1 . The closer one studies the gig economy (灰色经济), the less fun it sounds. Those who make their living this way, generally _________ app-based platforms that match consumer needs with workers who can fulfil them, _________ being in uncertain employment.

Bodies such as the International Labor Organization characterize this kind of employment as mostly low paid and _________, in which workers enjoy very few social, organizational and _________ rights and protections.

Attention is turning to the health and wellbeing of this fast-growing workforce, which _________ about 1.3m in the U.K. One academic is even calling for a “Gighall” study—similar to the landmark Whitehall _________ into the health of civil servants.

Those studies, conducted over three decades by Sir Michael Marmot, demonstrated the _________ between socio-economic status and health, a correlation that became known as “status syndrome”. Senior civil servants enjoyed lower _________ of death and heart disease than lowlier employees, a difference partly ascribed to (把……归功于……)autonomy (自主权) at work.

The _________ of powerlessness that afflicts (折磨；使痛苦) many in the gig economy—according to one survey, only four out of 10 gig workers (零工) feel like they are their own __________—suggests that health problems may be brewing in this sizeable slice of workforce.

One study on the Italian workforce, published last year in Social Science and Medicine, suggests that those on __________ contracts are more likely to use prescription medication for mental health conditions such as __________(although the reverse is also true that preexisting ill health leads to more irregular employment).

__________ not specifically about the gig economy, the authors, from the universities of Brunel and Milan, conclude that the __________ to make labour markets more flexible might prove ill for the psychological wellbeing of workers.

Gig work is often conducted privately, in cars and homes, from bicycles and motorbikes, instead of from a __________ workplace, so basic hazards, such as fatigue associated with long hours, can go unnoticed.

2 . Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution for two of their country’s persistent problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. As a student and_________she is asking local snack lovers a_________: Rather than throw empty chip bags_________into the trash,_________them! Then she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.

Chip_________drop off their empty bags at two_________: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they sanitize (清洁) the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open,_________them flat, and iron them together. They_________fillings to line the insides.

It takes about four hours to_________a sleeping bag, and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags, depending on whether they’re single-serve or family__________. The__________is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof, lightweight, and easy to carry around,” Oleita told theNews.

Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has__________more than 800, 000 chip bags and,__________last December, created 110 sleeping bags.

Sure, it would be__________to raise the money to buy new sleeping bags. But the project is only half the__________for Oleita whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life — and her fellow volunteers. “We are dedicated to making an impact not only__________but environmentally,” she says.

And, of course, there’s the symbolism of recycling bags that would__________land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful__________that environmental__________and poverty often go hand in hand. As Oleita toldlocalnews. com,“I think it’s time to show__________between all of these issues.”

3 . I've come to the conclusion that I'm rubbish at saying “No”. For example, last Sunday I was sitting at my desk alone, totally ____ in my own business, when a colleague of mine phoned and asked me to get involved in ____ with her. I found myself getting all caught up in her enthusiasm and didn't want to ____ her. So I said “Sure, why not？” and before the call had ____, I found myself agreeing, without giving any ____ whether it was worth doing.

We are both window­shoppers and ___ a whole day in the street. Actually, I hardly have any time to spare because I am very busy ____ my normal job - I've also got a book to write, a business to ____ and a family to look after. And then there are my other projects to ____ - my voluntary work and a couple of other interesting investments that I want to ____. I'm going to have to be more ruthless (无情的) and not just agree to ____ people ask me to get involved in. In other words, I'm going to have to get ____ at saying “No”.Usually I hate saying “No”, because having to disappoint someone usually ____ me. Now I realize ____ I haven't learned to say “No”, I've been feeling very ____.

We had better do what we think is right and what we are ______ to do. Sometimes it does not seem that bad to ______ others. If I focus on the things I ______ want to be involved in, I'll reach a much higher standard and do it quite ______. I'll be enthusiastic and motivated (有积极性) and do something that is good for everyone and everyone will be happy. It'll be a win-­win ______. What's not good about that？So sometimes, we have to say “No”.

4 . I have the bad habit of skipping to the last pages of a book to see how it ends while I’m still in the middle of it. This habit ______ people around me. Often my ______ wouldn’t be confined(局限) just to the books I read but also to what others were ______ as well. Finally, one day my daughter told me with a little _______. “Dad, please just read a book one page at a time like everyone else!”

