Due to a budget cut, our company’s annual year-end party, which is usually quite a treat, has to be held at a ______ cost.

A plot to rob the bank was ______ to the police, and all the people involved in the plan were caught.

One good way to ______ questions you don’t want to answer in a conversation is to change the topic.

To apply for a job, you need to have ______ such as skills, education, and experience required by the job.

For years, Lily has been ______ all incoming calls on both her mobile phone and home phone because she hates to be bothered by unknown callers.

Many people felt extremely sad and angry over the ______ news of a stray dog found abused and killed in the park.

Chris never shows up at meetings on time. His excuse for being ______ late is that he wants to avoid small talk at the beginning of the meetings.

Steve will quit his job next week. His ______ is completely unexpected, especially after his promotion and pay raise two months ago.

People with an ______ illness should avoid going to public places to keep the diseases from spreading.

Although electronic devices are very popular nowadays, paper ______ are still most common in major elections around the world.

$~~~~$We all know that too much stress is not good for our health, but too little is not ideal, either. While 11 stress can be dangerous to the body, short-term stress is actually healthy.
$~~~~$Short-term stress triggers the production of protective chemicals in our body and strengthens the body’s defenses. 12 our body is in a vulnerable situation, a burst of stress will quickly mobilize the body’s own repair system to defend the damaged areas. This 13 us from physical discomfort and sickness. Small amounts of stress hormones may even sharpen our memory. A recent study found that when rats were forced to swim—an activity that places them under stress for a short while—they remembered their way through mazes far 14 than rats that were in a relaxed state.
$~~~~$The key to a healthy lifestyle is to keep our stress level 15 . Too much stress will make us cranky and sick. Too little stress, on the other hand, will lead to boredom and low motivation.

$~~~~$Do you know the difference between the terms meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite in astronomy? Many people find these words confusing. However, the difference is all about their 16 .
$~~~~$Meteoroids are far up in the sky. They are chunks of rock or metal that speed through space. Some are very large and may be hundreds of feet wide. Others 17 the size of a small stone. Most meteoroids travel around the sun in space and stay away from the Earth. However, sometimes a meteoroid will enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Friction with the atmosphere will cause it to 18 and burn while traveling at high speed. As a meteoroid begins to burn in the atmosphere, it leaves a streak of light. When this tail-like light is falling down toward the Earth, it is called a meteor, or a shooting star. Most meteors vaporize completely before they hit the ground. If any meteor 19 its fiery journey through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, it is called a meteorite. Large meteorites can cause great explosions and much destruction on the surface of the Earth. 20 , Barringer Crater in the American state of Arizona, measuring 1,200 m in diameter and some 170 m deep, was produced by a meteorite impact.

$~~~~$Located in Black Canyon straddling the border between Nevada and Arizona in the southwestern region of the United States, Hoover Dam is named one of the Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th century. The dam, constructed between 1931 and 1936, was the largest of its kind at the time. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers and cost over one hundred lives.

$~~~~$Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water, and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, the US Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by Six Companies, Inc. However, such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The extreme summer heat and lack of facilities near the site also presented tremendous difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the finished dam to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.

$~~~~$The initial design of the dam, which was more concerned with the dam’s functionality than its exterior, was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale. So Gordon B. Kaufmann, the architect who was brought in to redesign the exterior, greatly streamlined the design and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project. Allen Tupper True, an American illustrator, was also hired to handle the design and decoration of the walls and floors of the new dam. He integrated into his design the images and colors based on Native American visions of rain, lightning, clouds, and animals, thereby creating symbolic patterns which appear both ancient and modern.

$~~~~$Today, Hoover Dam has become a national historic landmark. Standing at more than 725 feet above the Colorado River, the highest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere continues to draw crowds 85 years after its creation, attracting more than a million visitors a year.

$~~~~$France gave birth to restaurants, but it was no civilized affair. In fact, today’s restaurant business is a byproduct of the class warfare that arose during the French Revolution.

$~~~~$Back in the Middle Ages, fine dining was a privilege enjoyed exclusively by noble families who had their own grand kitchens and personal chefs. The only commercial diners for the masses were dusty, shabby roadside inns, where strangers crowded around mediocre buffets of lukewarm roasts and over-sauced beans. But sometime in the 1760s, the merchant class of Paris developed a taste for healthy clear broths which were considered restorative; hence the term “restaurant.” By the 1780s, this new Parisian “healthy food” craze led to a handful of reputable dining halls, where customers could sit at individual tables and choose from a wide range of dishes.

