1 . I was always interested in biology. However, it wasn’t until I saw a _________ about cave diving in senior high school, in which I watched divers pass by urchins (海胆), that I realized I wanted to _________ cave animals. The video didn’t mention the   _________ in those underwater houses, but I _________ they must be there. More than just naming them, I wanted to learn about their _________, which meant I needed to study them in their _________ habitat.

Cave diving requires special _________. In this photo taken during a sampling trip in March in Belize, you can see that I was carrying lights and navigation tools, and bringing extra air tanks. I was using a net and test tubes to collect tiny and nearly _________ animals floating in the water. Since then, I’ve come to _________ that caves are full of life: shrimps, sea stars and urchins, all __________ the low-light environments.

Although underwater caves might seem far removed from surface environments, research has shown that these worlds are __________ in many ways. If pollutants get underground, they can __________ affect many ecosystems.

The cave ecosystem is suffering from climate change. If we didn’t take action to __________ these amazing caves, they could be gone before we have the __________ to fully understand them. And everything that makes them unique would __________, too.

2 . Even with the heated water splashing on my shoulders, a chill (寒意) still ran through me. My son was swimming _______ along the bottom of the pool. He surfaced and said, “I’ll show you how to swim underwater.”Usually I was a(n) _______ student, but not this time.

I just couldn’t trust my body to _______.My anxious mind would not let go. Over the years, I had learned not to sink, but I had never found the _______ of swimming that came easily to my friends. Self-doubt hardened into a _______:I couldn’t swim underwater.

But my son George wouldn’t _______ this. “Can you try?” His waiting face was open with possibility. I thought of the_______ things we had asked of him. The days I left him at preschool, he wept bitterly as I _______.The times he bared his arm for shots from the doctor. Earlier times in pools when he, too, _______ deep water.

I couldn’t say no. “Try to swim to me. It’s not very far.” he said, ________ above the water.His voice,calm and encouraging,   ________ me. “When I count to three, you start, OK?” I didn’t move. “Let’s try again,” he said in his teacher voice. “One, two, three!”

After more false starts, I knew I must ________.I sucked in air, squeezed my eyes shut, and aimed like a torpedo (鱼雷) into the dark. I traveled ________ in this liquid world, just pushing forward. I ________ my breath until I couldn’t anymore. I burst up into cool air. “I did it!” I said, tears of ________ streaming down my smiling face.George smiled too. “Now,” he continued, “try to go a little farther.”

I swam farther.I swam.

3 . The 11-year-old Freddy was chasing a rabbit on Monday when he got trapped down a narrow hole in Blackroot Pool, West Midlands. His ________ Richard Hill said he could hear Freddy’s whimpers (呜咽) underground but was unable to ________ him. The 55-year-old man ________ gave up searching for him when it got dark. “I really thought I had ________ Freddy for the very last time,” said Hill.

But Hill ________ on Tuesday morning and decided to call 999 after he could hear Freddy’s cries for help. Freddy had already been ________ for 24 hours by that time. The West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service found them after Hill used an app on his phone to help firefighters find Freddy’s exact ________. Crews used cameras and listening equipment on their mission to find the ________ dog, and eventually dug a 6-ft by 9-ft hole.

________, after two hours’ digging, firefighters ________ the exhausted Freddy, who “ran out of the hole as they got closer to him”. “I have to say a huge thank-you to the firefighters.” says Hill. “It was just ________ when he ran out of the hole after the ________, it was just like nothing had happened.” Freddy is still showing an orange color after being ________ with the clay soil.

According to the ________ owner the 4-legged adventurer will “definitely be staying on the ________ the next time we go out for a walk.”

4 . Believe it or not, I hate birthdays. First of all you keep getting ________, and second you always get presents you can’t ________. If I could just have a nice chocolate cake all to myself, I’d be very happy. But no! I have received more ties, pajamas, umbrellas, and gloves than you can imagine. I keep all my unwanted gifts piled neatly in a corner of my closet. If I need one of the items, I draw from my stock, but that is a ________ occurrence. The result is that my pile is quite large.

One day, my Aunt Gloria called me.

