Are there many things in life that make you happier than a pet? After all, pets can bring joy and can help people learn to become much more responsible.

How many times have you come home from a   (1)   day at work and let your dog lie on your lap? That’s the   (2)   thing about pets. Sometimes, it even seems that they have a sixth   (3)  . They understand what you need, and then they   (4)   it to you. However, it is important to remember that taking care of a pet is a big   (5)  . After all, you are   (6)   another living creature’s life. Besides making you spend money on things like pet supplies and pet food, pets also   (7)   a lot of your time.   (8)   that sometimes pets know exactly what you want and will give it to you. However, sometimes they do the   (9)  .

But if you’re willing to   (10)   the ups and downs, there’s so much   (11)   when it comes to owning a pet.   (12)   you have decided to buy a pet, the big question becomes what type of pet — usually a cat or a dog. A person’s preference for either one of these animals says a lot about a person’s personality. The nice thing about cats is that they’re low- maintenance. Unlike dogs, cats do not   (13)   to be walked outside, because they enjoy having the option to   (14)   on their own.

  (15)  , if you buy a cat at the right time of its life, you will be able to   (16)   having to toilet train it. On top of all of these things, cats are naturally clean creatures and won’t require having to be given a   (17)  .

For some people,   (18)   a dog is their biggest dream.^①However, if you are just building your career and want the flexibility(灵活性) to   (19)   around the world for excellent career opportunities, it may not be the   (20)   time to buy a dog.

The winter skies are gray and it’s cold outside. The nights come early and we spend a lot more time  (1)   and alone. Many people   (2)   winter: so cold, so dark, so boring. But I like winter because I have more time to read.

  For many students reading means school; it means  (3)    . Reading is something your teacher assigns and it’s something you’re     (4)   . Reading is something you have to do, not something you want to do. But for me and many other people, reading is the most     (5)  thing we can imagine. Getting lost in a good book can   (6)   a cold winter evening disappear. Dull grey shies are no  (7)   for the fantastic adventures of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, or for romantic trouble-making of Jane Austen’s Emma, or for the youthful problems of Holden Caulfield in The Cather in the Rye.

  All of those books are studied in North American high schools. They are interesting and well-written books that  (8)   young people.    (9)   even there, many high school students don’t enjoy reading the books because they are  (10)   their school work ：“Oh, my God! Two hundred pages! I’ll never be able to read  (11)   much.” But sometimes a funny thing happens. They begin to read and they begin to follow the    (12)   .Suddenly, the world inside the book becomes more exciting and more wonderful than the world they   (13)   . At the moment the though  (14)  reading is work disappears and reading becomes  (15)   .

  Reading anything is  (16)  but reading good books is a terrific way to improve your English. Good writers write English very well and   (17)   you with good examples to follow.   And good books will tell you more about English  (18)  :what people think, how they talk, how they interact with each other. But don’t let me   (19)   it by telling you that reading is good for you. Just think of it as a good way to   (20)  on a cold winter evening.

Human growth is a process of experimentation, trial, and error eventually leading to wisdom. Each time you choose to trust yourself and take action, you can never quite be certain how the situation will   (1)  .

    Sometimes you are victorious, and sometimes you become disappointed. The   42_   experiments, however, are no less valuable than the experiments that finally prove successful; in fact, you   (2)   learn more from your “failures” than you do from your   (3)  . If you have made what you think to be a mistake or failed to live up to your own   (4)  , you will most likely put up a barrier between your essence (本质) and the part of you that is the alleged (声称的) wrong-doer.

    However, viewing past actions as   (5)   implies guilt and blame, and it is not possible to learn anything meaning while you are engaged in blaming.   (6)  , forgiveness is required when you are severely judging yourself. Forgiveness is the act of erasing an   (7)   debt. There are four kinds of forgiveness.

    The first is beginner forgiveness for yourself.

    The second of forgiveness is beginner forgiveness for another.

