The morning was dark and cold. Stars twinkled down from the sky and a half _______was still hanging there. “Varrow, wake up,” Gramps whispered,_______me gently, “It’s sea turtle time.” I rubbed my eyes and_______my way in the dark, dizzy and woozy. Then, the repeated “sea turtle time”_______me completely.

Gramps and I_______our heavy waterproof boots over our pajamas and threw rain jackets on our shoulders_______. I pushed the front door open and ran out onto the_______, Gramps not far behind. There, I held my_______. Thousands of baby sea turtles were_______out on the endless stretch of sand and racing to the ocean. We took in the amazing scene________. But Gramps and I weren’t there just to watch. We had a________.

________, we made our way through the mess of broken shells and the little lovely sea turtles to________those that needed help. Soon enough, I________one. A baby turtle was flipped (翻转) on its back,________to roll over no matter how hard it kicked its legs. Reaching my hand down, I gently picked the fragile baby up and flipped it over and got it right back to its________to the ocean. “Nice job, Varrow.” Gramps patted me on the shoulder, his eyes twinkling and his mouth stretching into a smile. I felt a rush of pride and became even more________because of Gramps’ compliment for the next few hours. By 7:00, the last sea turtles had crawled into the water and we finally sat down on the soft sand,________. We couldn't be more satisfied with our hard work.

As the sun rose from the horizon, golden beams of sunlight stretching ever outwards onto the deep________. The colourful world woke up. What a________for those in their deep sleep! They missed the amazing natural gifts right under their nose.

The elephant is the biggest four-legged animal in the world. It is also, perhaps, the gentlest (温顺的), _________ not always.

Elephants are like us in some ways. They _________ for a long time — fifty for sixty years. They can _________ things very well. They never forget great sadness or great happiness. A female (雌的) elephant _________ , her daughter and her grand-daughters are sad for many months. They stay with the dead _________. Then they carry a bit of it away with them. They never forget a _________ friend.

Elephants are like us, but they are also _________ . They live in families: families of females (母系家族). There will be a few young males (雄的) — a few “baby boy”. But they will soon be _________ away by their mothers or sisters. An elephant family _________ only its daughters, mothers and grandmothers. And its great grandmothers.

The females stay together for fifty, sixty…a hundred years. The older animals __________the young ones. The mothers teach their daughters and set a good example.

And __________happens to male elephants? Well, the young males stay with their mothers for a time. Then they must __________ the family. The females just send them away. A bull (雄的) elephant does not often have a friend. He lives __________ ; away from the family, and often away from the females, and often away from other bulls.

Sometimes the females call a bull. He can __________ them then, and they stay for a time. But soon his “wives” and sisters send him away again. The females have a very __________ family life. What do the bulls think about it? We don’t know.

That was when my son was 6 years old. My son is now 22 but whenever I look at him even as a grown man, I remember the small child with _______ .

Our cat was ______to give birth. And like all young children, my son was very interested in the birth of the babies. During the following week, he never stopped ________me for a chance to witness it. At last, I agreed. I answered all his questions and prepared him the best _____he might not be shocked or frightened.

That _____when my son arrived home, one baby cat had been born. He was so_______at what he saw that he would put his hand on the mother cat’s stomach and feel the other babies ______ . When the mother cat began to ______   very loudly, it was clear that the second baby was on its way. My son ______ but never said a word. Then he asked me, “Mum, why does she cry so loudly when the baby comes?” I _________that it was not a hurtful pain but a pain of great pleasure_______the mother.

When the______of the third baby was coming by the crying of the mother cat, my son ______ hugged (拥抱) me with tears ____ his face, saying, “Mum, I’m sorry for the _____I brought you to have me.” My heart almost stopped. With a(n) _________choice of words, I told him that his birth had brought me______but smiles, and that I would like to ______ it 100 times.

Now my son is a grown man, but he always _________that night, for it was on that night that he finally   _______ what the word “love” meant.