At times I didn’t ______ this bad habit to just reading books either. I also tried to skip ahead in my life and _____ what to do months and even years from now instead of ______ each day as it is intended. I knew that the book of my life wasn’t done yet and that I had many ______ left to go.________, that didn’t stop me from trying to write the ______ half-way through. Time and again, I would ______ jump ahead and try to solve every potential problem before it ______ so I could reach that storybook happily ever after ending. Life, however, doesn’t ______   like that. It loves to ______ us, and you never know what new problem or opportunity each new day will bring.

Life has often had to ______ me to slow down. Recently, when I found myself ______ to that bad habit of rushing ahead and living in the ______ again, I felt a special voice gently telling me, “ Live one day at a time.” Then I smiled, and turned the book of my life back to the ____ page. Each of us has to live the book of life one page and one day at a time. Each of us has to write it ______ and moment by moment. We have to trust that it will bring our ______ to its perfect end.

5 . There were three little butterfly brothers, one white, one red and one yellow. They played among the ____ in the garden, but never grew ____ because they were so happy.

One day there came a heavy rain, and it ____   their bodies. They flew away home, but when they got there they found the door locked and the key gone. So they flew to the tulip(郁金香) and said, “My dear friend, will you let us stay here till the   ____   is over?”

The tulip answered, “Only the red butterfly and the yellow one may ____ , because they are like me.”

But the red butterfly and the yellow one said, “If our ____ may not find a place, we will stay outside with him.”

It ____ harder and harder, and the poor butterflies grew much wetter, so they flew to the white lily(百合花), saying, “Good Lily, will you ____ a little so we may get in?”

The lily answered, “The ____ butterfly may come in, because he is like me, but the red one and the yellow must stay outside.”

Then the white butterfly said, “If you won’t ____ my brothers, I’ll stay out with them. We would rather be wet than be separated.”

So the three little butterflies flew away. But the ____ , who was behind a cloud, heard it all, and he knew what   ____ brothers they were. So he pushed his face through the ____ , drove away the rain, and shone ____ on the garden. He dried the bodies of the three little butterflies, and ____ their small bodies. They danced among the flowers till evening. When they flew back home, they found the door wide open.

6 . A movie about Mount Qomolangma I saw on a flight inspired me to climb mountains.When I saw the climbers got _______ in a storm there, I immediately knew I had to start climbing. It was not the _______ most people had to that film because none of them survived.

I _______ to climb all the highest peaks in Europe in 2017. Growing up in Sweden, I was always _______ to be outdoors by my father, but I wasn’t a _______ adventurer--I just wanted to be a _______ for girls and to tell a story that had never been told.

There is no _______ definition (定义) of a mountain. In Holland, Belgium and Denmark, the highest peak is really just a small hill. You could park your car on the top. It felt a bit like _______, but I decided I would climb them _______.

Climbing mountains is an experience that is beyond ________. You are in a beautiful environment and, when you reach the top, you feel ________, but also you have to climb down, which is when most accidents happen. ________, I don’t climb mountains that I am not totally ________.

I wanted to ________ the project at home, on Sweden’s Kebnekaise (2, 097m). I climbed it with my camera assistant. I was wearing a superhero suit. Once I was at the top we did a ________--it was like a day on the job; it didn’t seem as ________ as I’d hoped. But when I put it online and people started ________ me, I felt ________. Thanks to climbing, it’s made me so much ________, physically and mentally.

My ________ now is always to have a mountain in my calendar. I will climb Mount Qomolangma one day, when I’ m ready.

7 . Brian Tagalog was born without arms. But that didn't _______ him from leading a normal life. The _______ young man believes he is the only certified tattoo (文身) artist without arms in the world.

A _______ of Honolulu, Tagalog moved with his family to Tucson. He had always shown an interest in drawing, and set his mind on becoming a _______ tattoo artist. Not many people gave him a chance, but he _______ improved his foot drawing skills and operated the tattoo gun with his _______.

Brian's mother admits that _______ him was not easy, but she always made it a(n) _______ to let him explore his options. “The day I gave birth to him, well, I was shocked, but we never hid him. I didn't _______ him in any way.” And perhaps that's what gave him the ________ to achieve his dreams, ________ the very obvious absence of two limbs. “I was born without arms，” he said. “But that has not ________ me down to pursue my dream.”