“Hello, Shelley,” she said. “We’re having a surprise birthday party for Cousin Stove. Will you be able to come on Thursday the 29th at 2p.m.?”

“One minute, while I look at my ________,” I said.

“Too ________,” I thought to myself. “I’m free. I guess I’ll have to go.”

To Aunt Gloria, I said, “Yes, that day looks O.K. to me. I’ll be there. Should I bring anything for the party?”

“No,” answered Aunt Gloria, “just bring yourself.”

The morning for the party arrived. After some thought, I ________ that it would be proper to bring my ________ a little gift. I thought it would please her. I had a good stock of gifts in my ________, so I could simply rewrap one and offer it to her. It was getting late by the time I got around to wrapping it. So I ________ the first box I saw and wrapped it in a hurry.

My ________ were all-there when I arrived. They were glad to see me, and if the occasion hadn’t been a birthday party, I guess I would have been glad to see them. Uncle Joe told me I had ________. “You look wonderful,” he said.

I plowed my way through the crowd to Aunt Gloria. “Here,” I said cheerfully, ________ my gift. “A little something for you.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you,” said my aunt. She began to ________ the gift. “I wonder what it could be,” she murmured. Then she began to read a ________ that was enclosed, which I didn’t remember having put in.

“Dear Shelley,” she read, “hope you enjoy these ________. They’ll keep your fingers warm in the winter. Love, Aunt Gloria.”

5 . It was snowing hard. Gus Kiebel, a county wildlife officer, was driving home from work when he ________ the pair in the flash of his headlights. The father-to-be scanned the roadside so that his struggling ________ might rest safely for the night. He looked over at her ________. They needed a warm ________ from the bitter wind.

Gus parked his truck and ________ the animals. He stretched out his hands to the beagles (比格犬), which made no effort to ________. Then he dialed the number from the dogs’ tags (标牌). A man answered and immediately grew ________ when Gus told him why he was calling. “I gave those dogs away,” the man said. “They’re not mine anymore.” Then he hung up.

Obviously, these beagles were ________. Then he brought the tired beagles home. As a boy, owning beagles had been his ________, but keeping this pair was out of the question now—the Kiebels already had a family dog. So he ________ the League for Animal Welfare to drop them off—on one ________. “I’m not signing the dogs over to you if you’re going to ________ them,” he said. The shelter workers promised him they’d keep the couple together.

In the following days, Gus phoned the shelter ________ to check up on them. Soon, the beagles were adopted as a pair, to a loving family. It’s a simple story, but it ________ the best of our nature. And when kindness weighs more than ________, it becomes the greatest miracle of all.

6 . “What’s your name? ” My fifteen-ear-old daughter, Jessica, asked a stranger on the street. Her eyes sparkled with ________ and her face wore a broad smile. I wish she could make it because she has a disability with autistic (自闭症的). I stood nearby, waiting ________ for any potential result.

To be honest, the ________ nature of hers is a result of her disability. Ever since Jessica was real young, she had ________ right up to strangers on the street and ________ a conversation, never expecting to be refused. Children with autism don’t relate well to others. As her mum, my thoughts are ________. On one hand, I tried my best to prevent her from ________ others. On the other hand, I don’t want her to be discouraged. Happily, when Jessica talks with someone, it always ________ me that people patiently answer her, although they must sense she’s a bit different.

What about this time? Would this man respond kindly or just ________ her and walk away? A few minutes later, Jessica skipped to me. Obviously, it was a successful ________. Jessica shared with me the ________ they had talked about, which would certainly ________ my daughter’s day. The man just treated her like an ordinary girl, nothing special from others.

As we continued on our way, I felt a renewed sense full of ________ for the future. Despite my daughter’s problem, an equal ________ the kind people gave her created a moment of ________ interaction.

7 . My family always had some sort of animal around, but none of them were truly mine. My parents didn’t permit me to _________ my own until I was seven years old. Finally, I was _________ to have my own _________, a fish called George. I said it was my responsibility to _________ it.

Every Friday I would clean out his bowl. I found myself _________ invitations to go somewhere immediately after school, because I would have to feed my fish first. Every day he would remind me that I was _________ and that I had someone depending on me.

