Birthdays are strange things. The more you have, the more you try and pretend they don’t matter, and the more     1    . I’m not really sure why they think so. It’s true that you are getting older, but as     2     , “Who isn’t getting older every day?” The problem may be that a birthday reminds people of all the things    3    , but have not. I certainly understand that feeling, though I think     4     that I most want to do — a kind of personal re-ordering （重新排序） of the to-do list. What makes you depressed（郁悶） on your birthday is that you realize your re-ordered to-do list is exactly the same as it was last year. That makes you feel     5     , and not been anywhere. I have not had that experience this year. I look back at where I was last year and find things have changed since then.

I never wanted a dog, but now I'm so glad I have one. About two years ago, my wife, Cathy, got a little dog with a face only a mother could love. We named her Gertie.
Gertie is the kind of dog that has to grow on you. So I dicided that the dog would be trained. This didn't quite go as planned. At 15 weeks old, she was nearly made to leave the Petsmart Training School. She spent every night lying in our bed-snoring (打鼾)so loudly that I hardly got a good night's sleep.
Then, about six months after she arrived, I felt that something in my heart was taking place, and I was unable to stop it. My behaviour(行為方式)began to change. I began to smile at people when passing them in a street. I returned(招手)from neighbours. I started calling my kids, and to my surprise, they started calling me. I even tried to speak to my grandchildren over the phone once. I even was glad to listen to laughter from a 10-month-old granddaughter. The point is that I was changing.
My wife and I both agree that it is Gertie who has changed my behaviour. Gertie is now nearly two years old and almost fully grown.I have come to like the pet little by little, though she is my wife's dog.
【小題1】What did the man think of the dog at the beginning?

Though he got up early, ______ he missed the train.