1 . When I was young, we lived in an area known as Fruitland for the apple trees that grew there. Since my father was a _________ carpenter(木匠), our house was elegantly built. A porch(门廊) wrapped around the front and side of it. Past the soft green lawn, the _________ was surrounded by forest. During the hot summers, my brother, Curtis and I spent our days outside with old Belle, our father’s _________. We loved to play on a large pile of _________ that was left over from the construction of the house.

One morning when we went outside to play, we couldn’t _________ Belle. We searched everywhere, but useless. _________, we found her standing near the pile of rocks that was our playground. As we _________ the rocks, Belle growled(咆哮) at us. It seemed something _________ happened there. Feeling strange, we went back to the house, and told our mother about Belle’s _________.

Mother __________ to see for herself, but when she tried to come close to Belle, the dog again gave a __________ growl. Our mother told us to stay away. All day, Belle __________ by the pile of rocks, without water or food, in the hot sun.

When our father __________, he, too, went to check on Belle. There Belle grabbed his pants and __________ him to the rocks. To our __________, my father found a large copperhead snake there. Our beloved Belle had kept us safe.

2 . Recently I’d decided to get some guinea pigs (天竺鼠) as a way of getting rid of the wild grass in my little farm. My friend Sharon had heard I was on the ______ and gave me one. “His name is Tim Tam,” Sharon said, but I thought this name didn’t seem to suit him, so I ______ it to Basil.

Guinea pigs are ______ pets who need company, so Sharon bought me another, who I named Squirtle after the Pokemon character. Before long, ______ more guinea pigs were given to me. The five ______ so well and had plenty of room to explore the farm together.

“What happened to them getting rid of the wild grass?” Sharon ______ .

Truth was, these pets had won me over so ______ with their attractiveness and gentle nature that I’d forgotten about the ______ of having them. Growing up, I’d had different ______ in my childhood, but guinea pigs were special. Curious by nature, they were both ______ and relaxed. Each time I ______ them, I was greeted by their whistles of excitement. I felt very lucky for their ______ .

As time went by, I’d been ______ more I eventually ended up with 37 guinea pigs! Realizing they needed extra ______ , I set about building small house with white fences (栅栏), clothes lines, and used metal cans for them to play with. I made everything on my own except for the deckchairs. ______ I knew it, I had an entire town for them!

Putting up a ______ which read Guinea Vale, home of the Guineas, I felt ______ of my work. Sharon was amused. “When you do something, you really go at it at full speed, don’t you?” she ______ .

Honestly speaking, welcoming these pets into my life has made me a lot ______, and it’s very meaningful to know that people around the world can ______ the joy, too.

3 . One Christmas Eve, our birder friend called us with a request. “Do you have room in your car for a (n) _______ snowy owl (雪鸮)? The hospital in Saskatoon will take it. It just needs a _______ there.” My family couldn’t have been more _______. A snowy owl? Of course! Isn’t Christmas about giving a hand to those _______?

He dropped off the bird in a cardboard box and _______ the box with a piece of cloth. After my husband gathered our children around, we _______. A few minutes later, our three-year-old daughter _______ in the back seat. Our two sons, 8 and 11, played together, _______ my husband drove and I, in the front, was bathed in Christmas peace.

Once or twice, our oldest son _______ this scene and said, “Dad, the owl’s sticking its head out”. “Don’t________.” my husband replied “It’ll be fine.” Not far from Saskatoon, my daughter in the back woke up crying I ________ and picked her up ________, my son shouted, “Dad, the owl’s out!” I was ________ to hear that and saw the owl knocking on the window with its head, in a desperate struggle for ________.

I bent over my daughter to ________ her as my husband pulled off the road. To our ________, the bird stopped struggling for some reason. My husband took the ________ to return the bird to its box then, he sat in the back seat to take care of the box. I took the ________ as our car was running toward the hospital. It was ________ for us to get there safe and sound. What a (n) ________ Christmas!

4 . Amateur photographer Guo Liming was surprised to find a vulture(秃鹰)being “bullied” by some magpies(喜鹊)when he was looking to take photos of birds. The large bird just lowered its head without any______. He guessed it might have______something poisonous or be too hungry to fight back.

