A little boy had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby hospital. From his bed the little boy heard the doctor talking to his mother, saying that he 1. ___________ surely die. But the brave boy didn't want to. Somehow, 2. ___________ the doctor's amazement, he did survive.
Later the brave boy decided to learn to walk. 3. ___________ unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability. Finally he was released from 4. ___________ hospital. Every day his mother would massage (按摩) his little legs, but there was no feeling. Yet his 5. ___________ (determine) that he would walk was as strong 6. ___________ ever.
When he wasn't in bed, he was limited to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother 7. ___________ (wheel) him out into the yard. That day, instead of sitting there, the boy rose from the chair. He pulled himself across the grass, 8. ___________ (drag) his legs behind him. With great effort, he raised 9. ___________ (he) up on the fence.
At last, he developed the ability to stand up by himself, then to walk slowly—and then—to run! Later in college he made the track team. Still 10. ___________ (late) this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile!
Teen star Xu Shilin made Chinese sports history on Tuesday at last week's Osaka Mayor's Cup in Japan.
“I am very proud to become the first Chinese player 1. ___________ (earn) the number one world junior ranking,” said Xu, who has been Asia's top-ranked junior player during the past two years. “The 2014 season is not over yet, 2. ___________ I need to stay focused and continue to play like I did in Japan. Osaka was a 3. ___________ (real) incredible week as I played my style of tennis.”
Xu has three more tournaments to finish 4. ___________ 2014 tennis season. Xu will attempt to defend 5. ___________ Asian titles in singles and doubles in Korea during November 10~16. And then she 6. ___________ (finish) the season during the first two weeks of December playing two world-class events—Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl—in Florida, USA.
As a junior player, Xu 7. ___________ (limit) to playing 12 professional tournaments in 2014. However, she has still managed to climb to number 414 in the latest WTA world rankings, one of the highest 8. ___________ (rank) for a junior player. Returning to Florida will be familiar playing conditions for Xu, 9. ___________ lived in the US state with her family while training full-time at various tennis academies 10. ___________ ages 8 to 13, before returning to China in 2012.
In December 2013, photojournalist Levison Wood set out to become the first person to walk the length of the Nile River. During his travels, he 1. ___________ (rob), moved out of a war zone and almost eaten by crocodiles. He crossed swamps (沼泽), climbed mountains, crossed the Sahara desert, and dined on some insects. Those months were the best of 2. ___________ (he) life.
Wood's journey began in Rwanda, took nine 3. ___________ (month) and covered 3,750 miles. Sometimes he traveled with a local guide. Mainly, though, he walked it alone. “The biggest difficulty was keeping up the motivation 4. ___________ (wake) up every morning, walk 20 miles, and do it over and over again,” he says.
Wood admits that his survival was often dependent 5. ___________ the hospitality of local villagers. 6. ___________, the journey wasn't without danger. Civil War in South Sudan broke out 7. ___________ (short) after his arrival. It was there 8. ___________ he was arrested and brought before an army commander, who told him he was not welcome, 9. ___________ threatened to kill him if he crossed into the rebel side. Wood's journey ended in Egypt, where the Nile 10. ___________ (meet) the Mediterranean Sea.
Traveling down the Yangtze River for 3 nights was completely the most relaxing part of our China journey. Arriving at the ferry terminal (客轮码头) early in the morning it was 1. ___________ (crowd) with people waiting to board the cruise boat. We watched the mountains go by 2. ___________ we traveled down the river. It was hot and foggy outside but was still one of the most beautiful 3. ___________ (scenery) I have ever seen!
We were the only foreigners on this cruise 4. ___________ had a great time getting to experience the Chinese culture. During the cruise the dinner was delicious. There 5. ___________ (be) lots of different dishes. I enjoyed the food although the fish was so filled with bones that it was hard 6. ___________ (eat).
One of the sweet things about the cruise was the morning alarm 7. ___________ was a beautiful Chinese tune. 8. ___________ started playing at 6:30 am and continued for a whole hour. It was a lovely way to wake 9. ___________ on this peaceful cruise.
The scenery down the Yangtze River is 10. ___________ unforgettable experience. I would do this again if I ever had the chance.
Some 91-year-olds are just grateful to be able to get out of bed in the morning and make it to the breakfast table. Then there's 91-year-old Harriette Thompson, who 1. ___________ (wake) up Sunday morning in southern California, threw on some running clothes, 2. ___________ set a record in the San Diego Rock ’n' Roll Marathon.
Despite still-healing burns on her legs and temperatures 3. ___________rose to near 80 degrees along the Pacific, Thompson finished in 7 hours, 7 minutes, 42 4. ___________ (second). Her average pace (16 minutes, 20 seconds per mile) was faster than a typical 5. ___________ (health) adult's normal walking speed. And she kept it 6. ___________ for 26.2 miles. Thompson's performance set a new record for the 7. ___________ (fast) marathon ever run by a 90- to 94-year-old woman.
Her son Brenny, 55, ran alongside her Sunday, marking the fourth time he 8. ___________ (join) her since she took up marathon running at age 76. Runner's World has reported that Thompson is 9. ___________ only 91-year-old woman to complete a marathon.
