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 friend of mine was sitting in the living room one day when his cat dragged in a little “gift” in its mouth—a dead animal of some sort. Taking a closer look, he was surprised to  36 it as the bunny(小兔子) that  37 Mary, the young daughter of the family next door. My friend felt  38 , believing his cat had killed Mary’s bunny.
My quick-thinking friend came up with a plan.  39  from the cat’s mouth the dead animal, which by now was a     40 mess, he put it in the kitchen sink. With a little warm water and some shampoo, he tried to  41 the dead bunny as best he could. Then he took a hair dryer and blowdried the bunny  42 it looked pretty good.
Finally, under the cover of darkness, he crept into the next-door garden and placed it  43 in the cage. He managed to make the bunny look very  44 there in his little box.
The next morning, my friend looked out of the window and noticed a crowd of people  45 around the rabbit hutch(笼). Everyone seemed to be talking and pointing. My friend  46 to go over and act like any normal  47 neighbor and find out what was going on.
When he got there, Mary’s mother said to my friend, “You won’t believe this! It’s a(n)   48 thing! Mary’s bunny  49 a few days ago, and we buried that little bunny right over there…”
Have you ever tried to cover up one wrongdoing with another? Covering up only makes matters  50 .
When we get caught doing something  51 , for example, we may  52 to cover it up with a lie. But just like Mary’s bunny, the result is  53 what we expected. We  54 looking foolish. We would have been better off admitting we were wrong and accepting the  55 . What do you think of it?

A Love Note to My Mom
When I was a little girl, I would often accompany you as you modeled (T台展示) for fashion photographers. It was years later that I finally understood what role modeling   36  in your life. Little did I know you were   37   every penny you earned to go to   38  school.
I cannot thank you enough for   39  you told me one autumn afternoon when I was nine. After finishing my homework, I wandered into the dining room where you were buried   40  piles of law books. I was   41 . Why were you doing what I do—memorizing textbooks and studying for   42  ? When you said you were in law school, I was more puzzled. I didn’t know Moms   43  be lawyers too. You smiled and said, “In life, you can do anything you want to do.”
As young as I was, that statement kept   44  in my ears. I watched as you faced the   45  of completing your studies, starting companies with Dad, while still being a   46   and a Mom of five kids. I was exhausted just watching you       47 . With your words of wisdom in my   48  mind, I suddenly felt unlimited freedom to dream. My whole world  49 . I set out to live my life filled with  50 , seeing endless possibilities for personal and professional achievements.
Your words became my motto. I   51   found myself in the unique position of being either the first (woman doctor in Maryland Rotary)   52   one of the few women (chief medical reporters) in my field. I gained strength every time I said, “Yes, I’ll try that.”
Encouraged by your   53  , I have forged ahead(毅然前行) with my life’s journey, less afraid to make mistakes, and   54   meeting each challenge. You did it, and now I’m   55   it. Sorry, got to run. So much to do, so many dreams to live.

A poor boy Howard Kelly was trying to make some money for school by selling goods. He found that he had only one coin left. He was so  16  that he decided to beg for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his courage when a lovely young  17 opened the door. Instead of asking for a meal, he asked for a drink of  18 . She smiled understandingly and brought him a  19  glass of milk. He drank it slowly and then asked, “How much is it?”
“You need pay nothing.” she replied. “Mother has  20 me never to accept pay for a  21 .” As Howard  22  that house, he not only felt stronger 23  , but it also made him believe in God and the human beings more. He was about to give up before this.
24 later, the young woman became very ill. She was sent to the big city,  25  Dr Howard Kelly, now famous, was called in for the treatment. When he heard the name of the  26  she came from, a  27  light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room. He  28  her at once. From that day on, he gave   29  attention to her case and  30   to do his best to save her life.
After a long time, she recovered. The bill was sent to her room. She was  31  to open it because she knew it would 32  the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked at the bill and saw these words on one side of it,
"Paid in full with  33 ."
                    Dr Howard Kelly
Tears of  34  ran out of her eyes as she cried, "Thank you,  35 . Your love has got around through human hearts and hands. "

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  .