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Tucker's2 began when McCall spent the night in a nearby hotel during her journey from Florida to Michigan to visit a sick relative. McCall, who had lost her husband to cancer and her grandson to violence, found3 in her two cats, Tucker and Fat Cat. Without those two cats, she may not have4 it. The next morning, when McCall was ready to5 the road again, Tucker was gone.6, she searched along the busy road for hours, but in vain. With tight budget, she couldn't7 to stay another night but continued her trip without him, heartbroken.

The next day, Lillard8 Tucker by a garbage bin. She took him home, and9 his story in a lost-pet Facebook group. Soon McCall was on the phone with Lillard, hearing Tucker's cries and sobbing with10.

McCall's luck was11: Lillard's grandfather was heading to Michigan, and Lillard was happy to12 Tucker until the cat could hitch a ride with him. One month later, Tucker was13 delivered to McCall's doorstep, just in time for Christmas.

Today, McCall, Tucker, Fat Cat, and Lillard have formed a bond that14 the 600 miles that once separated them. Though McCall's future is uncertain, she is comforted by the15 of her furry companions and the friendship of Lillard, a stranger who became a savior.

Amazon has reached what its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos called "an interesting milestone." The retailing giant so highly associated with books and then music and video, now has tens of millions of products and a majority are non-media goods, from drills to tennis balls to almost anything else that can be shipped.

The 48-year-old has officially transformed Amazon, which he founded in 1994, from an online bookstore selling other stuff to a retailer that once sold mostly books. Then, Amazons stock (股票) is up 397 percent in the last five years.

So, what's behind the success? Bezos regularly leaves one seat open at meetings and informs all attendees that they should consider that seat occupied by their customer, the most important person in the room.

Always trying to find out what customers want, Bezos is even stricter about what customers don't want. They hate delays, defects and out-of-stock products, so the company constantly looks to make them as rare as possible. Amazon's data shows that a 0.1 second delay in page loading can translate into a one percent drop in customer activity.

But it doesn't fully explain the extraordinary success. For Bezos, a data driven customer focus encourages him to take risks to innovate. Amazons kindle, for example, came into being because he believed millions would want an e-book reader, downloading any book within 60 seconds. Engineers were free to solve technical challenges as they saw fit, only needing to make it right for consumers.

Efficiency — cheapness, in the eyes of Amazon's critics — is also an important part of the Amazon culture. In 2009, Bezos declared that Amazon had begun fighting against waste. The more he could get rid of needless costs, the easier it would be to deliver rock-bottom prices to customers.

A. In fact, Bezos links the two.

B. That turning point might be Bezos' greatest achievement.

C. He set that target without getting trapped by technical issues.

D. Even the tiniest delay in loading a webpage isn't insignificant.

E. Customers do enjoy quick delivery, quality products and great after-sales service.

F. Bezos could have done it earlier, but he took over twenty years to complete that target.

G. Amazon managers would tell you: the empty chair, the internal nickname of the figure that rules their lives.

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to our emissions pose a twin threat to the world's coral reefs. Higher temperatures stress corals and this can lead to mass bleaching (漂白) and death. In addition, atmospheric CO₂ absorbed by the ocean makes the water more acidic and weakens coral skeletons. This, along with pollution and overfishing, has already created a crisis for the planet's reefs.

To find out more about the extent and speed at which coral species could adapt, Jury and his colleagues at the University of Hawai'i collected dozens of specimens of eight different coral species from reefs around O'ahu, Hawai'i. They were then grown in an outdoor lab under four different conditions: under today's climate, one with temperatures raised by 2℃ but water chemistry unchanged, another with temperatures held but water chemistry made more acidic, and the last with both temperature and water chemistry changed to produce the warmer, more acidic conditions.

The test lasted as long as six months, but "the corals did surprisingly well", says Jury. All saw lower growth rates-a measure of coral health -under the more stressful conditions. Yet individuals of all species survived the combined stressors, with no clear trade-off between tolerance to heat and acidity.

