1 . At around 3 p. m. on Monday, Erin Wilson stopped at a picnic area along Highway 299. She began walking her two-year-old sheepdog, Eva, along a path when a mountain lion _______ and attacked Wilson, who screamed, catching the _______ of her 2-year-old Eva. Eva, who had been wandering ahead, immediately returned to _______ her owner. The mountain lion then _______ the 55- pound dog and bit onto the bodyguard’s head. Wilson _______ without success to fight off the lion with stones, so she ran up to the road, frantically trying to flag someone down.

Sharon Houston, who was driving by, saw Wilson and _______. After learning about the mountain lion attack, without _______ Houston jumped out of her car with her pepper spray（喷雾剂）and also grabbed a stick. The two women _______ to the scene in the forest, where the struggle was going on, with the mountain lion still _______ to let go of the dog. They both started hitting it and yelling ________ it finally set loose the bleeding dog.

Eva eventually ________. Houston pepper sprayed the mountain lion in the face, and it immediately turned away and ________. Eva was gravely injured, and Wilson ________ drove Eva to a vet(兽医). After spending several days there, the dog was ________. Now Eva, lying on her own bed with her favorite toys, is on the road to ________. “My dog is my hero and I owe her my life.” Wilson said.

2 . 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. ”

3 . It happened on a rainy Saturday morning last month. My wife Catherine and I were driving along what some people called moose (麋鹿) alley. It was so ______ that there were few cars on the road. ______, something happened. A moose jumped out across our path. I had been driving for years and was good at driving. In order to ______ knocking into the moose, I made a quick turn to the other lane. If I had not done that, the moose might have been killed, and my wife and I might have got ______, too. A few seconds later, when I ______ and looked back in my rear view mirror, the moose was getting up and then ran into the bush. Shaken but ______, we both looked at each other with a surprised expression.

From then on, I often thought about the relationship between humans and ______ . We know that animal species have appeared and disappeared ______ since life began on the Earth. This is a(n) ______ phenomenon. However, animal species have been ______ at a much faster rate for about a century now ______ human factors such as pollution.

Certain philosophers and scientists keep repeating that if we don’t save animals, how we will be able to save ourselves. A better ______ of animals gives us a better understanding of our own species. The ______ to protect animals and nature in general ______ the value of a society. And all animals play roles in nature and have a right to ______. Therefore, I think we should try our best to save endangered animals, because humans cannot live on the Earth alone.

4 . One cold afternoon, Tina saw a newborn bird in her garden. Knowing it wouldn’t make it if left _________, she brought it inside. Little did she know of the _________ the bird would make on her.

The family named the little bird “Gracie”. As Gracie grew bigger and stronger under the family’s loving care, an unbreakable _________ developed between them. But the family knew Gracie should _________ to the wild one day. One year later, they _________ the bird with tearful eyes fly off to explore its own world, not knowing it wouldn’t _________ the family.

Years after that, Tina was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. Feeling sad and hopeless, she _________ every day. But much to her surprise and joy, Gracie _________ the day Tina came home from her operation. Though Tina had lost all her hair, Gracie _________ her and landed on her shoulder chattering (唧唧叫) to her. Tina was so excited that she kissed the bird __________ The house was __________ again. Tina began to __________ in a great and sudden way. She cried less and laughed more. Two years later, all her tests were __________! The doctors considered it a miracle (奇迹), but Tina knew it was not. “It is Gracie that gave me hope and strength. Without Gracie’s__________ during the hard time, things would have been different. We ever saved its life, and it was repaying the __________. Tina said gratefully.

5 . There once was an ordinary street in the suburbs where no one cared much for their gardens. The lawns were overgrown, the weeds were taking over and the hedges(树篱)_________ needed to be cut back. It looked very terrible. _________ when the neighbors saw their gardens, they just looked at each other and laughed.

It seemed too hard to clear all the gardens and no one could be _________ to make them better because everyone’s garden was equally _________. No one felt it was urgent to change anything. Then a gardener named Bill _________ in the small town. Bill was a _________, hard-working and patient man who started working in the garden as soon as he moved in the street. He took his lawn mower(割草机) out to cut back the grass and pulled out all of the _________. Finally, he took up his gardening and started _________ his hedges, making them look like flowers, plants, stones, balls, etc. It was a huge project but his hard work _________ and his garden looked inviting.

__________ by the beautiful scenery, the neighbors walked by and admired the __________ manicured(修整的) garden. Before long, something __________ happened. One by one, the neighbors started to put in more effort in their own gardens and the sounds of lawn mowers could be heard again. After a few months, the street was transformed from a dirty, __________ collection of houses to a beautiful street that wouldn’t be out of place in a stylish magazine.

One person’s action showed everyone what could be achieved with a little hard work. It’s easy for us to __________ the environment around us because no one else cares about it. Remember what you positively do not only benefits yourself, but also __________ a change to the whole world.

7 . As an only child, Nicole Renae often felt lonely in her youth. But that all _________ when her grandmother surprised her with a (n) _________ puppy “Chloe” for her 10th birthday.

The two were inseparable, because they were best friends. Chole always _________ her face. But when Renae was 14, her father got a new job: He’d be working from home without _________ . With no option, the family surrendered (被迫交出) noisy Chloe to a humane society although Renae didn’t want to _________ her dog.

In time, Renae had a child of her own. Remembering the _________ that having a dog had brought her as a kid, Renae wanted her daughter to _________ the same. Then one day, she saw a     _________ on Facebook about a senior dog named Chloe that needed a new home. _________ she decided to adopt this dog.

When Renae met Chloe, she was struck with a __________ feeling. The dog ran up to her and started licking her face. Chloe __________ Renae so much of her old dog that the __________ overwhelmed her. She knew it was her Chole. __________, ten years had passed since they last met, and her whole family thought she was crazy.

Luckily, there was a way to __________ the theory: Her Chloe had a microchip with the ID number. Sure enough, the dog also had a microchip and the numbers were a __________ . Renae was overjoyed to have her back.

8 . I used to think my life was perfect. My mom had her dream job and a beautiful office and I had my own room with a computer and a garden to _________. But one Sunday, everything changed. A hurricane _________ our neighborhood while we were visiting my grandparents in Raleigh. Our kitchen was destroyed, and our clean and comfortable home was in ruins.

But something _________ happened. Our neighbors, the Flores family, came to our aid. They helped clear _________ pieces and offered us a place to stay. Their _________ was most impressive. We had never_________ spoken to them before, but they _________ their home to us and made us feel like family.

We started a new_________ of having weekend dinner together. We invited other families from the neighborhood to join us, and our _________ were filled with laughter and delicious food. It was a beautiful thing to see our __________ come together in the wake of a disaster.

I __________ knew Rosica, their daughter, before the hurricane. But she quickly became my __________. She had a gift for storytelling and our evenings together were filled with adventure and laughter.

Looking back, I realize that the hurricane__________ unexpected benefit. It brought us closer to our neighbors and __________ our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Sometimes, it takes a(n) __________ to bring out the best in people.