1 . After my diagnosis (诊断) with a cancer, I loved the ________ of having something new and green around. My wife, Hannah, bought me what she said was a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pottery bowl. We placed the plant in the living room. I ________ every time I looked at it from the sofa where I spent most of my time.

I told Hannah I wanted to ________ the plant myself. I was pleased when it didn’t immediately turn yellow or brown or ________ all its leaves.

The cancer ________ my ability to walk, and the treatment left me ________, making it hard for me to perform everyday tasks. Since my diagnosis in August 2018, far too often, it seemed that I had to depend on help from other people. The huge ________ left me feeling upset. ________, caring for the plant gave me a sense of ________ at a time when I sometimes felt ________.

Before I fell sick, I had worked as a family doctor. I was used to being the one who ________ care, not the one who received it. Watering the plant, as small an act as it was, connected me to my old _______ and taught me I could still be a caregiver. Plants and ________ could still depend on me.

Over the next few months, I recovered from surgery and ________ work. Now I keep a few pots of lucky bamboo in my clinic. Sometimes, I will give one to my patients, telling them, “Take care of it. It ________ you!”

3 . It is 8:30 a.m. at the Chengdu Research Base. Panda keepers are preparing milk for the baby pandas’ breakfast. At 9:00 a.m., they find that most of the babies are already awake and _________. When the babies see the keepers, they run over to them with _________ and some of the young pandas even walk into their friends and _________! They’re so cute and lovely, and the keepers takes care of them like they’re their own babies._________, many people around the world love these black and white animals. Pandas have become so _________ that they are now a symbol of China.

Scientists say there are now fewer than 2,000 pandas living in the forests. _________ 300 or so live in zoos or research centers in China and other countries. Pandas do not have _________ babies, maybe only one every two years. The babies often _________ illnesses and do not live very long. Adult pandas spend more than 12 hours a day _________ about 10 kilos of bamboo. Many years ago, there were a lot more bamboo forests and pandas in China, but then humans started to __________ these forests. As the forests get smaller and other human activities __________ more problems, pandas cannot find enough to eat and they are having __________ babies.

An education program in Chengdu teaches children about pandas and other __________ wild animals. They send people to schools to tell children about the importance of __________ these animals. And the Chinese government is trying hard to help save the pandas. Scientists are doing research to better __________ the habits of pandas. We all hope that in the future there will be a lot more pandas.

4 . Owning chickens may be nothing special for you, but in the life of a chicken, we catch a glimpse (一瞥) of an important truth.

You see, when a hen lays her egg, she labors to make sure the _______are just right to promote life for that little chick. She must lay it in a ________spot. She also must apply heat to the egg for it to _______.

In the life of this baby chick though, there comes a point that is necessary but that is often _______. As the egg begins to crack and slowly break _______, what you will not see is the mother hen ________the chick to get the shell off. No matter how hard the chick________, pushes and strains (拉紧) itself, the mother hen will not do the ________ for it.

At this point, someone can see the _______of this chick and think the mother does not _______ her young. This person can then seek to help the chick and ________ the pieces of the shell. However, if such a thing really happens, often this person ________ does not save the chick’s life but rather ________ its death.

This ________ stage is essential for the chick. It will produce within the chick the ________ that will allow it to live and thrive (茁壮成长).

5 . For many young Canadians, planting trees is more than just a job. It’s a way of ______   and it could be catching on, thanks to a popular ______ by Leslie. While working for a logging company, the 29-year-old filmed herself using the ______ method that allowed her to plant 4,545 trees in a single day. She said that the work is incredibly ______.

Planting trees is not easy work, according to Leslie. Not only is it ______ tiring, but it also exposes laborers to the bad weather. “It could start the day off ______ and then minutes later, it will just be raining or snowing. You never know what to ______,” she described. “There were some days that we were planting through a heat ______, so we had like 37 to 40 degree weather for several days straight and that was really ______.”

So far, Leslie has planted a total of 372,290 trees in the past few years. ______, she’s still nowhere near beating the Guinness World record. That honor ______ Kenny Chaplin, who once planted 15,170 trees in 19 hours. After 35 years on the job, he says he’d ______ it to anyone.

“I think every parent in Canada should ______ their kid out tree planting because it will turn them into a worker,” he ______ . “They’ll learn how to work, they’ll have ______ and they’ll have money in their pockets.”

7 . In 2014, Xu Yitang, a student at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, saw corals at an aquarium for the first time.

Little did he know the chance ______ with the creature would spark a lifelong ______. He began to ______ the local market to learn about coral farming from merchants selling plants, fish and corals. He also searched for information on relevant forums online, and before long, started ______ a coral in a small fish tank at home.

“The coral organism is quite ______ and has extremely high ______ for water quality,” recalls Xu. “In the beginning, its state was not good.”

As he became better ______ of the creature, he learned that coral reefs are known as “tropical rainforests” and “underwater gardens” of the ocean, providing ______ for a quarter of all marine life. ______, rising sea temperatures have led to coral ______. Xu felt an increasing sense of urgency and ______ to protect them.

Fast-forward to today, he ______ a coral conservationist in a Sanya-based tropical biological research center.

Each day, he spends several hours diving deep under the waves to observe and ______ the growth and development of the creatures.

His story has been ______ in the recently premiered online program Burning Youth that aims to use documentary shorts and in-depth studio interviews to ______ the inspiring stories of young Chinese people from various walks of life.

8 . Romero is an 84-year-old man. He owes his _______ to his pet dog, Palomo, who took _______ to him after he got lost in the desert for a week.

On November 27, Romero left his home for a short trip, but he didn’t come back _______. His family wasn’t _______ at first as he used to visit nearby villages in the area and would be back a few days later. However, after four days, the man’s niece, Ramona, panicked and _______ it to the local authorities.

The police with trained dogs were brought in to _______ Romero. They searched the area around, but a week after his _______, Romero was nowhere to be found. That’s when the old man’s faithful dog, Palomo, was brought in as the last _______.

According to one member of the search team, the brown dog _______ them through hills and valleys and finally to the place in the desert where Romero had been ________. His niece told the authorities that Romero sometimes had poor memory and that ________ his getting lost on his trip.

The ________ weak man was rushed to the hospital where he spent two days getting back on his feet. One officer posted online that “Palomo ________ by the hospital door day and night waiting for the ________ of its beloved Romero. The unconditional love of his pet allowed Romero to be ________ with his family”. A photo of Palomo staying by Romero’s side after he carne back home was along with these words.

9 . For the past four years I had been having up to 30 seizures (癫痫发作) a day. It made me _________ a lot.

Despite _________ visits to hospitals, no doctor could tell me the cause of it. At night, my family had to check on me just in case I wasn’t _________. So I could never be in a room alone and as a 21-year-old young man, I was finding the lack of _________ getting me down.

One day, my friend Kerri asked if I wanted an assistance dog. I knew there were guide dogs for the _________, but I wasn’t sure how a dog could help me. A few days later, Kerri told me she’d done some search and found a company “Dogs For Life”. From the website of the company, I _________ that they teach dogs to smell a chemical change in the body and _________ people when a seizure is about to _________.

Soon after, I _________ Baloo, a dog trained by Dogs For Life. It sat silently in the corner. As I sat down, Baloo suddenly __________ and jumped on me. Minutes later, I had a seizure. It had __________ the chemical changes in my body and tried to warn me. It was by my side until the __________ came. Instantly, I knew it was a good __________ for me, and I took her back home.

It’s __________ my life more than a handful of times and I couldn’t be more __________ for it.