It was August 2nd, 1927. The news had spread 1 .

    A man named Craig Pierce was coming to the city of Bristol. He wanted to make recordings of local people singing and playing musical instruments. And he said he would 2 fifty dollars for each song recorded. That was a huge 3 in those days. Many people came to Bristol that day to 4 for Mr. Pierce. But one group seemed to have just the sound that he was 5.  They were a man named A.P. Carter，his wife Sara，and her cousin Maybelle. They 6 themselves the Carter Family.

    Their first recordings were sent to 7 throughout the United States. Many listeners were 8 at what they heard. Instead of classical or jazz songs that radio stations usually played，a new 9 was born.  The Carter Family sounded 10 . They did not sound 11 they had taken music lessons. But it did not matter. The people in poor rural areas thought they sounded just like their 12 .

    The Carters sang songs about living in the mountains of Virginia，Tennessee，and North Carolina. They sang about the 13 of a young man for a special girl. They sang about the beauty of nature. They sang about death and sadness. And they sang religious songs that told of the hope for a(an)  14  life after death.

    A.P. Carter sang in the group and also searched for 15 songs. He often traveled long 16 to small towns in the southeastern United States. He wanted to hear the songs that 17 people sang in their communities. He wrote down the words but kept the music in his 18. When he returned home, he helped Sara and Maybelle fit them to the Carter Family musical 19. The Carter Family soon became popular. Within three years, the Carter Family sold 300,000 recordings.

    Life is like a stage, on which gold will 20.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A, B, C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

    Mr.Jones had always wanted to make a trip into the middle of Africa to shoot wild animals.1first he had no enough money, and then he was married.His wife had not wanted him to2 her.At last his wife 3 to the trip if he allowed her to go, too.

    “But it will be very uncomfortable,” Mr.Jones4 her, “ It will be very hot and we shall live in a tent, and it5 be dangerous.”“I don't care,” said his wife, “I want to go with you.” So they bought a big tent, camp beds, a refrigerator（电冰箱）which did not need 6 and many other things which would make the trip comfortable, and went off to the7of Africa.

    The first morning,8 Mr.Jones took his gun and left the tent, he9 his wife a bell and explained to her , “If you fall in10and you need me ,11this bell and I'll come at once.”

    After a few minutes, he heard the bell and returned 12to the tent.“What's the matter?” he asked.“13” said his wife, “I was only14the bell.” Mr.Jones went off, but after a quarter of an hour, the bell rang15.

    Mr.Jones hurried back to the tent, but his wife said, “I'm16.I was cleaning our tent, and I knocked the bell over by mistake.” Mr.Jones returned to his17, but soon he heard the18 once more.This time, when he got back to his19, the tent was burning and Mrs.Jones was lying on the ground, with20running from a big cut on her shoulder.“That's better!” said Mrs.Jones.“This time the bell had been used correctly!”

    When I was young at school, I loved to talk, a characteristic not always appreciated by Miss Jordan, my tenth-grade English teacher.

    She was a teacher no one wanted because she was so1 She stood about five-foot-five, was very thin and wore her hair pulled back in a way that gave her a horsy2She wore those half-circular reading glasses. Whenever she got upset, she would lower her head and look at you over the top of her glasses.

    One day in her class I was busy talking. I didn't 3 she had stopped teaching and was4straight at me. “Young lady, I would like to see you after school.”

    Later Miss Jordan5in a low, but very firm voice that showed she expected me to listen when she was talking. For6 she told me to write a thousand-word essay on education and its effect on the economy. She wanted it in by the following Wednesday.

    Well, I met my deadline. I was7. It was a good paper. And I expected a sign of 8 from her. The next day in class9 she was looking at me over her glasses. She called me forward and10 my paper. “Go back and rewrite,” she said. “Remember, each paragraph is supposed to begin with a topic sentence.” When she gave my paper back a second time, she 11 the grammar. The third time, the spelling. The fourth time, it was punctuation. The fifth, it wasn't neat enough. I was12!

    The sixth time, I rewrote the whole paper 13in ink, leaving generous space. When she saw it, she removed her glasses and smiled She finally14 the paper. After that, I put the whole thing out of my15.

    Two or three months passed. One day Miss Jordan came into the class and said to us: Class, do you still16 an essay contest held citywide? They've announced the 17 I am happy to inform you that Mary has won third prize in the essay contest 'On the Impact of Education on the Economy'.”

    I was amazed and18 It was the first time I had ever won a prize. Years later, I told a reporter that story, and my comments — including my unfriendly19 of Miss Jordan's appearance. Miss Jordan wrote me, and said that her appearance wasn't what was important. What was important was the20 I had learnt. When I wrote and rewrote that paper for her, I began to learn how to discipline myself.

