. _________ several brown spots on her white fur, I named her, “Patches(斑点).”

Patches became a_________ and blame taker. If I was troubled, I could depend on her two ears to listen_________ to everything I had to say. If unfortunately I broke a glass, my trusting companion would willingly__________ responsibility. Her__________ devotion(奉献) only made it hard to separate from her.

When I was about 10, my family moved into a house which wasn’t__________ enough to contain a dog. Sadly, we had to__________ her. My auntie, owning a house with vast pieces of land, __________ her.

I can still remember her eyes__________ at me forlornly(可怜地) as she left. The__________ in her eyes will be with me forever.

I saw her once or twice before she__________. Until my dying day, I shall always expect to see her. I believe that, to this very day, she is still trying to find her way back to her true home. Because I have no__________ that she died, I continue to have faith. The picture is__________ in my mind: a thin white dog comes jumping up, __________ me in loving dog kisses.

5 . It happened in a small office of the immigration authority in the German city. It was a hot day in May when I stopped being a( n) _________.

It had been a _________ road that had brought me to this door: a childhood in India, a 14-year stay in the US and finally a life of 25 years in Germany. In all those years, I’d   _________ my Indian citizenship, though hesitating over whether to _________ the identity because of the inability to vote in Germany.

Now, approaching retirement, I want to spend more time in where I grew up. I was afraid, though, that more than six months’ _________ could result in a loss of my resident status in Germany, which over the years had become my _________ . And I knew I couldn’t _________ to let this door to Germany close forever. If so, what would my family do without me?

At 3 pm I knocked _________ on the door, uneasy and went in. The official, a middle-aged woman asked me to take a seat when she got my file out. I wasn’t sure if I’d have to show some documents to prove I’m _________ to get the citizenship in Cermany. Actually, she didn’t asked me to show anything. She just handed me a half page text in German and asked me to __________ it out. I started reading it, but she __________ me, saying mildly, “Please read all, including the place and state. ”So I started again. It was an oath (誓言) I was reading, swearing to be __________ to this country and to __________ all the social rules. Then she asked me to sign to give up my Indian __________. My eyes were full of tears, reading the citizenship certificate she handed me. We shook hands. No photograph, no flowers - just a __________ handshake. To __________ my tears, I said it was a huge step in my life, however, a terrible __________ as well. I watched sadly as she took my old Indian passport away. “Can I get it back after it’s been __________?” I asked. "That’s something you’ll have to ask the Indian consulate (领事馆) , ”she said. "It’s their __________, not ours, and certainly not yours. ”

Now I could live in Germany, vote, and travel to many countries without needing a visa. However, why did I feel so __________?

6 . Recent research discovered that a low-cost computer training program can help older persons drive less dangerously.

“We developed a training program, called Drive Aware, which could be used by anyone who has a computer,” says Jing Feng, co-author of the study and a professor of psychology at NC State. “Drive Aware is a cognitive (认知的) training program for older persons that helps them notice traffic risks more effectively. The purpose of our recent study was to see how much Drive Aware changes trainees’ driving behaviors once they get behind the wheel.”

The researchers found 27 persons aged 65 and up to test Drive Aware. In a driving simulator (模拟器), all of the study participants (参与者) experienced a basic driving exam. The “active training” group was made up of nine of the study participants. Every two weeks, the active training group had two Drive Aware trainings. A group of nine additional study participants was asked to take “passive training”. This group watched videos of others receiving the Drive Aware instruction. This happened twice, with each lasting about a week. The control group, which was made up of the remaining nine study participants, received no training. After that, all 27 study participants performed a second driving exam in the simulator.

The study participants in the active training group experienced 25% fewer “unsafe incidents (事件)” following the training, according to the researchers. There was no obvious change in the number of dangerous incidents among study participants in the passive training and control groups.

“This testing was done with a fairly limited number of study participants,” Feng says. “If we can succeed in getting the fund, we’d like to further our testing with more people to clearly prove how effective this training is at reducing accidents among older drivers.”

10 . Officer Galen Hinshaw heard the call over the radio: a fellow officer was in trouble. A crowd _________ police around the country had _________ a police car at Memorial Bridge. The officer inside radioed for help as these crowds _________ his car. Hinshaw, part of police Department’s Special Response Team, drove to the _________. As he got out of his car, he was also immediately surrounded by the crowd. Some yelled rudely, while others _________ their fists. As the crowd _________, Hinshaw, wearing a vest, a helmet, made his way to keep his back to the wall. He needed to be sure that _________ could get behind him.

The crowd yells _________, “We do care, man, we do care,” Hinshaw yelled back. It was then that a man wearing a red mask that _________ the lower half of his face put himself between the __________ crowd and Hinshaw. Day care operator Lee had also noticed the crowd __________ Hinshaw. He jumped in and __________ arms with the stranger in the red mask. __________, one man shouted “We’re supposed to protect the police!” and the people __________ him. Then Ricky, a factory worker, __________ up and stood to Lee’s left. As the crowd around them grew larger and louder. He heard Lee yell, “__________ arms!” At that point, local businessman Julian joined in. “I saw the guys link up, and I saw a weak spot,” he says. He took up a position on the end of line, feeling nervous and __________ his hands trembling. Finally, five men __________ a human shield (屏障) to protect Hinshaw. Three were Black, one was White, and one was Dominican—all linking arms to keep __________ away from Hinshaw.

The standoff lasted just two minutes, though it felt __________ to those who were there. “It was a moment where strangers came together to help another stranger, and that stranger was me.”