3 . I sat and waited for Kathleen to speak. “Annie, ” she said, “A food bank that serves the elderly is asking for ________ . I’d like you to organize the event”. “Well, errr....sure.” As I stuttered through my ________ , all I could think was, “What? Why me?”

I walked back to my office wondering where to ________ . This was a time when the economy was ________ . The rise in unemployment forced many of my coworkers to ________ to survive. How could I ask them for more?

That evening I drove home with negativity. Then I remembered a time when my father was out of work. Mom wrote a note to Jim, the milkman, asking him not to ________ any more milk. Two days later Jim picked up the   ________ and left four liters of milk. He wrote his message, which read, “Kids need milk.” The milk delivery ________ as usual and Jim never collected a cent ________ us.

The memory of Jim’s kindness ________ my enthusiasm. Perhaps I’d be in for a pleasant surprise.

The next morning I ________ signs about our food drive all over the cafeteria and on every notice board I could find. Each sign said, “Food drive to support the poor elderly! ________ of non - perishable (不易腐的) foods are greatly needed.”

Within a few days I had to locate empty office space to ________ the massive number of contributions we had   ________ . One of my coworkers, Maggie, made the rounds with me every day from one department to another to pick up the canned goods and other ________ . Though over sixty, she pushed our food trolley around with the ________ of a woman half her age.

I asked her where she got all the enthusiasm. She said, “With the unemployment rate touching 10 percent, I can’t think of a better way to be ________ for keeping our jobs when so many have ________ theirs. Sure money is   ________ . But when isn’t it? People need food.”

As I listened to Maggie, the milkman’s words ________ in my ears, “Kids need milk.”

As an attractive city in the Netherlands, Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly    1    (city) in the world having over 800, 000 bikes in the capital. By comparison, the city has a population of only 750, 000 less than the number of bikes. According to a survey    2    (make) 5 years ago 490, 000 people used bicycles everyday.

Up to now, people in Amsterdam    3    (enjoy) the convenience of cycling for decades. The city has special facilities for cyclists,    4    can be used for free. Compared with other transportation in the city, bikes are    5    (clean) and less expensive while also    6    (offer) health benefits.    7    reason for bicycle riding is that bicycle traffic is    8    (relative) safe. Amsterdammers ride a wide    9    (vary) of bicycles. Many tourists also discover Amsterdam by bike, which is    10    typical Dutch way.

5 . Money is the root of all evil(邪恶)and new study shows that there may be some truth behind the saying. Scientists-at the University of California Berkeley, US, announced on February 27 that rich people are more likely to do immoral(不道德)things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people. The scientists did a series of eight experiments. They published their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They carried out the first two experiments from the sidewalk near Berkeley. They found that drivers of newer and more expensive cars were more likely to cut off other cars and pedestrians(行人)at crosswalks. Nearly 45 percent of people driving expensive cars ignored a pedestrian compared with only 30 percent of people driving ordinary cars.

In another experiment, a group of college students was asked if they would do immoral things in everyday situations. Examples included taking printer paper from work and not telling a salesperson when lie or she gave back more change. Students from higher-class families were more likely to act dishonestly.

According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.

Finally, money just makes them have more desires. Higher wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self-interest, said Paul Piff, lead scientist of the study.

Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest. He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts(本能)and values in different ways.

6 . The number of giraffes is becoming smaller across Africa, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The total population has dropped by 40 percent in the last 15 years. People care little about it. Surprisingly, even scientists haven't given much attention to giraffes. "We are learning more about their ecology, but what we know is still way behind what we know about other species. It's a silent extinction (濒临灭绝)", said Dr. Julian Hennessy, a wildlife scientist.

"The main reason for the smaller number of giraffes is their loss of living places," said Hennessy, "as an increasing part of land is used for farming. But hunting also has a big influence." You might wonder why hunters like giraffes. First of all, once a giraffe is brought down, there is lots of meat with a small amount of effort. Besides, there is another thing encouraging the hunting. In Tanzania, Hennessy says, the latest word on the street is that eating giraffe meat could cure AIDS. Fresh giraffe heads and bones can be sold at prices of up to $140 per piece.

Another widespread misconception about giraffes is that they are everywhere. Look at kids' books which are full of giraffes. They are always in zoo collections. They can be seen easily, so you don't think we have to worry about them. But the truth is that they are in danger of extinction. There is a lack of right and true data.

Hennessy and other researchers are now pulling together the data needed to improve the situation of the entire giraffe species. He hopes that the world will finally start to realize how endangered these beloved animals have become.