On August 26, 1999, New York City was struck by a terrible rainstorm. The rain caused the streets to    (1)   and the subway system almost came to a stop.
  Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were    (2)   to go home. Some battled to    (3)   a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the    (4)   bravely, walking miles to get to work.
  I    (5)   to be one of people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most     (6)    had stopped. After making my way    (7)   crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was     (8)  . Unfortunately, there were so many people waiting to    (9)    the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the     (10)   . So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switched back to the downtown train. Finally, after   (11)   seemed like forever, the train  reached my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was    (12)   through, exhausted and     (13)   . 
  My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 p.m., I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer     (14)    I received an email from Garth, my Director:
   I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and  (15)      reported to work. It is always reassuring( 令人欣慰 ), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their    (16)    to their jobs. Thank you.
  Garth’s email was short, but I learned more from that     (17)   message than I ever did from a textbook. The email taught me that a few words of   (18)   can make a big difference. The rainstorm and the traffic    (19)   had made me tired and upset. But Garth’s words immediately     (20)   me and put a smileback on my face.

Most teenagers in the United States spend their time trying to make time for school, family and friends, but some choose bigger goals.

At age15, Winter Vinecki has already had more __  (1)  __ than most people have in their lifetime. “I recently __  (2)  __ a marathon on all seven continents and became the youngest person in the world to do so. And, I was really doing this for my __  (3)  __.”

Doctors __  (4)  __ Winterˈs father had a rare and aggressive form of prostate(前列腺) cancer when she was nine years old. He died 10 months __  (5)  __. “When he was first diagnosed I __  (6)  __ knew I had to do something to help him. Thatˈs when I formed Team Winter for prostate cancer research and __  (7)  __.” Through Team Winter and social media, Winter Vinecki has __  (8)  __ almost 500,000 dollars. She has taken prostate cancer education __  (9)  __ fromKenyato Mongolia through foot racescalled marathons, on seven continents. In the United States she travels continually to talk about prostate cancer and __  (10)  __others to act. Recently, at a conference in Los Angeles, Winter Vinecki spoke as a teenager who is living a(n) __  (11)  __ life.

__  (12)  __ speakerwas 15­year­old Jack Andraka, who invented an inexpensive sensor that identifies cancers of the pancreas(胰腺) and lungs. “__  (13)  __ Google and Wikipedia, I would

have never been able to learn all that I needed for this project. I mean I didnˈt even know __  (14)  __ a pancreas was __  (15)  __ developing my test for pancreatic cancer.”

Martin, the last speaker, is now 17 and seeking patents(专利) for his latest inventions. He has __  (16)  __ low­cost water quality instruments. They help identify and __  (17)  __ heavy metals and __  (18)  __ chemicals from water. “I hope to see them applied in the __  (19)  __ nations such as Bangladesh and parts of China and India, especially in parts of Africa, __  (20)  __ these heavy metals and pesticides(杀虫剂) and other industrial waste are a major problem.”

 He has been called the“missing link .”Half-man ,half-beast .He is supposed to live in the highestmountain in the world-Mount Everest .

 He is known as the Abominable Snowman .The   (1)   of the Snowman has been around for   (2)   

.Climbers in the 1920s reported finding marks like those of human feet high up on the side of Mount Everest .The native people said they   (3)   this creature and called it the “Yeti,” and they said that they had   (4)   caught Yetis on two occasions   (5)   none has ever been produced as evidence（证据）.

 Over the years ,the story of the Yetis has   (6)   .In 1951 ,Eric Shipton took photographs of a set of tracks in the snow of Everest .Shipton believed that they were not   (7)   the tracks of a monkey or bear and   (8)   that the Abominable Snowman might really   (9)   .

  Further efforts have been made to find out about Yetis .But the only things people have ever found were   (10)   footprints .Most believe the footprints are nothing more than   (11)   animal tracks ,which had been made   (12)   as they melted（融化）and refroze in the snow .  (13)   ,in 1964, a Russian scientist said that the Abominable Snowman was   (14)  and was a remaining link with the prehistoric humans .But ,  (15)   ,no evidence has ever   (16)   been produced .

  These days ,only a few people continue to take the story of the Abominable Snowman  (17).  But if they ever   (17)  catching one ,they may face a real   (18)  :Would they put it in a   (19)  or give it a room in a hotel ?

Forever friendship

Twenty-one years ago，my husband gave me Sam，an eight-week-old dog，to help me ease(减轻；缓解) the loss of our daughter. Later my husband and I moved from New York to New Jersey where our neighbor，whose cat had   (1)  had kittens，asked us if we would like one.We were afraid that Sam would not be  (2)  ，but we made up our  (3)  to take a kitten.

We picked a little，gray，playful cat. She  (4)  around running after imaginary mice and squirrels and jumped from table to chair very   (5)  ，so we named her Lightning(闪电)．

At   (6)  ，Sam and Lightning were not close to each other. But slowly，as the days went on，Lightning started   (7)  Sam.They slept together，ate together and played together.When I took   (8)   one out of the house，the other was always   (9)  by the door when we returned.That was the   (10)   they lived for years.

Then，without any   (11)  ，Sam suddenly died of a heartache. This time，there was no Sam for Lightning to greet and no way to   (12)  why she would never see her friend again.

