2 . I stared out the window,_______ the snow. Damn holidays. . . I thought as I saw the people outside caroling(唱颂歌)outside. Can’t I just be left alone!I got up from my bed and, in _______, made for the kitchen.

I made myself dinner, which wasn’t anything_______. I wasn’t the best cook so I just made myself a stir fry and_______ it a day... That was until I heard the noise. Did someone throw ice at my window? Maybe a thief? I _______ the katana(武士刀)and walked down stairs. I searched the entire house until I found a puppy, so cute and_______. I couldn’t help but _______ at this creature. I decided to keep it and named it Arthur. His eyes were blue like a husky dog. Maybe a mixed breed? I thought as I washed Arthur up and dried him with a_______. Then I spent all night_________with my new friend. It was the first ________of joy I felt during the holidays in years. For the next week, Arthur and I spent the holidays watching romance movies on Netflix, sleeping, or ________ our mouths with the food in the house. It was probably the happiest I’ve been in months. Arthur really made an impact on my life that I never thought was ________.

Arthur stayed by my side a majority of the time. My friend called him ‘mama’s boy’ or something silly like that. I didn’t________ it, though. Every year on Christmas day, I thanked God for giving me the ________. And I ________ felt blessed with My Arthur. My little boy.

3 . My parents have a boxer dog called Boris which is as badly behaved as his name might suggest. He is known to ________ on a chair at the kitchen table expecting full ________. Whenever the dishwasher is being stacked, he likes to add a personal prewash to the ________.

Even my mother might ________ that Boris is the worst-behaved dog she has ever had, but on the plus side, he is very ________.

The sofas and chairs in their sitting room are covered in books-not because my parents love to read, but in an attempt to ________ the dog climbing on the furniture. ________, any human who wants to sit on a sofa has to ________ a library of books. I’ve suggested a removable cover would be more attractive, or training, but it’s too late for that.

The story between my parents and Boris is repeated across our community. Usually, our gang of dogs gathered almost daily, ________ did we. A group of folks of different ages, backgrounds and interests—all ________ by our dogs. Friends are therefore made through dogs, creating a ________ that lasts far beyond the lifespan of our canine(犬的)family. Sunny, Jess and Archie have all ________ now, but the friendship between us humans remains.

I have met so many people whose daily ________ with their group of dog have been their mainstay and helped them deal with ________. They are medicine for the_________. Dogs are actually man’s best friends.

4 . I was quite young when I married. My wife shared with me my love for animals and she got several ________ pets, including one cat.

The black cat was beautiful. We named him Pluto. I liked him best so that I often fed him alone. Our friendship ________ for several years, during which, however, my wife and my job ________ me. Gradually, ________ became my new friend; I became quick to ________; I forgot how to smile and laugh.

One night I came home quite late from the inn. Walking with ________ steps, I made my way with effort into the house. As I entered, I saw Pluto was trying to stay out of my way to ________ me, which made me angry beyond ________. I lifted my foot and gave him a heavy kick ________. The cat burst into a tragic scream, like a ________ cutting through the peaceful dark sky.

It seemed a ring ________ me. I followed up the cry, calling “Pluto”. No response. Turn on the light, and I found him, curled up below a chair. I felt regretful and ________, attempting to comfort it. No response. I knew I had made an ________ mistake.

I made my efforts to ________ him in my manner, feeding him alone and eventually quit drinking. Maybe sometimes some evil things inside ourselves pushed us to do wrong, but we must bear in mind that we ought to treasure what is ________ us accompanying us in our lives.

5 . 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!”

6 . On January 3, Preet Chandi made history by becoming the first woman to complete a solo expedition across Antarctica to the South Pole.

Chandi, who calls herself Summit Preet, ______ her journey on November 24, 2021. Chandi once said she chose Antarctica because she wanted to ______ others.

“I want my eight-year-old niece to grow up without ______, knowing the possibilities of what you can achieve in life are ______,” Chandi said. She spent two years ______ for the final trip.

