1 . People believe that having pets is overall a good thing for children. But does this belief hold up to _______? The new field of human-animal interaction aims to find out.

Ten years ago, when psychologist Joan Smith reviewed the literature on child-animal relationships, she reported that interacting with animals led young children to better understand biology than pet-less children. Kindergartners who had cared for goldfish were more _______ when responding to questions like “Does a goldfish have a heart?” They also more easily _______ biological information from one species to another, inferring that baby frogs get bigger just like goldfish do. She also reports that those kids who turned to their pets for emotional support were less _______ than these who didn’t.

The past ten years have seen some advances, but literature on the topic is still rather _______. A recent paper by researcher Meg Brown at Lakeside University _______ some important information to the discussion.

She turned to a data-set that includes information from 7, 000 kids, ranging in _______ from thirteen to nineteen years. For the study, both pet owning and other types of _______ activities, like horseback riding, were considered as human-animal interaction experience.

She found that adolescents with animal experience were more likely to see themselves as important _______ to their communities, such as doing community service. She also found that the higher the level of ________ between a teenager and animals, the higher they scored on measurements of emotional connectedness in general. While causality(因果关系) cannot be determined, Brown says that it is at least ________ that children and adolescents can learn about healthy social relationships from their experiences of interacting with animals. “If a connection exists between the skills required for these relationships, then it might be useful to make use of animal relationships as a way to ________ the development of social skills,” she says.

Brown is aware of the limitations of her study. It can’t reach any conclusions about the causal role of animals in kids’ lives, and it’s limited to ________ nationwide. Besides, the study was not designed to ________ any potential negative effects of human-animal interaction experiences. Some other studies, for example, have shown that pet owners have higher levels of ________, like depression, than non-pet owners.

2 . UPS driver Ryan Arens was making his rounds near a pond in Bozeman when he heard a strange sound. It was December, and about 15feet from the frozen bank was the _________ of that sound —a half-submerged (半淹没的) wirehaired dog. _________ to cling to a thin layer of ice. An elderly man was already on the _________determined to save her. He was up a rowboat, striking the ice with a rock to create a(n) _______ to the dog. It was slow going.

“Animals are my weakness,” said, _________ why he chose to take off his overcoat, even though the temperature was in the-30℃, and _________ the rescue task.

His heart beating fast. Arens _________ the dog, using the other man’s rock to break the ice. He gave one _________ heave (拖动) with so much force that he slipped off the boat, _________ into 16 feet of cold water. Luckily, he __________ in time to see the dog going under. He swam about five feet toward hen took __________ of her collar, and pulled her to the ice. He then lifted the dog into the __________ and slid it back to the shore, where __________ bystanders carried the dog to the home of the rowboat owner. Once in the house himself, Arens jumped into a __________ shower with the dog until they both defrosted. If the dog had stayed in the pond for a few more minutes, she would have likely __________.

That special delivery was the highlight of my UPS career,” said Arens.

3 . A 23-year-old woman has achieved an unbelievable feat that many of us dream of- visiting every country on Earth.

Lexie Alford was born into a family of travel agents, which gave her the opportunity to _________ places such as Cambodia, Dubai and Egypt during her childhood, according to Forbes magazine. She began saving up at age 12 to _________ her goal of visiting all countries. By her 18th birthday, she had travelled to 72 nations. In October, 2016 she realized she could see the _________ nations on her list in time to set an official record. Many people _________ her travel on social media platform Instagram, so she decided to chase the world record partly to _________ others. “Honestly, in the beginning, I _________ wanted to push the limits of what I thought I could do with my life and see as much of the world as possible in the _________,” she told Forbes. “It wasn’t until things started getting really _________ that I realized I was inspiring people around me, especially the _________ .”

“I also loved visiting Northern Pakistan, for the natural beauty of the mountains and __________ of the locals were astonishing,” Ms Alford said. “The most pleasant __________ about travelling to all these misunderstood areas of the world was that the countries that I had the least expectation for __________ being the most incredible.”

“My __________ for young people is to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to do. You have to make __________ to travel the world but if it’s something that’s genuinely __________ to you, it’s only a matter of time until you can make it a reality. ”

4 . A rabbit is running into its hole. You will ask, “What has this to do _________ language?” Well, when a rabbit sees something _________, it runs away. Its _________ moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this, they run too. They know that there is _________. The rabbit has told them something _________ making a sound. It has given them a _________.

Many _________ animals use this kind of language. When a bee _________ some food, it goes back to its home. It cannot tell the other bees _________ the food is by speaking to them, __________ it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

Some animals say things __________. A dog barks (吠叫), for instance, when __________ comes near. A cat purrs (叫) when __________. Some birds make several different sounds, each __________ its own meaning.

But human beings have something that no animal has — a large number of words which have the meanings of things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform (告诉) other people __________ we think or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things that have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this.

No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow (然而) he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words.

5 . Remember the heart-warming story of a loyal dog, who spent nine years waiting for his owner to return without knowing his death. His being _______ to his owner is being challenged by another dog, Thor.

