1 . A little girl was enjoying the beautiful garden in her home. Her father had a good collection of rare and prized plants, which he _________ with great care.

The girl was _________ by a plant full of delicate flowers. She approached it and admired its striking beauty. Suddenly she _________ that the plant was in a pile of filth (污秽). She could not tolerate the _________ of dirt with such fantastic flowers.

She worked out a plan to clean the plant. She _________ the plant with all her might from the dirt and washed its _________ in running tap waler till all traces of dirt were washed away. She then placed the plant on a clean stone and went away, proud that she had done a great _________.

Later her father came to the garden and spotted the uprooted plant, which had lain _________ in the baking sun. His little daughter ran over to _________ her achievement. “I have cleaned it, Daddy,” she reported __________.

The father showed her how her treatment had nearly killed the plant and told her that the filthy soil was the best __________ to grow that plant. Hearing that, the girl felt guilty that the plant had suffered by her cleaning.

A great gardener mixes the __________ soil for each plant. __________, God provides each of us with the best __________ required for optimum (最佳的) spiritual growth. But it may appear to be __________ and we may even complain to God about our difficulty.

2 . My wife and I owned two dogs that we had owned before we met and brought into the ________. Her dog was a pit bull named Zack, and he ________ me. When our daughter was born, I was worried that the pit bull would be dangerous to be ________ our young daughter. I warned my wife that the dog would have to go at the first ________ of trouble. I said, “If he nips (啃咬) at the baby, he’d go. ”

We brought our daughter home in a car seat, and both dogs sniffed and licked her, tails wagging. I had to ________ Zack away from her because he ________ stop licking her. Zack immediately became my daughter’s ________, and when she was lying on a blanket on the floor, he always had to have one foot on the blanket.

Zack loved my daughter ________, and when she became a little older he always walked her to bed, and then slept on the bed with her. He ________ knew whenever it was time to go ________, and he would wait at the ________ of the stairs for her, and then follow her up to bed.

Zack was poisoned by some neighbor kids, and we had one of the worst days of our lives.________ my daughter say goodbye to him as he lay ________ on the kitchen floor, my wife and I were both sobbing.

At 8:00 that night, my daughter walked to the stairs to go to bed. At that moment, all three of us realized ________ was about to happen. My daughter looked at her mother and me with a look of horror and ________. It was at that moment ________ my dog, Sam, which loved my daughter dearly, stood up, walked over to her, and ________ her with his head. He put his foot on the ________, and looked up at her. They walked up to bed, with my daughter holding his neck ________.

For the next six years,________ he died, Sam waited for her by the stairs each night.

6 . Violetta, 86, ran away from her hometown when the war broke out. She _______ to take her dog Tasha with her, but her efforts came to a _______ end, and they were forced to separate. Yesterday, the pair met again, thanks to the help of kind _______ who have worked together to _______ the dog 1,800 miles.

Violetta’s family traveled to Ireland. Despite arriving _______, the 86-year-old couldn’t help _______ her “best friend” Tasha. A local charity worker, Debbie Deegan, who helped the family to get to Ireland, made it her _______ to reunite the heartbroken pair.

She said, “Violetta was quite _______ about the whole thing and by the time they got to Romania they weren’t able to _______ the dog so they gave it to a Romanian family. She was ________. She told me Tasha was her best friend.”

Debbie said. “We ________ a travel company. ________, they could only get her as far as the UK, so it took one last huge effort to deliver her to Dublin.”

Then Debbie’s friend, John D’Arcy, from Waterford, offered to go to England to ________ Tasha. On Saturday, John traveled with a friend by ship to England to get Tasha.

And yesterday, Debbie ________ the news on the Internet that Violetta and Tasha had ________ eventually — and the pair couldn’t look happier about it.

7 . “Eco-mermaid” Merle Liivand wove a remarkable story with her attachment to the ocean. On March 7, she ________ her own world record by swimming a full marathon’s distance with a single fin (鳍) in Biscayne Bay, Florida. When Merle Liivand was a child, she had health problems, and began swimming to help her lungs get ________ . In one training session, she nearly ended up swallowing (吞下) some ________that was floating (漂浮) in the sea.

That ________ made her think of all the sea animals who faced ________ pollution every day. She decided to work to make people more aware of plastic pollution. Inspired by sea creatures, she began swimming with a special single swimming fin ________ both of her feet. This single fin allows her to swim by ________ both of her legs together. She believes swimming with it ________“a bigger message”.

Since 2022, she’s broken records, swimming vast distances — first in California, then in Florida, and this time swimming the________of a full marathon. Despite challenges like jellyfish (水母) stings, she ________ collecting trash along her route. Her dedication extends beyond records; it’s about community and global ________.

During her ________, a friend kayaked (划皮划艇) alongside, providing food and water and collecting the trash she ________. By the end of her marathon, the kayak held three bags full of trash. Liivand’s actions aim to ________a bigger goal: it’s not just about achievements, but about making a ________ impact on the world.

8 . Ariel decided to _________ herself in nature the day before she turned 30, so she rode her bike to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York on November 5 to take a hike. A mile into her walk, she _________ a gorgeous female mute (哑的) swan near the water’s edge. Ariel, 30, who _________ volunteered at the Wild Bird Fund rehab (康复) center in Manhattan for five years, knew that mute swans can be _________. But as she approached this one, it didn’t move.

She was certain that the bird needed medical attention. Ariel put her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, carefully picked it up, and held it in her arms. And then a thought _________ her: What can I do now?

Her best bet was the rehab center, but that was across the East River and clear on the other side of town. How was she going to _________ a 17-pound swan on her bike all that way? _________, some puzzled strangers driving by offered her, her bike, and the swan a _________ to a nearby subway station.

On the subway, no one seemed particularly annoyed by the _________ passenger. Ariel says: “One guy was sitting right in front of me on his phone. I don’t know if he __________ there was a swan in front of him”.

Ariel called the rehab center on the way, and Tristan Higgin, a (n) __________ manager, picked her up at the subway station and drove the bird, bike, and __________ to the facility. There, staff members determined that the swan might have lead poisoning, caused by swallowing __________ used on fishing lines.

While recovering, she made a boyfriend at the center—another injured swan. Sadly, even with all that tender loving care, the swan was __________ with a bacterial infection. Two months after Ariel came to her rescue, she __________. It’s a disappointing ending, but the real story is just how far some people are willing to go to save a swan in the big city. In all, Ariel traveled two hours by foot, car, and subway (while dragging her bike). “That’s the perfect summary of who she is.” says Higginbotham.

9 . One winter, a homeless dog called Shavi was left to die on the streets of south-west Russia after being _______ by a driver. With two broken legs, she was taken to a pet clinic for _______ by a volunteer from One Green Planet. After launching an appeal to find someone who could look after Shavi, the vet found Nina who _______ her and nursed her back to health, working on regaining her confidence and _______.

Due to work commitments, Nina couldn’t keep Shavi and instead found her a new _______ 185 miles away, near the Russian border. However, after just a few days, Shavi _______ from there.

Two weeks later, while walking along the road outside her home, Nina felt something brush up against her leg. Realizing it was Shavi, she was so _______ and excited. The dog had made the almost 200-mile journey back to the woman who had saved her life and legs.

The pair lived together and moved into a bigger apartment so Shavi had plenty of room to play. “Of course, she has now remained with us for good. I would never give this kind of friend away again. _______ are the most loyal and loving companions in the world. For every drop of human love, they _______ give all of theirs in return, and I know that from personal experience. Shavi is just like a __________ to me.” Nina said.