Out in the garden Mary sat sewing a handkerchief, and there came a little insect running in such a hurry across the small stone table by her side. The _________ was not done, for Mary liked doing nothing best, and she thought it would be fun _________ her thimble（顶针）over the little ant. Then Mary ran away, for her mother called her, and she _________ all about the ant under the thimble.

There he was, running round and round and round the dark prison, with little horns on his head _________, little perfect legs bending as beautifully as those of a race-horse, and he was in quite as big a fright as if he were an elephant.

Mary went to bed, and in the night the rain _________. The handkerchief was wet through as if somebody had been _________ very much, when she went out to fetch it as soon as the sun _________. She remembered who was under the thimble. But when she lifted up the thimble the little tiny thing lay stiff and _________.

“Why did you do that, Mary?” said her father, who was close by, and who had guessed the truth. “See! He moves one of his legs. Run to the house and _________ a small taste of honey from the breakfast-table for the little thing you __________”

“I didn’t mean to,” said Mary.

She touched the honey in the spoon with a piece of leaf and __________ put a drop of it __________ the little ant. He put out a fairy __________ to lick up the sweet stuff. He grew well and stood up, trying to run.

“He wants to run __________,” said father. “I know where he lives. In a little round world of ants, under the apple tree.”

“And has he got a wife and children—a lot of little ants at home?”

“The baby ants are little helpless things, and must be __________ by their big relations. There are father ants and mother ants, and lots of other ants who are __________ to the little ones. __________ knows his own children, but all the grown-up ones are kind to all the babies. This is a little nurse ant. See how he hurries off! His babies at home must have their faces washed.”

While they were talking, the little ant was soon lost among the grass. In a little while back came the ant with a troop of friends.

“He has been home and told them the good news about the __________,” said father. “Do you think that all children are as kind as that?”

Mary said, “No, they’re not. I don’t run to call all the others when I find a good place for blackberries.” “Then,” said father, “don’t be __________ to the ant, who is kinder than you, __________ he is only a little tiny thing.”

When Tim Wong was a primary schoolboy，he once helped to raise painted lady butterflies as part of a classroom project.   And then he developed a(n) _________ m in butterflies.   That interest continued in the fields near his home in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he caught, _________, and raised other butterfly species.

That childhood _________ has now become a duty.   Wong is working to _________ the California pipevine swallowtail, which had all but _________ from San Francisco when development began _________ their habitats in the early 20th century.

The pipevine swallowtail is only able to _________ one particular plant, the California pipevine plant, which is _________ in San Francisco.   _________, land development began damaging the plant’s habitats, __________ the pipevine swallowtail population to start disappearing.

So with permission from the San Francisco Botanical Garden, Wong took some cuttings of the __________ and grew them into a butterfly garden that he’d __________ in his backyard.

Wong managed to __________ twenty of the beautiful butterflies and in __________ them back home, where he released them in his beloved garden.   They immediately began feeding on the __________ grown pipevine plants.

“Each year since 2012 ,we’ve seen more butterflies __________ in the garden, flying around, laying eggs, successfully pupating (化蛹), and emerging (破茧而出) the following year,” he said.   “That’s a good __________ that the efforts are working!”

Wong’s operation has been so __________ that, last year, he was able to bring thousands of the beauties back to the Botanical Garden’s “California Native” exhibit where the life cycle __________.

Thanks to his efforts, this attractive but endangered species has been __________!

"Meow, meow, meow" is what I heard when I found a _________ black and white cat. I picked him up and realized he must be freezing to death. I _________ home with the cat held in my jacket.

I named the cat Little Bit, because he was almost _________ when I held him in my hands. He stood about five inches tall. Little Bit's small size had a great advantage—he _________ perfectly in the pocket of my jacket which made _________ him everywhere very easy. Any time I was home, he wouldn't leave my _________. He was always eager to play with me. Unfortunately, as I grew up, my fast—pace life stopped _________ time for him. My free time was spent with my friends instead. His meows became an annoyance to me, but it wasn't his _________ that he wanted his best friend back.

Time had caused a _________ to Little Bit and by the time I realized something was wrong with him, he had already lost his balance. He lay there and looked at me, and __________ this day I still remember the __________ look in his bright green eyes. I took him to the vet(兽医),but there was nothing he could do. The last time I __________ him, he wasn't the same tiny cat I had found ten years before. Little Bit filled my arms and he was put to sleep that day.

Little Bit's __________ made me realize how much he meant to me. He was always there for me when I needed him I __________ our last years together and I feel sorry for not always being there for him. I will always __________ the special memories we made.