In fact, there is building evidence of a significant potential to adapt to changing oceans. For instance, in a second study published this month, Melissa Naugle at Southern Cross University in Australia and her colleagues analysed heat tolerance of different coral species on the Great Barrier Reef. They found unexpectedly large variation in heat tolerance, even among corals in the same part of the reef, which could be especially valuable for efforts to restore reefs by breeding more tolerant corals.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," says Lisa McManus at the University of Hawai'i, who wasn't involved with any of the research. But she cautions that any adaptive potential still depends on how much coral is left after extreme events. "In a lot of areas around the world, there's little coral cover left."

The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is to finish its final shift at midnight, after more than half a century of turning coal into power. Owner Uniper says many of the 170 remaining employees will stay on during a two-year decommissioning (停用关闭) process.

The UK government hailed (赞扬) the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain's energy from renewable sources by 2030. The shutdown makes Britain the first country from the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal — though some other European nations, including Sweden and Belgium, got there sooner.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the plant's closure "marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country. The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning."

The world's first coal-fired electricity plant, Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London in 1882. Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which opened in 1968, is a landmark whose eight concrete cooling towers and 199-meter chimney are seen by millions of people a year as they drive past on the M1 highway or speed by on trains.

In 1990 coal provided about 80% of Britain's electricity. By 2012 it had fallen to 39%, and by 2023 it stood at just 1%, according to figures from the National Grid. More than half of Britain's electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear energy.

"Ten years ago, coal was the leading source of this country's power — generating a third of our electricity," said Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of Energy U. K. "So, to get to this point just a decade later, with coal's contribution replaced by clean and low carbon sources, is an incredible achievement. As we aim for further ambitious targets in the energy transition (转变), it's worth remembering that few back then thought such a change at such a pace was possible."

My father had died four months earlier and I had been wearing a gold ring of his that was gifted to me. On the second day of our hike, as the rest of our group set off after lunch, I was walking at the back with my wife when I looked down at my hand where my dad's ring usually was. It was gone.

I spent the next few minutes and hours being comforted by my friends and family and regretting how I could lose something so precious on a hiking trip. My friend encouraged me to search for my ring in my pack, which I did when we stopped for a drink. There was no ring.

We set up camp and settled in at Kingfisher Flat, the most beautiful campsite, sitting beside a flowing creek. That night I went to sleep and eventually reconciled that my ring was gone for good.

Finishing the hike the following day, back at Mambray Creek, my mate said we should have one last look for the ring at the campsite before setting off. I went along with the idea, especially given there were toilets nearby and it was a four-hour drive back to our home on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

As we approached our campsite our friends started searching around the grounds for the ring. I inspected our fuel gauge completely, while my eldest daughter walked to the fire ring where we'd been chatting and laughing. Seconds later I heard my daughter say "I've found it!"

I seriously could not believe what she'd said until she presented me with my dad's ring. I accepted the ring, hugged my daughter and to this day find it hard to believe my dad's ring was found. This precious chapter made the two nights hiking something I will never forget.

Paris

Daytime temperatures in the 70s makes summer one of the best times to wander around the City of Light. Dine alfresco at a cafe along the Champs-Élysées, or have a picnic at the Luxembourg Gardens or on the lawns in front of the Eiffel Tower. The only cons: bigger crowds and higher prices on hotel rooms. You may want to consider a vacation rental to save money, and you should plan to visit world-renowned attractions like the Louvre first thing in the morning to avoid a great many tourists.

Great Barrier Reef

Australia's Great Barrier Reef offers some of the most scenic snorkeling and diving on the globe at hot spots like Osprey Reef and Heron Island. And, believe it or not, your tourism dollars can help protect this quickly disappearing natural wonder. However, you don't have to be a diver to fully enjoy this region. Sailing on the open ocean and kicking back on a Whitsunday Islands beach will no doubt satisfy relaxation seekers.

London

Get down to London town for your next summer vacation. Spend your days touring the grounds of Buckingham Palace and admiring London's green spaces from above with a ride on the London Eye. Though temperatures historically sit in the 70s during these warmer months, heat waves bringing weather in the 90s aren't unprecedented (史无前例的). If you're willing to deal with some heat and the crowds the season brings, you are guaranteed to have a jolly good trip.