“If I'm still here next year, I think I'll probably be able 10. ___________ (train) better and be in better shape,” Thompson said. “If I'm able, I'll try again.”
Jane Foster was out shopping when some wedding photos in the window of an antique shop 1. ___________ (catch) her eyes. It took her quite a while 2. ___________ she realized that she was looking at her mom's long-lost old wedding photos.
But how did they go 3. ___________ (miss), to begin with? Along with many other 4. ___________ (belonging), the photos had been auctioned (拍卖) off in 2003 after her family missed a payment for the storage facility where they were kept. You can only imagine how upset Jane must 5. ___________ (be) at the time. She was searching for them for 14 years before she 6. ___________ (accident) found them.
She was flooded with 7. ___________ (relieve), but the owner of the store had another surprise for her. The photos weren't the only items he had purchased from that auction. He remembered that he had also bought a wedding dress from 1948, and 8. ___________ turned out that this was Jane's mother's dress!
Unfortunately, the woman passed away in 2013 and was therefore 9. ___________ (able) to be reunited with her prized possessions. But her daughter is thrilled with the treasured finding, considering it 10. ___________ a sign that her mom is still around and watching over her!
I got laid off at 53 from a senior management position in a restaurant. And I knew it was going to be hard to find another job in the 1. ___________ (competition) working market. My age put me at 2. ___________ disadvantage. But I also knew it was time for me 3. ___________ (realize) my lifelong dream of owning a restaurant. 4. ___________ was most difficult was that in order to make this happen, I needed to find an 5. ___________ (exist) café that wasn't doing well. It couldn't be better if its owner was ready to quit his or her business. With great 6. ___________ (lucky) I found just what I wanted eight blocks from home. Since I had never financially planned for this day, I had to borrow money from friends as well as 7. ___________ (relative). I, together with my wife, 8. ___________ (be) ready to start off. We changed the name to Black Dog Coffee, the menu, the recipes and the look of the cafe, and my wife did a great job of designing. Eighteen years later, we're still here and doing 9. ___________ (well) than ever. I'm grateful 10. ___________ the layoff and the opportunity to pursue my dream.
One day, Nick invited his friends to supper. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen. Suddenly, he 1. ___________ (find) that he had run out of salt. So Nick called to his son, “Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much 2. ___________ too little.”
His son looked surprised. “I can understand why I shouldn't pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less, 3. ___________ not save a bit of money?”
“That would be a very 4. ___________ (reason) thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours,” Nick said.
Nick's guests, 5. ___________ had heard their conversation, asked why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could. Nick replied, “The only reason a man would sell salt 6. ___________ a lower price would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect 7. ___________ the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard to produce it.”
“But such a small thing couldn't 8. ___________ (possible) destroy a village.”
“In the beginning, there was only 9. ___________ very small amount of unfairness in the world, but everyone added a little, always 10. ___________ (think) that it was only small and not very important, and look where we have ended up today.”
Last week, Charlotte Benjamin 1. ___________ (age) seven became a household name, and a hero to young girls everywhere, when her handwritten letter to the LEGO company 2. ___________ (go) public.
In her letter, Charlotte complained about the lack of 3. ___________ (diverse) in Lego characters. Here's what she wrote:
“Dear Lego company,
My name is Charlotte.
Today I went to 4. ___________ store and saw Legos in two sections—the girls' pink and the boys' blue. 5. ___________ all the girls did was to sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, and even swam with sharks.
I want you to make 6. ___________ (many) Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun, OK?
Thank you.
From Charlotte”
Charlotte's dad loved her well-written letter 7. ___________ much that he had it sent to the website, Sociological Images, which posted it to their Twitter account. The letter 8. ___________ (post) almost 2,500 times and shared over 5,000 times on Facebook.
Yesterday, LEGO responded to Charlotte 9. ___________ (state) that they would include more female characters and themes, and that they have added new characters to the LEGO world 10. ___________ (balance) the appeal of their themes.
Traditionally, we Chinese attach great importance to our hometown and are often 1. ___________ (willing) to migrate to other places. However, in present times, in particular after the reform and opening-up policy was introduced, more and more people fancy 2. ___________ (settle) down in more developed cities just as my family members did.
My parents were both born in Sichuan. In 1963, a time when 3. ___________ (graduate) were assigned (分配) jobs by the government, my father received a job in Beijing. After I was born in 1969, my parents went to work in Xinjiang.
In the 1980s, Chinese society 4. ___________ (fill) with hope, and people worked hard to achieve their dreams. So did my family. In 1988, admitted 5. ___________ Renmin University of China, I went to Beijing. It took me 72 hours by train 6. ___________ (travel) from Xinjiang to Beijing, with 7. ___________ distance of over 3,770 kilometers. In 1990, my brother also passed the entrance examination and was enrolled in a university in Guangzhou, 8. ___________ he now lives and works.
Recalling the changes over the past four decades, I think 9. ___________ (improve) transportation is very important to our family. The long distance kept us apart most of the time. Today, the speed and methods of transportation have been improved a lot, which has 10. ___________ (entire) transformed our life and can bring us together easily.