Today, many families love their pets and consider their pets to be members of their own families. Whether you choose a cat, a dog, a horse, 【小题1】 a rabbit, the benefits to raising children in a home with pets are great.

Pets give unconditional love. They are non judg mental, and, 【小题2】(especial) for only children, lonely children, or children who have sibling rivalry or 【小题3】(emotion) distress, a pet gives them someone to talk 【小题4】. A pet can comfort, give support, and listen to a child's troubles without judgment or consequence.

A pet can teach empathy. 【小题5】 (care) for a pet that is so dependent on you 【小题6】(teach) empathy. Your child learns to read your pet's needs. Is he 【小题7】 (hunger)? Does he need to go outside? Maybe the pet is scared of the wind, rain or snow and needs to 【小题8】 (comfort). Moreover, empathy is the one skill 【小题9】 can be taught and a skill that bullies often lack.

A pet can teach 【小题10】(confident) and responsibility. Children can gain confidence by having the responsibility of caring for a pet. Children as young as three years old can manage simple tasks such as filling the pet's water and food bowls. As your child gets older, he can also walk the pet.

83-year-old Antonio Vicente has spent the last four decades of his life bringing the jungles of his childhood back to life. Today, his efforts are being rewarded, as the 【小题1】(complete) deserted land has become a beautiful jungle with wildlife again.

It was 1973 when Antonio began his work 【小题2】 a weekend hobby. However, it soon became a permanent way of life. Antonio spends whole days and nights in his jungle, 【小题3】 (surround) with rats and foxes and eating banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the last 20 years, he 【小题4】(plant) about 50,000 trees on his land. As the forest grew, the water returned. Then the animals started making a home there. Today, the forest is alive with the sounds of birds and 【小题5】(insect) living there, and more species are settling in every year. “If you ask me 【小题6】 my family are, I would say all this right here, each one of these that I planted from a seed ,”he said.

Impressive as his lifelong 【小题7】(contribute) to reforestation(重新造林) is, his story is a very rare one. Data shows that nearly 19,770 acres of Brazilian rainforest 【小题8】(destroy) between August 2015 and July 2016. That makes Antonio’s work seem like 【小题9】 drop in the bucket(桶), but just imagine if we had more people like him, who cares 【小题10】(many) about water and clean air than money.

As the effects of global warming, rising seas and natural disasters become more serious 【小题1】 before, some local communities are taking action. Among them is one community in Florida 【小题2】 local people and government officials are proving successful in protecting 【小题3】 (coast) cities from the dangers of rising sea levels.

The community has studied how much sea levels will rise and has suggested 【小题4】 (way) to address the problem. It has persuaded the state government 【小题5】 (ban) new developments on land near the coastline and recommended building sand dunes (沙丘) along beaches. Kristin Jacobs, one of the group’s founders, decided to take action in 2008 after it became 【小题6】 (gradual) clear that her state’s 27 water authorities couldn’t agree on joint (联合的) action.

While some Florida government officials doubt whether the climate will become hotter or 【小题7】 (cold), the people 【小题8】 (live) in these locations are certain of the need to protect their communities.

At present, coming up with ways to fight against the effects of climate change under an limited budget 【小题9】 (be) a pressing concern. Only time will tell whether these coastal communities will succeed in 【小题10】 end.