Jimmy Chipolata is a famous face at Nottingham Trent University. He is a therapy(治疗) dog there. He’s very friendly. When students feel stressed or upset, Jimmy helps cheer them up. His owner, Debra Easter, also works at NTU. Debra said, “Since Jimmy came here, I’ve seen people come forward, including some shyer students. Lots of our staff and students’ health can improve by stroking(抚摩) Jimmy.” She added that quite a lot of students missed their pets at home, and had a hard time with their studies and exams. After spending time with Jimmy, they felt more comfortable.

Jimmy was saved by Debra from a broken home two years ago. When she first saw him, he looked heavy and couldn’t walk. However, with hard work, Jimmy overcame(克服) the difficulties in his life. And now he's able to help stressed-out university students do the same! Jimmy really enjoys his work and loves all the attention he gets. In fact, he’ll get down if people don't take notice of him.

Although the staff and students love Jimmy, not everyone believes in his therapy ability. Chris McGovern said: “If students are getting to 18, 19 and 20 and need a dog to cheer them up, they’ve got a real problem.” But many people think Jimmy is really helpful.

4 . There are forty-seven different kinds of kangaroos（袋鼠）. The smallest are about a quarter of a meter long; the biggest are taller than a man.

Kangaroos have very long strong back legs. These are used for jumping. They also have long strong tails（尾巴）used for resting on. Kangaroos’ front legs are much shorter, and are almost like arms. Kangaroos’ heads are quite small, but their ears are quite large.

Mother kangaroos have a pocket at the front. They have one baby each year. When it is born, the baby kangaroo is straight（直接） into its mother’s pocket. The baby kangaroos stay there for six months.

The biggest kangaroos stand more than 2 meters tall, and their legs are so strong that they can jump more than 9 meters. They are very fast, and can travel at more than 50 kilometers an hour. They are very strong, but only eat fruit, leaves and grass.

5 . Twenty years ago in Costa Rica, three girls found a baby sloth (树懒) on a road. The little animal’s mother was killed by a car. These girls took the baby sloth to Judy, the owner of a hotel. Judy wanted to help, but she didn’t know how to look after the sloth, so she called the zoo. With the help of the zoo, Judy took good care of the baby sloth. She named the baby sloth Bettercup.

After her first success, more people brought Judy wounded (受伤的) sloths or baby sloths they found. Judy then opened a help centre. Today, the help centre has saved over 500 sloths.

Sloths live in the forests of Central America and South America. They hang onto the trees with their claws (爪子). There are two main types of sloths. You can know them by the number of their claws. Sloths hardly move. They spend most of their time sleeping in the trees.

But now, with an increase in population, human beings( 人类 ) cause a lot of problems for these slow and quiet animals. The main problem is that the forests are becoming smaller and smaller. When trees are cut down, sloths will fall and hurt themselves. Some sloths live near human beings and they sometimes are hit by cars or killed by dogs.

6 . There are all kinds of animals in the world. Now let’s talk about some animals.

The largest animal on Earth is the blue whale. (A) It weighs around 80 tons. It is more than 30 metres long. A new baby whale weighs as much as a big elephant.

Cats won’t die if they fall off very high places because they can turn themselves up to protect themselves. One cat fell off 32 floors onto the street, but it was (B) just hurt a little.

(C) 一只熊能和一匹马跑得一样快。

A new-born panda is smaller (D) ________ a mouse and weighs around 100 grams. Elephants are the most careful animals in their love. A male elephant may show his lady love (E) ________ up to three years until the female elephant accepts his love. They often (F) show their love by touching each other’s body.

7 . A rabbit weighs between 0.4 and 2 kilograms and can live for up to 12 years.

However, a rabbit in the wild can seldom live for more than a year.

At birth, a baby rabbit cannot see. An adult rabbit cannot see very far, but it can see behind itself without turning its head.

Adult rabbits can give birth to many baby rabbits, and their population can grow very quickly. This can cause problems for farmers, because rabbits like to eat the farmers’ vegetables.

8 . Animal United is a 3D German cartoon. It is a story about animals that get together to find water. Along their journey, lots of funny things happen, and of course, they have a lot of adventures.

The animals in the grasslands in Africa are waiting for the coming flood. However, this years flood seems to come later than that in other years. The animals become worried. At the same time, some animals from other places come to the grasslands to look for peace. However, the situation seems worse because the water is becoming less and less. So they decide to look for the river.

Finally, they find the reason why they don’t have any water to drink. A dam (拦河坝) has been set up so that humans can have a better life. After a long fight with humans, they let the world know that animals are in danger.

This film is about environmental matters. The humans are bad and the animals are good. This film is to give humans a warning. Humans should know that animals also belong to the world.

9 . Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are two of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. In the short cartoons, Tom is always trying to catch Jerry, but he never has any success. Almost every cartoon ends (A) ________ Tom in trouble and Jerry laughing at him. (B)这些故事充满乐趣 and have a long history.

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera both worked for MGM in the late 1930s. Their boss told them to make (C) funny cartoons. Together they thought of the idea of a cat and a mouse. They thought it would be funny (D) ________ the mouse was clever and always got the cat into trouble.

The first Tom and Jerry cartoon was shown in cinemas in 1940. It was a great success. Over the next 17 years, they made (E) a number of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Most of them are around seven minutes long.

In total, Hanna and Barbera made 114 Tom and Jerry cartoons. (F) They were such good cartoons that they won many awards. The famous cat and mouse remain popular today, as the cartoons are still shown on television around the world.

10 . China and Western countries may have different cultural beliefs about certain animals, but when it comes to pigs, we have somehow reached an agreement-that pigs are ugly, lazy, stupid and shameless.

Just look at the expressions and phrases in our languages. In Chinese, we have the likes of “Boiling a dead pig”, and “A pig looking in the mirror is still a pig”. And in English, there are expressions such as “Eating like a pig” and “Sweating (流汗) like a pig”. None of them have to do with praise. But the truth is that pigs do have some finer qualities. Long ago, science proved (证明) that pigs aren't stupid at all. According to an article in 2017 in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology (国际比较心理学杂志), pigs are similar to dogs and chimpanzees. They like to play. They have good long-term memories. And they know the difference between those who treat them well and those who don’t.

There are lovable pig characters in cartoons. Peppa Pig, for example, has now become one of the most popular cartoons in 180 countries. The four members in the cartoon's pig family teach children from all around the world about love, friendship, and the value of family. And in China,the adventures of McDull has been in films since 2001. A little pig always fails but he never gives up. Perhaps these are the qualities (品质) of pigs to keep in mind when we spend the Year of the Pig-their intelligence (聪明), cuteness and patience.