In December 2015, Thor’s owner died at 58, and his loyal companion fell into _______. The owner’s family looked after Thor, but they didn’t give him the same love and attention. Seeing the miserable dog, a neighbor called Saionara asked if she could _______ him in, and maybe help him _______ the death of his owner. Then under her loving care, Thor started getting better. About a year ago, he started following the same _______ he had taken alongside his owner.

Every morning Saionara gets up early, makes his food and then opens the gate for him to take the walks he was already _______ with. Thor has a good memory, and he _______ at all the usual places his owner used to spend time in, and lets those who _______ him pet him on the head. That’s become his routine for the last year or so. And it seems that he is waiting for his _______ to come back.

Wherever he goes, Thor always ________ love and affection. Everyone knows his story and is eager to make his ________ more bearable. People stop to pet him. His food and water bowls are always ________ at the shoe store he walks by every day, and some people even stop to take photos with the famous dog.

After ________ his walk and spending time outside the places his owner used to spend time in, ________ the lottery(彩票) office, which he visited every day, Thor returns to his new owner, Saionara. “I’ll tell you that I love him, but I’m also ________ because I’m old. But I’ll take good care of him.” she says.

6 . My work started in 2003 at my local animal shelter’s Adoption Department. It seems like such a long time ago. In the 13 years that have ______, more than 50,000 animals have passed the doors of the ______. Most of them, I do not remember. But ______ there are animals who stand out. Tabby was one such ______.

Tabby was one of the many ______ dogs. What’s more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby’s ______ to be adopted seemed small. But one day a woman ______ Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, who ______ epilepsy (癫痫) had seen Tabby’s picture ______ the shelter’s website. They were ______ in meeting her! Most boys would want a puppy, a dog who could ______ with him and run through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would never be able to do that. But as they say, “love is blind.” After meeting her, they decided to ______ Tabby!

If Tabby’s story had simply ended with her ______ adoption, it would still have been something very ______ indeed. But it was ______ happened after her adoption that some might label as “magical”. They became inseparable. They got along well with each other so that Tabby could sense Gary’s seizures(疾病发作)before they ______, giving his family a ______ that one was about to strike. What’s more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby’s ______.

How could it be? There are some things that challenge logic and understanding in this world. Sometimes the best that we can do is to accept a ______, which we couldn’t attempt to explain. Because when you try to ______ it, you lose the beauty and miracle of it all.

9 . Growing up in coastal Maine, Lynda Doughty spent lots of time out on the sea. There she often saw whales, seals and other marine (海洋的) animals. She developed a(n) _______ for the wildlife living along the coast.

“I remember being so amazed by them and _______ what was happening in their life,” Doughty said.

She also _______ that their livelihood was influenced by pollution and other human-related activities. She wanted to do something to _______ these animals.

So she became a marine _______ and worked with organisations that provided help for sick and injured sea animals. But as many nonprofits (非营利机构) closed their doors, Doughty decided to step in.

In 2011, she _______ her nonprofit, Marine Mammals of Maine, and has since provided help and medical care for more than 3,000 sea animals.

When COVID-19 broke out, things became more difficult, but they couldn’t _______—the animals _______, needed their help.

“We were so nervous of how we would _______ as a nonprofit in uncertain times,” Doughty said. “________, our team stood strong and we were able to continue to help animals.”

When another New England-based marine animal rescue program ________ its animal care during COVID-19, Doughty’s work became more ________ than ever.

“We could no longer take any ________ to their rescue center and there were not enough rehabilitation (康复) places for these animals. Actually, we were really ________ and there was more pressure for our center to stay open,” Doughty said.

“I feel this strong ________ to help these animals,” Doughty said. “This is what I was put on the earth to do.”

10 . You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his dogs.

For many years, I enjoyed living with my dogs, Tilly and Chance. Their ______ was nearly enough to keep my loneliness at bay. Nearly. Last year, I started dating, but with ______. When I first dated Steve, I ______ he had a dog, Molly, and a cat, Flora. While I was amused that he was an animal lover, I ______ that three dogs were perhaps too many, and my dogs might attack Flora, the cat.

The next week we walked our dogs together. It was a hot day. When we paused to catch our ______, Steve got down on one knee. Was he proposing (求婚)? I liked him too, but so _____? He poured water from a bottle into his hand and offered it to my dogs. ______, I began to fall for him.

We continued to date, though neither of us brought up the future. And then in late November, Tilly had an operation on her ______. I took the dogs out four times a day, and I worried that Tilly ______ climbing the stairs could reopen the wound. Then Steve ______ his house. All worked ______. The three dogs formed a pack that, with coaching, ______ Flora’s space; Steve and I formed a good team ______ for Tilly. We made good housemates.

A year later, much to my delight, this man produced a little box with a ring and proposed to me. He did not kneel (跪) down, nor did I ______ him to. That’s only for giving ______ to the dogs that brought us together.