Martin Strel knows a thing or two about rivers. He has been swimming in them _________ he was a young boy. Although he holds five world records in marathon swimming, he is best known for using his sport to raise _________ of water pollution. After years of swimming in dirty water, he decided he had to do _________. He began to swim _________ “peace, friendship and clean water”. He hopes to see _________ laws strengthened.

So far, he has swum in many of the world’s most famous rivers. In 2000, he _________ to swim in Europe’s second longest river, the Danube. He swam 1,866 miles in 58 days and _________ a world record for long-distance swimming. In 2002, Strel swam in the Mississippi River and _________ a distance of 2,360 miles in 68 days. In 2007, he swam 3,274 miles of the Amazon River in 66 days. Most of the _________ in the Amazon comes from harmful chemicals used in gold mining and oil leaks (泄漏) from __________ maintained boats. He became very weak and __________ 42 pounds. In order to continue swimming, he had to be carried in and out of the __________.

Still, Strel plans to __________ swimming for peace, friendship and clean water, but he would prefer to do it in the ocean. __________, the world’s rivers are too dirty. He __________ a day when everyone can go swimming in clean water.

For a long time, I thought a present and a gift were no different. I grew up in a household where presents_________special occasions, say there were always presents for Christmas and our birthdays.

So when I married Gary who did not give presents on a_________basis, I had to make an adjustment. Gary did not wholly avoid gift-giving, though._________noticing how many hours I spend on the_________, he brought home a shoulder pad (垫肩) for the telephone receiver. But mostly, he_________holidays, let alone shop for earrings to_________to me showing his affection.

I tried to change him_________. I bought books for his birthdays and knitted him hats and sweaters for Christmas._________I began to tell him what I wanted, giving_________instructions, but got nowhere.

Last year when the snowstorm__________our town and he was on business, I used his present road scraper(铲土机)to__________both our drive and our neighbors, thinking how__________earrings would have been. Gary had wisely chosen not the thing I__________,but the thing that he knew I would need.

I__________began to understand the difference between a present and a gift. A present is just a thing. But a gift is broader and often cannot be__________. It is a small act of kindness, the__________to bend to another's needs, the sacrifice of time and effort.__________is a gift. Any expression of it, freely given, is a (n)__________from the heart that is immeasurably better than a present.

My insistence on presents must have seemed to Gary a lack of__________for the gifts he had be giving all along, but he never stopped giving them.

Gary will be home this Christmas, but I don't __________a present. I already have the greatest gift.

Once the King of India was ill and sent for his doctor. The doctor came, _______ him and said, “You will be well soon in a few days if you take bull's milk.” The King was _______, for he had never heard of a bull that gave milk, “How is it _______?” he asked.

“Order Gulbo to get it for you,” answered the doctor, “He can do anything.” Gulbo was a person with great knowledge and was _______to the doctor. So the doctor thought this would be a way of making him _______. When the King told Gulbo what the doctor said and _______him to get bull's milk, Gulbo_______ understood what the doctor was trying to do.

When he got home, he sat thinking how to get out of the_______. His daughter, seeing him worried, asked what was the_______. On hearing what the King had asked for, she said, “Don't________, father. I will help you.”

The next day she took some old clothes, went to the bank of the river near the palace, and chose a place ________ the King's bedroom window. In the middle of the night, she started to do her washing. She made so much ________that the King could not sleep. The King got very angry and sent a guard to ________ what was the matter. The soldier found the girl, and led her to the king. “Why do you wash your clothes here at night?” said the King.

The girl ________to be afraid and said, “I had to wash clothes at night. This afternoon my father had a baby. I was________ all day because of that. Then I found there were no clean________ for the baby, so I had to come and wash them now.”

“What?!” cried the King, “Are you trying to make a________of me? I have never heard of man having a baby.”

“Well, if the King himself orders someone to get the bull's milk for him,________can't a man have a baby?”

The King smiled and said, “You must be Gulbo's ________. Go and tell your father that he may keep the bull's milk for his ________.”