    The third kind of forgiveness is   (8)   forgiveness of yourself. This is for serious misbehaviors, the ones you carry with deep   (9)  . When you do something that violates your own values and principles, you create a gap between your standards and your actual   (10)  .

In such a case, you need to work very hard at   (11)   yourself for these deeds so that you can close this gap. This does not   (12)  that you should rush to forgive yourself or shouldn’t feel regret,   (13)   taking pleasure in these feelings for a prolonged(延长)period of time is not healthy.

The   (14)  and perhaps most difficult one is the advanced forgiveness of another.

At some time of our life, you may have been severely wronged or hurt by another person to such a degree that forgiveness seems   (15)  .

    However, harboring(心怀)anger and revenge(复仇) fantasies only keeps you    57    in victimhood(受害状态). Under such a circumstance, you should force yourself to see the bigger picture. By doing so, you will be able to   (16)   the focus away from the anger and resentment（愤恨）.

It is only through forgiveness that you can erase wrongdoing and   (17)   the memory. When you can   (18)   release the situation, you may come to see it as a necessary part of your growth.

      Like most creatures on earth, humans come with a circadian clock (生物钟). Even though an average adult needs eight hours of   (1)   a night, there are "short sleepers", who need far   (2)   sleep, and morning people, who always get up early. Then there are the rest of us, who   (3)   alarm clocks to get up in the morning.

      For those who want to get up early and don’t depend on the alarm clock, there is   (4)  . Actually, sleep experts say that with a little self-control,   (5)   people can reset (重置) their circadian clocks. But itˈs not as simple as forcing yourself to go to   (6)   earlier. You need to produce a sort of jet lag (时差) but you donˈt have to   (7)   your time zone. And stick it out until your body   (8)   resets itself.

    To start, move up your wake-up time   (9)   20 minutes a day. If you   (10)   rise at 8 a. m. , but really want to get up at 6 a. m. , set the alarm for 7:40 on Monday. The next day, set it for 7:20 and so on.   (11)  , after you wake up, donˈt   (12)   in bed. In theory, youˈll gradually get   (13)   about 20 minutes earlier each night. Besides,   (14)   has a very special relationship with our brain. So turn off the computers and televisions to   (15)   extra light exposure as it is near bedtime.

      (16)   light exposure, another big   (17)   for a would-be morning person is the weekend. Sleeping late on Saturday sends the   (18)   an entirely new set of scheduling. By Monday, a 6 a.m. alarm will feel like 4 a.m.   (19)   biology has a kind of memory of Saturdayˈs staying-up late. This might totally   (20)   a weekˈs effort.

Recently a Russian friend came to visit me. It was one of her lifelong dreams to visit London. She 41____ at lunchtime and we 42____ a tiring afternoon going round the Tower of London.43___, by 5 o’clock I couldn’t help 44____ that she didn’t seem as enthusiastic as she had been 45___. I asked if 46___  was wrong and she said, “This is all very interesting but where is the 47___  and where are the men in bowler hats (圆顶礼帽)? Why did everyone 48___ to get on the bus at the bus stop instead of making a queue? It’s very 49___  from the books I’ve read about England.”
    Her50___ made me think. It’s true that people don’t 51____ much any more: nowadays you often find that everyone just jumps on the bus. Or maybe this is only in London. Also the idea of a man standing up and offering his52___ to a woman on a train or bus is 53___ these days, although my father still does it!
Speaking of the54___: well, we all know that a hundred years ago there used to be fog all year round in London, but we55___ have much fog; nowadays we have pollution from all the cars! Over the last few years in56__ London had been one of the hottest places in Europe, although we still get more than enough rain in the season.
    What about the city men in their working “uniform”? Well, you can still see some city gentlemen in their smart 57___ , but men hardly ever58___  bowler hats. A few things don’t 59___, though. If you try to60___ a conversation with an English person on the underground in London, she or he will probably look at you as if you were mad!