FAJTHFUL（忠诚的）TO DEATH

    Some time ago, a fire broke out(爆发) in a building late at night. Nearly all the families were s____ inside the house. After the firemen came, they rushed into the burning building and saved the people to the safe p____.

    The crowds thought a____ the people were safe. But it was not so. Two little orphan （孤儿) girls were still asleep alone at the very top of the building, in a small room. N____ . thought of them. Luckily, they lived with a dog.

    The dog tried to wake them up, but f____. He ran to the window and barked(吠叫) loudly for help. B____ no one noticed him. Then he climbed down the ladder (梯子) and tried to pull a fireman to the ladder. The fireman kicked him away, thinking he was mad. Then the dog ran to a____ fireman, jumped on him, ran to the ladder, barking all the time and looking back as if he was asking the fireman to follow him.

    This fireman realized there must be someone in the little room, as the dog was acting so strangely. So he followed the dog u____the ladder, there he saw the two girls and saved them.

    Where was the d____? A brave fireman rushed into the room to look for him and found him lying near the window, choked (窒息) with smoke. He brought him down with care, but he was already d____. He had given his life for his friends. What a faithful friend!

材料：100年前的7月1日7时30分，随着战斗哨声响起，成千上万的英国士兵开始向法国索姆河岸边进发。这场战役的第一天成为英国军事史上最血腥的一天。仅在这一天内，英军士兵阵亡1.9万多名，受伤超过4万名。而德军方面这一天的损失也十分惨重。这场战役持续了4个多月，有统计数字显示，英军伤亡人数超过48万，法军伤亡人数约25万，而他们的对手德军伤亡人数超过了50万。然而，这场规模空前、伤亡巨大的战役，却没有赢家。这场战役结束之后，英法联军仅仅将战线向前推进了7英里，并没有能够突破德军的防线，德军方面则承受了巨大的人员损失。直到今天，昔日索姆河战役的土地中还埋藏着大量没有清理的弹药，法国当地农民在从事耕作和运输等生产活动时通常要小心翼翼。澳大利亚迪肯大学哲学专业副教授马修·夏普表示：“‘索姆河’已经在100年后的今天成为工业化的、毫无道理的大规模杀戮的代名词。”“‘帝国主义’成为了一个肮脏的词汇”。

——摘编自闫勇《伤痛难平：英法追思索姆河战役百年》（2016年）