2 . A sheep in Scotland, known as the “loneliest sheep”, was stuck at the bottom of a cliff for over two years. A group of farmers made it their _________ to rescue the sheep. The sheep was first _________ in 2021 by a kayaker (皮划艇运动员) and had been unable to move from that _________ since then. Local agencies were _________ but said the sheep was not in danger and could not be rescued. One of the farmers, Wilson, named the sheep Fiona and provided _________ about her on his social media account.

Wilson explained that it was too _________ to attempt a rescue earlier due to the dangerous location of the sheep. He expressed concerns about the safety of the rescuers and the difficulty of _________ the sheep by boat or with a dog. However, after careful _________, Wilson and four other men successfully rescued Fiona using heavy _________ and a winch (绞车). They __________ brought her to the slope of the cliff.

The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was present to __________ the welfare of the sheep. They confirmed that Fiona was in good __________ but needed her wool to be sheared (剪).The ownership of the sheep was transferred to the __________ group of farmers.

Wilson __________ the risks involved in the rescue and expressed gratitude for the successful __________.

3 . 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.

4 . Amanda and Daines Tanner’s dog jumped onto their bed a few months ago and pawed at their bodies while they were trying to sleep. It was around 5:30 A．m. on a Saturday — the day each week the couple ________ sleeping in.

Amanda Tanner had never seen Axel, their 1-year-old border collie, so ________ that early. They guessed he needed to be let outside, so that morning in August 2023, Daines Tanner ________ him downstairs. But when Daines Tanner opened the door to their backyard in Texas, Axel wouldn’t go outside. He________ rushed toward Amanda Tanner’s 17-year-old son’s room downstairs and began ________ at the door. Inside, Gabriel Silva was already awake. Minutes earlier, he was walking in the living room when he lost his ________ and fell. He said he couldn’t move, and everything around him looked ________ than usual. He didn’t know why he was feeling poorly, so he went back to his bedroom and got back in bed. Then he heard Axel at his door and Daines Tanner downstairs. Gabriel ________ Axel into the bedroom, where he began explaining his ________ to Daines Tanner — he was struggling to walk, the right side of his body was ________ and his vision was magnified (放大的). But Daines Tanner could ________ understand him because Gabriel’s speech was slurred (含糊不清的).

Daines Tanner drove Gabriel to an emergency room in Houston, where doctors determined that he was having a stroke. Gabriel has since ________ his ability to speak, walk and move his right arm, as the “Today” show first reported.

Sabih Effendi, a doctor who ________ Gabriel, said that he might have never recovered if Axel hadn’t ________ the family that morning. Amanda Tanner is planning to ________ a medal to the front of Axel’s collar (圈，箍) to honor what he did for Gabriel.

7 . Five years ago, I was a trail ride leader at a holiday farm in Victoria. My favourite horse was a warmblooded called Holly, a chestnut mare. Aged seven, she was _________, sweet-natured and well-trained; the only _________with Holly was her vivid imagination. I was constantly surprised by Holly’ s ability to be_________ by rabbits, the wind or even shadows - sometimes her own shadow!

One day, as we headed back from a ride on the beach, Holly and I were_________the way over the hilly area. When we got to one particularly long, steep hill, Holly began to twitch (抽动) her ears and step in place. So, when she_________ to sniff(嗅) and give all the _________that she believed the ‘horse-eating monsters’ were close, I became a little worried.

At the bottom of the hill as we rounded a corner, Holly_________with caution, and so I followed her gaze to the path ahead. There, sunning itself in the middle of the track, was a brown_________. This time it was my _________to get scared; I was on a nervous horse, leading a group of eight inexperienced pre-teen riders. Unexpectedly, Holly was firmly__________, ears forward. With the snake in her sight, she was no longer worried.

I have heard that horses have a better sense of__________ than dogs. I hadn't seen it __________ before that moment.__________, while we waited in reality for just a second or two - but for what felt like a century - the snake awoke and glided calmly off into the bush.

