1 . Rico, a friendly and caring cat, has become an unexpected _______ of comfort and support for injured kittens (小猫) in a veterinary clinic in Casablanca, Morocco.

While resident cats in veterinary clinics are not _______, Rico’s devotion goes above and beyond. He can often be found curled up (蜷缩) next to young patients, purring (发呼噜声) softly and offering them a sense of _______ during what can be a stressful time. The clinic’s staff has _______ that the injured kittens seem to relax and _______ more quickly when Rico is _______.

It seems that Rico _______ the needs of these tiny patients better than anyone else. His caring nature shines through as he _______ interacts with them. His _______ is truly comforting in a place that can be filled with ________ for both animals and their human ________.

Rico’s story is a reminder of the incredible ________ that can exist between human beings and animals and the comfort they can ________ to one another, even in unexpected places like a veterinary clinic. It also proves how ________ being caring is and that kindness knows no bounds, not even ________.

2 . I work from home. From the time I kiss my kids _______ in the morning until late in the day, I’m   _______ .For many years, my only _______ was our dog, Sno.

We didn’t agree on everything. However, we both agreed on _______ . At least once a week, we took a long walk to the beach. For him, there were swaths(大片)of tall grass and exciting smells. For me, there were other dog walkers whom I _______ wanted to catch up with.

As a dog with short legs, Sno needed several _______ along the way. The one at the entrance to the beach was his _______ , possibly because he knew we were _______ back home.

When he was old and dying, our walks were _______ . In his final days, Sno still ________ walking. It took twice as long to take even the shortest walk, but we ________ every step. I don’t know if dogs can cry, but if they can, that made two of us in ________ at the entrance to the beach.

After he died, I went for a long walk. I felt like part of me was ________ . I kept looking down as if he were there beside me and enjoyed the sun and fresh air. When I came to the place where we’d ________ for the beach, I chose the other way.

Later, I may be walking by myself, but I’m never alone. Personally, I’m ________ to earn the love of an old dog.

3 . A farmer owned an old mule (骡子). One day the mule _______ into the farmer’s well (井)unluckily. The farmer heard the mule crying. He tried every possible way to save the mule, but _______.

After carefully thinking about the situation, the farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth greater efforts. _______, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and asked them to help carry dirt to _______ the old mule in the _______ and put him out of his disaster.

At first, the old mule was mad! But as the farmer and the neighbors _______ shoveling (铲土)and the dirt hit his back, an idea _______ to him. Every time a shovelful of _______ landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!

This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!” He repeated to _______ himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how ________ the situation seemed, the old mule overcame his fear and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!

It wasn’t long ________ the old mule, tired out, stepped successfully over the wall of that well! What seemed to have destroyed him actually ________ him…all because of the way ________ which he dealt with his adversity (逆境).

That’s life! We should ________ our problems and respond to them ________, and refuse to give in to fear, bitterness, or self-pity.

4 . In 2020, a 9-year-old dog, Taka was burned so badly in a house fire that most thought he would die. However, today he is ________ as a therapy dog (治疗犬) for children in the burn unit.

In October last year, Taka was seriously injured in the house fire. The family got their kids out ________, but there was no time to go back in for Taka. Luckily, Taka was able to ________ into a neighbor’s house.

Though he had a quick step, he had deep burns on his body. So he needed round the clock ________. So his earlier owner signed him over to the vet’s and those not to get him back home due to his ________ and not being able to care for him ________.

That was when Taka officially ________ Lesley’s, “I had been taking him home every day, so eventually I loved him and couldn’t ________ him,” said Lesley, a famous vet. “After months of treatment and care and the ________ he had on the community, I was visited by a nurse at the community burn center about Taka’s visiting ________ children, in hopes of giving them a successful fire ________ experience.”

Lesley knew Taka was ________ for the job. “He loves kids,” she said, “I came here to tell you that I ________ that he was so special that we should share his experience with the world.”

Taka took his therapy dog training test and passed with flying colors. “To see that he could be an ________ or at least a light at the end of the tunnel for a child that has ________ what he has experienced is what all of this is about,” Lesley said.

