A 7.0 magnitude（级）earthquake killed more than 230,000 people in Haiti. Then an 8.8 magnitude quake killed more than 900 people in Chile. And few weeks later, a 6.0 magnitude quake struck rural eastern Turkey, killing at least 57 people.
The earthquakes kept coming hard and fast.   1 It’s not. The problem is what’s happening above ground, not underground, experts say.
  2 They’re rapidly putting up buildings that can’t stand up to earth quakes, scientists believe.
And news reports and better earthquake monitoring make it seem as if earth quakes are increasing all the time.
On average, there are 134 earthquakes a year that have a magnitude between 6.0 and 6.9. So far this year there have been 40 earthquakes—more than in most years for that time period. But that’s because the 8.8 quake in Chile caused a large number of strong aftershocks.
Also, it’s not the number of quakes, but their destructive effects that gain attention. The death is largely due to building standards,   3  Paul Earle, a US seismologist, called for better building standards in the world’s big cities.
Of the 130 cities worldwide with populations of more than I million, more than half are likely to be hit by earthquakes.   4 “If you have a problem feeding yourself, you’re not really going to worry about earthquakes,” said Paul.
The earthquakes made everyone start to think   5  “People are paying attention to the violent planet we’re always lived on. Come back an another six moths if there has been no earthquakes, most people will have forgotten it again,” said US disaster researcher Dennis Mileti.

A man found the cocoon (茧) of a moth (蛾). He took it home so that he could   1  the moth come out of the cocoon. On that day a small   2  appeared. He sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to   3  the body through that little hole. Soon it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had   4  as far as it could and it could go no further. It just seemed to be stuck. So the man, out of his kindness, decided to help the moth. He took a pair of scissors and   5  the remaining bit of the cocoon. The   6  then came out easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriven (无用的) wings. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and   7  to be able to support the   8  , which would get smaller in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life   9  around with a swollen body and shriven wings. It was   10   able to fly.
What the man in his kindness didn’t   11  was that the small cocoon and the   12  of the moth to get through the   13  opening was a way to push fluid (液体)   14  the body of moth    15  its wings so that it would be ready to fly   16  it got out of the cocoon. Freedom and   17  would come only after the struggle. By taking the struggle away, he also took away the moth’s health.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If we were to   18  our lives without any difficulties, we would become disabled. We would not be as   19  as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance. Leave no room for    20  .

A man has returned three library books to a Melbourne library—21 years overdue（误期）.The books were returned to Sam Merrifield Library with a (n)__ 21___note and a $50 bill.
___ 22___Margaret Young was pleased that the books had been returned. They were in excellent___23__ , except for the one that the borrower admitted had been damaged by a___24___.
“They’re all spy books. We were just surprised and___25 ___that he has returned the books, ___26 ___after so many years,” Mrs. Young said.
The books were__ 27__on June 18, 1985 and would have to be paid almost $5,800 in overdue
__28__. But, because of the sweet letter and $50 note, Mrs. Young said all was__29__.
She said, “We thank him for returning the books and hope his conscience（良心）is __ 30 _. I’d like to think he can come back into the library one day to borrow more material__31__he returns it.”
To whom it may concern,
About 20 years ago I__32 __to return the three books to your library. In fact I__33__them.During that time, one of the books was damaged by my dog. I have enclosed all three books and a sum of money that will go some way toward __34__the damaged book.
My __35__were unforgivable; a thief is a thief. Please __ 36__my apology for stealing the books and for not having the courage to return them__37__.
I want you to know that for the last few years this theft has__38__my conscience and I am sorry I was so selfish to steal them in the first__39__. I hope this goes some small way to__40 __my actions. 

A few days ago, I was having a meeting in my company. After walking out, I 36  for my car keys in my pocket, only to discover they were not there. 37 , I gave myself a quick personal pat   38  my clothes, but they were not in 39  of my pockets. So, I went back to the meeting room and looked for them in every place where I had been. Suddenly it 40  to me that I must have left them in the car. Worried and frightened, I quickly 41  for the parking lot.
My wife, Diane, has 42  me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition（点火处）. My theory is the ignition is the 43  place so that I won’t lose them. Her theory is that the car will be   44 . As I rushed out of my company, I came to a terrifying 45 . Her theory was right. The parking lot was 46 .
Without hesitation, I called the 47 . I gave them my location（位置）and  48  that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen. Then I made the most 49  call of all.
“Honey,” I said in a low voice. I always call her “honey” in times like these. “I 50  my keys in the car, and it has been stolen.”
There was a period of 51 . I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard Diane’s  52 .
“Ken,” she shouted, “I dropped you off!”
Now it was my time to be silent. 53 , I said, “In that case, would you please come and  54  
your dear husband?”
Diane answered, “I will... just as soon as I can have this policeman  55  I didn’t steal your car.”

A farmer had some young dogs to sell. He made an advertisement and began to nail (钉) _36 into the wall. As he was knocking the last one into the wall, he _37 a pull on his coat. He looked   38  and found a little boy.
“Mister,” he said, “I want to _39 one of your dogs.”
“Well,” said the farmer, as he  40 the sweat (汗水) off his neck, “these dogs come from__41  parents and cost plenty of money.”
The boy   42 _his head for a moment. Reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of   43  and handed them to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that   44  to take a look?”
“Sure,” said the farmer.
Then he let out(发出) a   45  . “Here, Dolly!” he called.
Dolly ran out from the doghouse, __46  by four little dogs. The boy’s eyes danced   __47_  .
As the dogs ran to the fence (篱笆), the boy noticed something else moving _48  inside the doghouse. Then another little dog   49 . This one was even smaller, walking with  50  to the others, doing its best to catch up with them.
“I   51  that one,” the boy said, pointing to the smallest and  52 developed dog.
The farmer said, “Son, you don’t want that dog,   53  he will never be able to run and play with you.”
Hearing that, the boy stepped back, and began rolling up(卷起) one leg of his  54 . A steel brace (铁的支撑板) appeared running down his leg connecting itself with a  55 made shoe. He said to the farmer, “You see, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”