When I was in middle school, my family moved to Seattle, where my parents started their new business — a small grocery store downstairs my house. As a girl of shy and reserved nature, I had to take a fresh start to fit into the sophisticated city life.

One sunny day, my school announced an exciting event, a talent show for the local food bank. Students were encouraged to showcase their unique talents in front of the public in the city hall on National Day. A buzz of excitement fed the school as everyone began preparing for the big day. Deep down, I felt a spark of curiosity and a desire to participate. However, my self-doubt held me back, "I don't have any special skills to share."

Days turned into weeks, and the talent show drew closer. I couldn't shake the upsetting feeling until one day, Emma, one of the most popular girls in my class, came to me while I was helping in the grocery store after class. "How about singing together in the talent show?" She grinned, "I heard you singing a tune, along the way back home. I can't help following you here." Gosh, I couldn't believe my ears. Emma, with personality and popularity, acknowledged my little talent. Since Emma had the world's prettiest voice, I felt like being favoured by fortune.

"You two? The talent show for the food bank?" My mum bent towards us and her face lit up. "A big occasion." Then a light bulb seemed to go in her head. "Why not practise right now upstairs? I bet you'll be a perfect match." Winking at us, she seemed to know we were thinking alike.

Emma and I embarked on rehearsing almost every single day after school. We brainstormed, exchanged ideas and rehearsed the scene. As the days rolled by, I was feeling pretty good about our act. But the day before the performance, Emma called that she had an acute stomachache and was not in any shape to perform.

注意：

1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1:

I was completely knocked out by the news.

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Paragraph 2:

Finally came the big moment.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. 说明报名原因；2. 询问相关情况；3. 表达你的期待。

注意：

1. 写作词数应为80左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Dear Sir/ Madam,

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

When it comes to foods that are more than worthy of being posted all over social media, Chinese sugar painting, a traditional Chinese form of folk art, deserves some time in the spotlight. Hot liquid sugar is used (create) two-dimensional figures like small animals. Sugar art is pretty popular children, but it's beautiful enough to interest anyone.

Hot sugar is poured from a small spoon onto a flat surface where the outline of the figure (draw) with a thick stream of sugar. Then (relative) thinner sugar is added to support the outline and fill in the figure of the body in a (combine) of zig-zags or other patterns, supported by a wooden stick. "Painting" artistic pieces from melted sugar (differ) from regular painting. Because the hot sugar cools down very quickly, the painter has to work quickly, (make) sure he gets every shape just right.

Customers traditionally spin arrow on a wheel. It lands on a certain figure is inspired by nature or wildlife in forms of a dragon, fish, monkey, bird or flower basket. This ancient Sichuan art form might not be as common` as it once was, but it still has the power to amaze (tourist) who come across talented street artists that make these amazing creations.

It wasn't insecurity that2 me to madness but the fact that this was my third time being the new kid. But this time dad's company3 my starting and finishing high school in the same place.

I emerged proudly in a patterned dress after riding (扫荡) my closet. I felt just as4 as I stepped off the bus. But my jaw5 to the floor when I found Mrs. Hutfilz, my English teacher, wearing the same dress as I did. I kept my head down and tiptoed to my seat, but the first day meant6 in front of the class, and7 it was my turn. I made it through my minute speech, until Hutfilz stood up,8 adding she liked my style. All the anxiety that had accumulated surprisingly9. My smile10 as I giggled with my peers. After class, I shared with Mrs. Hutfilz my previous understanding about coming into a new school and state. I was relieved to make a humorous and genuine11 with my teacher in the coming days.

This incident12 me that these are the times to have fun, and make memories, not stress about the unimportant details. Looking back, the ten minutes I spent13 my speech were really not worth it.14 my first period of high school may not have gone exactly the way I thought it would, Mrs. Hutfilz's great sense of15 certainly made the day unforgettable in the best way.