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I had accepted an invitation from my friend John to visit him and his family on the dairy farm. Upon arrival, they told me that one of their cows would be 1 soon, which absolutely aroused my interest. "John, come out!", his father yelled. We all 2 ran out to see what was happening. Surprisingly, the cow had wandered away from the field and slipped down into a creek(溪流). We dashed there while John's brother 3 to the barn(谷仓) to get the tractor.

The poor cow was drowned up to her neck. She was in 4  birthing mode, in the middle of the creek. Everyone was enveloped with 5 . Some tried to get a rope around the cow to pull her up on the bank, but the fast running current 6  it.

Immediately, I jumped in! When I entered the water, I was 7  by the icy coldness.

Within minutes a sixty-pound calf was born right into my arms! We managed to 8  the newborn calf to safety. The others successfully 9 the cow and pulled her up with the tractor.

Then came our next 10 : how to get the calf warmed up! As I 11  him fiercely, my thoughts were totally focused on his 12 . He made it! However, since the cow had given birth in the water, her afterbirth, along with her scent(气味), had washed away. The new mother might not 13  the baby.

14 , the cow took only a short while to recognize her calf. All I had wanted was to see the birth of the calf, but to 15 as fully as I did was one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had!

Fake news spreads faster and more easily today through the internet, social media and instant messaging. , which can harm the public health and add to social disorder and division. 

Some fake news also contains a mixture of correct information, which makes it difficult to spot what is true and accurate. . They might not have read the full story before sharing or just glanced over it. Before you decide to share, make sure to read stories properly and follow some checks to determine the accuracy. 

If the story appears to claim a much higher level of certainty in its advice and arguments than other stories, this is questionable.. So, it is only natural to more readily accept information that provides comfort or easy solutions – unfortunately, often in a false way. 

, it is worth double-checking. Fake news will try to grab your attention by being more exaggerated than real stories. Anything written entirely in capital letters or containing a lot of exclamation marks should raise your suspicions. 

The best sources for authentic information are your government websites. However, even government messaging can get things wrong. . For instance, The Conversation is a more trusted source because all content is written by academics who are experts in their fields. Websites such as APFactCheck and Full Fact highlight common fake news stories. A search engine can be used to look up the title of the article to see if it has been identified as fake news by the mainstream media.

A. If a story is more surprising

B. People will be seeking certainty in a time of high uncertainty

C. Fake news may also be shared by trusted friends and family

D. If a message presses you to share

E. But they are more trustworthy than unchecked sources on social media

F. These messages may contain useless, incorrect information and advice

G. Think twice about the messages and help guide your family and friends

You don't have to look hard to see that the world is in crisis. The terrible floods in Pakistan have made 33 million people the latest victims of the climate crisis. Meanwhile, in Europe, the skyrocketing cost of gas is causing some in the UK to panic — buy wood to heat their homes.

These crises, though very different, have a common cause: our reliance on burning fossil fuels. Clearly, we need to make the transition to renewable sources of energy — and fast. We all know the challenges. If we are to get most of our power from renewables, we must find a way to manage the uncertainty of wind and solar. To popularize green transport, we need more people to buy electric vehicles. In both cases, better batteries are crucial.

Today's best batteries are made with lithium ions. But supplies of lithium are limited and the mining process can damage the environment. That is why battery researchers are looking beyond lithium towards all manner of alternatives.

Quantum batteries are one of the most unusual of these. Like quantum computers, these would be made up of qubits that would offer an advantage. The key point is that the more qubits you have, the faster your battery will charge. In theory, a quantum battery made up of 100 qubits could charge 100 times faster than a classical battery of the same capacity.

It sounds too good to be true. But earlier this year, researchers showed for the first time that quantum batteries have this advantage in practice. That is a huge step, even if there is no guarantee that the technology can be promoted. Some still argue that practical quantum batteries are a pipe dream. But batteries that charge in an instant would be transformative, not least in terms of boosting the transition to electric vehicles, which is limited by charging times that can be painfully slow. Given the promise of instant power, quantum batteries should be taken seriously.

When some people hear self-discipline, they think that it's boring. They equate a disciplined life to feelings of entrapment. Allow me to tell you a story.

On a hot sunny day, Bertha is buzzing by her hive with some other bees, just relaxing and having a good time. Suddenly a bear starts to approach her hive for some honey and bee eggs. To save her hive, Bertha stings the bear. But its skin is so thick that once she tries to pull her sting out she dismembers(肢解) herself and dies. 

The sad part is that Bertha has no choice. Through years of evolution she has developed a biological reaction to dangers—to sting threats. If she had known she would die, she might have flown away and saved her own life. 

Bees are prisoners of their own biology, but humans can override their biology. Through self-discipline，most people have long-term desires for lasting relationships, meaningful careers or healthy bodies but are constantly tempted by short term pleasures, such as junk food or video games. Deep down they really want the life that comes in the long term. Yet they keep giving in to short-term pleasures. 

The only difference is self-discipline. Luckily, humans have the ability to practice self-discipline. It gives us the freedom to achieve what we truly want in life and allow us to break free of the biological or societal cages around us. But it's not that simple.

Companies are aware of our natural, biological reactions and use this against us by using supernormal stimuli. An example is junk food. Our ancestors were wired to seek out and enjoy fat and salty food because it was so rare at the time. But now companies have genetically engineered food to include more fats and salts than ever before in order to make us desire it even more. 