5 . Any dog’s love can feel like a miracle(奇迹). Mason is a strong _________, and he may be the kind one that can bring happy surprise on Earth. He _________ a storm last spring. His family thought he would be _________ there, but the storm broke the garage door and Mason _________.

That day a lot of people _________ a lot. Mason’s family was _________ that they were just to be alive, _________ the storm had left their home broken. But they were _________ at the thought that their sweet friend had died. They _________ the neighbourhood, hoping to find him, but Mason didn’t ____________ up.

Three weeks after the ____________, Mason’s family stopped by the house to collect some things that once ____________ to them. There Mason sat on the front door, so ____________ to see his family that his entire body was shaking. Where had Mason stayed during the storm? What did he eat for those long weeks? How did he ____________ his way back home without any help from the others? There was no answer to those ____________ and no time to think. Mason was thin and couldn’t stand well. The family quickly found the ____________ and learned their dog had returned home on broken front legs. “He was ____________ badly,” says Doster, who had spent days helping pets with their owners. He also got in touch with Dr. William, who ____________ to perform the operation for free.

Mason was hurt so bad that he needed weeks to ____________. By the time he returned home to his family in September, he was jumping around like a ____________ dog again. “It is really a miracle!” Doster says.

6 . Viktor Usov has just been reunited with his cat Sasha after the cat was discovered wandering on the streets about 1,400 miles away from home. Usov said he had _______ let Sasha play outside one night five years ago, only to have him disappear. He once assumed the _______ result that he might have lost Sasha.

Last week, however, Sasha was taken in as a healthy pet in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Upon _______ his microchip, the staff at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter were _______ to find that his owner lived so far away. After they _______ to get in contact with Usov, he confirmed that the cat was his _______ cat. Usov told reporters, “When I got the _______, I was crazy, but not that surprised. I know this cat loves the _______.” Still, Usov was delighted to see his cat in Portland just _______ after he was found in Santa Fe. “When he ________, I’ll look after him better,” he said.

Sasha was ________ back earlier this week. “Our ________ is about caring for people on life’s journey and connecting them with their loved ones. We were honored to be in a ________ to get Sasha back to his family,” a spokesperson for American Airlines told the shelter.

Murad Kirdar at the shelter hoped Sasha’s story would be a great ________ for other pet owners to get their pets microchipped — an effective way to ________ identification. By doing so their hairy friends could always make their way home, no matter how far they are from home.

7 . A man was traveling in the mountains and stayed in a hotel for the night. He was a great fighter and spent his lifetime fighting for freedom. He was _______ that in the hotel there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually _______ “Freedom!” The man thought, “I have seen many parrots, and I believe they all want _______, but I have never seen such a parrot whose whole day is spent in _______ its dream.” Suddenly, he had a(n) _______. In the middle of that night, when the hotel owner was _______, he got up and opened the door of the cage. He _______ to the parrot, “Now get out.”

Then, he was very _______. The parrot was clinging (抓住) to the bars of the cage. He said to the bird again and again, “Have you _______ about freedom? Just get out! The door is ________ and your owner is asleep; nobody will ever ________. You just fly into the sky; the whole ________ is yours.”

The parrot was clinging so deeply, so ________ that the man said, “What is the matter? Are you ________?” He tried to take the parrot out with his ________, but the parrot started pecking (啄) at him, and at the same time it was still shouting “Freedom!” However, the man was also ________. He pulled the parrot out and ________ it into the sky. He was very satisfied ________ his hand was hurt.

In the morning, when the man was ________, he heard the parrot shouting again. He thought perhaps the parrot was sitting on a tree or on a rock, but when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the ________. The door was open.

8 . Jack was a kitten（猫咪）born without eyes. He was the favorite amongst the kids hanging around. However, when the time came to find him a permanent home, no one knew where Jack would ______ .

When my friend asked if I wanted a kitten with no eyes which no one would ______ , without ______ , I told her that I did want the kitten.