One day, I came home from school and headed to my room to _________George. I found a _________ thing had happened. I _________ my bag and ran over to the bowl. I saw my best friend George floating around lifeless.

My mom walked into my room. I turned around as tears started to well in my eyes. “Mommy, George d…d…died.” With that __________ word I started crying uncontrollably. My mom came to my side as I hid my face in my pillows.

Suddenly, I realized that George hadn’t just __________ me. He had taught me what __________ meant. I learned it through feeding him and cleaning his bowl. This made me feel __________ . To my seven-year-old self, this was a great __________ . Slowly, a smile crossed my face. George was gone.__________ , the lessons he taught me would forever be carved into my memory.

8 . “When one door closes,” the saying goes, “another door opens.” For one _______ dog, it appears that saying is also suitable for doggy doors.

A dog named Sheldon took part in a program to _______ a service dog. Unluckily, he couldn’t quite make the _______. Whenever he would _______ something interesting, Sheldon’s concentration flew out of the window and all he wanted to do was _______ the source.

But the very thing that made him a failure as a service dog meant he was likely _______ for another dog job. Sheldon was sent to the State Farm Arson Dog Program, where his sensitive (灵敏的) nose soon put him _______ the class for detecting the accelerants (探测肋燃剂) used to light illegal fires.

_______ John Tadlock of the Saginaw fire department, after his _______ Sheldon went on to become the department’s best accelerant detection dog.

In his first ________, Sheldon and his partner Tadlock were called to a car shop to look into some cars that had been ________ under suspicious (可疑的) circumstances. After three days, no one had been able to figure out how the fire got started — but the cause wasn’t ________ to Sheldon. “I put him to ________. It took him about 30 seconds to give me an alert (警报),” Tadlock said. Sheldon found the evidence with no ________.

For a dog with a super sense of smell, we guess whether you’re tailing bad guys or hunting for a job, it’s always best to follow your ________.

9 . Community ovens are a centuries-old tradition worldwide. There are actually records going back to the 12th century when home ovens were not _________. The community ovens were places where people chatted together while their food was _________.

Fast forward to today, Brickyard Bakery has _________ the unique approach. It _________ to bake cakes for customers and provides them with a warm place to stay while their cakes, which _________ take four or more hours to bake, are in the oven. It’s reported that due to the increasing cost of fuel, many individuals cannot _________ to leave their ovens on that long.

Owner Ed Hamilton-Trewhitt told the BBC, “We’ve _________ the idea of a community oven from ancient times. People can _________ their cake base (胚) at home. But _________ being baked in their own ovens, it can be __________ to our bakery for a large amount of baking.”

“It struck me that if one was __________ about the energy costs of baking the Christmas cake, there would be lots more out there __________ the same situation,” he added. “In the big picture, it costs me so little but makes a massive __________. ”

The response to this attempt has been so __________ that Hamilton-Trewhitt has provided the __________ until right before Christmas. After all, that’s what being a good neighbor is all about.

10 . My PhD project is to protect a tiny species of fish, whose color is greenish. To ______eggs, Clanwilliam sandfish (沙鱼) swim to ______tributaries (支流) of the Doring river system in South Africa. Local people say it was once a ______event: The water seemed to change ______ as thousands of sandfish migrated to the shallower tributaries. Now, ______those numbers have reduced to dangerous levels.

My PhD project at South Africa’s University of Cape Town is in ______with a nongovernmental organization in saving sandfish. Human activity, climate change, etc, are drying up the rivers. As newly young sandfish try to ______to the upstream (上游), they now get ______in shallow tributaries. The sandfish population has decreased by more than 90% since we began keeping count. They’re now regarded as ______species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.When the river starts to dry up, we ______young sandfish and put them into buckets of water, then move them by truck to prepared fish nurseries (鱼种场) ______ by local people. The support from local people is amazing. Once the sandfish are large enough to be less threatened, we will ______them to the natural ecosystem.

The data so far show the project has been ______. We’ve ______ about 36,000 young sandfish over the past three years. I’m looking forward to ______those numbers next year.