More and more cats and dogs are getting the human treatment. There are pet spas, pet therapists and pet clothes. And the latest trend is pet hospices(临终关怀医院)。

Around the United States, a growing number of vets are offering hospice care and       1    it as a way to give pets ---and their owners---a less anxious, or comfortable passing. The approach, in the spirit of the human variety, involves stopping aggressive     2     treatment and give painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. Unlike in hospice care for human, euthanasia(安乐死) is a(n)     3    ---and in fact, is a big part of this end-of-life care. When it’s time, the vet    4    it in the living room, bedroom, or wherever the family feels comfortable.

It’s part of a vet’s job to     5     pet owners’ guilt, give them an emotional bridge to their pets’ death and let them grieve at home---rather than in a clinic or animal     6     . The closeness    7    costs 25 percent or more than euthanasia in a clinic, but vets and their clients say it can be worth it.

“They’re in their own environment, not only the pets but the owners as well,” said Dr. Gardner, co-founder of Lap of Love, one of the leaders in this small but     8     market, “Other people and pets are welcome to be     9     . I’ve been to some houses where the owners had barbecues for the dog and invited me and the neighbours. The dog was the man of the hour.”

Dr. Michele Price, a vet in Northern Virginia whose in-home hospice care business has     10     since 2009, got a call about a Labrado named Champ. The dog had received per hospice care for months until recently, when he took a sharp downward turn. Before Dr. Price set up for the euthanasia, pet owners hugged Champ on a quilt next to the fireplace and told him what a good dog he was. As for Champ, “He fall asleep. That was the last thing he remembered.”

A team of scientists led by Alejandro Arteaga, grantee of The Explorers Club Discovery Expeditions and researcher at Khamai Foundation, discovered three new cryptozoic (living underground) snakes dwelling under graveyards (墓地) and churches in remote towns in the Andes region of Ecuador.

It was an exploration that led to the most     1    of places.

First published in the journal, Zookeys, Arteaga and his team named the small brown color-patterned snakes in honor of institutions or people supporting the exploration and    2     of remote cloud forests in the tropics.

The Discovery Ground Snake (Atractus discovery) was found underground in a small graveyard. Two     3    new species were found near an old church and inside a small school. Destruction of the snake’s native forest habitat may have forced them to     4     to these people-less areas according to Arteaga’s findings.

Atractus discovery was named to honor The Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grants     5    , a program seeking to foster scientific understanding for the betterment of humanity and all life on Earth and beyond. The grant program supports researchers and explorers from around the world in their quest to ease the climate change crisis, prevent the extinction of species and cultures, and    6    the health of the Earth and its inhabitants.

Atractus zgap was named in honor of the Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations (ZGAP), a(n)     7     seeking to conserve unknown but highly endangered species and their natural environment.

Atractus michaelsabini was named in honor of Michael Sabin, grandson of American philanthropist and conservationist Andrew Sabin. Through conservation organization Re:wild, the Sabin family has supported field research of threatened reptiles and has protected thousands of acres of     8     habitat throughout the world.

“The discovery of these new snakes is only the first step towards a much larger conservation project,” says Arteaga. “We have already started the process of establishing a nature     9     to protect the ground snakes. This action would not have been possible without first unveiling the existence of these unique and cryptic reptiles, even if it meant     10     disturbing the peace of the dead in the graveyard where they lived.”

Yesterday I saw a poster about illegal hunting, which     1    stirred up strong emotions in me. Many species are dying out at an     2    rate due to human activities. About 3 species become extinct every hour on     3    . Some people shoot whales, sharks and deer for their meat or skin. Kangaroos, koalas and dolphins are reduced to endangered species because their habitats are threatened. However, people are aware of the problem and effective     4    are being taken to preserve wildlife. Volunteers set up nature reserves on the plain, watch over them day and night to keep them from being     5    . Gradually, they make     6    and the antelope population has     7    , and they are removed from the endangered species list. If people don’t treat animals as goods, we can live in harmony with them. All     8    including insects living in your neighborhood have equal rights to live. We should search for means to protect them, observe their beauty instead of just being concerned about the problem and we are under pressure about it. The solution exists in human beings.

【推荐2】Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

The nature is part of us. Therefore, it holds a mysterious     1     for me. In my memory, the valley was quiet and calm, only to see the wheat all over the mountains waving together in rhythm when the wind blew through, like a ballet troupe. The sun rose every morning as usual, sweeping across the valley and ultimately falling behind the peaks. The snow that falls in winter always melts in spring, bringing new hope to this nature where everything was pleasant and beautiful.

Led by fate, I have became an environmentalist and had the honor of being invited to address students about my green lifestyle for a long time. The students were surprised at my lifestyle and maybe they thought my lifestyle was no longer suitable for modern life. Fortunately, they were still listened to whole lecture, saluting or     2     me——to some extent the applause implied their encouragement to me. As I began to interact with them under the stage, I was     3     by kids’ lack of knowledge of nature so that they had little knowledge of protecting environment.

After the address, I put up a stand in the     4     offering green food, hoping them interested in it to get the     5     experiencing a first-hand feeling of the green lifestyle no one shows any interest in. So I decided to team up with the concert     6     to run a campaign: “anyone who can answer a(n)     7     environmental question is qualified to attend the concert. Soon the music can     8     them coming here”.

Since then , I have been considering why kids today do not have the same deep appreciation for nature that I do. One of the significant factors may be that the former rural civilization has been replaced by the urban civilization. In the past, the poor played the     9     role in the nature, so they cleared the wasteland, planted crops and reproduced civilization. With the massive invasion of industrialization and urbanization, people were forced to move away from nature. The struggle between tradition and modernity, the confrontation between humans and nature has led people to believe that they are the masters of the universe. Is this really the case? It is time to think about who     10     us to destroy nature.