1 . Life is full of uncertainties, and every activity we do carries some level of ________ . Some activities, like snowboarding (单板滑雪运动), often have a higher possibility of injury. Ian Steger ________ this firsthand when he had a serious snowboarding accident but he was so ________ that Francis Zuber passed by.

In March, Ian and a group of friends went on a snowboarding trip in Washington State. During their ________ , things took a dangerous turn. While moving through the trees, Ian fell backward and crashed into one, finding himself ________ in a deep hole of snow.

Ian explained the ________ , “When we entered the trees, they were so ________ together that we each had to find our own paths. Unluckily, the path I ________ led me straight into a big tree well.” Fearing the worst, Ian thought he was facing his   ________ moments. However, Francis Zuber, a skier, happened to pass by.

Francis saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye. He ________ a snowboard sticking out from the snow, which was ________ considering how far they were from any populated areas. Worried, Francis called out to Ian but didn’t receive any ________

Without hesitation (犹豫), Francis began to dig hard to save Ian from the snowy trap. In the end, he ________ it. Feeling extremely ________ , Ian hugged Francis, telling him, “I’m so glad you ________   my life today.”

2 . Fifteen years ago, apps were new and few truly understood their potentials. Retailers (零售商) barely knew that consumers could browse in stores while comparing _________ from other providers through apps before _________ making the purchase online. Ten years ago brick-mortar-and (实体店) retailers were threatened as Amazon released an “evil” promotion that encouraged consumers to use Price Check app while visiting _________ stores. Any purchase completed through the app was given rewarding _________, which significantly stimulated sales and _________ many shop owners to bankruptcy (破产).

“Media have reported these apps as a threat to physical stores,” says a retailer. “However, less _________ is the fact that it is also an opportunity for us.” Retailers need to accept any sensible buyer tends to _________ prices. You’d better offer in-store Internet access to _________ these consumers. With caring services combined with acceptable prices, the store might persuade consumers to make the deal _________.

A study indicates it’s ____________ to limit the item price to at most 5 dollars higher than what online stores charge. After all, for some consumers, getting the absolute lowest price is not their ____________. Many of them, instead, are willing to pay ____________ in exchange for favorable shopping experiences, such as the pleasant store atmosphere with a reasonable price ____________.

Besides, adopting a strategy of ____________ channels is also essential. With many sale channels under control, retailers surely have access to the lowest price. Therefore, when a customer pulls out a mobile device in store, retailers can be spared the ____________ that was unavoidable for them ten years ago.

3 . On July 20, Yu Yifei, a 26-year-old medical intern (实习医生) at People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou, made his way home in a subway train on Line 5 after his first day’s training. When downpours struck the city, he _________ about a dozen people trapped in a flooded subway train as the rainfall in Zhengzhou reached a _________ 201.9 millimeters between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Floodwaters _________ a barrier and entered the underground area. The train came to a sudden stop before the water began _________ in the carriages, trapping passengers inside. Thus Yu, _________ to leave and fearing for his life, made a _________ call to his father.

As water continued to flow into the carriages, passengers’ _________ rose. When subway workers arrived to withdraw them, Yu _________ to get out. As he made his way to safety, he heard a cry for help from someone needing a doctor. He quickly _________ the white medical coat given to him at the hospital __________ and returned to the platform to save people. On seeing him, a number of frightened people were greatly encouraged and their spirits __________. Some even applauded him.

As more passengers were pulled from the __________, Yu instructed others in the key steps to save a victim from drowning. He __________ CPR, or first aid, to those in low-temperature shock from the cold water and near death from drowning. One of the passengers, a female doctor nearly died. After __________ consciousness and strength, she joined Yu in treating others. Yu was __________ and needed all his concentration to perform another CPR procedure.

That night on a subway station platform, he __________ an exhausting six hours giving CPR to passengers who __________ survived drowning. He also treated the injured. He__________the subway station at about midnight, with the white coat spotted with blood and __________. Three hours later, he met his father. With tears in eyes, his father and people __________ smiled and gave him the thumbs-up.

4 . When I re-entered the full-time workforce a few years ago after a decade of lonely self-employment, there was one thing I was looking forward to the most: the opportunity to have work friends once again. It wasn't until I entered the corporate world that I realized, for me at least, being friends with colleagues didn't emerge as a（n） ________ at all. This is surprising when you consider the prevailing emphasis by scholars and trainers and managers on the importance of cultivating close ________ relationships at work. So much research has explored the way in which collegial（同事的）ties can help overcome a range of workplace issues ________ productivity and the quality of work output such as team-based conflict, jealousy, undermining, anger, and more.

Perhaps my expectations of lunches, water-cooler gossip and caring, deep-and-meaningful conversations were a ________ of the last time I was in that kind of office environment. Whereas now, as I near the end of my fourth decade, I realize work can be fully functional and entirely fulfilling without ________ to be best mates with the people sitting next to you.

In an academic analysis just published in the profoundly-respected Journal of Management, researchers have looked at the concept of “indifferent relationships", a simple term that summarizes the fact that relationships at work can ________ be non-interpersonal, inconsequential, unimportant and even, dare I say it, disposable or substitutable.

Indifferent relationships are neither positive nor negative. The limited research conducted thus far indicates they're especially ________ among those who value independence over cooperation, and harmony over confrontation. Indifference is also the ________ option among those who are socially lazy. Maintaining relationships over the long term takes effort, which, for some of us, is much too________.

