Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named “Lucky”．Whenever Mary and Jim had friends come for a weekend visit，they would warn their friends not to leave their luggage open because Lucky would steal something from their luggage and he always hid his finds in his toy box in the basement.

    It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer.She felt she was going to die of this disease.The night before she was to go to the hospital，a thought struck her，“What would happen to Lucky？” “If I die，who will look after Lucky？” Mary thought.The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

    Mary stayed in the hospital for two weeks.Jim took Lucky for his evening walk every day，but the little dog just looked sad and miserable.

    Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.When she arrived home，Mary was so tired that she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom.Jim made his wife comfortable on the bed and left her to sleep.

    Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called.It made Mary sad.But she felt so sleepy that soon she fell asleep.

    When Mary woke，for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong.She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy.But panic(惊慌) soon gave way when Mary realized the problem.She was enclothed with a blanket，and with every treasure Lucky owned!

    While she had slept，the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved hostess all his favorite things.He had covered her with his love.

    It's been 12 years now and Mary is still living.Lucky? He still steals treasures and hides them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

    NBA basketball players devote much of their lives to preparing for games. This preparation, which includes studying game films, practicing skills and treating injuries, is essential because of the pressure-packed nature of their profession.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Generally, on the day of a game, players get together in the morning for an hour shooting and also to review films of the opponent of that night. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Players receive treatments for injuries, put on their uniforms, discuss strategies(策略) with coaches and warm up during the remaining time before the game gets underway. As thousands of people cheer them on, a team's best players will play 40 or more minutes during the game. After the game, some players stick around to lift weights before showering and heading home.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They must leave their families at home, spend hours on planes traveling around the country and try to stay rested while sleeping at a different hotel every night.

    The NBA's 82-game regular season is tiring. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So many players focus on recuperating(恢复) for at least part of the off-season. Other players, may work on recovering from surgery to correct injuries.

    Weeks before the training camp, NBA basketball players start getting back in shape for the upcoming season. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Younger players often take part in developmental leagues during the summer months to increase their chances of getting onto an NBA team.

A．Trips can be difficult for NBA basketball players.

B．The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946.

C．It can even make the best-conditioned athletes tired.

D．It consists of 30 teams, 29 in the US and 1 in Canada.

E．The preparation may involve practicing basketball skills and lifting weights.

F．Following lunch, many players take a nap and eat a pre-game meal before arriving at the field.

G．An NBA basketball player's typical workday routine varies based on his team's schedule of games.

    In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies,“No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”

    The city planners decided to build an underground drainage(排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.

    An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.

    This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire bulidings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?

    That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews(螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stayed open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.

    Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.

    If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day, we should be able to give an answer to the question．

    It 1s the same in history．Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them. Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country, but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war．Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write．For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4,000 years ago，because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them．But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in Central Africa，because they had not learned to write．

    Sometimes，of coures，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past．They have heard about it from older people，and often songs, dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings, and these have been sung，acted and told for many generations，for most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past．This we may call”remembered history”．Some of it had been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing．But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful．

    The Healthy Habits Survey(调查)shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.

    ⒈How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?

    Finding: A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.

    Step: Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery­operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day.

    ⒉How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?

    Finding: Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30% wash their hands only 4 times a day—half of the number doctors recommend.

    Step: We touch our faces around 3,000 times a day—often inviting germs(病菌)to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes. Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds.

    ⒊How often do you think about fighting germs?

    Finding: Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.

    Step: Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge (海绵) that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds.

    As health care costs continue to rise, a growing number of companies are working out programs designed to keep their employees healthy.

    Thomas Chapple is the senior vice president. “It's really important to us because medical costs are going up like crazy,” he says. “This company spends more than $ 200 million a year on medical costs for its employees around the country. The best thing we have seen as a way to control the medical cost is individual fitness.”

    “We have a fitness center,” Shawn Flaherty, director of public relations for Freddie Mac., says. “We have a health benefits plan that encourages people to work out three times a week, get cholesterol （胆固醇）checks, as well as 'do not smoke.' If they do that, it will cost them less for the health benefits.”

    Rachelle Clark works for Freddie Mac. “I feel great. You know the benefit is rewarding. I like to look good and feel healthy. I am just fortunate that I work for the company that provides some type of facility for the employees.”

    While on-site fitness centers are popular, some companies pay membership fees at local gyms for employees. The companies also offer classes such as boxing, yoga and dancing. Employees see those health programs as a valuable benefit.

    Tom Brook exercises five days a week. As a newspaper reporter he has a tight schedule, although Tom says it's not that difficult for him to make time for a workout. “It is great. It is right here where we work,” says Tom. “So everybody gets a chance to use it whenever they want to. I have lost weight and never been in better shape.”

    The programs may not be a magic cure for rising health costs, but they seem to have a positive impact on both employers and employees.