    The news of Stephen Hawking's death came a great shock to the whole world. To his family, he was “a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy（遗赠）will 1 for many years”.

    His parents, both Oxford graduates, placed a high  2 on education and family members were often seen reading books at dinner. 3 known at school as “Einstein”, Hawking was not 4 successful academically. With time, he began to show talents for scientific subjects and decided to read  5 at university. As mathematics was not  6at Oxford then, Hawking chose physics instead.

    Diagnosed with a rare motor neurone disease, Hawking eventually 7 a wheelchair. Though shocked and bitter, Hawking continued his work in physics  8. After the loss of his  9, he communicated through a speech-generating device, which  10 him to produce A Brief History of Time with the help of an assistant.

    Hawking once  11how he felt when first informed of his disease,  12 that he would never realize his potential. “But now, 50 years later, I  13 be more satisfied with my life,” he said.

    Hawking also gained popularity  14 the academic world and appeared in several TV shows. He was featured in the film The Theory of Everything, which  15 his rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane.

    Prof James Hartle, who once worked with him ,praised his unique ability to see through all the clutter（混乱）in physics and get to the  16.” My 17 of him would be…first as a scientist and, second, as a human being whose story is a victory  18 misfortune, which inspired a lot of people.” Prof Jim Al-Khalili pictured Hawking as a  19 person. “He was a fun loving guy. Inside that paralyzed body was someone full of  20 for life,” he said.

    After suffering severe bums to her back and other pans of her body at the age of three, Sylvia, 49, had spent her life covering up her scars. Her confidence was destroyed by years of1comments. At her lowest she had considered2her own life.

    "I didn't really know what3was. I didn't realize my mental health was being affected﹣I4thought this was a5thing."

    The accident that left her6happened during a7game of hide and seek with her sister. Afterward, a life of8herself up and hiding from attention followed, until a turning point in July last year.

    Sylvia was on holiday with her mother when she9a man's camera phone following her around the hotel pool. She and her mother left for the beach, but she was struck by the10the encounter had on her mother.

    "I could see her11at my scars. She just looked so sad," Sylvia recalled.

So she started to12, calling out to her mum to make her smile.

    "I had been in such a bad place before. I was so13. I was in such a horrible place for so many years. I looked back and felt like I'd destroyed my family s lives and I thought, now is the time for me to stop."

    Sylvia felt it was time not just to make a14for herself, but to help others with disfigurements（外形的损毁）and to raise awareness.

    She15a Facebook group, Love Disfigure, and now runs swimming sessions at High bury pool in Islinton, north London, with the aim of helping increase the16of people with disfigurements or17and health conditions.

    For Sylvia, last year has been18. Having19her body, and had depression, anxiety and post﹣traumatic stress disorder（创伤后应激障碍）she now hopes her story will20others.

    The snow was falling and the roads had become dangerous. The schools were dismissed early, but much to my surprise, my1wasn't canceled. So I went, feeling especially heroic. As far as I could see, I was risking my life to keep my2. Snow or no snow, I would be on time for my scheduled donation at the local3center.

    When I got there, I discovered I wasn't 4. Four more "hero-types" were already lying back in donor chairs with lines5to their veins, and machines quietly pumping away to6their lifesaving gifts.

    Seeing my fellow donors honoring their own commitments, I realized why I was there. I lay back in my donor chair, ready to make a difference in the life of someone I would never7.

    To be honest, I'd never really thought about why I donate. I just do it. But a few months ago, during one of my8donations I learned that my blood was specifically for a cancer patient and for a newborn baby—both patients needed what I would give in order to live. I've viewed my visits to the blood center9ever since.

    My wife Karen is a10, too. And more importantly, she has been on the bone marrow (骨髄) list for fifteen years, ever since she signed up to provide bone marrow to a kindergartner with leukemia (白血病). That little girl died before Karen's bone marrow could help her,11Karen was called again recently. Her test results were still on file, and it turned out she was a potential12for someone else. The caller asked Karen if she would still be willing to become a bone marrow donor. "Yes," she said and then immediately began answering questions on the pages of paperwork for further testing. It was a race13time.

    I wish I could say that this14was won. It wasn't. The caller later thanked Karen for her participation and asked a few more questions—including whether or not she'd15on the donor list. "Of course," Karen answered.

    Last week Karen gave blood and next week I'll make my usual donation. I'll16an afternoon from my schedule and make an appointment. I don't know whose life my donation may17. Most likely it will be a18, but on any day the person needing a blood product could be you or me or maybe a loved one. It is worthwhile to19our time to donate.

    I really do feel20every time I donate. And I like the feeling.