Holly then__________, leading the horses with caution and care. She had been alert to danger and had been __________for the safety of us all. Following in the footsteps or their lead mare, not one of the other horses showed any fear.

8 . While I was in our garden yesterday morning. I saw a little newborn bird that appeared to have just fallen from a tree. I was amazed at how tiny it was, with its little ________ open and looking all around. So I ________ and it just stayed there in my hand and opened its mouth really wide. “Oh yes, it’s ________,” I said to myself. So I fed it with some tiny pieces of bread. Although I couldn’t see any physical ________ of injury, it was obvious that it was hurt. I took the bird into the house and took care of it, hour after hour. I just wanted it to get ________ and reunite with its parents.

This morning, as soon as the bird ________ my hand on its little head, it opened its mouth so wide. It amazed me how it would ________ outside and then look for me. It was the cutest thing ever! I haven’t been so ________ for months. I spoke to it and told it that it was meant to fly and be free, not to be ________ behind or hurt by humans or animals.

Luckily, I ________ to find the nest in the garden and placed the little bird back in it. I was overjoyed to see that its parents ________ to take care of it as soon as I left.

The little bird’s presence in my life was ________. It made me melt with just one look! It was so tiny, and so ________. When it wanted food, it would try to move around and fly but couldn’t, in a way I feel the same way with ________, when you know you are supposed to be flying high and you feel stuck and just want to have a ________ to give you some hope that things will be better tomorrow.

9 . Many animals use some kinds of “language”. They use signals and the signals have meanings. For example, ______ a bee has found some food, it goes ______ its home.   ______ is difficult for a bee to tell   ______   bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it can do a little dancing. This tells the bees where the food is and ______   it is.

Some animals show ______ they feel by making sounds. It is not difficult to tell if a dog is angry because it barks. Birds make several different sounds and ______ has its meaning. Sometimes we humans make songs in the same way we make sounds like “Oh” to ______   how we feel about ______or we ______something on our feet.

We humans have languages. We have words. These words have meanings of things, actions, feelings, or ideas. We are able to ______each other information , to tell other people ______ we think about or how we feel. By writing down words, we can remember what has happened or______messages to people far away.

Languages, like people, live and die. If a language is not used by people, it is called a dead language. This language cannot live and grow because ______ speaks it.

A living language, of course, is often spoken by people today. It grows and changes with time. New words are created, and some old words have______ meanings.

10 . Jorge Serrano and his dog Charlie were wandering around in a park. Suddenly, they heard a(n) _______ near the pond. It was an　other duck, sounding anxious quacks from a drain (排水沟) in the center of the water. Across the street, about 150 feet away, some people had gathered at the drain’s exit.

Five ducklings had swum too close and had been _______ in the water pipe by the drain’s current. You could hear their_______ quacks from the pipe’s mouth. The pipe was less than 2 feet in diameter (直径). Serrano would never fit. It suddenly hit him that his dog could _______ the task. He patted Charlie and said, “Go get the duckies.”

Charlie _______ into the pipe from the outside, listening carefully. The tunnel was dark, dirty and _______. Charlie took a few steps into the unknown. He turned back with a strange look as if to say, “What are you asking me to do here?”

“Go in and get the duckies,” Serrano _______. Charlie faded out of sight, _______ a few seconds later with a muddy stick. He handed it hopefully to Serrano.

“Duckies,” said Serrano. This time, the message went through. Charlie walked into the _______ again. For a while, Serrano couldn’t hear his footsteps, feeling ________. What if Charlie got lost or stuck?

Minutes later, he emerged, ________ holding a duckling in his mouth so as not to hurt it. Serrano ________ him, and then sent him back in. Five times, Charlie ________ into the tunnel, carrying the ducklings out one by one. Then, cheering ________ carried them to their mom.

“I am glad I have trained him to help people, but he’s really a smart guy that wants to please,” said Serrano. How ________ the ducks were!