On a bright, warm July afternoon, Mac Hollan, a primary school teacher, was cycling alone from his home to Alaska {#blank#}1{#/blank#} he heard quick and loud breathing behind him. “Man, that's a big dog!” he thought. But when he looked to the side, he saw immediately that it wasn't a doe at all, but a wolf, quickly catching up with him. In fact, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (meet) some cyclists just 5 minutes before and had just set {#blank#}3{#/blank#} from a gas station, but now no one could help him.

    Mac found out his can of bear spray (喷雾) and fired at the wolf. It fell back, shaking its head. But a minute later, it was by his side again, making him more {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  (fright). He fired at the wolf {#blank#}5{#/blank#} second time, it fell back only {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (start) the chase (追赶) again quickly.

    Mac waved and yelled at passing cars but was careful not to slow down. He saw a seep uphill climb before him. He knew that once he hit the hill, he {#blank#}7{#/blank#}  (catch) up and the wolf's {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (tooth) would be tearing into his flesh.

    At this moment, Paul and Beeky were driving their car on their way to Alaska. They spotted what they, too, thought was a dog {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (run) alongside a man on a bike. As they got {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (close), they realized that the dog was a wolf. They stopped their car in front of him. Mac jumped off his bike immediately and ran for the car quickly.

    Tracy Wong is a well-known Chinese-American writer. But her writing skill was something she picked {#blank#}1{#/blank#} by herself. She became a part-time writer for IBM after {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(graduate) from college. Then, writing stories was {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(simple)a personal interest. Tracy sent three of her stories to a publisher. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(interest), they immediately suggested that she put them together {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(make)a single one long story and paid Tracy $ 50, 000 in advance, which was a pretty money for an unknown writer.

    Even though Tracy's {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(character) are interesting, her stories sometimes leave readers uneasy: those about the supernatural. “My mother believed I could connect with the afterlife world,” she told a close friend. “She used to have me speak with my grandmother, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} died many years ago.”

    "Can I? I don't think I can," Tracy said with a laugh. "But I do have moments when things come to me for no reason." Once, she {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(wonder) how to complete a scene set in ancient China when the doorbell suddenly rang. It was a FedEx delivery man, with a copy of a book on Chinese history. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} came without her having ordered it!

    Though she has published 10 books, Tracy has remained unchanged by her fame. She lives in the same way she lived 27 years ago — although in a {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(big) house. There's more room for joy in her life — and it wasn't just writing.

    Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted with his new hotel, the world's first igloo (冰屋) hotel.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (build) in a small town, it has been attracting lots of visitors, but soon the fun will be over. In two weeks' time Bergqvist's ice creation {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (be) nothing more than a pool of water. "We don't see it as a big problem," he says. "We just look forward to replacing {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} successful that he designed the present one, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (pile) 1, 000 tons of snow onto a wooden base. When the snow froze, the base {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (remove).

    After their stay, all visitors receive a survival certificate recording their success. Without{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (window) and places to hang clothes, it may seem more like a survival test than a relaxing hotel break with temperatures below 0℃. "It's great fun," Bergqvist explains. "As well as a good start in survival training."

    The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (popular) of the igloo is beyond doubt. It is now attracting tourists {#blank#}10{#/blank#} all over the world. At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even though there are only ten rooms.

For much of history, reading was a fairly noisy activity. Today, however, the majority of us bottle the words in our heads as if {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(sit) in a library.

Recent studies provide ample evidence {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the ancient art of reading aloud has a number of benefits, from helping improve our memories {#blank#}3{#/blank#}strengthening emotional bonds between people.

According to a research on the impacts of reading on memory, people consistently remember words and texts {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(well) if reading them aloud than if reading them silently. This phenomenon has been named the "production effect", which means that producing {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(write) words-namely, reading them out loud-improves our memory of them. Even just silently mouthing the words makes {#blank#}6{#/blank#} more memorable.

One reason why people remember the spoken words better is that it gives us {#blank#}7{#/blank#} additional basis for memory. We are {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(general) better at recalling events that require active involvement. For instance, producing a word in {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(respond) to a question makes it easier to remember.

In time when our interactions with others and the large amount of information we take in {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(be) all too transient (转瞬即逝的) , perhaps it is worth making bit more time for reading out loud.