Since Bird Flu first appeared in 1997, it 【小题1】 (take) more than a hundred lives. Many people fear it could be the next 【小题2】 (globe) epidemic, especially as scientists who studied tissue from the bodies of people 【小题3】 died of the 1918 Spanish Flu proved that Bird Flu is a modern adaptation of the same virus.

The Year in a Word or Two

Can anybody describe a year with only one word?

Each December, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) nominates (提名) a word to describe the very year 【小题1】 has just passed.

2020 was a very unusual year that was really worthy 【小题2】 (describe) with two words. Two of the obvious words the OED suggested were “pandemic (疫情)” and “lockdown,” due to most of human activities across the globe 【小题3】 (bring) to a stop by the life-threatening disease. Businesses have been closed and people have had to stay in their homes for weeks or even months on end.

【小题4】 I would like to nominate “cooperation” and “hope” as my words of the year because it is supposed to be described in a more positive and   【小题5】 (helpless) way, because there was a great deal of cooperation between countries and international health organizations. China took a leading role in this effort by sending masks and protective clothing to Canada, the United States and Europe,   【小题6】 to countries in the Middle East and Africa. Without this cooperation, the pandemic, bad   【小题7】 it has been, could have been much worse.

And that brings me to my second word: hope. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and, with a little “hope,” we will get to see the world begin to return to normal.

For young people, it was the first time that they   【小题8】 (experience) something big, a worry that they shared with their families, friends and neighbors, and a suffering   【小题9】 (endure) at this moment and to be endured next few weeks. And they also learned that “hope” — the belief that   【小题10】 you will see tomorrow will be better than today — is at the heart of every human being.

With “cooperation” and “hope,” 2021 should make for a wonderful year.

Emma was on her way home when she heard a sudden scream. Looking around, she saw a little boy on the sidewalk gasping (急喘) for air, his frighted mother begging 【小题1】 help. Emma rushed to the boy, whose face had turned purple. “What’s wrong?” “A candy! In his throat!” It was lucky that Emma 【小题2】 (learned) how to perform the Heimlich maneuver (海姆立克急救法) at school. She acted 【小题3】 (quick). Soon, the boy coughed up a piece of candy and began breathing again. He was saved in time.