Chandi ______ a total of 700 miles in 40 days, arriving five days ahead of time. She faced winds of 60 miles per hour and temperatures of -50℃ while ______ a 90-kilogram sled (雪橇). Along the way, Chandi ______ daily voice messages, which you can hear on her website. In her final voice recording, Chandi said, “This expedition was always about so much ______ me. I wanted to encourage people to ______ boundaries and believe in themselves. I’m really proud that I’m an Indian woman doing something ______.” She added, “Everybody starts ______, and the more you try, the more you realize you’re ______ of.”

Chandi now ______ to set up an “adventure grant”, using money raised for the trip. This grant will give money to women of any age or background who want to go on an adventure. “It can be for any adventure they want to do, any ______ adventure that is pushing some kind of boundary,” Chandi told CNN. “It doesn’t have to be a polar expedition. And I really hope that this is something that will continue year after year.”

7 . Cackles was my favorite goose. I was proud of her. Few people I knew had geese. It was_________in the 80s to have geese, especially where we lived. But we_________a few on a small piece of land.

I was most _________when I had my birthday parties. They were so different from my friends’ _________ . On the way home from school, we would collect grass and return to my garden in small groups, ready to _________the beautiful birds. The children weren’t as _________as their parents. Some had a good_________ - my uncle once got bitten by our bad-tempered male goose.

I remember being scared of them before I learned to stand my ground. As they_________me from behind, I would turn and they would stop, as if they had run into a cartoon wall. “You just have to_________them,” I would tell friends. “Don’t run.” Easier said than done.

One day, I came home to find that Cackles was being __________ . She had chased a woman down the road. The woman had been “frightened”. I was__________: “Why did she__________from a goose?”

My dad said Cackles had to__________. I last saw her in my dad’s van (运货车). It was a strange and memorable sight for all the wrong reasons. I was__________.

My dad__________me that she went to a local farm for a happy retirement. I chose to believe him.

9 . Third graders from Wolfsville Elementary School spent Monday afternoon getting their hands dirty and their shoes wet during an informative trout release (鳟鱼放生).

The trout, which the students had been ________in their classroom since last December, were ________ ready to be released into their natural environment. The students carefully ____ them from a big container to a red plastic cup to the creek (溪). They then ________ the trout fingerlings (仔鱼) they’d been watching over for five months.

Wolfsville Elementary has been doing a trout release ________ spring for the past decade as part of a national________called “Trout in the Classroom”, which provides students with trout eggs to ________and eventually release into water as fish.

Through the partnership, students learn various________such as water pH, animal lifecycles and environmental science, said Rebecca Butler, Wolfsville Elementary’s third grade teacher. “We try to get them outside and away from video games, and hopefully they________ that clean water is important and ________ else is going to take care of our resources, so they learn to care for them,” Butler said.

McKinna Hidalgo, a third grader at Wolfsville, said she________ letting the trout go in the water and seeing them________ away, after first meeting them as ________.

The favorite part for Hidalgo’s classmate Macie Lader, however, was getting to go into the creek. Her socks and shoes were _________, but she didn’t care. Right before moving on to her next station, Macie took off her _________, dumped (倾倒) all the water out and flashed a wide smile.

10 . Have you ever heard of and seen Canadian geese? Do you know that they __ fresh grass and seeds?

Canadian geese have a good __ for their politeness. They always bow down to you whenever you walk by. However, I have recently found that they can sometimes be __ to their peers, especially on occasions when they quarrel for food——yes, these __ gentlemen do quarrel, just for something to eat

Yesterday I witnessed two Canadian Geese arguing __ for a clump(草丛) of beautiful fresh grass. The clump was __ right in the middle of them, while the two were shouting noisily, stretching their necks as long as they could to look aggressively at each other. It’s __ to witness the “impolite” side of Canadian geese. Hence, I couldn’t help __ my morning walk, standing still to watch these “gentlemen” quarreling. Interestingly, after a short while, a truck roared past their feast, disturbing their __ conversation. The two geese were equally __ by the massive “monster”, thus giving up their conversation.

Would they start quarreling again? I stood still, __ the ridiculous question and waited. Beyond my expectation, right after the truck’s passing by, the two geese immediately lost their ___for quarreling as if they had forgotten all about what had happened. Even the two turned around and left the __ in opposite directions as if nothing had happened. They left only me there, imagining what might have happened without the __.

They got along harmoniously again. Sometimes it’s not that bad to be __.