Five years ago, I was a trail ride leader at a holiday farm in Victoria. My favourite horse was a warmblood, called Holly. Aged seven, she was _________, sweet-natured and well-trained; the only _________ with Holly was her vivid imagination. I was constantly surprised by Holly’s ability to be _________ by rabbits, the wind or even shadows--sometimes her own shadow!

One day, as we headed back from a ride on the beach, Holly and I were _________ the way over the hilly area. When we got to one particularly long, steep hill, Holly began to twitch (抽动) her ears and step in place. So, when she _________ to sniff (嗅) and give all the _________ that she believed the ‘horse-eating monsters’ were close, I became a little worried.

At the bottom of the hill as we rounded a corner, Holly _________ with caution, and so I followed her gaze to the path ahead. There, sunny itself in the middle of the track, was a brown _________. This time it was my turn to get scared; I was on a nervous horse, leading a group of eight inexperienced pre-teen riders. Unexpectedly, Holly was firmly _________, ears forward. With the snake in her sight, she was no longer frightened.

I have heard that horses have a better sense of __________ than dogs. I hadn’t seen it __________ before that moment. __________, while we waited in reality for just a second or two but for what felt like a century--the snake awoke and moved calmly off into the bush.

Holly then __________, leading the horses with caution and care. She had been alert (警觉的) to danger and had been __________ for the safety of us all. Following in the footstep of their lead horse, not one of the other horses showed any fear. I couldn’t hide my relief and my nervousness finally __________.

Like many children with autism(自闭症), my son Noah loves planes. He carries a toy________with him wherever he goes. Last month, Noah________ a 2008 Matchbox Sky Busters Continental Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on the computer and became very________. Although his language is just three or four words at a time, he clearly told me "This is the little Continental I want!” ________enough, I thought. I usually have no problem finding toys on the Internet.

But this Matchbox Sky Buster, made only in 2008, was difficult to________. It was not on any of the places from which I had ________ toys for Noah. I spent hours at the computer________the plane. I discovered several Matchbox collectors online, and over the next few weeks I sent emails to them ________none of them had Noah's dream plane. So I decided to________Matchbox in California. My email made its way to Abe Lugo, lead project designer for Matchbox, who________ to let me know he was looking for the 2008 Continental Boeing 787-8.

While________to hear good news from Abe at Matchbox, I continued my________.Although for weeks I had no________on the Internet, I tried again and saw there was still no auction(拍卖)for Noah's dream plane! Noah's impatience(不耐烦)was growing, and I was starting to lose _________

A week later ,received a(n)________from Abe saying he had a plane in hand for Noah and would be________ it that afternoon !

Last week, we________ the package (包裹)from Abe. Noah opened it. He held the toy plane close to his face. He turned it over. He was filled with ________

We sent a________ to Abe, whom we havent met or even talked to on the phone. I wanted Noah to say thank-you in his own________. In the video, Noah say, “Thanks, Mr. Lugo. You're welcome, honey.”

Silk Road countries celebrated at a forum

I was honored to be invited to the International Forum on the Silk Roads at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Headquarters in April.

Before ________ this event, I didn’t know much about what UNESCO was, except that they had ________ the World Heritage (遗产) List. However, as I did more ________, I realized that there was so much more about UNESCO than just listing valuable heritage sites around the world.

UNESCO was ________ in 1942 in the midst of World WarⅡ. Many European ________ that had been fighting against Nazi Germany came together to ________ ways of rebuilding the ________ system after the war was over. Since then, the organization has expanded (扩大) beyond Europe to include all ________ of the United Nations while keeping to their ________ goal of achieving ________ through the intellectual and moral education of humanity.

I had high expectations for this event, which ________ to be an evening of music, dance and a display of arts by three countries along the Silk Road. The performances were indeed excellent. The three musical performances by the Kazakh band, filled with wonderful music and low drum beats, had everyone on the edge of their ________. I also enjoyed the hanfu fashion show which was the final performance for the evening. The history of hanfu was ________ by models wearing clothes from different Chinese dynasties. They walked onto the stage while the host explained the details of each hanfu style. I found the event to be not only ________ entertaining, but also a great opportunity to explore the ________ of different countries along the Silk Road. UNESCO’s events offer chances to celebrate and appreciate their unique beauty.