Although afraid, Guo______the vulture, covered its head with a hat,______moved it to his car and called the local forest rangers(护林员). “I was afraid because its______and beak seemed a bit threatening; however, it______obediently. After moving it to the______, I took the hat off its head.To my surprise, it didn’t even try to______me at all. Maybe it was aware I was______help. Animals are really______,”recalled Guo.

It is one of Guo’s many upclose interactions with birds. He has spent years______birds and wild animals, and has witnessed changes in the area’s______.While filming birds, he tries to keep a suitable______from his subjects so that he can take clear pictures while not making them feel______. His peer commented, “He has great______for wild animals and birds, and often likes to help them. It’s quite______that he seems to be able to communicate with the animals, and they seem to______him.”

”It’s beneficial to my______. In nature, away from pollution and a daily routine, I am in a total______. Sometimes even though I cannot find any birds to______, I could stay there for a whole day.” said Guo.

5 . It was around 3 p.m. I was lined up at the train ticket counter to reserve a trip to Nagoya to_______ some photos for a magazine called “Today Fashion”. It was then that I felt the ground moving slightly like a subway shooting through a tunnel far beneath my feet. It was so mild that I_______it, as did everyone around me. Seconds later,a(n)   _______shake occurred. Things started falling over to the ground, and signs hanging from the ceiling began swinging violently. An elderly man next to me smiled at me_______and just said one word: “Earthquake.”

I _______ for the door, about 60 feet away. The ground was shaking so violently that it was_______to run in a straight line. My heart was still pounding so wildly_______.I reached the street. I longed to get as far away from these buildings as possible, but in Tokyo, finding any truly open space is actually_______.Ultimately, I stood in a_______for a good two hours as did most everyone else. During this time, the ground of the spacious park continued to________less violently. I would________later that afternoon that the quake was a magnitude 8.9, the strongest earthquake in recorded history. There were a few women________with people pointing up at the buildings as they shook, ________many others appeared calm and relaxed. Even though I have witnessed many big events in the world, I really________Japanese for their calmness and timely________.

6 . While visiting my sister last year on a windy October day, we heard an eastern spinebill chick (幼鸟) chirping — it had been blown into her garden. We kept ________ for hours to see if its mother would find it, but she was a no show. The chick had very ________ flying skills and got ________ between a bamboo and the Laserlight fence.

With my brother-in-law’s help, we ________ the wire wrapped around its leg so we could ________ the chick from certain death. Then, we gave her honey with water from an eyedropper. After ringing a now retired wildlife rescuer for   ________ , we added ground oats to the mix.

Covered with tissues in a takeaway food container, the chick ________ the night and continued to feeds well. In the morning, I ________ her in a cage outdoors. Her chirping (啁啾声) ________ the attention of an adult male spinebill which started ________ her insects through the cage, and she ________ accepted. He even ________ my head at one stage when I was taking photos of her.

She was now about 12 kilometres away from where she’d been found, too ________ for him to be her father, yet he still fed her.

I am thankful for his ________ and believe her future, under the wing of her handsome tutor after she flew off with him a week later, will be just ________

7 . On an early summer day in the fascinating landscape of Jiulong Peak Reserve, deep in Anhui province, Du Minghui, working in the reserve, was taking a group of 20 students on a study ________ With the symphony of birdsong ________ through the air, they went on the journey, winding their way through the forest to ________ the secrets and wonders of wildflowers and trees.

The tours primarily ________ nature education. They aim to allow children to gain a profound understanding of nature by acquiring knowledge of the animals and plants in the ________ Throughout the tour, students have the opportunity to acquire essential ________ skills in the wild, such as learning to tie knots and ________ simple stretchers (担架).

In recent years, the reserve has strengthened partnerships with scientific institutions, making use of its advantages to develop ________ tours and ecotourism. During the first three days of June, Du and his colleagues ________ three groups of students. With summer vacation approaching, they ________ a flood of children to appreciate the appealing beauty of nature.