As noted above, indifferent relationships may not always be the most ________ approach in resolving some of the issues that pop up at work. But there are nevertheless several apparently proven benefits. One of those is ________ . Less time chatting and socializing means more time working and churning（产出）.

The other is ________ . As human beings, we're programmed to compare ourselves to each other in what is an anxiety-causing phenomenon. Apparently, we look down on acquaintances（泛泛之交）more so than friends. Since the former is most common among those ________ to indifferent relationships, their predominance can promote individuals' sense of self-worth.

Ego aside, a third advantage is that the emotional ________of indifferent relationships has been found to enhance critical evaluation, to strengthen one's focus on task resolution, and to gain greater access to valuable information. None of that might be as ________ as after-work socializing but, hey, I'll take it anyway.

7 . UPS deliveryman Ryan Arens was making his rounds near a pond, when he heard a strange sound. It was December, and about 15 feet from the frozen bank was the _________ of that sound — a brown-and-white wire-haired hound（猎犬）had fallen through the thin layer of ice. An elderly man was already on the _________, determined to save her. He was trying to _________ the pond and was striking the ice with a rock to create a(n) _________ to the dog, but seemed to be struggling.

Arens, 44, thought he _________ a better chance. “Animals are my weakness,” he said, explaining _________ he chose to take off his overcoat, even though the temperature was minus 15 and _________ the rescue task.

After breaking the ice using the man’s rock, Arens jumped into the icy water. He surfaced in time to see the dog going under. Arens swam about five feet toward the dog, grabbed hold of her collar, and _________ her out of the water and onto the ice. He then put the dog into the boat and slid it back to the bank, where _________ bystanders carried the dog to the home of the rowboat’s owner, a retired vet. __________ in the house himself, Arens jumped into a warm shower with the dog. A few more minutes in the pond, the vet told Arens, and the dog would have likely __________.

The next day, Arens was again making his __________ in the neighborhood when the dog’s owner came __________ to thank him for saving Sadie. “Would you like to meet her?” he asked. Then he opened the door of his pickup, and Sadie jumped out. She went __________ toward Arens, leaping around him and kissing him. Arens said that special delivery was the __________ of his UPS career.

9 . Society has the responsibility of improving the quality of life of disabled people. You can judge a society by the way it _________ and cares for its disabled population. Disabled people are not _________ of their families nor of the society they belong to. In fact, many of them are able to _________ their own careers and do very well in their own fields. How many great men of all ages who suffered some forms of disability but reached the top of their _________ and helped shape the lives of governments and peoples!

Since we have reached a certain standard of existence, it is the moral responsibility of the society to meet the special needs of these people. All of us will _________ this stage in our human existence-that is, being a disabled man. If now you are physically _________, with no physical impairment, time will come when you will grow old, and you’ll need that special attention. Because of discoveries of new medicines and better methods of health care, a great part of the population of the world can live longer. You may be a part of it in the near future. So, a great many will _________ difficulties if alleys and passages, buildings and structures and means of transportation are “not” suited to a disabled-friendly environment.

Society’s government must be able to _________ ramps(人造斜坡) in buildings or structures, or a barrier-free environment. The blind or the visually-impaired must also have _________ to computers with Braille(盲文)system. The deaf-mute need ____________, or if not, their co-employees must be able to do ____________ language and special children must be given ____________ care and education.

____________, only those advanced countries can provide these ____________, and those disabled people who are living in poor countries have to stay at home, and have to bear with many barriers, living in a(n)____________ environment.

10 . The Secret to Teen Power

The year 2019 was a year of teen power. Young people spoke up about big problems and adults began to listen.

Greta Thunberg, the seventeen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, was perhaps the most powerful example of this teen power. At the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, she told world leaders, “You are ________ us(young people)” by not taking enough action against climate change. Greta gained worldwide attention for her ________ speech and outspokenness and was ________ Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year.

In the United States, teen groups have formed organizations to ________ politicians into changing gun laws to stop school shootings. “The adults know that we’re cleaning up their mess,” says Cameron Kasky, an 11th-grader who started the “Never Again“ movement after ________ the deadliest high school shooting in American history in 2018. ”It’s like they’re saying, ‘I’m sorry I made this ________,’ while continuing to spill soda on the floor,“ adds another survivor Emma Gonzalez.

These problems are not new and politicians have been dealing with them for years. However, as with most big problems, there are no easy solutions, and each solution may create more problems. Fighting climate change by ________ fossil fuels(化石燃料)-no more cars, airplanes or big industries-can have a ________ effect on people’s lives and even increase poverty. And prisons would fill up quickly if we locked up every person who was ________ to be a potential criminal.

Teen power is a good thing. I think adults, especially those in ________ positions, are glad that young people are getting involved and thinking of ways to improve the world. ________, it will take more than youthful passion to solve the world’s problems. At the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2019, there were a number of young Chinese ________ who, instead of just complaining about adults ”failing“ them, offered practical solutions to environmental problems. Nine-year-old Li Zilin talked about ways to protect the giant pandas in her native Sichuan Province; another young Chinese representative ________ examples of how to help farmers adapt to drought conditions in Yunnan Province.

If you are also ambitious to make the world a better place, it is imperative that you speak up when ________. But just as important is the need to grow in our learning-to study and to always remain ________. Apart from enthusiasm for bringing about change, you still need the maturity, wisdom, knowledge and skills to make good decisions.