2 . On the mantelpiece is a sign saying “A home is not a home without a dog”. Next to it, in the couple’s living room, is a framed picture of a dog, which is itself nestled among ________ dog decorations. The kitchen, where Laura Jacques and Richard Remde’s four dogs ________ play and rest, is similarly decorated. Upstairs is the couple’s super king size bed, roomy enough to ________ two humans and four dogs.

Visitors to this house in Silsden, West Yorkshire are left in no doubt about the ________ of dogs in the couple’s lives. Their four dogs will soon become six, when they bring home two more cloned dogs.

Jacques works as a dog-walker. She has studied dog ________ and has spent a lot of time volunteering at the Dogs Trust. The couple have just moved into a new house, one they bought because it has a lot of land for the dogs to run around in. One corner has been ________ as a pet graveyard. Dylan, their eight-year-old dog who died earlier this year is to take the first ________.

When Jacques received the news from the vet that Dylan had died, she ________ in shock and grief. “I couldn’t comprehend that the worst possible thing had happened. I was just in total shock,” she says. “And then an idea occurred to me – I want to clone Dylan.”

The couple say they know how ________ pet cloning is and that some will criticize them for “playing God”. But they ________ that they are doing nothing wrong. “We have helped to make a scientific ________,” says Jacques. “Arguably dog breeders are doing something ________ but they are doing it for money while we aren’t. I can understand the ________ around human cloning – creating beings that don’t have a real mum or dad – but the same thing doesn’t apply to dogs. I know that some people will disagree with what we’ve done but I hope they won’t ________ us.”

They accept that some people will say they are mad and wonder why they are spending $100,000 on the ________. “We are not mad,” says Remde, “We are dog-mad though, and we both absolutely love all animals.”

7 . A sled dog (雪橇犬) has reunited with his owner three months after disappearing from an Iditarod race checkpoint in Alaska.

Leon, a 3-year-old dog, went ________ in March while competing in The Iditarod with his owner Sébastien Dos Santos Borges. In April, the Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) ________ a $1,000 reward for information that would________ Leon’s return home. The dog’s ________ home began in late May when residents________ an Iditarod race director they had seen Leon multiple times near a cabin (小木屋) in McGrath, more than 120 miles south of the checkpoint. The cabin owner began to put out food for Leon ________ helping catch him. The ________ appeared to work as another local________ to find and catch Leon, allowing the dog to reunite with Sébastien in Alaska.

“The Iditarod cannot express enough ________ for all of Iditarod Nation’s help for Leon. From the volunteers to the ________ fund organizers and the individual donors, and the ________ of McGrath who have helped towards the ________ of finding Leon,” the ITC said on its website, adding, “The spirit of the community makes The Iditarod so________.”

Sébastien shared a post on Facebook to ________ the moment. “Leon is with me! A beautiful story of love and friendship. Thank you!” The ________ will soon head home to France.

8 . My life is being held hostage by a 4-pound, 22-year-old black cat. Her name is Inky, and I ________ her from my father, who was terribly worried about how she would fare (生活) after he ________.

He adored dogs but refused to ________ one because it might destroy the delicate ecosystem he’d ________     for Inky, who lives a life of supreme ________. In the mornings, she would sit on The Times as he read it. My father found this annoying ________ delightful. In the afternoons, she would loll (懒洋洋地躺着) about his ________     until he threw open the front door and whistled to her to come in for dinner. Who whistles to a cat?

And then, after they had spent 20 years together, my father died. Inky was ________ and confused. For six months, she ________ to come upstairs to the bedroom. When I carried her up, she would bolt back downstairs as if she’d seen a ghost.

I had promised my dad that I would always ________ Inky, no matter what happened. He ________ that I would. And so I did.

But it has not been ________. In her grief and dislocation, Inky peed on every rug and all the wall-to-wall carpets in the house. She ruined the living room rug, the dining room rug, and then went to work on the second floor. She howled for her breakfast while I was still asleep. She headbutted (以头撞) my hands impatiently when I opened a can of Fancy Feast, the only wet ________ that suits her taste.

Sometimes I ________ her so much. And then she sidles (悄悄地走) up to me, purring and asking for love. And I give it to her. I can’t ________ my dad.

9 . Alpinist (登山家) Marion has cleaned up 8. 5 tons of waste on Mount Qomolangma in just 3 years with her team.

_________? We certainly think so. But that’s nothing compared to Marion’s future _________.

Marion has a tough and _________ goal: finish cleaning up Qomolangma and then _________ on to the entire Himalayan mountain range.

“Climbing Qomolangma should offer one of the best interactions between _________ and the natural world. But _________, I realized that the mountain had been _________in the past 30 years when I reached the top in 2013. Nearly 10 tonnes of waste had been _________ at the top alone! I was totally shocked when I _________ the rubbish problem on the mountain,” she told the Yves Rocher Foundation.

For Marion,__________ is an important part of her life that helps her feel alive. Therefore, she wants to do her __________ in helping others get the best possible experience. Her __________ to nature started when she was a child. She would __________ in the woods and learn the names of the plants and animals. As a __________, she’s been working as a mountain guide in India and Tibet for over 17 years. After founding the Clean Qomolangma project, she __________ to ask the local authorities to __________ her project. She was given 50 yaks (牦牛) to help get the waste down. We can only hope that Marion will keep on and that others will __________ her.

The __________ affecting the Himalayas has an effect on the drinking water used by around 2 billion people living there, so the __________ to clean up the mountains isn’t just about protecting nature. It’s also about our __________ of life.

10 . One cold afternoon, Tina saw a newborn bird in her garden. Knowing it wouldn’t make it if left________, she brought it inside. Little did she know of the ________ the bird would make on her.

The family named the little bird “Gracie”. As Gracie grew bigger and stronger under the family’s loving care, an unbreakable________ developed between them. But the family knew Gracie should________ to the wild one day. One year later, they________ the bird with tearful eyes fly off to explore its own world, not knowing it wouldn’t________ the family.

Years after that, Tina was diagnosed with cancer. Feeling sad and hopeless, she ________ every day.

But much to her surprise and joy, Gracie________ the day Tina came home from her operation. Though Tina had lost all her hair, Gracie________ her and landed on her shoulder chattering (唧唧叫) to her. Tina was so excited that she kissed the bird ________ The house was ________ again. Tina began to________ dramatically. She cried less and laughed more. Two years later, all her tests were   ________! The doctors considered it a miracle( 奇 迹 ), but Tina knew it was not. “It is Gracie that gave me hope and strength. Without Gracie’s ________ during the hard time, things would have been different. We ever saved its life, and it was repaying the ________. Tina said gratefully.