def merge_two_dicts(x, y):
z = x.copy()<EOL>z.update(y)<EOL>return z<EOL>
Given two dicts, merge them into a new dict as a shallow copy.
    (this is only necessary for Python < 3.5)
    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38987/how-to-merge-two-dictionaries-in-a-single-expression