Helping Paws

Craig Cook has a very special service partner—a twenty-five-year-old female capuchin monkey named Minnie. In 2012, when he was thirty years old, Craig was in a car _______ that left him a quadriplegic, someone whose arms and legs don’t work properly. For several years, Craig needed help from other people for such basic needs _______ getting a drink of water. Then Minnie came to Craig through the Helping Hands Organization.

Minnie was born at Southwick’s Zoo in New York. As part of the special Helping Hands program, while she was a baby, she was given to a foster (寄养) family _______ cared for her and helped her learn to live with people. She learned basic _______ such as turning off lights and fetching on command.

Next, Minnie _______ the Helping Hands Monkey College for two years. At the college, she learned tasks that would help a(n) _______ person. These included taking food out of a refrigerator, turning pages in a book one at a time, and picking up objects that had been dropped. It is a long _______ process, but capuchin monkeys can live to be forty-five years old. So they can be _______ to provide service for many years.

Craig said, “Living with Minnie is like living with a good friend. And since she’s been with me, Minnie’s learned _______ more neat things to do, like making popcorn in the microwave (微波炉). Thanks to Minnie, I can live ________ with caregivers only coming in for a short time each day. And, when I go out, instead of being seen as the guy in the wheelchair, I’m now the guy with the monkey.”

On an icy day, two hunters in eastern Russia discovered an orphaned cub (幼虎). The cub hadn’t eaten in days, and was ________ enough for the hunters just to pick her up. Dr. Dale Miquelle, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Russia Program, said, “A healthy tiger cub, even a three-month-old one, would give you reason to ________ before you stuck your hand too close to its teeth and claws. But this cub had no ________ left in her.”

The hunters wrapped the cub in a coat and ________ her to a local wildlife inspector, Andrey Oryol. Over the following weeks, Oryol ________ the orphaned cub back to health. But now he had a new problem: What could he do with a(n) ________ three-month-old tiger?

The cub was an Amur tiger. Only a small number of Amur tigers remained in the wild, so scientists wanted to return ________ cubs to their natural habitat. The orphaned cub was taken to a new wildlife center. The center was designed for raising wild animals without exposing (使接触) them to people. It uses hidden cameras and covered fences to keep workers out of ________. That way, the animals don’t become ________ on humans.

The cub, now named Cinderella, became the center’s first tiger. Over the next year, she grew into a big, healthy tigress. In the center, she learned to hunt. One year later, experts agreed she was ________ to return to the wild.

During the next two years, researchers watched Cinderella’s ________. Cinderella not only________, but grew healthy and strong. Then, the cameras ________ exciting news: Cinderella had become a mother! For the first time ever, a tiger that humans had ________ and returned to the wild had given birth to two cubs of her own.

Tigers are some of the most admired animals on our planet, but they are also ________. Thanks to the work of conservationists, there is new hope for these magnificent cats.

I’ve always been crazy about pandas. My drawers are full of panda T-shirts and my pencil case and purse both have pandas on them. So when I found out that my parents planned to take me on a trip to Chengdu, which is the place in China for _________ pandas, I couldn’t believe my ________

I immediately started doing my ________, and I found at the Dujiangyan panda base, I could actually volunteer to ________ with the pandas!

The volunteer. Program lasts all day and ________ cleaning the habitats and carving bamboo for pandas. The ________ of the day, though, came when we had the opportunity to ________ one of the pandas, twice! I gave sticks of bamboo to one giant panda, and it was absolutely ________ to spend time one-on-one with such a cute animal. Then we spent about an hour watching a documentary to ________ more about the base. It operates as a panda shelter, ________ pandas that have been injured to recover and get ready to go back into the ________ again. It also works on panda breeding to help ________ the panda population.   

It is hard work but enjoyable and ________. I came back from Chengdu with a few more things to add to my ________. Now I have a pair of panda slippers and every time I put them on, I think about my ________ day at the panda base.