At first, finding a shop that would ________ him proved a very difficult thing. He ________ many tattoo shops and got no calls back. He didn't give up; ________， Brian finally runs his own shop. Brian uses a(n) ________ technique to tattoo — he draws the design on clients' skin with one foot, ________ using the other to stretch the skin. And eventually his tattoos always turn out to get his clients' ________.

Brian hopes his success will ________ others to follow their dreams bravely. Words and photos just don't do Brian Tagalog justice. You need to see him ________ to witness how he works only with his feet.

8 . Five years ago,at the age of 66, I stared running. I was not a natural _________. I wanted to lose weight and it seemed that running was a (n) _________ way. At first it was very _________ — I was mainly walking more than running when I started — but I didn’t _________.

When I started training running, I was just trying to build up stamina (耐力), and just the idea of even going three miles, even walking was a _________ .In the beginning, I just walked as much as I could and then as time went on, I _________ began running. Later I kept on adding more and more _________.

I _________ my coach Mario in my running club, and he’d been running for over 30 years. He had a lot of knowledge and often sent various quotes to _________ and encourage me.

Running the New York City Marathon for the first time was probably the greatest __________ of my life. I was really prepared, __________ Mario. I leaned a lot of life lessons during the __________: To be a winner, you have to believe in yourself __________ nobody else will. When I crossed the finishing line, I was so excited. I remember just getting to the ____14____ and realizing, “Oh my God, I’m going to do this!” I heard them say, “Welcome to the finishing line,” and I thought, wow, I was actually going to ____15____ this!

I could never have __________ myself doing the New York City Marathon, and here I am and I __________ it. I was a true __________ that it’s never too late to present yourself with a     21     image, as long as you have faith and allow that faith to     22     you.

9 . It was December 22. The bitter wind swept the countless snowflakes across my front yard. My dad was there sweeping the ______. His nose was red as a cherry. With every breath he took, a white puff ______ into the air.

Inside, my mother was ______ the last of the boxes. As I entered the front door, the ______ that after today I wouldn’t enter through that door ______ again burned a hole in my stomach. I picked up my dog and sat Indian style with him in my lap on the ______, wooden floor. I had no ______ but to sit on the floor, for there was no longer any furniture occupying my house. I sat there in a daze (恍惚), just ______. There was no reason for my parents to make me, a once ______12-year-old kid, ______. I had two best friends right across the street; I did well in school and I always kept my room clean. ______, this was “my house”. By no means did I want a couple of ______ living here. These recurring (重复) thoughts danced around in my mind and I couldn’t find a(n) ______.

Out of the front window I could see the orange top of a truck pulling in the cleaned driveway and I knew it was the other U-Haul. Instantly three men came ______ through the back door like World War III was starting.

I watched ______ as the men, my mother and my dad loaded the truck. My dog even winced（畏缩）as he stared out of the window. I wondered if he was ______, too, or if he just wished to play outside in the snow.

My mum came in, looking solemn（凝重）for my sake, I imagined. She turned ______ the overhead light, put the ______ in my arm and followed me out of the back door. A totally ______ feeling filled my inside. For the first time in my life, I wondered what ______would be to me tomorrow.

10 . He’d spent seven hours climbing up the mountain through ice and snow，and now the exhausted Daniel Mazur_______that success was near. Although it was ten degrees_______zero near the top of Everest，the soft morning light showed clear blue skies for miles around.

As the men_________ out on the snow-overed peaks below，Mazur suddenly saw a_______of bright yellow to his left. Was it a tent? No way!No climber would_________out at this altitude，he thought. He decided to take a_____________look. Then Mazur’ s jaw dropped in_____________.On the_______of a cliff(悬崖)was a man sitting cross－legged，trying to change his shirt. His thick snowsuit was unzipped to the waist and he had no hat，gloves，or sunglasses. Pulling his_________hands out of his shirt，Hall looked up at Mazur.“I imagine you are________to see me here，”he said. Hall had reached the__________at nine that morning. Then he started to climb down，hoping to reach the camp before dangerous afternoon storms __________.But at 28，000 feet，Hall’s feet had stopped moving and he was __________by a deep tiredness. He couldn’t walk any more.

Mazur knew there was only one possiblees __________ to he made.“Luckily，everyone in my team made the__________one.”“We can’t leave the guy，”he said，and they all ________. Though they knew they weren’t going to get to the top，they ________Hall and eventually________it to the base.

Afterwards，Mazur said，“Sure，I wish I could have reached the top. But if we’d done that，he wouldn’t be________today，and I would have to live with that for the________of my life.