阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    Actually, long-distance bicycle camping is one of the most pleasurable activities I have ever experienced.

    I generally sleep poorly at night, but in the woods on a tour, I sleep like a baby, falling asleep with the music of insects. In the morning, I am awakened by the cheeps of birds. I eat a snack before getting up, and then I quickly pack my sleeping bag, air mattress (垫), tent, and other things and get on with my road. I'm slower in the morning, having less speed but a greater desire to stop at pleasant spots and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Traveling by bike allows me to stop anywhere, such as grasslands, lakes, woods, and scenic spots. Near lunch, I find a small grocery and buy some bread, sandwiches and fruit. Then I will find a town park or other shady spots to wait out the high mid-day sun. In the afternoon, my speeds are higher, and I spend less time on stops. In the late afternoon, I start riding more slowly, and I start thinking about where I will stop. I finally find a place in the early evening, cook a simple meal and have a rest. As it starts to get dark, I put up my tent, crawl in and fall asleep.

    There are exciting times and difficult times as well. Visiting strange or famous places and accomplishing goals are always exciting to me. I meet and talk with interesting people along the way, sometimes other traveling cyclists. Appreciating beautiful views, meeting wild animals, and traveling up and down hills also. On the other hand, I may run into a rainy or hot spell(一段时间), have to repair my bike, or just find myself in a bad mood. The problems are infrequent and are easy to deal with. The pleasures remain in my mind for years.

    I come from a large family of nine brothers and sisters, and all of us have kids of our own. On each Christmas night, our entire family gathers at my oldest sister's home, exchanging gifts, watching the nativity skit put on by the smaller children, eating, singing and enjoying a visit from Santa himself.

    The Christmas of 1988, my husband Bob and I had four children. Peter was eleven, Leigh-Ann was nine, Laura was six and Matthew was two. When Santa arrived, Matthew parked himself on Santa's lap and pretty much remained dazzled by him for the rest of the evening. Anyone who had their picture taken with Santa that Christmas also had their picture taken with little Matthew.

    Little did any of us know how precious those photos with Santa and Matthew would become. Five days after Christmas, our sweet little Matthew died in an accident at home. We were lucky to have strong support from our families and friends to help us through. I learned that the first year after a death is the hardest, as there are so many firsts to get through without your loved one. Birthdays and special occasions become sad, instead of joyous.

    When our first Christmas without Matthew approached, it was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit. Bob and I could hardly face putting up the decorations or shopping for special gifts for everyone. But we went through the motions for Peter, Leigh-Ann and Laura. Then, something extraordinary happened to raise our spirits when we didn't think it was possible.

    We were just finishing dinner when we heard a knock on the front door. When we went to answer it, no one was there. However, on the front porch was a card and gift. We opened the card and read that the gift-giver wanted to remain anonymous; he or she just wanted to help us get through a rough time by cheering us up.

    In the gift bag was a cassette of favorite Christmas music, which was in a little cardboard Christmas tree. The card described it as being "a cartridge in a pine tree," a twist on the "partridge in a pear tree" verse in the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We thought that it was a very clever gift, and the thoughtfulness of our "elf"(精灵) touched our hearts. We put the cassette in our player and, song by song, the spirit of Christmas began to warm our hearts.

    That was the beginning of a series of gifts from the clever giver, one for each day until Christmas. Each gift followed the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in a creative way. The kids especially liked "seven swans a-swimming," which was a basket of swan-shaped soaps plus passes to the local swimming pool, giving the kids something to look forward to when the warm days of spring arrived. "Eight maids a-milking" included eight bottles of chocolate milk, eggnog and regular milk in glass bottles with paper faces, handmade aprons and caps. Every day was something very special. The "five golden rings" came one morning just in time for breakfast — five glazed doughnuts just waiting to be eaten.

    We would get calls from our family, neighbors and friends who would want to know what we had received that day. Together, we would chuckle at the ingenuity and marvel at the thoughtfulness as we enjoyed each surprise. We were so caught up in the excitement and curiosity of what would possibly come next, that our grief didn't have much of a chance to rob us of the spirit of Christmas. What our elf did was absolutely miraculous.

    Each year since then, as we decorate our Christmas tree, we place on it the decorations we received that Christmas while we play the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We give thanks for our elf who was, we finally realized, our very own Christmas angel. We never did find out who it was, although we have our suspicions. We actually prefer to keep it that way. It remains a wondrous and magical experience - as mysterious and blessed as the very first Christmas.

    When pups are between 2 and 3months old, their mothers will abandon them for any number of reasons. With no mother to watch out for them, infant (婴儿) mortality of pups under one year skyrockets (飞涨) to around 90%. So, only about 10% of motherless, homeless pups survive.

    Without mothers, how are these abandoned pups supposed to survive? For the study, researchers Clive Wynne at Arizona State, Nadine Chersini at Utecht University, and Nathan Hal at Texas Tech University brought in 51 college students and asked them to rate the attractiveness of headshots (头部特写) of puppies at different ages.

