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 boy selling magazines walked up to a house people seldom visited. The house was old and the owner   36  came out. When he did come out he wouldn’t say hello to anybody   37  simply stared at them.
The boy knocked on the door and   38  . As he was ready to   39  away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said.
“Uh, sir, I’m selling these magazines and I was   40  if you’d like to buy one.” The old man   41  stared at the boy. The boy could see the inside of the house and   42  some dog figurines（小雕像）. “Do you   43  dogs?” the boy asked. “Yes, I do. They’re my family here and they’re all I have.” The boy felt sorry for the man, as he seemed to be very   44  . “I’ve a magazine here for collectors. It’s perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” But the old man said, “I need   45  of the magazines, now goodbye.”
The boy was sad. He went home and then an idea   46  to him. He had a little dog figurine. He walked back to the old man’s house with the   47 . He knocked on the door again and this time the old man came right to the door. “Boy, I             48   I told you no magazines.”
“No, sir. I know that. I wanted to bring you a   49 . ” The boy handed him the figurine and the old man’s face   50 . “It’s a Golden Retriever. I have one at home. This one is   51  you.” The old man was   52 ; no one had ever shown him so much   53 . “Boy, you have a kind   54 . Thank you!” From that day on the old man  55  coming out of the house and talking with people.

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 few months earlier I had been painting two portraits for each of my parents．I'd planned to give them the portraits as Christmas gifts．This would be a   36   for everyone，as I had not studied  37  ．
While painting one day, I was surprised by a knock on the door. Quickly having put all my  38 materials out of sight, I opened the   39  . To my astonishment, my father came in .
Immediately I wanted to show him the paintings, but I was   40  to destroy his Christmas surprise. Yet something  41  me to share the gifts with him. After making him promise to keep it secret, I   42   he keep his eyes closed until I had the portraits set on easels(画架). “Okay, Daddy. Now you can   43  !”
He appeared dazed at first. Finally , he said, “I don’t believe it. The eyes are so  44 that they follow you everywhere—and look how   45   your mother is. Will you let me have them  46 ?”
Excited with his response, I happily volunteered to   47  them to the frame shop the next day. Several weeks passed. Then one night the   48   rang—my father had a stroke(中风). He died the next day, and it seemed all   49    escaped from the life of my mother and me .
I finally remembered to  50   about the framed portraits. I was surprised when the shopkeeper told me my father had visited the shop,   51 for the framing and had them gift-wrapped.
 52 we had lost our loved people, everyone gathered on Christmas Day making an effort to be   53  . As I looked into my mother’s sad eyes and unsmiling face, I decided to give her Daddy’s and my   54  . After she saw it, with a wide smile, she quickly said, “I knew Daddy would be with us on Christmas Day!”
I glanced at the gift card written in my father’s   55 . “ Mother—Our daughter reminded me why I am so blessed. I’ll be always looking at you.—Daddy.”

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.”