When first ______ home, Jack stayed mostly in my room. He walked ______ around at first and soon had no ______ running around, jumping onto my bed. He ______ a hard time when he could climb the stairs, but ______ to get down. He would sit at the top and cry until someone came and got him. Every now and then when he gets ______ he'll stop and cry. But we just call his name and talk to him and it isn't long before he finds his way back to us.

It doesn't matter that he is eyeless, Jack is always a ______ around. He'll run across the yard straight to us, ______ us with a big hug.

Jack is truly a（n） ______ I've owned a lot of kittens in my life, but Jack is the happiest, most ______ of them all. He doesn't feel ______ for himself. Jack doesn't need pity and we treasure him the way he is. The cat doesn't have disabilities; he has ______ .

9 . Meet Charlie, he is a 6 year old black Labrador. His job in the army is to find unexploded bombs with his handler Henry. It is 1916 right now and Charlie and Henry are in the trenches in France. It is wet, cold, muddy and there are a lot of _________. Charlie spends part of his day chasing these annoying rats away from the soldiers, _________are all tired and need their precious rest.

Charlie loves his handler Henry very much and would do _________for him. They first met back in England in 1914, when Charlie first started his training. Charlie remembers how Henry smelt of _________, having just had his breakfast, and Charlie spent the first 10 minutes of meeting him licking the bacon grease off of his hands. They have not been apart since that first day and are now _________. They also still share a love of bacon, not that they get it very often.

Charlie and Henry spend their days with the other soldiers, trying to sleep in dug out shelters in the walls of the trench. They are _________and frightened and they don't know what could happen from one moment to the next. It's hard to _________in these conditions and there are always lots of loud noises from the bombs blasting near the _________but they have to grab it when they can as they spend their _________hunting for dangerous unexploded bombs and looking for wounded men.

Once it's dark, Charlie and Henry crawl out of their trench into no man’s land, staying __________so they don't disturb the tin cans hanging on the barbed wire, __________would alert the enemy soldiers in the German trench. Charlie is frightened but tries hard to be brave, he knows that he is __________people's lives. The two of them crawl from crater to crater, listening for sounds from the wounded, Charlie sniffing __________bombs.

Suddenly Charlie stopped and pricked up his __________, he heard something. Charlie bolts forward following the sound, searching this way and that way, trying to find where it came from. He lets out a low whine, Henry realized Charlie has __________him to a wounded British soldier. He has been shot in the leg and cannot __________. Henry throws him over his shoulder and they race back towards their lines. As they are getting closer to their trench suddenly the Germans start shooting __________them. One of the Germans throws a stick grenade that lands close to Henry, Charlie sees that his best friend is in so much danger! He picks up the stick grenade in his __________and sprints away, dropping it into a deep crater full of mud and water where it explodes, saving Henry and the wounded soldier.

They eventually make it __________to the British trench, where Henry tells all the soldiers of their adventure and they all cheer __________Charlie the Hero dog.

10 . 11-month-old Daphne was found alone, lying outside an empty building, behind a locked gate. A neighbor heard her cries for help, ignored and _________ . He called Animal Control for _________ , knowing she was hurt and in pain.

When officers _________ they saw Daphne and noticed her front legs were injured. They cut the   _________ on the gate and brought her to the Animal Foundation for _________ medical attention. Our veterinary team quickly treated her pain and performed x-rays to assess the _________ of her injuries. Two broken bones in each of the front legs, and 5 broken _________ .

Daphne _________ like a baby kangaroo to keep pressure off her front toes. It seemed that her injuries happened at _________ times, which suggested that poor Daphne may have been __________ harmed more than once in her short life.

We may never know what __________ to Daphne, but we are so thankful that a good citizen __________ her and took action. We have reported her case to Animal Control for further investigation, but, with your help, we can __________ Daphne gets the medical care she needs.

We'd like to extend our __________ to Daphne's foster mom, and every one of you who gave a hand. She's got a long road ahead of her, but Daphne will only experience __________ from here on out.