$~~~~$Ironically, the popularity of these restaurants grew at a time when the majority of the French population could not afford bread. Decades of harsh winters and oppressive taxation had taken their toll on kitchen tables. By 1789, the starving French masses could no longer be controlled. Looting and riots erupted throughout Paris, ushering in the French Revolution. Rich nobles fled to the countryside, leaving behind their highly skilled chefs and the fine wines from their cellars. Suddenly, unemployed cooks found their way to the city’s eateries, and within a year, nearly 50 elegant restaurants had popped up in Paris.

$~~~~$The restaurant business truly came into its own during the early 1800s, after General Napoleon seized control of the country. He granted “freedom of pleasure” to all citizens, as he reasoned that people who were focused on champagne and fine food probably would not conspire against him. The number of restaurants rose quickly. By 1814, about three thousand restaurants were listed in a popular travel guide. Paris became the center of the new restaurant scene, which, to some degree, it remains today.

$~~~~$Falcons are powerful birds that may be trained to hunt in cooperation with humans. The art of training falcons as “hunting dogs of the skies” is called falconry. It was developed in the ancient Arabian Desert around 4000 B.C. In the past, falconry mainly involved hunting with falcons to supplement one’s diet. But now, it has become the favorite sport and pastime in the Arabian Peninsula.

$~~~~$Falconry includes three major processes: acquiring the falcons, training them, and hunting with them. Every year, falconers begin capturing wild falcons in June and July, the migration season. The best birds to catch are the ones with naturally nurtured hunting skills, aged one or two years. Once the falcons are captured, their heads are immediately covered with a leather hood. This is essential because they imprint as their master whomever they see first after the hood is removed. Right after a bird is caught, the training process starts. It begins by depriving the bird of food to make it easier to tame. The birds are taught to know their own name and respond to their master when called. Arab falconers live with their birds day and night in order to build a strong relationship with them.

$~~~~$By the end of October or mid-November, the trained falcons are ready to hunt in the desert. They have excellent vision, 2.6 times greater than that of a human. They are also the fastest divers on the planet. One hunting technique that sets them apart from other animals is that they can be trained to deliver their prey, without killing it first. This is vital in Islamic culture because animals used for food must still be alive to ensure that the meat is halal, that is, properly prepared according to Islamic law.

$~~~~$Falcons have played such a crucial role in traditional Islamic cultures that a number of countries in the Middle East have made them their national bird. Falconry has grown so popular that specialist hospitals have been established to take care of these magnificent birds. Falcons are even issued their own passports. They are the only animals in the United Arab Emirates that are legally allowed to travel inside planes, enjoying a level of luxury that some humans can only dream of.

$~~~~$Since golf started in the 15th century, many advances have occurred in the game, including significant changes to the golf ball. Early golf was played with a rounded wooden ball before the Featherie, a leather sack stuffed with goose or chicken feathers, became the norm. Then, in 1848, the Gutta Percha ball was introduced, which was made from the juice of the leaves of the gutta tree (a tropical tree native to Malaysia) and was considerably more durable and affordable than its predecessor. The next advancement occurred in the early 1900s with the development of the Haskell. It was the first ball featuring a center rubber core and an outer cover. The Haskell traveled up to 20 yards farther than the Gutta Percha ball and was more durable. In 1905, William Taylor introduced the first dimpled ball, a ball covered with tiny holes on the surface. By the 1930s, golf balls with rows of dimples were accepted as the standard design. Most golf balls today consist of rubber thread wound around a rubber core and coated with dimpled enamel.

$~~~~$Dimples play an important role in a golf ball’s performance because these markings and patterns enhance the ball’s aerodynamics. When a ball is hit and moves through the air, it experiences two major aerodynamic forces: lift and drag. Drag slows the forward motion, and lift acts in a direction vertical to it. With dimples added to the ball, the force that pulls back on the ball is minimized, allowing it to travel faster and longer. Dimples also help to force the airflow downward, which pushes the ball upward. These are the same principles of aerodynamics that airplanes use to fly. In general, golf balls with small, shallow dimples tend to have a longer, lower flight path, whereas those with deeper dimples have a higher flight path. Golfers can choose their balls based on what they need for a particular shot or for particular weather.

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