Here is a story of a dog. It saved his owner, Audrey Stone, who was a lady and had poor vision (视力).

    Figo, an eight-year-old dog, is Audrey Stone's third service dog. "He protects me and loves me. We are friends," Stone said.

    On a Monday, Stone and Figo were on their way back from their "usual daily walk". When they prepared to cross a street, "I gave him the order to cross the street," Stone said.

    "I said, 'Forward.' And we were in the middle of the street and it happened so quickly, but people said he just jumped at the school bus and saved me," Stone said.

    The school bus was carrying two children to a learning center. Luckily they were not injured. Stone said she didn't remember much of the accident, but one image (画面) stayed with her: a wounded Figo staying by her side, holding up his wounded right paw (爪子).

    "I knew he was hurt," she continued. "I remember Figo standing there, looking at me, trying to get close to me, but he didn't know what to do. Because he knew I was hurt." Figo had an operation (手术) on his right front leg. Figo's vet (兽医) said his leg was getting better.

    Stone said she was sure of one thing, "I'd have been sad if he had got killed." But, she added, they both lived to tell the story.

Information Card

Having a cheetah （猎豹）as a pet in the house? Does it sound scary to you? But for a family in South Africa， one cheetah is treated as a VIP (Very Important Person) in the house. The big cheetah is named Jolie, after the film star Angelina Jolie{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. She can often be found eating from the kitchen table, taking a short sleep on the sofa, or even sleeping on Lucy and Jeff's bed. The big cat also sleeps and plays with the Browns' other pet, the more usual one— a sheepdog{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Having a cheetah as a pet is unusual. Atfirst，Mrs.Brown wasn't willing to keep a cheetah as a pet. She said,''{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. But we are now happy that we did it— she is part of the family.''

    Just like her name, four-year-old Jolie has achieved a celebrity(名人) status（地位）in the Browns' hometown. Fans often come to take pictures of her{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    However, a cheetah is always a cheetah{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. '' She makes a lot of mess in the house, urinating （小便）everywhere and chewing everything. It's her wild instincts (天性), said Mrs. Brown. There must be some problems of having a cheetah as a pet in the house, but some unusual fun must also be waiting ahead.

A. Interestingly, Jolie enjoys all the special attention that is paid to her.

B. An impossible friendship has happened between these two animals.

C. Though Jolie is now a pet in the home, she still has some wild habits.

D. She is surely the VIP at Lucy and Jeff Brown's home.

E. I was really against the idea of getting a cheetah as a pet.

    A traveler in South Africa once set out on a long journey. When crossing a wide plain(平原), far from home, he saw a lion at a distance. The lion saw him at the same time, and followed him slowly.

    When the traveler walked fast, the lion walked fast! When he stopped, the lion stopped! The man realized that the lion meant to follow him until the dark, and then attack(攻击) him.

    He was not able to run away from the lion because the lion ran faster than him. So he thought of a plan to fool it.

    He came to a large rock. He hid behind the rock, where the lion could not see him. Then taking a stick which he could find there, he put his coat and his hat on it, in order to make them look like a man. He then placed the stick with the coat and the hat standing in the ground above the rock. He then left quietly.

    The lion stopped and watched the coat and the hat, at a distance. At nightfall, it jumped onto the coat and the hat to try to kill the man.

    But the traveler was already far away. Before long, he reached his own home.

    Farming in the USA today is very different from that 100 years ago. In those days, farmers did not have many machines to help them. They had animals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This meant that farms were smaller than they are now. Farmers also worked in a different way in the past. In those days, farmers grew fruits and vegetables and kept cows, pigs and chickens to feed their families. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Farmers have a very special life in many ways. First of all, they can't leave the job at the end of the day. They live on the farm and there is always work to do. Second, a lot of farm work is outdoors, so the weather is very important for farmers. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A lot of bad weather means farmers will lose money. Finally, farmers work with plants and animals. They understand nature better than other people do.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Spring is a time for planting. Farmers are busy getting the fields ready and then planting the seeds(种子). In summer, farmers must take good care of the plants. Some may need water. Other plants may have problems with insects or diseases. Then in fall, the fruits or plants are ready for picking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Winter is a time for rest or for work on the farm machines.

A. Farm work changes with the seasons.

B. That is a very busy time for farmers.

C. But animals work slowly compared to machines.

D. It is also important for the success of their farms.

E. Today farmers grow things on the farms so they can sell them.

    Global warming is a big problem that we have to stop. One of the best things we do is to plant more trees. Trees can take in CO₂ in the air and stop global warming. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    A team of scientists at Boston University has been working with NASA to study Earth's green vegetation (植被). They used a special NASA camera and found that global leaf area had increased by 5 percent since the early 2000s. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} That's about one-quarter of the size of the entire Amazon rainforest.

    The growth mainly came from China's forest protection programs, NASA said. For example, since 1962, China has been planting trees in Saihanba, Hebei Province. It was once a desert. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Ant Forest, a feature in Alipay app, gives users points for doing eco-friendly things such as walking and going paperless in the office. Users can then use these points to water and grow their own virtual (虚拟的) trees. When the virtual trees are big enough, Ant Forest will plant real trees somewhere in the world. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Notes: draw 抽奖；entry form报名表；receipt收据；claim认领