In the   (13)  that followed，Lightning seemed heartbroken. She could not   (14)  me in words that she was   (15)  ，but I could see the pain and  (16)  inher eyes whenever anyone opened the front door. The weeks  (17)  by，and the cat’s sorrow seemed to be lifting(消失). One day as I walked into our living room，I   (18)  to have a look at the floor next to our sofa   (19)  we had a sculptured replica(雕塑复制品)of Sam that we had bought a few years before. Lying next to the statue(雕塑)，one arm wrapped around the statue’s neck，was Lightning，sleeping with her best   (20)     

There is a holiday next week and I can’t decide what to do．I have a lot of work to do  16   and this would be a good chance  17   ．But I don’t like _18__the holiday in such a way． I can work at home all the rest of the year．Last year I went  19   to the mountains． __20  there was beautiful，but it is too cold this time of a year. And it’s really  21   far to go for a short holiday．I decide __22   this isn’t a good time to  23   the mountains．But I __24    to go somewhere else．

Perhaps this would be a good chance to go to the beach（海滨）．I like to go for walks _25 the seashore  26  the warm sunshine and watch the water. It’s only eight miles away and I could get there  27   about two hours．After thinking it    28  ，I am sure that this is a  29  time for the seashore than   30  ．Oh， here is a letter  31   Jim． He  32  he is going to his house in the mountains for the  33  ，and he  34  me to go with him． 35  giving it some more thought， I wrote back to Jim and thanked him for that．

You Did More Than Carry My Books

　　Mark was waking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with a baseball bat and several other things. Mark 21 down and helped the boy pick up these articles. _22  they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of them for him. As they walked Mark _23  the boy’s name was Bill, that he 24 computer games, baseball and history, that he was having a lot of _25  with his other subjects and that he had just broken 26 with his girlfriend.

　　They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was 27 in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed _28 with a few laughs and some shared small talk, and then Mark went home. They _29 to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, and then both ended up from the same high school. Just three weeks before 30 , Bill asked Mark if they 31 talk.

　　Bill _32 him of the day years ago when they had first met.“Do you 33  wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day ?”asked Bill.“You see, I _34 out my locker（小橱柜）because I didn’t want to leave a mess (脏乱) 35 anyone else. I had panned to run away and I was going home to 36 my things. But after we spent some time together37  and laughing, I realized that_ 38 I had done that, I would have39a new friend and missed all the fun we would have together.

     Jenny was a nurse who worked in Children’s Hospital.One evening there was a big dance  21  the hospital.Most of the doctors and nurses would take part in it,but of course some had to  22  the sick children,and Jenny was not among the lucky ones who were  23  to go to the dance.She enjoyed dancing very much,so when she had to start   24  whlie her friends were getting ready to go to the  25  ,  She felt very sorry for herself.She went to each  26  child one after another and said good night.And then she came to a little boy27  name was Dicky.Poor  Dicky had a very  28  illness.He could hardly move any parts of his body except his29 .Dicky knew that he would never get better,     30  he was always  happy and always  31  about other people instead of himself.

He knew that Jenny loved dancing,so now when she came to  32  good night  to him,he greeted(打招呼)her with the words,“I am very  33  that you can’t go to the dance because of us.But we’re going to have a  34  for you.Here’s a cake.I saved it from  35  supper.And I would get up and dance with you myself if I was able to.”

  Suddenly the hospital dance seemed far away and not at all important to Jenny.

  Sharpen your axe（斧头）

A young man came to a logging camp and asked for a    (1)  . “That depends. ”replied the foreman（工头）. “Let’s see you   (2)   this tree.”

The young man   (3)  and skillfully cut down a great tree.   (4)   , the foreman announced, “You can start Monday.”

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and on Thursday afternoon the foreman   (5)   the young man and said, “You can pick up your   (6)   on the way out today.”  (7)  , the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”

“Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve   (8)  . Our daily felling   (9)  show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.”

“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man   (10)   . “I am the first to arrive and the last to leave, and even have worked   (11)   my coffee breaks!”

The foreman,   (12)  the young man’s honesty,   (13)  for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”

The young man replied, “No, sir, I’ve been working too hard to do that !”

Our    (14)  are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t    (15)  time to sharpen the axe. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than    (16)  , but less happy in the end. Why is that?    (17)   it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

There’s    (18)  wrong with activity and hard work. But we shouldn’t get so busy that we ignore the truly    (19)   things in life. We all need time to relax, to think and plan, to learn and grow. If we don’t spend time sharpening the axe, we will become dull and lose our    (20)  .

It was pouring outside．We all stood there  (1)   ，some patiently，others annoyed   (2)   nature messed up （弄糟） their hurried day．I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens   (3)   away the dirt and dust of the world．

“Mom ，let’s run through the rain，” a girl’s voice  (4)   me．

“No，honey．We’ll wait until it  (5)   down a bit，” Mom replied．

The young girl waited about another minute and  (6)   ，“Mom，let’s run through the rain．”

“We’ll get wet if we do，” Mom said．

“No，we won’t，Mom．That’s not what you said this morning，” the young girl said as she  (7)   her Mom’s arm．

“This morning?  (8)   did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer，you said，‘ If God can get us through this，he can get us through  (9)   ．’ ”

The entire crowd turned  (10)   ．Mom paused and thought for a moment about  (11)    she would say．Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being  (12)   ．But then we heard，   “Honey，you are  (13)   ．Let’s run through the rain．If we get wet，maybe we just need washing，” Mom said．Then  (14)   they ran．

We all stood  (15)   ，smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars．Yes，they got wet．But they were  (16)   by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the  (17)   to their cars．Circumstances （境况） or people can take away your material possessions，and they can even take away your  (18)   ．But no one can ever take away your precious  (19)   ．So，don’t forget to make time and take the  (20)   to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain．