1 . A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for 3 days is now safe at home. But Casey told his parents that he was not ________ in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend — a ________.

The child went ________ on January 22 while playing with friends at his grandmother’s house. When the other children ________ to the house and Casey didn’t, hundreds of people ________ the search. Then on January 24, someone called the police saying he heard a child ________ in the woods. The police then found Casey at night. He was in good health. After being ________ carefully by the doctor, Casey was sent home with slight ________.

Casey told the police that he had ________ with a black bear for two days and he called it his “________”. His mother told reporters that Casey did not say how he was able to ________ in the woods for three days. ________, she said, “He did say he had a friend in the woods, a bear, with him.” His mother ________ everyone who joined the search for her son. “We just want to tell everybody that we’re very thankful that you took the ________ out to search for Casey,” said his mother. “He is good. He’s already asked to ________ online cartoons.”

2 . An unusual experiment suggests that painting eyes on the rear ends of cows may help protect them from large predators (食肉动物), like lions.     1    

Large predators like lions are also under pressure. One serious threat to large predators comes from farmers. They often shoot or poison lions after losing farm animals for their attacks.

    2    There are many small farms in the area, with between 6 and 100 cows. At night, farmers normally keep their animals in closed areas protected from lions.

Scientists from the University of New South Wales wondered if painting pictures of eyes on the cows’ rear ends might protect them.     3    There are many examples of animals such as butterflies or fish using fake “eyes” to protect themselves.

Working with over 2,000 cows on 14 different farms, the scientists tested their ideas in a study.     4    They painted large eyes on the rear ends of one group of cows. The second group got simple Xs. The final group got nothing.

The eyes worked very well. Of the cows with eyes painted on them, none were killed. Cows with nothing on their rear ends didn’t do so well.     5    The scientists were surprised to learn that even Xs seemed to give the cows some protection. Only 4 of them were killed.

5 . Research led by an ecologist Bart Hoekstra shows that birds are affected by the mass use of fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

The research studied how many birds take off immediately after the start of the fireworks, at what distance from fireworks this occurs and which species groups mainly react. “Birds take off as a result of an acute flight response due to sudden noise and light. We already knew that many water birds react strongly, but now we also see the effect on other birds throughout the Netherlands,” says Bart Hoekstra.

Last year, a study discovered that geese are so affected by fireworks that they spend about 10% longer looking for food than normal during at least the next 12 days. They apparently need time to restore their energy to their former condition, after escaping from the fireworks.

Because 62% of all birds in the Netherlands live within a radius (半径) of 2.5 km of inhabited areas (居民区), the effects of fireworks are high for all birds throughout the country. “Flying requires a lot of energy, so ideally birds should be disturbed as little as possible during the cold winter months. Measures to ensure this are especially important in open areas such as grasslands, where many larger birds spend the winter. The effects of fireworks on birds are less pronounced near forests and semi-open areas. In addition, smaller birds live there, which are less likely to fly away from disturbance,” says Bart Hoekstra.

People who argue for fireworks-free zones in areas where large birds live advise that fireworks should mainly be lit as far away from birds as possible. It would be best for birds if people try to use light shows without sound, such as drone (无人机) shows instead of fireworks.

7 . Sea turtles are considered a national treasure in Sri Lanka. However, in recent years, the sea turtles have faced great _________.

Growing up on the beach, Chamara Indika, 35, was _________ about it. In the beginning, he _________himself to the protection of sea turtles as a volunteer. He gave his spare time to raise _________ of caring for sea turtles and caried out sea turtle protection and rescue missions.

Later, he decided that this was not a long-term _________ . “One person’s abilities are very _________ and I wanted to make real changes,” said Indika._________, Jack Xiao, the founder of Chinese YIK International Volunteers (YIKIV), reached out to Indika and offered his help to protect sea turtles. With his assistance, Indika set up the Nil Manel Foundation in Sri Lanka.

The organization _________ professional training and guidance for the volunteers, spreads knowledge of turtle and carries out conservation activities. Volunteers can then work to spread their new knowledge to more people.

At first, the volunteers’ main job was to rescue and care for _________ turtles locally. Then they found people and animals eat turtle eggs on the beach. So volunteers started __________ eggs to a protection center with artificial cultivation. It __________ higher survival rates.

Thanks to their efforts, the survival rate of newborn turtles has reached new highs, and conservation awareness has also increased. Many volunteers now __________ to use straws and plastic bags which cause many turtles to die accidentally.

“It made me feel that all my work had __________. But it was not enough to rely on myself and the current volunteers. It would be important to __________ this knowledge down to future generations,” said Indika. With persistence and hard work, Indika firmly believes they will make a(n)__________ to the sea turtles.

The Small Friends Pet Shelter was started by a group of high school students and     1    (they) parents when they started to see many pets     2     were left behind after their families moved away.

Today, there are about 70 cats, 50 dogs, three rabbits, and a few     3    (turtle) living at the shelter. The young people who run the shelter     4    (work) hard to keep the place clean, take care of the animals, and advertise the animals so that they can     5    (adopt).

They have already     6    (help) to find homes for nearly 200 animals. It is hard work,     7     the young people working at the shelter think it is worth it.

So if you find     8     pet that is lost, call the young people at Small Friends Pet Shelter! And if you want     9    (help) out, go and volunteer your time and love. That is what the animals     10    (real) need most.