Social media and the Internet as a whole is another form of supernormal stimuli. Humans are biologically wired to seek out novelty. For our ancestors novelty could lead to more knowledge about the world, which could lead to more wisdom that helped us thrive as a species. It has its usefulness. However, the Internet has been designed to take advantage of this desire for novelty by showing you more novelty than you can ever dream of. Every page links out more pages. And every video to a video with even more novelty. Video games do the same thing. 

On the plus side, however, you and I are not like the bee, because we are not caused by our own biology. With self-discipline, we can live the life we truly want. We have the choice to be free. 

Paul O'Sullivan lounged around his Baltimore apartment one evening in 2014, feeling bored. So, like many others, he logged on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network shared his name. Moments later, dozens of name twins from around the world filled his screen. On a whim, he decided to send friend requests to them all.

Many of his fellow Paul O'Sullivans ignored him, but a few felt too curious to pass up his invitation. As Baltimore Paul scrolled through the other Paul O'Sullivans' profiles, he noticed something four of them had in common: They were all musicians. Like Baltimore Paul, Rotterdam Paul sang and played guitar. Another Paul in Manchester, England, played bass. And Paul from Pennsylvania was a drummer. Baltimore Paul had an idea. Wouldn't it be funny, he asked the other musical Pauls, if they formed a band called The Paul O'Sullivans? Yes, they all agreed.

Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be tricky. Shaky Wi-Fi and other technical difficulties meant they were often out of sync. And being even half a second off from one another wrecked their sound. To fix this, they created a sort of musical assembly line. Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul wrote and recorded a basic track, then e-mailed it to Manchester Paul. 

"I listen to the song over a few days," says Manchester Paul, "to get a feel for what bass arrangement seems most appropriate." Once he recorded a bass track, he e-mailed it back to Baltimore Paul, who then built it into the main song. Later, Pennsylvania Paul added the drumbeat. Round and round the track went, with each member adding on his own layer until they achieved the sound they want.

The Paul O'Sullivan Band released its first original song, "Namesake", in March 2016, which was about long-distance relationships. And when COVID-19 slowly shut____down the world, the Pauls didn't miss a beat. After all, the band had already got the hang of remote work. They used their time during the pandemic to record their first EP. Titled Internet Famous: A Retrospective, it was released last April.

"What are the odds," says Baltimore Paul, "that a random Facebook request would lead not only to new music but to lasting friendships as well?" "Some things are just meant to be."

Searching the OED

How to use the quick search

The quick search bar can be found on the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) homepage and at the top of every entry page, and finds main dictionary entries, such as alphabet, break, xylophone. It also finds phrases and compounds listed within main entries, such as to look up an alphabet book, and different forms of spellings such as dictionaries.

Wildcard searches

A wildcard is a symbol which stands for any character. The question mark? represents the occurrence of any one single character, and the asterisk * represents the occurrence of any number of characters (or no character at all) . Wildcards are useful if you do not know how to spell a word, or if you want to find several terms beginning with the same root.

How to use the advanced search

An advanced search is a full search of the entire dictionary text which is for readers who have logged in or subscribed to the dictionary. Advanced search can be especially useful for very specific searches. You can use the search area functionality to search by each section of an entry. You can also use filters to narrow your search to match certain criteria.

Browsing by categories

Categories allow you to explore the dictionary through groupings of words in, for instance, a subject or from a particular origin. If you want to find all the Carribbean borrowings in English, or find the first word related to espionage to enter the dictionary, this is the function for you.

Further explore your search by using the options that appear on the right-hand side of the results page.

When my husband Randy died in late fall, deciding what to do with his garden was way down on the list of necessary tasks. During the first few months, I cried with our daughters, planned a memorial, cried with my family, celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving, and panicked over not having bought Christmas presents.

As the calendar turned to a new year, the often rainy days and long nights deepened my sorrow. I found myself exhausted at the end of February, both physically and mentally.

Then the daffodils bloomed (开花) in the garden.

Years before, Randy had planted dozens of these lemon-yellow flowers. To him, they served as a reminder of hope, a promise that light and warmth would soon replace cold and dark. Looking at those daffodils, I thought about how Randy had considered our garden a living work of art, carefully choosing plants so we'd see new blooms every month.

Then I noticed all the weeds that had taken root and spread everywhere. The neglect (疏于打理) showed, for Randy's illness had lasted a couple of years, a time when he didn't have energy for yard work the way he had before.

Faced with the neglected garden, I felt overwhelmed in the beginning. My daughters suggested I hire a service to clean everything up. I didn't respond.

Every time I sat in the garden alone, the memories of the lively garden came flooding, like the numerous scenes in an unforgettable film. Many days Randy came home from work, changed into old clothes, and headed out the door to mow or prune (修剪). Orange dragonflies followed him around the yard as he worked. Honeybees buzzed among the flowers, birds sang beautiful songs, and gentle breezes carried the sweet smell of dirt. No matter how cold or wet it was, the fresh air and physical activity made him energized and refreshed. For Randy, the work was quiet and comforting, which was a relief, as well as a pleasure.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Para.1:

The days grew warmer and lighter, and I started the work myself.

Para.2:

Weeks later, my daughters returned to visit me.

注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。