    The pups peaked at different ages, but they were all ranked likable between six to eight weeks, since newly abandoned pups are competing with each other for human heartstrings (怜悯), evolution says they should be most likable around 6 and 11 weeks. This is around the time they are weaned (断奶) and let go of by their mothers.

    There are a few characteristics that humans find particularly adorable across species: big, forward-facing eyes, floppy and unstable limbs (肢), and a soft, rounded body shape. We're also keen to scream when animals have large heads in comparison to their bodies, and this reaction goes back to evolution.

    Called kinderschema (婴儿萌), these qualities are also apparent in human babies and necessary for their survival. The characteristics activate the decision-making part of the brain to encourage you to protect and nurture the baby. At the same time, the brain's pleasure center releases dopamine (多巴胺). With these two reactions, your brain makes you want to protect the baby and rewards you for doing so. With your protection, the baby can survive.

    Moving smoothly and silently through Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's futuristic "FlyZoo" hotel, black disc-shaped robots about a metre in height deliver food and drop off fresh towels.

    The robots are part of a set of high-tech tools that Alibaba says strongly cuts the hotel's cost of human labour and eliminates the need for guests to interact with other people.

    Formally opened to the public last month, the 290-room FlyZoo is an incubator for technology Alibaba wants to sell to the hotel industry in the future and an opportunity to showcase its prowess in artificial intelligence. It is also an experiment that tests consumer comfort levels with unmanned commerce in China.

    Inside the hotel, softly-lit white panelled walls bring to mind the interiors of Hollywood spaceships. Guests check in at podiums that scan their faces, as well as passports or other ID. Visitors with a Chinese national ID can scan their faces using their smartphones to check in ahead of time.

    Elevators scan guests' faces again to verify which floor they can access and hotel room doors are opened with another face scan.

    "It's very quick and safe. I haven't used it much yet, but basically, I can be in my room in one minute, "said guest Tracy Li. Li added that safety was one of her priorities and she was pleased her room could only be entered with a scan of her face.

    In the rooms, Alibaba's voice command technology is used to change the temperature, close the curtains, adjust the lighting and order room service.

    At the hotel's restaurant, taller capsule-shaped robots deliver food that guests have ordered via the FlyZoo app while at a separate bar, a large robotic arm can mix more than 20 different types of cocktails. Facial recognition cameras add charges to the room rate automatically.

    The hotel does employ humans, though Alibaba declined to detail how many. This includes chefs and cleaners as well as reception staff, who will assist with conventional check-in procedures for guests unwilling to have their faces scanned and want to use electronic key cards.

    Raised in France by her country physician grandfather, Petaluman Laura Reiehek will be recognized for her work helping the homeless, immigrants and elders and she received the Rev. James E. Coffee Human Rights Awards for 2006.

    Her grandfather devoted his whole life to making life better for others and was killed by Nazi soldiers in 1944. She was there when the soldiers took her grandfather's life: "I hid under a pile of leaves. But, you know, I heard it."

    She straggled to work through her anger and hate, but it was necessary for her own survival and serf-respect. After the war, she married Jesse Reichek, an American soldier in France, and they eventually settled in the Bay Area, where he grew to become an artist. They came to Petaluma from Berkeley when he needed more room to paint. They built their own home and treasured their time together.

    Reichek's years of volunteer work began with caring for an old lady in Sonoma County, which made her sensitive to the fact that many older people were living in bad places. So Reichek created Petaluma's first senior center. Then she noticed homeless people. With Mary Isaac, she co-founded COTS 15 years ago.

    These days, she is busier than ever, helping Latino immigrant families and visiting seniors in nursing homes. "Our goal is to promote and educate people in understanding and tolerance (忍受). We must learn to understand and celebrate our differences", said event chairman Harry Troutt, who serves on the commission.

    I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader, sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties, I lived out adventures through the books I checked out from the library.

    My first job was working at the Ukiah Library when I was 16 years old .It was a dream job and I did everything from shelving books to reading to the children for story time.

    As I grew older and became a mother, the library took on a new place and an added meaning in my life. I had several children and books were our main source(来源) of entertainment. It was a big deal for us to load up and go to the local library, where my kids could pick out books to read or books they wanted me to read to them.

    I always read ,using different voices ,as though I were acting out the stories with my voice and they loved it !It was a special time to bond with my children and it filled them with the wonderment of books .

    Now, I see my children taking their children to the library and I love that the excitement of going to the library lives on form generation to generation.

    As a novelist, I've found a new relationship with libraries. I encourage readers to go to their local library when they can't afford to purchase a book. I see libraries as a safe haven(避风港) for readers and writers, a bridge that helps put together a reader with a book. Libraries, in their own way, help fight book piracy(盗版行为) and 1 think all writers should support libraries in a significant way when they can. Encourage readers to use the library. Share library announcements on your social media. Frequent them and talk about them when you can.