The ________ in study tours is closely linked to the ________ environment of the mountains. In the past four years, the reserve has captured nearly 350,000 ________ of wild animals. With the environment becoming better, people are ________ to witness the return of animal species that had been ________ for years.

8 . A five-month-old bar tailed godwit recently broke the record for long-distance migration after flying 13,560 kilometers non-stop over a period of 11 days.

Every autumn, millions of migratory birds take to the ________ for a long and exhausting journey to ________ the coming cold, feed and breed for the next few months. Many of them ________ impressive distances of over 10,000 kilometers, but this year, one small bird was ________ all expectations regarding long-distance flying, traveling a big 13,560 kilometers without stopping. And it was all because of an unusual roundabout way that could have ________ the bird its life, considering that the non-stop journey pushed its ________ capacity to the limit.

Last month, the young bar-tailed godwit ________ from Alaska to New Zealand, but somehow, at one point during its ________ journey, the small bird took a little roundabout way that added an extra 500 kilometers to its original route. That seems like a small distance to cover, considering that the normal ________ would have seen it fly around 13,000 kilometers, but it’s actually a significant difference that could have had deadly ________.

Scientists were able to ________ the godwit’s record flight with the help of a tiny tracker that only weighed 5 grams. Technological advancements have allowed researchers to track such small species of birds without ________ them, as adding any kind of significant weight to a creature that weighs only between 300 and 400 grams could put its life in danger.

Dr. Woehler estimates that the bird lost “half or more of its body ________” during the 11-day continuous flight, but ________ it to dry land safely.

Interestingly, scientists haven’t yet understood ________ birds like the bar-tailed godwit are able to navigate such large distances without stopping and without getting lost.

9 . A cat travelled more than 280 miles to her old home, which she had left three months before. About two months later, she was ________ with her owners.

In 2021 May, Laetitia De Amicis ________ with her family and their three cats Felys, Crapaud and Cocci because of job ________. The family took great care of the cats at their new location because they were ________ that the cats would get lost in different ________.

But Cocci went missing in August 2021. Laetitia, with her two children, ________ to search for Cocci but failed. To stop her kids from worrying, Laetitia told them that Cocci had ________ gone home to look for them back in the old location. Sure enough, a stranger ________ a cat, just five miles from their ________ home.

In October 2021, Lactitia saw a ________ on a social media about a cat, and the stay-at-home mom ________ her immediately. The adventurous cat was sent to the local veterinarian (兽医) who ________ the missing animal was 10 years old and looked just like Cocci.

Laetitia asked her father living nearby to go and ________ her. He thought it was ________ that a cat had actually traveled across the country, but eventually, he agreed. “When he called me that day, I saw my dad hugging my cat on the video call,” said Laetitia. “I was with my daughter. She recognized her and ________ tears.”

Finally, Cocci was taken back to her new home.

10 . Tina often discussed with her parents whether they should get a pet dog. However, they always ________ that training a dog would be too distracting for Tina, and they couldn’t ________ the vet (兽医) and food bills with their low income.

One day, when they were walking along a narrow path to look for mushroom, a painfilled howl (嗥叫) rang through the trees. Tina and her parents got ________.

“That’s a dog.” Tina headed off in the ________ of the wolf.

“Wait, Tina!” Her dad reached for her arm but ________. “It could be a wolf.”

“Even if it is, it’s still hurt,” Tina said as she headed deep into the forest. “We’ve got to help it.”

Tina’s parents ________ her, but Tina was soon out of ________. When they caught up with her, she was kneeing down beside a hunting dog. It was obvious that he was ________ in a trap. Tina’s dad bent forward to ________ the dog and found the trap closed over the dog’s paw (爪). Later, Tina’s dad took out his knife to ________ the trap. ________ the trap didn’t break any bones.

Tina’s mother had grown up in a family of hunters and was well ________ that the dog was well-trained.

They took the dog home, and Tina’s dad treated his ________. Although Tina’s parents initially intended to send the dog to a ________ where there would be kind people taking care of him, the family quickly grew to love him, so they ________ their idea. Tina named the dog Rocky and he became a family member.