1 . Dr. Karen Sciascia has delivered thousands of babies. But this week, she helped deliver another life from danger, as she and her friend Seth McLean ________ a baby moose (驼鹿) that was separated from its mother when crossing a ________ .

Sciascia and McLean were fishing when they ________ a cow moose and her baby. The two moose were having trouble ________ a spot on the river where a violent ________ is created by two channels. After ________ back and forth in the water, the cow moose made it to the far river bank. When her baby tried to ________, it was swept downstream. With its nose ________ above the water, the baby was too ________ to ever fight the current. Realising the baby was in ________, Sciascia and McLean set off after it in their boat. After Scioscia ________ the little creature from the river, McLean rowed them upriver a bit, to the ________ where the cow moose had landed. Quickly after pulling to shore they ________ the baby and Momma was soon there checking her baby over. Once ________and satisfied, Momma led her baby into the woods.

“Having delivered so many babies, it was like every other day to me, though it was a ________ modality (形态),” Sciascia tells The Missoulian, “It was cool to be in the right place at the right time.”

2 . While doing some cleaning in my kitchen, I noticed a tiny black pellet(小球)on the shelf. Gecko(壁虎)dropping, I _______. There must be a baby gecko here.

There are lots of geckos here in the Desert Southwest. I’d _______ the habit of checking the oven and dishwasher before I turned them on. I didn’t want one of the little guys to get _______.

Nevertheless, the oven or the dishwasher wasn’t the biggest _______ for a gecko inside a home. It was _______. A gecko trapped in a house wouldn’t find enough bugs to eat. I didn’t want that to happen to my current visitor. But to save him, I had to find him first. And that would be _______.

I searched everywhere in the _______, but useless. Suddenly, a picture flashed in my mind: a pile of _______. “Yes, I know where that is!”I have a basket that holds my collection of oddly shaped or uniquely coloured stones, which caught my eye. Ever so carefully, I _______ one stone, then another—until I ________ a tiny yellow tail!

I brought the whole basket outside and left it on the ground, where I ________ the baby gecko could find his way home. When I ________ a few hours later, the little gecko was gone.

Now I ________ peek(窥视)inside the dishwasher and the oven before turning them on. ________, I know I am not the only one looking out for geckos. No ________ is too small for us to love.

3 . I’d been exploring the 40-hectare woods around our cottage my whole life and I knew the way well. So it was a _________ when I found myself lost there.

One dull cold February afternoon, I had a sudden _________ to hike the hill with my two daughters. Putting on our snowshoes, we immediately _________ northwestward. While making our way up the hill, my daughters stopped occasionally to investigate unknown plants and to look at the abandoned deer beds… These really made their _________.

As the shadows started to _________, we moved further up. Soon, weariness began to _________ enthusiasm. We decided to return. Instead of backtracking over our _________ route, I chose to walk down the steep (陡峭的) side of the hill, _________ my general sense that ahead of us lay the stream that would guide us to the road. But as the terrain (地形) leveled out, I had my first major moment of _________: Where was the stream? Were we off course?

I instinctively (本能地) pulled out my phone to get my location, but it __________ in my hand in the cold air. __________, I started feeling a bit panicky. However, I quickly __________ myself, reassuring my daughters to continue walking. Focusing on the landmarks, I spotted a familiar tree and eventually __________ the road.

That winter’s day taught me a valuable lesson about habitual reliance on technology. If my phone had __________ then, I might have directly followed the GPS, ignoring the old __________ of depending on surroundings and life skills.

5 . A man named Joe in Austin spent several months in order to adopt a dog. Alva is a dog with wobbler syndrome(摇摆综合征), but that didn’t _________ Joe from knowing they would be together.

_________ at Austin Pets Alive in November 2020 at just 5 months old, Alva was _________ , skinny, and in need of a helping paw. She had a hard time _________ and walking on account of the _________ . After almost 24 months of shelter stays, the _________ in her life with wobblers and multiple owners had made her self-protective, _________ , and shy.

Joe had originally seen Alva on APA’s Instagram, and determined to do something to help her. “I just _________ her and said, ‘I bet everyone has given up on you,’” Joe told APA! “‘I’m not going to do that to you.’”

Nor did he, but instead visited her at APA every single day for two months to earn her _________ in the hope that he could welcome her into his __________. Seeing that there was a potential end to Alva’s difficulties, APA staff worked hard to treat and __________ Alva. Alva recovered well during the two months, and __________Joe got what he wished for—Alva was able to move in with him.

He __________ his house with various ramps and carpeted corners to ensure she had a safe, comfortable environment.

“Alva gave me a __________ every time I saw her, and that was: inspiration. It is her infectious spirit that makes her __________, and brightens my days,” Joe told APA!

6 . The Sierra Nevada range is incomparable in scale and magnificence. There’s no better way to see it than to appreciate every spectacular view with your own hard _______. My husband, Will, our kids (Herbie, 5 and Artley, 11) and I planned to _______ the northern half of the John Muir trail in two weeks, which _______ along the backbone of the High Sierra, past lakes, and through dusty pine forests.

We set _______ before we started: this would be tough, but worth it. To get our kids more _______, we let them have the map and decide when to stop and rest. In this way, they felt empowered. This _______ also resulted in Herbie nearly standing on a 4-foot snake on our first day, though. _______, it was early morning and the snake was half asleep.

For two weeks, the boys enjoyed the _______. They built dams and bridges across streams, climbed and swam. Sometimes, they refused to carry their packs and _______ about feet hurting. But these moments were far outweighed by extraordinary bursts of ________ and enthusiasm — particularly when we’d been slogging (艰难前行) uphill for hours and a mountain top finally came into view, our kids even decided we needed to ________.

By the time we finished, we had ________ countless mosquitoes, suffered foot pain and had terrible sleep. But we were right to be ________ about our kids’ abilities. Through the ________, they will, I hope, understand what they are truly capable of, how perseverance leads to bigger ________ later on, and what it feels like to be encouraged and supported so that they can achieve something great.

7 . David lost his beloved dog Baya before Christmas two years ago. Baya was active and cute. David’s family spent many days _________ for their furry (毛茸茸的) family member. The kids said they wouldn’t want any _________ from Santa Claus. They just wanted to get their dog back. All attempts to find her turned out to be _________. Baya was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the family wouldn’t have any more _________.

Two years later, a homeless dog _________ alone on a busy road. Someone _________ it to the Animal Protection Association (协会). Thanks to the microchip (芯片) planted in the dog, the association was able to _________ the owner. They _________ David. When David got a phone call that they were going to get Baya back, the family were pretty _________.

Obviously, Baya is __________ to living in this home. She is quite __________ of where her feeding bowl is. Even though Baya isn’t the dog she used to be, David is confident she’ll become her old __________ again. He said, “She was a very healthy and __________ dog. She’s not like that anymore, but we’re going to get her back. Our whole family are taking __________ of her. Kids play with her happily. She’s __________ her joyful nature. We will love her even more.”